Search results for "Biomass boiler"
showing 4 items of 4 documents
Energy and environmental impacts of Energy related products (ErP): a case study of biomass-fuelled systems
2014
Abstract Energy-related Products (ErP) account for a large proportion of European energy and natural resource consumption. In 2007, ErP were responsible for the consumption of about 239 Mtoe of electricity and about 555 Mtoe of fuels. In order to reduce the energy and environmental impacts of these products, the European Commission published the Directive 2009/125/EC on the eco-design of ErP. This Directive represents a key component of European policy for improving the energy and environmental performances of products in the internal market. In this context, it is important to develop scientific research aimed at assessing the energy and environmental impacts of ErP, and at defining their …
A Constructal Law optimization of a boiler inspired by Life Cycle thinking
2018
Abstract The aim of the paper is to explore how design optimization contributes to a technology's ecological evolution. The article develops this concept through an application of Constructal Law, used to account for the “evolution” of technologies design (configuration, shape, structure, pattern, rhythm), and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), used for quantifying the environmental impacts of the design choices. The combination of both methods assesses how technology evolution affects the environment during its life, extending the concept of evolution of design. The study is applied to a case study of a real biomass boiler. The study analyses basic case and a series of alternative scenarios opti…
Introducing exergy analysis in life cycle assessment: A case study
2018
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a methodology for assessing the potential environmental aspects associated with a product or service along its life cycle. However, in the case of energy technologies, it is suggested that the LCA of a product encompasses also further aspects other than environmental aspects and primary energy calculations. In particular, to optimize the reduction of raw materials during the whole life cycle, it is important to introduce the assessment of the irreversibility, applying the exergy analysis. In this paper, an integrated approach of exergy analysis and LCA is proposed, developing the Life-cycle quality index able to suggest potential exergy inefficiencies and the …
Embodied energy and environmental impacts of a biomass boiler: a life cycle approach
2015
The 2030 policy framework for climate and energy, proposed by the European Commission, aims towards the reduction of European greenhouse gas emissions by 40% in comparison to the 1990 level and to increase the share of renewable energy of at least the 27% of the European's energy consumption of 2030. The use of biomass as sustainable and renewable energy source may be a viable tool for achieving the above goals. However, renewable energy technologies are not totally clean because they cause energy and environmental impacts during their life cycle, and in particular they are responsible of air pollutant emissions. In this context, the paper assesses the energy and environmental impacts of a …