Abstract
Bagasse-based electricity is gaining attention as an affordable, reliable, sustainable, and promising renewable energy source in Pakistan. Therefore, the focus of this analysis was to identify the environmental burdens associated with bagasse-based electricity production via high-pressure cogeneration. The scope of this study was defined as cradle to gate; involving cane production, cane transportation to the mill, the production of bagasse, and then the burning of bagasse in the cogeneration power plant to produce electricity. The overall results revealed that most of the impacts were contributed by the agricultural phase. For some impact categories—such as global warming, fine particulate matter formation, terrestrial acidification, and fossil resource scarcity—the bagasse-based electricity performed better than the grid mix electricity. However, the grid mix electricity performed better than the bagasse-based electricity in terms of eutrophication, land use, and water consumption. When considering the final damage, the bagasse-based electricity proved to be the favorable option in terms of human health and resource availability; however, ecosystem quality was poor in bagasse-based electricity. In terms of environmental prices, the bagasse-based electricity was found to be a promising option compared to the grid mix electricity.
Highlights
IntroductionThe government of Pakistan is endeavoring to explore affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy sources [1,2]
To achieve the ambitious and time-bound targets of the United Nation’s Sustainable DevelopmentGoals, the government of Pakistan is endeavoring to explore affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy sources [1,2]
This study aims to analyze the environmental sustainability of bagasse-based electricity by quantifying its environmental impacts and economic performance by quantifying the environmental price of bagasse-based electricity production via high-pressure cogeneration in a life cycle perspective
Summary
The government of Pakistan is endeavoring to explore affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy sources [1,2]. The country aims to increase the share of renewables in the grid mix of Pakistan (i.e., national electricity produced from multiple energy sources) up to thirty percent by. The government considered exploring numerous alternative options to fulfill the current and future energy demand. In this regard, the substantial potential of renewable sources within the country was acknowledged. A significant proportion of the energy demand can be met by these indigenous renewable sources, such as agricultural residues, on a commercial basis by deploying the appropriate technologies [3]
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