Life cycle assessment of energy and value-added product generation from biomass by pyrolysis

The sustainable management of biomass waste from food and raw materials is a critical issue today. Meanwhile, global energy demand is constantly increasing with the rapidly growing population and industrialization. Today, most of the energy used is still fossil fuels, and this dominance is a significant obstacle to the sustainable energy transition. The European Green Deal aims to make a sustainable economy possible by drawing attention to the transformation of climate and environmental problems brought about by these problems. At this point, pyrolysis technology offers a promising solution. It provides a cleaner way of waste management by providing valuable chemicals from biomass waste and energy generation. It enables us to use resources efficiently in line with the principles of circular economy. In this study, the environmental performance of a biomass waste pyrolysis plant, which obtains energy and valuable products by pyrolysis of biomass waste, was evaluated using the life cycle assessment methodology, and scenarios in which energy is assessed in different ways were discussed. In addition, changes in environmental impacts of this clean production plant, which contributes to the circular bioeconomy, were examined in the changing 2030 and 2053 electricity projections. The results show that environmental impacts are mainly due to the electricity consumption used in the production processes throughout the life cycle and the exhaust emissions of the cogeneration unit, and the system has the potential to make a positive contribution to abiotic depletion potential by producing activated carbon from biochar and converting biomass into energy.