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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Economic and Environmental Analysis to Evaluate the Potential Value of Co-Optima Diesel Bioblendstocks to Petroleum Refiners

The U.S. petroleum refining sector is undergoing a period of historic transformation, catalyzed by the decarbonization of the U.S. economy. Diesel-boiling-range bioblendstocks have gained traction, owing to their superior fuel properties and environmental performance as compared to traditional petroleum fuels. This work couples refinery linear programming models with life cycle assessment to quantify the potential economic and environmental benefits, and trade-offs, of blending diesel-boiling-range bioblendstocks at petroleum refineries. Linear programming models were developed in Aspen Process Industry Modeling Systems (PIMS) for three representative petroleum refinery configurations of differing complexity. Seven diesel-boiling-range bioblendstocks: 4-butoxyheptane, 5-ethyl-4-propylnonane, soy biodiesel, sludge hydrothermal liquefaction diesel, polyoxymethylene ethers, renewable diesel, and hexyl hexanoate, were investigated to identify key fuel properties that influence refineries' economics and to track the effect of adding bioblendstocks on refinery-wide cradle-to-gate greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. These analyses considered blending levels from 10 to 30 vol% and fuel demand projections over the period 2040 to 2050. This analysis determines that bioblendstock sulfur content and cetane number are the primary fuel attributes with the potential to provide value to refiners. Life cycle assessment results indicate that the use of diesel-boiling-range bioblendstocks can reduce cradle-to-gate refinery GHG emissions by up to ~ 40 % relative to conventional refinery operations when considering carbon uptake in the supply chain of the bioblendstock. Refinery-wide marginal GHG abatement costs range from 120 to 3,600 USD2016/metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent avoided across the scenarios evaluated. Reducing the price of bioblendstocks is identified as a key to their adoption.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,BIOMASS FUELS,ENERGY P↗
DOE OSTI2022

Assessment of oil and gas fields in California as potential CO 2 storage sites

California's total annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (425.3 MtCO 2 e) in 2018 were about 6.4% of the US total (6,677 MtCO 2 e) and around 1% of global emissions. About 39% of 2018 GHG emissions in California were from the industrial and electrical sectors. Many of these emissions were from large stationary point sources and were suitable for carbon capture retrofit with subsequent storage of the captured carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in geological formations. Previous studies of California found suitable geology and CO 2 storage resource. This study refines and furthers prior work using a three-stage screening process of oil fields, gas fields, and underground natural gas storage (UGS) sites by combining criteria from previous studies while excluding sites that pose technical risk or are located in regions with surface restrictions including sensitive habitats and dense populations. In the first stage, 129 CO 2 storage sites in California were identified using qualification criteria based upon formation properties including geological conditions and pore pressure. The second stage identified sensitive sites by applying conservative screens including seismic activity, faulting, population density, restricted lands, and sensitive habitats. During the third stage, 61 CO 2 potential storage sites were identified by subtraction of stage 2 areas from stage 1. The potential storage volume in the third stage ranged from 1.0 to 2.0 GtCO 2 . Finally, we applied a scoring system with seven parameters to rank the 61 potential sites based on subsurface technical criteria. The scored sites are classified as high priority, medium priority, and sites for future study. Prospective CO 2 storage sites with high and moderate priority were selected and linked to CO 2 sources. There are 14 prospective sites (above 20 MtCO 2 storage resource per site) with a total storage resource of 1024 MtCO 2 distributed in Northern and Southern California. Of these sites, there are 9 potential CO 2 -EOR sites and 1 depleted oil field with a total estimated CO 2 storage volume of ~800 MtCO 2 in the Southern San Joaquin and Ventura Basin. These 10 prospective sites with a storage resource greater than 20 MtCO 2 could potentially deliver more than 20 years of storage with an average injection rate of 40 MtCO 2 /year. The remaining 4 highly prospective sites are in Northern California. Additionally, study results suggest that saline formations should be re-evaluated in concert with storage in oil, gas, and natural gas storage reservoirs.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Pathways for Agricultural Decarbonization in the United States

