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This study analyzes the potential of cross-border electricity cooperation as an effective way to reduce the costs of renewable energy deployment in the South Asian region using a novel cooperation mechanism among countries. This paper studies the case of India, Bhutan, and Nepal. From the analysis, Bhutan and Nepal have a large under-exploited hydropower potential that presents a great opportunity for India's energy supply by developing cross-border electricity trading infrastructure and associated markets. For this, developing the infrastructure for power transmission and hydropower plants in each country is necessary to reduce investment in flexibility solutions, power system costs, and CO2 emissions. According to a previous analysis, in Nepal's case, the Cross-Border Electricity Market (CBEM) development would increase Nepal's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by up to 39%. India would also benefit from this mechanism. Using this energy trade mechanism, India's power generation needs would be reduced by 2% and CO2 emissions would be reduced by 5.60% by 2045. The most important conclusions to highlight are that (i) there is an important opportunity to simultaneously enhance the economy sector in some undeveloped countries in the region when, at the same time, reducing carbon intensity in India; (ii) at the same time, there is a large barrier, as the analysis shows that despite these associated benefits there is a major risk in the lack of policy harmonization among all countries involved; and (iii) that one of the most important key aspects for success is the development of a coordinated regulation strategy. These results show the potential of CBEM systems in the region but also encourage researchers and policymakers worldwide to explore this mechanism as an effective way to enhance the decarbonization of power systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research delves into the sustainable utilization of waste materials, particularly chemical sludges from coal power plant water treatment processes, in ceramic glaze development. The study background underscores the growing interest in repurposing industrial waste for sustainability in the ceramics industry. To address this, this study employs innovative methods like the Delphi method and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to understand customer needs and guide product development. The next step will be to design an experiment to find the optimization point of the mixture of chemical sludge, silica, and soda feldspar to obtain a prototype as desired from QFD. The experimental investigations in this study highlight that resistance to cracking is a crucial factor in glaze formulations. An analysis revealed that a formulation containing 15% sludge, 52% soda feldspar, and 22% silica emerged as the optimal combination for further development. The results indicate that the prototype holds promise for future development, as demonstrated by cracking tests accelerated in an autoclave and analyzed using image processing. These findings contribute to advancing sustainable practices in ceramics, aligning with broader goals of waste minimization, circular economy principles, and resource efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emission of sulfur compounds during the combustion of coal is the main cause of atmospheric pollution and poses a threat to human health and the ecosystem. Thus, elimination of sulfur compounds from coal before its use is compulsory, and hence, coal desulfurization has become the key solution. In the present study, ultrasonic-assisted oxidative desulfurization of coal was conducted utilizing H2O2 in the presence of choline chloride/Acetic acid (ChCl/AcA) deep eutectic solvents (DESs). Three coal samples from different areas of Punjab were received for the investigation. The DES ChCl/AcA possesses sulfur removal efficiency of up to 58–64% pyritic sulfur, 54–63% sulfate sulfur, and 48–54% total sulfur from different coal samples. In addition to inorganic sulfur removal, a considerable decrease in organic sulfur 38–41% has been obtained using ultrasound-assisted oxidative desulfurization. FTIR study has shown that the treated coal samples have decreased sulfur contents as compared to untreated coal samples along with no significant change in the calorific values. These outcomes open new paths headed for more energy-effective and cleaner coal, utilizing cost-effective DESs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most important environmental problem of coal energy in Russia is the accumulation of solid waste in ash dumps - products of coal combustion. Ash dumps are located on the lands of populated areas and are source of toxic dust, contamination of surface and groundwater with soluble compounds and increased radioactivity. An effective solution to the problem of accumulation of ash and slag waste is its use as secondary raw materials in the construction industry. In this work, physicochemical methods were used to study ash and slag raw materials from coal-fired power plants in Novosibirsk and municipal cullet. Recipes for building ceramics have been developed by varying the content of fly ash and cullet, molding technologies, and modes of drying and firing of products. The influence of various methods of preparing raw materials (grinding, fractionation, ignition, mechanical activation) and methods of processing and dispersing ceramic masses on the physical and mechanical properties of experimental samples was studied. The possibility of obtaining ceramic products that meet the requirements of regulatory documents for construction materials is shown.

