Realizing the goal of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 2 degrees C by the end of this century will most likely require deployment of carbon-negative technologies. It is particularly important that China, as the world's top carbon emitter, avoids being locked into carbon-intensive, coal-fired power-generation technologies and undertakes a smooth transition from high- to negative-carbon electricity production. We focus here on deploying a combination of coal and biomass energy to produce electricity in China using an integrated gasification cycle system combined with carbon capture and storage (CBECCS). Such a system will also reduce air pollutant emissions, thus contributing to China's near-term goal of improving air quality. We evaluate the bus-bar electricity-generation prices for CBECCS with mixing ratios of crop residues varying from 0 to 100%, as well as associated costs for carbon mitigation and cobenefits for air quality. We find that CBECCS systems employing a crop residue ratio of 35% could produce electricity with net-zero life-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases, with a levelized cost of electricity of no more than 9.2 US cents per kilowatt hour. A carbon price of approximately $52.0 per ton would make CBECCS cost-competitive with pulverized coal power plants. Therefore, our results provide critical insights for designing a CBECCS strategy in China to harness near-term air-quality cobenefits while laying the foundation for achieving negative carbon emissions in the long run.
1.Tsinghua Univ, Sch Environm, State Key Joint Lab Environm Simulat & Pollut Con, Beijing 10084, Peoples R China 2.Tsinghua Univ, State Environm Protect Key Lab Sources & Control, Beijing 10084, Peoples R China 3.Univ Queensland, Sch Chem Engn, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia 4.Nanjing Univ, Sch Environm, State Key Lab Pollut Control & Resource Reuse, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, Peoples R China 5.Penn State Univ, Sch Int Affairs, University Pk, PA 16802 USA 6.Penn State Univ, Dept Civil & Environm Engn, University Pk, PA 16802 USA 7.Lawrence Berkeley Natl Lab, Energy Anal & Environm Impacts Div, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA 8.Huazhong Univ Sci & Technol, Sch Energy & Power Engn, Dept New Energy Sci & Technol, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, Peoples R China 9.Huazhong Univ Sci & Technol, China EU Inst Clean & Renewable Energy, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, Peoples R China 10.Harvard Univ, John A Paulson Sch Engn & Appl Sci, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA 11.Harvard Univ, Dept Earth & Planetary Sci, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
Recommended Citation:
Lu, Xi,Cao, Liang,Wang, Haikun,et al. Gasification of coal and biomass as a net carbon-negative power source for environment-friendly electricity generation in China[J]. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,2019-01-01,116(17):8206-8213