In the United States, agricultural production is both a significant source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) (Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2022) and uniquely susceptible to climate change impacts (Vermeulen et al., 2012). Decarbonization solutions have been proposed for addressing agricultural GHGs; however, research has been limited in synthesizing qualitative and quantitative analysis of potential GHG mitigation solutions in the United States. In this report, we review U.S. agricultural GHG sources by activity and quantify potential mitigation solutions based on a comprehensive data and literature analysis. We also discuss agricultural carbon sequestration options to offset GHG emissions. In our analysis, we identified two significant and hard-to-abate GHG sources (N 2 O from soil management, and CH 4 from enteric fermentation from livestock) as well as high-impact GHG mitigation solutions (e.g. agroforestry, reforestation, and biochar application) and cross-cutting GHG mitigation solutions (renewable energy production, precision agriculture, no-till, integrated nutrient management, and biochar). This report is meant to provide initial analysis and establish a foundation for future agricultural decarbonization research - it is not an exhaustive analysis of all available studies. However, to our knowledge this report is the most comprehensive assessment of agricultural GHG emissions and associated mitigation opportunities in the United States to date. Future empirical research is recommended to close research gaps in different climates, soils, and agricultural systems. Meta-analyses for all mitigation solutions would increase confidence in the estimated GHG mitigation potentials. To conclude this report, we discuss short-term and long-term pathways for agricultural decarbonization in the United States, the importance of accounting for total GHG fluxes, potential co-benefits of agricultural decarbonization, analysis of study data confidence, and research gaps.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Characterizing and quantifying uncertainty in projections of climate change impacts on air quality

Climate change can aggravate air pollution, with important public health and environmental consequences. While major sources of uncertainty in climate change projections - greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions scenario, model response, and internal variability - have been investigated extensively, their propagation to estimates of air quality impacts has not been systematically assessed. Here, we compare these uncertainties using a coupled modeling framework that includes a human activity model, an Earth system model of intermediate complexity, and a global atmospheric chemistry model. Uncertainties in projections of U.S. air quality under 21st century climate change are quantified based on a climate-chemistry ensemble that includes multiple initializations, representations of climate sensitivity, and climate policy scenarios, under constant air pollution emissions. We find that climate-related uncertainties are comparable at mid-century, making it difficult to distinguish the impact of variations in GHG emissions on ozone and particulate matter pollution. While GHG emissions scenario eventually becomes the dominant uncertainty based on the scenarios considered, all sources of uncertainty are significant through the end of the century. The results provide insights into intrinsically different uncertainties in projections of air pollution impacts and the potential for large ensembles to better capture them.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Cradle-to-Grave Lifecycle Analysis of U.S. Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicle-Fuel Pathways: A Greenhouse Gas Emissions Assessment of Current (2021) and Future (2035) Technologies

This study presents a cradle-to-grave lifecycle analysis of energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for U.S. medium- and heavy-duty vehicles across current (2021) and future (2035) technologies using the Greenhouse gas, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies (GREET) model with industry-vetted assumptions. Results vary across vehicle classes but point to common trends: today, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) offer significant (10–60%) GHG emissions reduction compared to diesel internal combustion engine vehicles and are the lowest emissions option per ton-mile of cargo movement, followed by hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) (5–50% emissions reduction). Emissions savings depend largely on the duty cycle and fuel economy of the vehicle type. Future vehicle technology advancements result in comparable emission reductions associated with BEVs and hydrogen FCEVs. Weight-limited BEV trucks see less per-ton-mile emissions reduction due to the impact of battery weight on increased vehicle weight and reduced payload capacity. By 2035, improvements in vehicle efficiency can reduce emissions across all powertrains. However, very low levels of emissions require switching vehicles’ use-phase fuel/energy to low-carbon fuels and electricity. Renewable diesel, e-fuels, hydrogen produced from natural gas with carbon capture and storage or renewables, and use of low-carbon electricity can all achieve over 70% reduction in GHG emissions from the current day diesel-based internal combustion engine vehicle.