The capacity market is a response to potential capacity scarcity in the system. The missing money problem may occur as a result of the dynamic development of renewable energy sources because their capacity factors are significantly lower in comparison to those of conventional generating units. The capacity market is a response to capacity scarcity in dynamic growth in renewable energy sources with lower capacity factors than thermal power plants. It is a support mechanism that provides additional funds in order for generation companies to be ready to produce electricity in system stress events. So far, seven capacity auctions have been held for 2021-2027 delivery periods. Since the vast majority of capacity market units are coal-fired public thermal power plants and combined heat and power plants, the analysis of capacity auction results provides valuable findings on coal consumption in the years to come. With this in mind, the objective of the study is to investigate the potential of coal consumption resulting from the long-term capacity contracts signed thus far. For this purpose, a comprehensive analysis of the capacity auctions' results is conducted, including the analysis of the duration of the contracts, the structure of ownership, and fuels used in power units. The results show that the figures relating to the consumption of steam coal in units that have won capacity auctions are around 21,306 thousand Mg for 2023 and decreasing to 9,603 thousand Mg for 2035. Although European restrictions were introduced to limit remuneration for high-emission units, the long-term contracts ensure that these will remain in the system and will have an impact on the total consumption of steam coal in the medium- and long-term in the Polish power system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) caused an estimated 4.2 million deaths worldwide in 2015. However, PM emission standards for power plants vary widely. To explore if the current levels of these standards are sufficiently stringent in a simple cost-benefit framework, we compared the health benefits (avoided monetized health costs) with the control costs of tightening PM emission standards for coal-fired power plants in Northeast (NE) Brazil, where ambient PM concentrations are below World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. We considered three Brazilian PM10 (PMx refers to PM with a diameter under x micrometers) emission standards and a stricter U.S. EPA standard for recent power plants. Our integrated methodology simulates hourly electricity grid dispatch from utility-scale power plants, disperses the resulting PM2.5, and estimates selected human health impacts from PM2.5 exposure using the latest integrated exposure-response model. Since the emissions inventories required to model secondary PM are not available in our study area, we modeled only primary PM so our benefit estimates are conservative. We found that tightening existing PM10 emission standards yields health benefits that are over 60 times greater than emissions control costs in all the scenarios we considered. The monetary value of avoided hospital admissions alone is at least four times as large as the corresponding control costs. These results provide strong arguments for considering tightening PM emission standards for coal-fired power plants worldwide, including in regions that meet WHO guidelines and in developing countries.

Coal-powered thermal plants are the primary source of energy production around the globe. More than half (56.89%) of the Indian power plants use coal for power production. Coal burning in power plants results in coal combustion residuals, which contain coal fly ash (CFA) that is recognized as principle by-product. CFA is difficult to characterize due to its broad compositional variation. Hence, the present article summarizes the various physical, chemical, mineralogical, and petrological characterizations of CFA to its use in different applications. Indian coal thermal power plants are found to release two types of CFA: F (fine) and C (coarse). CFA particles are identified as unburned carbon particles with a large fraction of silica oxides, alumina oxides, and iron oxides with a small fraction of calcium oxide (CaO). Morphologically, CFA particles are spherical, with large carbon molecules and a smooth texture surface. In terms of mineralogy; quartz, mullite, magnetite, and hematite are the dominant mineral phases of CFA and tend to be non-plastic, with permeability levels ranging from 8 × 10−6 to 1.87 × 10−4 cms−1. Petrographically, CFA is enriched in inertinite and liptinites as well as collotelinite, collodetrinite, and vitrodetrinite particles. Moreover, CFA is found to be composed of various organic and inorganic particles. By virtue of multiple characterizations, it has been utilized in several applications for decades, which is still quite limited. Therefore, current study aim to provide helpful insights into the potential use of CFA-derived products in different ways to increase sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic with subsequent economic fluctuations during consecutive epidemics waves and