Life Cycle Assessment of Coal-Fired Power Production - Paperback

by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Nr (Created by)

Coal has the largest share of utility powr generation in the United States, accounting for approximately 56% of all utility-produced electricity (U.S. DOE, 1998). Therefore, understanding the environmental implications of producing electricity from coal is an important component of any plan to reduce total emissions and resource consumption. A life cycle assessment (LCA) on the production of electricity from coal was performed in order to examine the environmental aspects of current future pulverized coal boiler systems. Three systems were examined: 1) a plant that represents the average emissions and efficiency of currently operating coal-fired power plants in the U.S. (this tells us about the status quo), 2) a new coal-fired power plant that meets the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), and 3) a highly advanced coal-fired power plant utilizing a low emission boiler system (LEBS).