Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION, cilt.129, ss.478-490, 2016 (SCI-Expanded)
Coal, a major source for electricity generation in many regions, is expected to keep its position among global energy sources in the next two decades. There are significant life cycle impacts of coal used for electricity generation such as heavy metal emissions and acidification. Impacts related to the combustion phase have so far been the focus of attention and are better documented than other phases of the life cycle. Relatively less attention has been paid to impacts of mining and coal preparation processes at mining sites due to generation of large quantities of wastewater, particulate matter and heavy metal emissions, and the use of heavy machinery which is energy-intensive. To this date, there are only a few studies specifically addressing impacts associated with the mining and coal preparation phases in the open literature. To further advance our understanding of the scale of impacts during these phases, this paper presents a life cycle assessment of lignite from extraction phase to the delivery to the power plant based on analysis of high quality data from twelve lignite mining sites that serve major lignite power plants in Turkey. For impacts on land use, four indicators which include erosion resistance, mechanical filtration, groundwater replenishment loss and biotic production, are estimated. Following life cycle impact assessment, two environmental performance improvement alternatives that can be easily implemented in mining sites are evaluated to quantify the potential degree of improvement. These alternatives include dewatering of the slurry waste and recovery of coal, and using biodiesel mixed fuel and watering roads to reduce dust formation. The analyses show that 40% improvement can be realized for ecotoxicity potential to water category through simple changes in mining practices. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.