Nonrenewable Energy Cost and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of a “Pig-Biogas-Fish” System in China

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the energy savings and emission reductions of the present rural biogas system in China. The life cycle assessment (LCA) method is used to analyze a “pig-biogas-fish” system in Jingzhou, Hubei Province, China. The nonrenewable energy cost and the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the system, including the pigsty, the biogas digester, and the fishpond, are taken into account. The border definition is standardized because of the utilization of the database in this paper. The results indicate that the nonrenewable energy consumption intensity of the “pig-biogas-fish” system is 0.60 MJ/MJ and the equivalent CO2 emission intensity is 0.05 kg CO2-eq/MJ. Compared with the conventional animal husbandry system, the “pig-biogas-fish” system shows high renewability and GHG reduction benefit, which indicates that the system is a scientific and environmentally friendly chain combining energy and ecology.

A Review of Key Technologies and Trends in the Development of Integrated Heating and Power Systems in Agriculture

“…The “pig-biogas-fish” ecosystem in Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, China was analyzed using a life cycle assessment (LCA) method. The non-renewable energy consumption intensity of the system was lower than the traditional animal husbandry system and it displayed a better renewability and greenhouse gas emission reduction capacity [ 102 ]. Ventilation of a poultry house is also one of the energy-consuming activities of animal husbandry.…”

Constructing joint production chains: An enterprise input-output approach for alternative energy use

“…Waste input-output (WIO) models are also developed to compare life cycle strategies of products (Kondo and Nakamura, 2004); to compute the life cycle costs of appliances (Nakamura and Kondo, 2006); and to measure environmental impacts of waste treatment (Lin, 2009). Similarly, Yang et al (2012) evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a rural biogas system using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach.…”

Sustainability accounting for the construction and operation of a plant‐scale solar‐biogas heating system based on emergy analysis

“…18,23,24 These methods have their own merits and demerits, and they can solve problems from different aspects. Moreover, biophysical methods have been widely used in the field of renewable energy, such as biogas, 25,26 biodiesel, 27 wind power, 28 and solar power. 29 Among these methods, emergy analysis is proved to be an effective method that can measure both external purchases and environmental inputs, which are often ignored in other evaluation methods.…”