Comparative analysis of life cycle assessment of biogas-powered and coal-powered power plant for optimized environmental operation

The major concerns that mankind faces today are limited reserves of conventional energy, growing energy demand, and environmental pollution. This study depicts a comparative analysis done for the life cycle assessment of the biogas-based plant and coal-based plant designed for Bikaji Foods International Ltd., India. OpenLCA version 1.11.0 software was used with the database ecoinvent 3.3 LCIA methods (ReCiPe Midpoint H) to analyze the environmental impact and investigate the effect of the biogas-based plant and the coal-based plant. The functional unit of 1 MJ of energy generated from biogas and coal was selected to represent the results of the production of 15,271,600 MJ of energy. The results for marine eutrophication, particulate matter formation, photochemical oxidant formation and terrestrial acidification for the biogas-based plant were 734.527 kg N-Eq, 6314.012 kg PM₁₀-Eq, 1328.629 kg NMVOC and 3.933E04 kg SO₂-Eq, respectively. Whereas, for coal-based plant, these values were 4919.442 kg N-Eq, 1.962E04 kg PM₁₀-Eq, 6486.987 kg NMVOC and 13.448E04 kg SO₂-Eq, respectively. The greenhouse gas emissions and fossil depletion from the biogas-based plant were found negligible as compared to the coal-based plant. Overall, it was found that the biogas-based plant has a more remunerative impact on the environment than the coal-based plant. This study recommends that local authorities and industrial communities should invest more and more in increasing the number of biogas plants at domestic as well as commercial levels and secure a clean and green future for coming generations.