Unit exergy cost and specific CO2 emissions of the electricity generation in the Netherlands

Author(s)

Ortiz, Pablo Silva ^{[1, 2]} ; Florez-Orrego, Daniel ^{[3, 4]} ; de Oliveira Junior, Jr., Silvio ^[3] ; Maciel Filho, Rubens ^[1] ; Osseweijer, Patricia ^[2] ; Posada, John ^[2]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Sch Chem Engn, Lab Optimizat Design & Adv Control, Campinas - Brazil

^[2] Delft Univ Technol, Fac Appl Sci, Dept Biotechnol, Delft - Netherlands

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Lab Environm & Thermal Engn, Polytech Sch, Dept Mech Engn, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[4] Univ Nacl Colombia, Fac Minas, Bioproc & React Flow, Medellin - Colombia

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: ENERGY; v. 208, OCT 1 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Exergy and environmental analyses have been developed to determine the performance of the electricity generation in the Dutch mix. A comparative assessment of diverse technological routes, including fossil and renewable energy resources consumption, is carried out in terms of the exergy costs and specific CO2 emissions. Hence, an exergoeconomy methodology is used to properly allocate the renewable and non-renewable exergy costs and specific CO2 emissions among the various products of the polygeneration energy systems. By using a suitable methodology, the distribution of irreversibility throughout the different steps of the energy conversion processes of the Dutch electricity mix is characterized in the light of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The results may help to propose performance indicators that support the Dutch government and research institutions. To identify sustainable energy planning strategies and fairly comparing electricity generation and end-use processing stages with other types of energy resources, such as fuels used in transportation, residential and industrial sectors. In brief, the weighted average of the renewable and non-renewable unit exergy costs and the specific CO2 emissions of the electricity generated in each route of the Dutch mix is calculated and compared to another electricity mix with a higher share of renewable energy resources. The weighted average renewable and non-renewable unit exergy costs of the electricity generated in the Netherlands are calculated as C-R = 0.8375 kJ/kJ(E/W) and C-NR = 1.7180 kJ/kJ(E/W), respectively (C-R/C-NR = 0.49). Furthermore, the specific CO2 emissions in the Dutch electricity generation achieve 373.21 g(CO2)/kWh(E/W). (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 17/03091-8 - Techno-economic and environmental assessment of biorefinery technologies
• Grantee: Pablo Andrés Silva Ortiz
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 15/20630-4 - Biorefinery development integrated to a bioethanol sugar cane plant with zero CO2 emission: routes to convert renewable resources to bio-products and bio-electricity
• Grantee: Rubens Maciel Filho
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 17/16106-3 - Techno-economic and environmental assessment of biorefinery technologies
• Grantee: Pablo Andrés Silva Ortiz
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor