Paulownia and switchgrass are two important short-rotation energy crops for biofuel production and power generation. Paulownia is a fast-growing wood and switchgrass is a perennial warm season grass. Both of them are C4 carbon fixation crops, which are more efficient in photosynthetic activity than C3 carbon fixation crops and make them ideal candidates for combustion fuel sources. A life cycle assessment (LCA) study was carried out to evaluate the environmental impacts of power generation from paulownia and switchgrass. This research aims at identifying cost-effective wood/grass conversion pathways that have low environmental implications. The results show that the two pathways of paulownia and switchgrass conversion cause both low environmental impacts and electricity production costs. The comparative technology evaluation also shows significant differences in the environmental impacts of different utilization strategies of the same feedstock. Different effects of cultivation, transportation and pelletization of paulownia and switchgrass will be discussed in detail. Various methods of direct burning, gasification, combined heat and power (CHP) and co-firing with coal will be evaluated in the pathways of power generation based on the small-scale, biomass-fuelled power plants.
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