alternative fuels↗
DOE OSTI2022

Hydrogen Life-Cycle Analysis in Support of Clean Hydrogen Production

Hydrogen is a basic molecule which is commonly used in the production of chemicals or as an energy carrier or a fuel. Its zero-carbon content means that it does not produce carbon dioxide upon its use. However, depending on the energy source and technology for hydrogen production and delivery, there can be greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the hydrogen for various end use applications. To provide the largest reduction in GHG emissions, hydrogen produced from clean energy sources should be used. As concerns regarding climate change grows, there is an increasing focus on economic production of clean hydrogen to displace less climate neutral sources of hydrogen. However, there are many different methods of hydrogen production with unique processes that result in different levels of life cycle GHG emissions of hydrogen production and its end use applications. Therefore, a comprehensive life cycle accounting methodology that takes all these factors into account is required. he GREET ® (Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies) model was first developed in 1995 by Argonne National Laboratory with the support from the various offices of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). GREET provides in-depth Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) simulations for a variety of products and is available as an Excel spreadsheet (GREET Excel), or as an application (GREET .Net). Both versions are available for public download at no cost. This report accompanies GREET 2022 release to describe the major updates and expansions to the hydrogen technology pathways, and to provide data sources and sample carbon intensity results for each of the pathways.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2024

Life-cycle analysis of hydrogen production from water electrolyzers

The United States' focus on decarbonization has spawned interest among policymakers in deploying water electrolysis technology for clean hydrogen production. However, water electrolyzers also raise concerns regarding their substantial use of carbon-intensive materials. Here, we conduct a comprehensive life-cycle analysis (LCA) of three prominent water electrolyzer technologies to investigate the environmental implications of their manufacturing and life cycles under different energy sources. All electrolyzer technologies employing low-carbon energy (nuclear, solar, or wind) exhibit life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 0.3-2.4 kg-CO 2-eq /kg-H 2 . This is significantly lower than the corresponding GHG emissions for hydrogen production via both conventional steam methane reforming and alternative autothermal reforming with carbon capture and storage (by > 50%). The well-to-gate GHG emissions of low-carbon electrolyzers (0-0.36 kg-CO 2-eq / kg-H 2 ) qualify for Tier I of the production tax credit in the U.S.' Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, indicating their suitability for producing decarbonized hydrogen under this program.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2024

Decarbonizing the US Energy System

Recent rapid and unexpected cost reductions in decarbonization technologies have accelerated the cost-effective decarbonization of the US economy, with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions falling by 20% from 2005 to 2020. The literature on US economy-wide decarbonization focuses on maximizing long-term GHG emissions reduction strategies that rely mostly on renewable energy expansion, electrification, and efficiency improvements to achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. While these studies provide a valuable foundation, further research is needed to properly support decarbonization policy development and implementation. In this review, we identify key decarbonization analysis gaps and opportunities, including issues related to cross-sectoral linkages, spatial and temporal granularity, consumer behavior, emerging technologies, equity and environmental justice, and political economy. We conclude by discussing the implications of these analysis gaps for US decarbonization pathways and how they relate to challenges facing major global emitters.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2021

Evaluation of Contact Resistance and Fin Effectiveness of Enhanced, Brazed "Dogbone" Fin and Serpentine Tube Heat Exchangers for Air Conditioning and Heat Pump Applications

The energy consumption due to air conditioning is projected to increase by 1.3 and 4.5 times by 2050 compared to 2010 for members and non-members of the Organization of Economic Coordination and Development (OECD), respectively. Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions must be carefully managed to minimize their hazardous contribution to climate change. Air conditioners (AC) and heat pumps (HP) contribute with direct GHG emissions through systemic refrigerant leakage, which consequently degrades the system’s performance and therefore increases its indirect GHG emissions as well. To address this issue, the goals of new systems include minimizing leakage risk, using low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants such as natural refrigerants, and increasing system efficiency. This paper presents part of the efforts in the development of a brazed “dogbone” fin to continuous serpentine tube heat exchanger (HX) for AC/HP applications. The main advantages of such technology are: 1) The potential to reduce 90% or more of the tube return-bends brazed joints compared to conventional tube-fin heat exchangers, thus minimizing leakage vulnerability, enabling the use of natural refrigerants like Propane and Ammonia that carry other concerning risks of flammability and toxicity ; and 2) The brazed fin to the tube joints should yield very low contact resistance. In order to quantify and estimate the impacts of contact resistance and fin effectiveness, a numerical-experimental study is investigated. The novel enhanced brazed “dog-bone” fin is compared to an equivalent pressure expanded fin. The results showed that the expanded fin has consistently greater effective heat transfer but greater contact resistance as well. Furthermore, the brazed fins have up to 20% lower pressure drop. The trade-off comparison shows that the thermal-hydraulic ratio between the two fins is equivalent for air velocities below 2m/s; for greater velocities, however, the expanded fin is favored since it has less fin efficiency penalty. For HVAC&R applications, the air velocities are typically low which makes the proposed technology competitive and a viable option in the pursuit of refrigerant leakage reduction.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Meeting sustainable aviation fuel policy targets through first generation corn biorefineries

