Gasification of Wood Biomass: A Sustainable Pathway Towards Energy Recovery and Biochar Production

The growing urgency to address environmental challenges and transition to sustainable energy solutions has heightened attention towards alternative energy sources and waste management strategies. In this study, a gasification process for wood biomass waste is explored as a treatment for renewable energy generation and biochar production. The gasification plant has a capacity of treating 85kg of wood chips with an installed power of 80kWe, to produce electricity in the form of hot water with a power of 160kWt and 2.92kg of biochar. Three different scenarios were compared, focusing on wood biomass waste management and environmental implications. The feasibility of using dry and wet wood biomass, biomass waste as input or direct cultivation of biomass investigated with exploring how these different conditions impact the efficiency of the process and the quality of the produced gas and biochar. To provide quantitative evaluation of the environmental profile of the three scenarios, life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was applied as it can significantly assist in making informed decisions toward sustainability. Life cycle inventory models were developed for the main gasification stages mainly employing primary data. Impact assessment has been carried out for a set of environmental midpoint categories. The results show that the base scenario modelling biomass waste as feedstock to gasification is preferable for all the impact categories considered, as representatively shown by the potential contribution to global warming midpoint. However, net preference for base scenario should be considered when transportation of biomass waste exceed 339 km, with theoretical distance for scenarios breakeven. At lower distances, a centralized gasification plant supplied by local biomass waste producers could be preferred than setting an integrated system, in which biomass cultivation, its further processing, and gasification are implemented.