A comparative life cycle assessment review of conventional pulverized coal-fired electricity generation and underground coal gasification (UCG) linked with an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC)

Abstract

In a global climate where sustainable development is being prioritized for the benefit of current and future generations, it is necessary to make informed decisions about the type of technologies being deployed. Because coal plays such a significant role in the generation of electricity, understanding the impact it has on the environment is an important part of understanding energy and environmental issues in general. To this end, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed on two methods of electricity generation which employ coal as a primary source of energy. This assessment focused on the impacts from the power plants such as the emissions, resource consumption, and energy use of all processes required for the power plant to operate, including any necessary waste disposal and material recycling. Two technologies were selected. A PCC plant which represents the average emissions and efficiencies of currently operating coal-fired power plants in the world, and an IGCC plant which uses combustible gas derived from an UCG plant, hence a UCG-IGCC plant. The results of the LCA suggest that UCG-IGCC technology is more sustainable than the conventional PCC technology. The results yielded significant reductions in environmental stressors related to air, water, resource consumption and waste used in the impact assessment. Ultimately, LCA can be seen to be an ideal integrated environmental management tool to facilitate decision making on competing technologies to be deployed by assessing them throughout their entire life cycles