This paper investigates options to produce low carbon and renewable aviation fuel through existing commercial first generation biorefineries, which could be strategic given the rapid growth of the electric vehicle market for personal mobility. We evaluate the environmental impact of retrofitting a first generation biorefinery to produce aviation fuel through chemical process simulation. The analysis investigates the potential for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and displacing fossil fuel (petroleum-based jet kerosene) in the aviation fuel industry through using corn feedstocks in dry grind biorefineries to convert sugars to 1,4-dimethylcyclooctane (DMCO), which qualifies as renewable jet-A fuel blend and is infrastructure compatible. Further, the average life cycle GHG emissions for a baseline case and a scenario with carbon capture and storage (CCS) of fermentative CO 2 are 36 and 5g CO 2 e/MJ DMCO, respectively. Investment in CCS at the biorefinery and adoption of crop best management practices on farms are essential for mitigating the risks of induced land use change GHG emissions for existing corn biorefineries. DMCO as a low-carbon aviation fuel could be a strategic fuel product for retrofitting existing corn dry grind facilities. For aviation fuel supply, corn dry grind facilities could displace about 12% of jet fuel demand in the near term, which would meet sustainable aviation fuel policy targets. We conclude that corn-to-DMCO shows promise for near-term low-carbon fuel markets in the aviation industry and as a bridge to developing biomass-based jet fuel in the future.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cost of a potential hydrogen-refueling network for heavy-duty vehicles with long-haul application in Germany 2050

Long-distance road-freight transport emits a large share of Germany's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A potential solution for reducing GHG emissions in this sector is to use green hydrogen in fuel cell electric vehicles (FC-HDV) and establish an accompanying hydrogen refueling station (HRS) network. In this paper, we apply an existing refueling network design model to a HDV-HRS network for Germany until 2050 based on German traffic data for heavy-duty trucks and estimate its costs. Comparing different fuel supply scenarios (pipeline vs. on-site), the on-site scenario results show a network consisting of 137 stations at a cost of 8.38 billion € per year in 2050 (0.40 € per vehicle km), while the centralized scenario with the same amount of stations shows a cheaper cost with 7.25 billion euros per year (0.35 € per vehicle km). Finally, the hydrogen cost (LCOH) varies from 5.59 €/kg (pipeline) to 6.47 €/kg (on-site) in 2050.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2024

Anthropogenic aerosols mask increases in US rainfall by greenhouse gases

A comprehensive understanding of human-induced changes to rainfall is essential for water resource management and infrastructure design. However, at regional scales, existing detection and attribution studies are rarely able to conclusively identify human influence on precipitation. Here we show that anthropogenic aerosol and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are the primary drivers of precipitation change over the United States. GHG emissions increase mean and extreme precipitation from rain gauge measurements across all seasons, while the decadal-scale effect of global aerosol emissions decreases precipitation. Local aerosol emissions further offset GHG increases in the winter and spring but enhance rainfall during the summer and fall. Our results show that the conflicting literature on historical precipitation trends can be explained by offsetting aerosol and greenhouse gas signals. At the scale of the United States, individual climate models reproduce observed changes but cannot confidently determine whether a given anthropogenic agent has increased or decreased rainfall.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Approach for energy efficient building design during early phase of design process

