期刊名称：International Journal of Energy and Environment
印刷版ISSN：2076-2895
电子版ISSN：2076-2909
出版年度：2011
卷号：2
期号：1
页码：1-38
出版社：International Energy and Environment Foundation (IEEF)
摘要：The sustainability of a large-scale hydrogen production system is assessed qualitatively. The system uses solid fuels and aims to increase the sustainability of the energy system in Canada through the use of alternative energy forms. The system involves significant technology integration, with various energy conversion processes (e.g., gasification, chemical looping combustion, anaerobic digestion, combustion power cycles-electrolysis and solar-thermal convertors) interconnected to increase the utilization of solid fuels as much as feasible in a sustainable manner within cost, environmental and other constraints. The qualitative analysis involves ten different indicators for each of the three dimensions of sustainability: ecology, sociology and technology, applied to each process in the system and assessed based on a ten-point quality scale. The results indicate that biomasses have better sustainability than coals while newer secondary processes are essential for primary conversion to be sustainable, especially when using coals. Also, new developments in CO2 use (for algae-to-oil and commercial applications) and storage will in time help improve sustainability.
