Assessment of the Environmental Impact of Biomass Electricity Generation in Thailand

This paper presents the results of the environmental impact assessment into the electricity generation process by means of bagasse fuelled biomass power plants in Thailand, using the life cycle assessment (LCA) tool. The environmental aspects of concern included Human Health, Ecosystem Quality and Resource Depletion. The environmental impact results were calculated in terms of eco-points (Pt) per functional unit of 1 kWh. The characterised data for 1 kWh of bagasse electricity generation was compared with data for 1 kWh of combined cycle and thermal electricity generation in Thailand, using the same set of characterisation factors. Two scenarios for bagasse were evaluated: production of bagasse and usage of bagasse. In production of bagasse, environmental impacts depended significantly upon the diesel consumption for tractors on farms, fertilizers and pesticides used for cane cultivation, diesel consumption for cane and bagasse transportation. Overall this stage was found to have a greater impact upon the environment when compared to the second stage of generating electricity using bagasse. Furthermore, the overall environmental impact caused by bagasse electricity generation was found to have the lowest environmental impact when compared with combined cycle and thermal electricity generation in Thailand