Market-Driven Emissions from Recovery of Carbon Dioxide Gas

Abstract

This article uses a market-based allocation method in a consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) framework to estimate the environmental emissions created by recovering carbon dioxide (CO2). We find that 1 ton of CO2 recovered as a coproduct of chemicals manufacturing leads to additional greenhouse gas emissions of 147-210 kg CO2 eq , while consuming 160-248 kWh of electricity, 254-480 MJ of heat, and 1836-4027 kg of water. The ranges depend on the initial and final purity of the CO2, particularly because higher purity grades require additional processing steps such as distillation, as well as higher temperature and flow rate of regeneration as needed for activated carbon treatment and desiccant beds. Higher purity also reduces process efficiency due to increased yield losses from regeneration gas and distillation reflux. Mass- and revenue-based allocation methods used in attributional LCA estimate that recovering CO2 leads to 19 and 11 times the global warming impact estimated from a market-based allocation used in consequential LCA.

The carbon footprint of the carbon feedstock CO2

“…Other papers include the source of the CO 2 stream and split the entire emissions between the carbon feedstock CO 2 and other products of the CO 2 source. [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46] As a consequence, the carbon footprint of the feedstock CO 2 is positive. In summary, carbon footprints of the carbon feedstock CO 2 range from positive -implying that CO 2 capture is harmful to the climate -to negative which suggests benefits.…”

Mitigating CO2 emissions of concrete manufacturing through CO2-enabled binder reduction

“…The additional CO 2 emitted and cost incurred during purifying, liquefying and transporting byproduct CO 2 to concrete plants as well as from applying CO 2 treatment to concrete were included in our calculation [46,[52][53][54]. The CO 2 emitted and material cost incurred nationally from manufacturing concrete in the US can then be estimate by summing CO 2 footprint and material cost of each of the 48 mixtures weighted by its national production volume.…”

Consequential life cycle assessment of carbon capture and utilization technologies within the chemical industry

“…66 On the captive market, the supplier and buyer of a commodity are usually owned by the same entity or distribute the commodity in bulk to a niche market. 66 According to Supekar and Skerlos (2014), 66 the current capacity of merchant CO 2 exceeds the demand and many highpurity sources are currently operating without CO 2 capture and could supply additional demand for CO 2 in the future. In the near-term, a marginal increase in the demand of CO 2 will be satisfied by high-purity sources currently operating without capture of CO 2 .…”

“…Matching with the amount of the near-and long-term scenarios leads to the marginal suppliers for each scenario. For the near-term scenario, the marginal supply of CO 2 is from fermentation, 66 bioenergy, 68 production of H 2 66 and production of ammonia. 66 For the longterm scenario, the marginal supply of CO 2 is from the production of ammonia, 66 iron and steel, 69 ethylene 70 and cement.…”

“…For the near-term scenario, the marginal supply of CO 2 is from fermentation, 66 bioenergy, 68 production of H 2 66 and production of ammonia. 66 For the longterm scenario, the marginal supply of CO 2 is from the production of ammonia, 66 iron and steel, 69 ethylene 70 and cement. 71 The relative share of each supplier in the total supply (marginal mix) is calculated based on the potentially suppliable amount of CO 2 .…”