Thermochemical liquefaction of agricultural and forestry wastes into biofuels and chemicals from circular economy perspectives
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
Authors: Song, Chengfang; Zhang, Cheng; Zhang, Shicheng; Lin, Hui; Kim, Yrjala; Ramakrishnan, Muthusamy; Du, Yanqiang; Zhang, Yan; Zheng, Huabao; Barcelo, Damia
Abstract
Waste produced in various fields and activities in society has been increasing, thereby causing immediate environmental harm and a serious-global problem. Recently, the attitude towards waste has changed along with innovations making waste as a new resource. Agricultural and forestry wastes (AFWs) are globally produced in huge amounts and thought to be an important resource to be used for decreasing the dependence on fossil fuels. The central issue is to take use of AFW for different types of products making it a source of energy and at the same time refining it for the production of valuable chemicals. In this review, we present an overview of the composition and pretreatment of AFINs, thermochemical liquefaction including direct liquefaction and indirect liquefaction (liquid products from syngas by gasification) for producing biofuels and/or chemicals. The following two key points were discussed in-depth: the solvent or medium of thermochemical conversion and circular economy of liquid products. The concept of bio-economy entails economic use of waste streams, leading to the widened assessment of biomass use for energy where sustainability is a key issue coined in the circular economy. The smart use of AFWs requires a combination of available waste streams and local technical solutions to meet sustainability criteria. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Modeling China's interprovincial electricity transmission under low carbon transition
APPLIED ENERGY
Authors: Zhang, Qiang; Chen, Wenying
Abstract
Interprovincial electricity transmission is expected to play an important role towards low carbon transition to facilitate new and renewable energy development in West China to meet the increasing electricity demand in East China. To analyze changes in interprovincial electricity transmission and transmission infrastructure construction under China's Nationally Determined Contributions and the 2-degree target, this study develops an interprovincial electricity transmission model with multi-voltage levels and integrates it with an improved 30province energy system model to simulate reference scenario (REF) and three low carbon scenarios from a whole energy system perspective, CP30 (emissions peak in 2030), CPE (emissions peak in advance) and C2D (2-degree target). In 2050, electricity transmission is expected to increase to 2526.5 TWh, 3299.3 TWh, 3714.2 TWh and 4002.0 TWh under the REF, CP30, CPE and C2D scenarios, respectively, and the ultrahigh-voltage transmission demand is expected to reach 595.5 GW, 843.3 GW 917.0 GW and 1198.0 GW respectively. The overall pattern of electricity transmission will become increasingly complex as long-distance and large-capacity transmission becomes more prominent. Inner Mongolia, Northwest China and Southwest China will be the major sources of electricity transmissions, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Guangdong, Central China and East China will be the major importers. Ultrahigh-voltage lines will form large-capacity and long-distance electricity transmission paths connecting the power generation bases and load centers. These findings suggest that there will be a significant increase in the demand for electricity transmission and infrastructure construction in the future and that the policies promoting ultrahigh-voltage lines development should be enhanced.