preventive measures in the form of lockdowns, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have had a meaningful impact on the European economy, including the energy market. These events have caused an increase in the prices of many products, including fossil fuels, and also a lack of their availability. The changes inspired the authors to conduct research on the current situation in Poland in the field of renewable energy and coal. The paper describes the research on the impact of the development of RES (mainly photovoltaic sources) on the change in the energy generation profile in the case of Poland. The article analyzes the impact of RES (renewable energy sources) on the reduction of CO2 emissions. The conducted analysis was based on the historical similarity of the replacement of conventional (carbon) sources by PV (photovoltaics) by determining in how many cases (%), a specific carbon source will be displaced. Based on the prepared forecast, it was determined that by the end of the year, the installed capacity in PV will reach the level of 11,213 MWp (in wind energy, it will be 7875 MWp). Replacement (reduction of consumption) of approximately 1.5 million Mg of hard coal and 2.87 million Mg of lignite was concluded to be possible (~4.4% and 6.3% of the hard-coal and lignite volume used for energy production). Limiting this volume of hard coal and lignite will also reduce CO2 emissions in the entire NPS by 5.24 million Mg (−5%) in 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retrofitting coal power units with biomass and coal cofiring technology provides a promising pathway toward low-carbon transition. However, such a retrofitting approach may also pose potential environmental and health risks, even aggravating regional disparities. Here, we propose a comprehensive framework to evaluate the associated risks of Biomass and Coal Cofiring Retrofit (BCCR) in China. We find that air pollutants such as SO 2 , PM 2.5 , and NO x will increase by an average of 27.9, 38.04, and 42.79% respectively compared to the scenario with no BCCR. The national-wide PM 2.5 concentration-related premature mortalities in scenarios with BCCR are projected to increase by 23.53% on average in 2030. Moreover, the Highest-20% of provinces with higher health risks (also health vulnerable groups such as the elderly and children concentrated area) are 19 times greater than that in the Lowest-20% group. Results suggest that implementing a Targeted Pollution Control strategy for areas with higher health risks would be an economical and effective way to reduce the total pollutants emissions and mitigate the regional disparities in health risks. Our research proposes stringent pollution control measures on biomass and coal cofiring retrofit in advance in regions with the utmost necessity to facilitate a fair transition toward clean energy.

Coal Power Plants (CPPs), despite their substantial contribution to global energy needs, pose significant environmental concerns due to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Thus, the world has started thinking of alternative generation sources to replace CPPs. To replace CPPs, some energy generation resources must come into the scenario that can outshine the advantages of CPPs, such as easy availability of fuel, operational safety, and cost effectiveness. Concerning this matter, nuclear-renewable integrated systems can play a vital role as a potential replacement for CPPs. In this study, we systematically explore the transitional approach from CPPs to advanced energy systems and conduct an exhaustive comparative analysis focusing on three proposed energy system models: Greenfield, Coal-to-Nuclear (C2N), and Coal-to-Integrated Energy Systems (C2IES). Before conducting the comparative analysis, we determine the most feasible coal sites from Alaska, our surrogate location for this study, using a GIS-based nuclear reactor siting tool named "Siting Tool for Advanced Nuclear Development (STAND)." To carry out the comparative analysis among the proposed energy models for the selected coal site, we find out the optimal configuration of each system using a robust and recent nature-based metaheuristic optimization algorithm, Mountain Gazelle Optimization (MGO), complemented by another nature-based metaheuristic optimization algorithm, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), for validation. The key data used in this study include solar irradiance, temperature, wind speed, load profiles, and comprehensive cost data for each system component. Since the proposed energy models are highly complex and consider several assumptions, the key research findings are strengthened by performing a comprehensive sensitivity analysis. The base case results show that C2IES can reduce the Cost of Energy (COE) by roughly 65 % compared to Greenfield and C2N and ensure the utmost reliability of the energy system. Although this cost-saving margin contrasts in the sensitivity analysis across a range of scenarios, C2IES consistently offers the most cost-effective solution, highlighting its potential for sustainable energy transition. • First-of-its-kind research on the