Browsing by Author "Cabal, Helena"
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Item Evolution of NOx and SO2 emissions in Spain: Ceilings versus taxes(2015-02-21) García-Gusano, Diego; Cabal, Helena; Lechón, Yolanda; PLANIFICACIÓN ENERGÉTICAEven though significant NOx and SO2 emissions reductions have been observed in Spain during last decade, there is a strong commitment to keep reducing the levels of pollution in order to improve air quality standards. This work has been carried out to ease the lack of National Emission Ceilings Directive (NECD) assessments at country level. The Spanish case has been used as illustrative of the European Union. The evolution of NOx and SO2 emissions has been analysed in depth using the TIMES-Spain energy optimisation model. The work has been structured into three parts. First, the implementation of the NECD and the consequences both on the evolution of NOx and SO2 emissions, and the electricity production mix; second, taxation on these pollutants has been modelled and discussed; and finally, the proposed "2013 EU Clean Air Package" ceilings to update NECD have been assessed. Results showed that meeting NECD targets would involve a high contribution of renewable sources to the electricity system, mainly wind and solar. In addition, NOx and SO2 taxation has been assessed. Results showed that taxes on pollutants led to lower emissions than using NECD. Hence, current ceilings are not strict enough to internalise all the environmental damages associated to those pollutants. In consequence, the suitability of the NECD has been discussed by means of the new ceilings included in the EU Clean Air Policy Package. Results showed that proposed reductions are insufficient to compensate the environmental damages especially in the short term.Item Ex post and prospective analyses of renewable policies in Spain(2015) Cabal, Helena; Lechón, Yolanda; Caldés, Natalia; de la Rúa, Cristina; García-Gusano, Diego; Lípez-Bernabé, Elena; López-Dóriga, Inés; Santamaría, Marta; PLANIFICACIÓN ENERGÉTICAIn this work, socioeconomic and environmental impacts associated to energy technologies in the current and future Spanish Energy System have been estimated. This information has provided the base from which to conduct two kinds of analyses. First, an Ex post analysis of renewable policies in Spain, where the net impact on social welfare associated to the progressive introduction of those energies in the energy system has been assessed using a partial cost-benefit analysis. Then, a prospective analysis of the Spanish energy system where the optimum energy mix, which leads to the largest social welfare under different energy scenarios, taking into account a medium-long term time horizon (2035), has been estimated using the national energy optimization model TIMES-Spain. The results of the Ex post analysis of the period 2005–2012 show an increase on social welfare due to the introduction of renewable energies. Nevertheless, when assessing the total expenditure of renewables support policies, the results show this support exceeds the economic value of the socioeconomic and environmental externalities calculated in this work. The prospective analysis results for the period 2010–2035 definitely recommend a support for renewable electricity generation technologies and the redesigning of renewables support policies to better reflect their external benefits with respect to the fossil alternatives.Item Life Cycle Assessment of applying CO2 post-combustion capture to the Spanish cement production(2015-10-01) García-Gusano, Diego; Garraín, Daniel; Herrera, Israel; Cabal, Helena; Lechón, Yolanda; PLANIFICACIÓN ENERGÉTICAAlthough cement production is a very energy-intensive industry which releases huge amounts of pollutants to the environment, there is a lack of environmental studies focused on applying CO2 capture technologies to mitigate global warming in this industry. Furthermore, other environmental and human health impacts are omitted or underestimated. This paper carries out a detailed Life Cycle Assessment of the Spanish cement production in order to analyse the effect of applying post-combustion CO2 capture technology using monoethanolamine as absorbent. Moreover, the work discusses the pros and cons of CO2 capture within the cement manufacture from an environmental point of view. On the basis of the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) 2011 midpoint method, results show improvements in global warming, ozone depletion and abiotic depletion potentials but acidification, photochemical ozone formation, eutrophication, human toxicities, ionising radiation, particulate matter, ecotoxicity, and land use potentials are increased by several times. Besides, the paper shows the decisive contribution of the cogeneration plant required to produce heat. It is necessary to carry out more research concerning how to face the energy penalty. Authors strongly recommend exploring natural gas or biomass CHP plants implementation as well as synergies between cement facilities and power plants.Item Life cycle assessment of the Spanish cement industry: Implementation of environmental-friendly solutions(2015-01) García-Gusano, Diego; Herrera, Israel; Garraín, Daniel; Lechón, Yolanda; Cabal, Helena; PLANIFICACIÓN ENERGÉTICAThis study tries to find out the hotspots of the Spanish cement sector in 2010 by the life cycle assessment (LCA) and evaluates some improvement scenarios where best available technologies and substitution measures are taken into consideration. The document presents an environmental LCA of the cement production using the 2011 International Reference Life Cycle Data System method recommended by the European Commission. Attending to the clinker production by stage, fossil fuel combustion is the most important source in terms of impacts. Besides, limestone’s calcination is crucial attending to the climate change. Electricity consumption is also relevant both in human toxicity with cancer effects and freshwater eutrophication (FE). Accordingly, solutions deployed lead to reductions in different impact categories. Fossil fuel substitution scenario achieves to reduce 33 and 37 % photochemical ozone formation and acidification (A), while material substitution scenario leads to reduce 10–13 % each impact category. On the other hand, fossil fuel substitution scenario entails an increase of 10 % in FE. Considering the ideal case of applying all these improvements together, reductions go from 15 % in FE to 49 % in A, respectively. To face the problems derived from fossil fuel combustion, a fuel shift is needed to reach less contaminant options such as biomass and bio-waste. Material substitution is another good solution for the industry, but it requires a change in the demand and further research to ensure the properties of cement. Authors recommend taking into consideration the collateral increase of the FE due to the phosphates increase coming from the alternative fuels combustion.Item Long-term behaviour of CO2 emissions from cement production in Spain: Scenario analysis using an energy optimisation model(2015-07-15) García-Gusano, Diego; Cabal, Helena; Lechón, Yolanda; PLANIFICACIÓN ENERGÉTICADuring the past decade, the Spanish cement production industry has experienced constant technological updates. Nevertheless, meeting current and future environmental policy goals requires extra efforts. The Spanish case is significant because cement production went down dramatically due to the last economic crisis. This brought an important, but temporary, reduction of CO2 emissions. Therefore, there is an interesting opportunity for cement producers and policymakers to adjust the long-term targets. This work discusses the evolution of the cement industry in Spain from a realistic point of view using recent cement demand projections and the TIMES-Spain energy optimisation model. Several environmental-friendly options were implemented in TIMES-Spain following a literature review. These measures, aimed at contributing to the decrease of emissions to meet the established policy goals, include energy efficiency improvements, substitution scenarios (both for fuel and materials) and CO2 capture (post-combustion and oxyfuel). From a policy approach, the deployment of the EU ETS Directive entails that CO2 emissions from cement production will decrease by 8 Mt per year from 2030 with respect to the case without Directive. In a more technology-specific analysis, a remarkable decrease of 2-2.4 Mt CO2 was obtained in the material substitution scenario beyond 2030. Additionally, taking into account current projections for cement demand, CO2 capture technology does not emerge as a feasible option. Only if cement demand grew back to the pre-crisis level by 2050 and the CO2 emission allowances remained fixed would the CO2 capture via post-combustion start to be a reasonable alternative.