Energy consumption in the building sector is about 40% of total energy consumed globally and is trending upwards, along with its contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Given the adverse impacts of GHG emissions, it is crucial to integrate energy efficiency into building designs. The most significant opportunities for enhancing energy performance are present during the initial phases of building design, when there is less impact of other design constraints. Various tools exist for simulating different design options and providing feedback in terms of energy consumption and comfort parameters. These simulation outputs must then be analyzed to derive design solutions. This paper presents an innovative approach that utilizes user input parameters, processes them through cloud computing, and outputs easily understandable strategies for energy-efficient building design. The methodology employs Asynchronous Distributed Task Queues (DTQ) - a more scalable and reliable alternative to conventional speedup techniques-for conducting parametric energy simulations in the cloud. The goal of this approach is to assist design teams in identifying, visualizing, and prioritizing energy-saving design strategies from a range of possible solutions for each project. Furthermore, a tool ‘eDOT’ has been developed utilizing the discussed methodology. Unlike existing tools, eDOT leverages artificial intelligence to dynamically generate and provide design strategies during the early phases of design process. By simplifying the simulation process, eDOT enables design teams to make informed, data-driven decisions without needing to interpret complex simulation outputs. A case study simulated for two locations is provided in this paper to demonstrate the effectiveness of eDOT, further underscoring its practical impact on energy-efficient building design.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Techno-economic performances and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of various ammonia production pathways including conventional, carbon-capturing, nuclear-powered, and renewable production

Ammonia (NH 3 ) is conventionally produced using fossil natural gas (NG) for hydrogen production through steam reformation and synthesis in the Haber–Bosch (HB) process. The global conventional ammonia production contributes more than 420 million tons of CO 2 emissions annually. Here, in this work, we investigated the techno-economics and well-to-plant-gate (WTG) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of conventional NG-based, carbon-capturing, nuclear-powered, and renewable ammonia production by developing an engineering process model for each. Carbon-capturing ammonia production refers to the NG-based ammonia production while capturing CO 2 and transporting it via pipelines for storage or utilization. Nuclear-powered and renewable ammonia production represents an alternative ammonia production through water electrolysis, air separation, and the HB process using carbon-free energy sources. Nuclear and renewable energy sources are assumed to be used for nuclear-powered and renewable ammonia production, respectively. Sensitivity analyses are performed for CO 2 pipeline transport distances, potential carbon capture tax credits, and clean H 2 production cost. Carbon-capturing ammonia production reduces WTG GHG emissions by 55–70% compared to conventional NG-based ammonia production methods. Nuclear-powered and renewable ammonia production almost eliminate GHG emissions since energy supply is either zero carbon or near-zero carbon. However, when $4.16–4.83 per kg is the cost assumed for clean H 2 production using state-of-the-art electrolysis technologies, the levelized costs of nuclear-powered and renewable ammonia are calculated to be $0.92–1.06 per kg NH 3 , which are approximately four times higher than the conventional NG-based ammonia production cost. The cost of CO 2 emission avoidance is estimated in the range of $266–318 per metric ton of CO 2 for nuclear-powered and renewable ammonia production. The clean H 2 production cost is the major contributor to the levelized costs of nuclear-powered and renewable ammonia production. A lower production cost, near $1 per kg H 2 , for clean H 2 is required for nuclear-powered and renewable ammonia production to be cost-competitive with conventional NG-based ammonia production.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Life Cycle Analysis of Renewable Natural Gas and Lactic Acid Production from Waste Feedstocks

Producing fuels and chemicals from waste is considered economically favorable, due to low feedstock cost, and environmentally favorable, due to avoided emissions from conventional waste management practices. In this study, we evaluate the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction benefits of renewable natural gas (RNG) and lactic acid (LA) production from four types of wet waste feedstocks (wastewater sludge, food waste, swine manure, and fats, oil, and grease [FOG]) via anaerobic digestion (AD) and LA fermentation, respectively. RNG can be used as an alternative to fossil natural gas, while LA from waste feedstocks can displace conventional LA production pathways (mainly from corn via fermentation). Providing comprehensive life cycle GHG emissions of the combinations of waste feedstocks and products through different routes helps identify the GHG hotspots and show where emissions savings come from. The results show that the carbon intensities (CIs) of waste-derived RNG and LA are much lower than those of their counterparts. We estimated the life cycle GHG emissions for RNG to be between -146 and 27 g carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)/MJ, much lower than the CI of fossil fuels. Waste-derived LA pathways also show substantially lower CIs, ranging from -4.2 to -1.4 kgCO2e/kg LA, compared to the CIs of LA from corn and corn stover (1.2 and 0.3 kgCO2e/kg LA, respectively). We will also discuss that the low CIs of waste-derived products can come from low yields leading to high emission credits. Thus, life cycle analysis results presented per weight of treated waste can be used to support decisions about which waste feedstocks and products are to be used for sustainable waste valorization. In addition, we found that monetary emission reduction credits can play an important role in driving waste valorization.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Optimizing bioenergy biofuel harvest: a comparative analysis of stepwise and integrated methods for economic and environmental sustainability

