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Environmental impact assessment of electricity production from lignite
Author(s) -
Nanaki Evanthia A.,
Koroneos Christopher J.,
Xydis George A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
environmental progress and sustainable energy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.495
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1944-7450
pISSN - 1944-7442
DOI - 10.1002/ep.12427
Subject(s) - life cycle assessment , renewable energy , environmental science , greenhouse gas , electricity , electricity generation , fossil fuel , environmental impact assessment , global warming , environmental protection , natural resource economics , climate change , environmental engineering , production (economics) , waste management , engineering , economics , ecology , power (physics) , physics , electrical engineering , quantum mechanics , macroeconomics , biology
Lignite is by far the most used fuel in Greece for the production of electricity as there are large reserves in the country. The high emissions of global warming gases have led to the need for the adaptation of measures and initiatives to reduce emissions in the Greek energy system for the period up to 2030. It is imperative that an environmental policy and measures are implemented to limit CO 2 emissions towards the Kyoto targets. The objective of this work is to analyze the environmental impacts associated with the atmospheric emissions and other wastes that are produced during the extraction, transportation, and use of lignite for electricity production in Greece using the methodology of life cycle assessment. The results presented here indicate that the most significant emission's reduction can be made from technology substitution. The introduction of advanced fossil fuel technologies can also lead to improvements in life‐cycle GHG emissions. NOx, SO 2 , and PM emissions from the lignite life cycle, contributing to the respiratory effects impact category (21.1–28.3%), have a bigger impact than the climate change (10–32.7%) and acidification/eutrophication effects (2.17–3.82%). As per Greece's National Renewable Energy Policy the penetration of renewable energy sources in country's energy mix is investigated. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 35: 1868–1875, 2016