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Sustainability accounting for the construction and operation of a plant‐scale solar‐biogas heating system based on emergy analysis
Author(s) -
Cheng Jia,
Zhang Congguang,
Sun Jiaming,
Qiu Ling
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.4543
Subject(s) - emergy , sustainability , biogas , raw material , environmental science , environmental sustainability index , manure , environmental engineering , waste management , agricultural science , engineering , agronomy , ecology , biology
Summary Domestic heating systems have long been playing a significant role in China's energy structure. The sustainability of a hybrid solar‐biogas heating system (SBHS) under various feedstock fermentation scenarios was evaluated using emergy analysis. Representative emergy indices such as transformities, emergy yield ratio (EYR), environmental loading ratio (ELR), emergy sustainability index (ESI), ratio of waste treatment (%W), feedback yield ratio (FYR), and emission mitigation intensity (EMI; g/10 10 sej) were selected to evaluate the sustainability performance of different feedstock scenarios including cow dung (CD), swine manure (SM), and poultry manure (PM). The results showed that PM fermentation scenario had greater market competitiveness, lower environmental pressure, better sustainability, and self‐organizing ability than the other two options. However, both the emergy efficiency and the CO 2 emissions mitigation intensity of PM scenario were worse than that of the SM and CD. Moreover, compared with other biogas systems and traditional agricultural systems, the hybrid SBHS was proved to be a promising mode for the treatment of rural manure waste with favorable economic benefits and environmental sustainability.