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On-site carbon capturing, storage, and utilization (CCSU) has proven its' potential to reduce CO 2 emissions from large-scale fossil fuel combustion systems. However, the integration of CCSU in community-scale on-site energy generation applications such as district energy systems has not been comprehensively explored in literature. This study aims to propose a life cycle thinking-based framework to compare and prioritize emission reduction strategies that include CCSU and renewable energy technologies to develop zero-emission community energy systems. The framework incorporates multi-criteria decision-making approaches to rank and prioritize community energy emission mitigation strategies. A scenario-based method was employed in assessing the performance of CCSU technologies along with other compatible alternative energy choices. The framework was demonstrated for all the provinces in Canada. Results show that CCSU is more favorable for regions with high dependence on fossil fuel-based energy sources. CCSU could reach the commercial scale if the cost of emission avoided drops below the cost of CO 2 emissions.. The findings of this study are geared towards providing practical decision-support tools for stakeholders who hold responsible for policy and investment decisions in community energy. The developed framework is a generalized technique that provides the flexibility to be employed in any location across the globe. • Emission planning based on techno-economic and environmental performance. • Prospect of CCSU rises if cost of emission reduction drops below cost of emissions. • Cost of infrastructure takes up more than 70% of overall CCSU project costs. • Energy mix, carbon tax, and infrastructure impact emission planning decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An analysis of the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the residential sector by using hydrogen energy is reported. The residential sectors in provinces across Canada are considered. Greenhouse gas emissions are determined from the consumption of fossil fuels associated with the energy requirements in the residential sector. The use of hydrogen technologies in the residential sector is compared to conventional systems. The results are determined to vary by province, with the greatest attainable annual reductions in greenhouse gas emissions observed for heating to be in Alberta (7.2t CO2) and for power generation to be in Saskatchewan (7.2t CO2). The results suggest that hydrogen technologies for heating and power generation are promising options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Canada and its provinces. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Hydro-Québec can provide annual storage ranging from 3 to 6 TW h for high VRE markets. • Price arbitraging with high VRE markets leads to sustainable changes for hydropower. • Hydropower maintenance flexibility will gain more value with VRE growth. • Revenues from price arbitraging with high VRE markets remain low. Northeastern North America is transitioning rapidly from fossil fuel generation to variable renewable energy (VRE) sources such as wind and solar. Their integration into electricity grids poses challenges in terms of matching supply with demand. Once VRE represent a large share of installed capacity, intermittency and variability of their production will become a major issue. Hydro-Québec, the public electric utility in the Canadian province of Québec, has a large hydropower generation fleet. Its storage capacity enables adjusting hydro production, when the system needs it, to support VRE integration. In this paper, potential impacts of VRE growth within neighbouring grids are simulated through operational production management models. The results show that Hydro-Québec has the potential to facilitate this energy transition but that the current electricity market structure does not provide incentives for an optimal contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Displacement of fossil fuels by forest bioenergy can contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, GHG savings are not realised until the avoided fossil emissions offset the loss of atmospheric carbon (C) that would have been sequestered if the biomass was not used for bioenergy (i.e. time to C sequestration parity). We estimated the potential for mitigating GHG emissions and the timing of these atmospheric benefits when substituting conventional natural gas (NG) with renewable natural gas (RNG) produced from different forestry feedstocks within three Canadian provinces, and assessed the uncertainty among these estimates. We calculated the GHG balance of RNG using the alternative fate of biomass and the use of NG as base-case scenarios. Immediate to long-term time to C sequestration parity was typically in the order of residues burned < mill residues < harvest residues decaying on site < salvaged trees. The potential GHG savings from using harvest and mill residues to produce RNG within the three provinces ranged from 52.4 to 77.8 Mt CO 2eq a−1. Sensitivity analyses suggest that time to C sequestration parity in the best-case scenarios relative to the baseline can be reduced up to 17 years by using harvest residues that decay rapidly (based on feedstock species, size and geographic region), and reduced up to 8 years by improving the efficiency of the thermochemical conversion process. These two considerations are key for ensuring significant GHG reductions from RNG use within a timescale that helps Canada meet its GHG mitigation targets. • Immediate GHG benefits for RNG produced with residues otherwise burned on site. • No short-term C sequestration parity time for RNG produced with forest residues. • C sequestration parity time >100 years for RNG produced with salvaged trees. • Potential net GHG savings of 52.4–77.8 Mt CO 2eq.year−1 for RNG use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]