Switchgrass is a promising bioenergy feedstock due to its high biomass yield potential, adaptability to marginal lands, and low carbon intensity for feedstock production. However, accurate cost estimation and assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the energy-intensive harvesting process are essential for evaluating the sustainability of bioenergy. This study provides a comparative analysis of two harvesting methods: the Stepwise Method, which separates operations into multiple stages, and the Integrated Method, which combines mowing and raking into a single pass. The analysis was conducted under four scenarios based on field sizes and biomass yields. Using three years of field-scale switchgrass harvest data from 125 sites, GHG emissions, energy consumption, and harvesting costs were quantified using the GREET model and techno-economic analysis. Additionally, regression analysis identified key climate and operational factors affecting fuel consumption. The Stepwise method was the most cost-effective for large fields with high biomass yield, achieving the lowest harvesting costs ($37.70 per ton). In contrast, the Integrated Method performed better in small fields and low-yield conditions, reducing GHG emissions by 9 % and energy use by 5 %. Regression analysis confirmed that a larger field size reduced fuel consumption, while higher biomass yield and longer operational time increased fuel use. Maximum temperature also contributed to a slight increase in fuel consumption. Furthermore, these results provide actionable insights for optimizing harvesting strategies based on field-specific conditions and operational goals, contributing to the economic and environmental sustainability of bioenergy production.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Supply Chain Energy and Greenhouse Gas Analysis Using the Materials Flows through Industry (MFI) Tool: Examination of Decarbonization Technology Scenarios for the U.S. Glass Manufacturing Sector

Glass manufacturing is a major part of the U.S. economy, and glass products in multiple sectors - flat glass, container glass, and fiberglass - are a part of everyday life. Despite glass manufacturing's long history, there are still many opportunities for glass production to improve in terms of both in overall energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction. Scenarios for the flat, container, and fiberglass sectors show the effect that each improvement has on primary energy demand and GHG emissions, starting from an industry baseline that reflects current manufacturing practices. Using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Material Flows through Industry tool, multiple scenarios are examined for each glass sector by applying a combination of energy reduction, increased electrification, hydrogen cofiring, a more renewable electric grid, and increased use of cullet. Additional decarbonization options are possible for glass but are left for later analysis due to cost, feasibility, or data issues. Primary energy demand can be reduced by 75%-83% compared to baseline inputs, depending on the sector, and GHG emissions are reduced by 82%-86%. Applying the maximum level of improvements listed here has the potential to save over 300 million GJ and 25 million metric tons of GHGs by 2050.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Environmental and Economic Assessments and Uncertainties of Multiple Lignocellulosic Biomass Utilization for Bioenergy Products: Case Studies

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) were applied to assess the economic feasibility and environmental benefits of utilizing multiple biomass feedstocks for bioenergy products under three different technological pathways with consideration of uncertainties. Three cases were studied for the production of pellets, biomass-based electricity, and pyrolysis bio-oil. A Monte Carlo simulation was used to examine the uncertainties of fossil energy consumption, bioenergy conversion efficiency, stochastic production rate, etc. The cradle-to-gate LCA results showed that pellet production had the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water and fossil fuels consumption (8.29 kg CO2 eq (equivalent), 0.46 kg, and 105.42 MJ, respectively). The conversion process presented a greater environmental impact for all three bioenergy products. When producing 46,929 Mg of pellets, 223,380 MWh of electricity, and 78,000 barrels of pyrolysis oil, the net present values (NPV) indicated that only pellet and electricity production were profitable with NPVs of $1.20 million for pellets, and $5.59 million for biopower. Uncertainty analysis indicated that pellet production showed the highest uncertainty in GHG emission, and bio-oil production had the least uncertainty in GHG emission but had risks producing greater-than-normal amounts of GHG. Biopower production had the highest probability to be a profitable investment with 85.23%.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