Abstract

Several small-scale pyrolysis plants have been installed on Swedish farms and uptake is increasing in the Nordic countries. Pyrolysis plants convert biomass to biochar for agricultural applications and syngas for heating applications. These projects are driven by ambitions of achieving carbon dioxide removal, reducing environmental impacts, and improving farm finances and resilience. Before policy support for on-farm pyrolysis projects is implemented, a comprehensive environmental evaluation of these systems is needed. Here, a model was developed to jointly: (i) simulate operation of on-farm energy systems equipped with pyrolysis units; (ii) estimate biochar production potential and its variability under different energy demand situations and designs; and (iii) calculate life cycle environmental impacts. The model was applied to a case study farm in Sweden. The farm's heating system achieved net carbon dioxide removal through biochar carbon sequestration, but increased its impact in several other environmental categories, mainly due to increased biomass throughput. Proper dimensioning of heat constrained systems is key to ensure optimal biochar production, as biochar production potential of the case farm was reduced under expected climate change in Sweden. To improve the environmental footprint of future biochar systems, it is crucial that expected co-benefits from biochar use in agriculture are realised. The model developed here is available for application to other cases. (c) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Keywords

Biochar; Pyrolysis; Farm; Energy system modelling; Life cycle assessment; Potential

Published in

Journal of Cleaner Production
2021, Volume: 280, article number: 124873
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCI LTD

SLU Authors

• Karltun, Erik

  • Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Sundberg, Cecilia

  • Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)

Sustainable Development Goals

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts


UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124873

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/110407