Early-stage LCA of a novel fuel flexible CHP technology based on biomass gasification and a SOFC

To mitigate climate change and reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, more efficient energy production is necessary. Combined heat and power systems (CHPs) are a key technology to reach such an objective, due to its higher energy efficiency than the separate production of heat and electricity. These environmental benefits can be enhanced by using a versatile energy source, such as biomass. The H2020 Hieff-BioPower project is developing an innovative medium-scale biomass CHP technology based on biomass gasification combined with solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). This technology shall reach a high gross electric and overall energy efficiencies (40% and 90% respectively) and is expected to achieve equal-zero gaseous and PM emissions. This study analyses the expected environmental performance of producing heat and electricity with such a technology, using environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The analysis investigates the cradle-to-gate impacts considering different biomass feedstocks and including the manufacturing of the main power plant components (gasifier, gas cleaning unit, SOFC). The preliminary results indicate environmental improvements when compared with state of the art technologies such as internal combustion engines and organic Rankine cycle CHPs.