techno-economic evaluation of transitioning from CPPs to IESs. • Mathematical modeling and analysis of Greenfield, C2N, and C2IES energy models. • C2IES model includes renewables, cutting COE by three times compared to Greenfield and C2N. • Baseline scenarios assessed through extensive sensitivity analysis, confirming key findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy can yield social benefits through local air quality improvements and their subsequent effects on human health. We estimate some of these benefits using data gathered during the rapid adoption of large-scale solar power generation in Chile over the last decade. Relying on exogenous variation from solar irradiation and incremental solar generation capacity over time, we find that solar energy displaces coal generation and curtails hospital admissions due to respiratory diseases. These effects are largely manifested in cities downwind of and near coal plants that are displaced by the introduction of new solar. The reduction in exposure to air pollution from these displaced coal plants seems to be driving this relationship. Our results help quantify the health benefits that can be achieved through greater renewable energy investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unplanned power plant failures have been seen to be a major cause of power shortages, and thus customer power cuts, in the South African power grid. These failures are measured as the unplanned capability loss factor (UCLF). The study of South Africa's UCLF is almost non-existent. Parameters that affect the future UCLF are, thus, still not well understood, making it challenging to forecast when power shortages may be experienced. This paper presents a novel study of South African UCLF forecasting using state-of-the-art deep learning techniques. The study further introduces a novel deep learning ensemble South African UCLF forecasting system. The performance of three of the best recent forecasting techniques, namely, long short-term memory recurrent neural network (LSTM-RNN), deep belief network (DBN), and optimally pruned extreme learning machines (OP-ELM), as well as their aggregated ensembles, are investigated for South African UCLF forecasting. The impact of three key parameters (installed capacity, demand, and planned capability loss factor) on the future UCLF is investigated. The results showed that the exclusion of installed capacity in the LSTM-RNN, DBN, OP-ELM, and ensemble models doubled the UCLF forecasting error. It was also found that an ensemble model of two LSTM-RNN models achieved the lowest errors with a symmetric mean absolute percentage error (sMAPE) of 6.43%, mean absolute error (MAE) of 7.36%, and root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 9.21%. LSTM-RNN also achieved the lowest errors amongst the individual models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, coal-based electricity is a leading cause for greenhouse gas emissions. However, many uncertainties prevail in the emissions estimation from coal-fired plants due to the dynamics of varying net calorific values (NCV) and carbon emission factors (CEF) associated with different grades of coal coupled with the coal oxidation factors (COF) of power plants. After 2012, a major change in the Indian non-coking coal grading system along with other developments like (a) rising efficiencies of thermal power plants, (b) changes in coal quality due to mining at deeper seams, (c) coal mining and distribution strategy have affected the NCVs, CEFs and COF associated with coal combustion in Indian power plants. These changes are expected to impact the CO2 emissions from coal-based power plants. Our findings suggest that implementation of the newly revised, power sector specific, NCV-CEF-COF-2015 have resulted in reduction of CO2 emission estimates from coal-based electricity generation by about 139 Tera grams (Tg) (12%) and 73 Tg (7%) for the year 2015 as compared to the corresponding emissions calculated using NCV-CEF-COF-1994 and NCV-CEF-COF-2007, respectively. Going forward, these newly estimated factors will provide greater accuracy in emissions estimation from coal-fired power plants in India.

China has implemented strict policies for the installation of desulfurization facilities in coal power plants in order to mitigate their negative environmental and human health impacts. However, it is rarely acknowledged that desulfurization processes lead to increased water consumption and carbon emissions from the coal power sector. By using a bottom-up approach, we quantified that the desulfurization facilities in all of China's coal power plants together avoided emissions of 29.52 Mt of SO2 in 2014, with expenses of 550.26 million m3 of increased water consumption, and 53.28 Mt of additional CO2 emissions. Such conflicts were especially pronounced in the North China Grid, where 9.77 Mt of SO2 emission reductions were realized at expenses of 132.15 million m3 of water consumption, and 14.25 Mt of CO2 emissions. The provinces in the North China Grid were already facing extreme water scarcity. Furthermore, while more than 90% of China's coal power plants have installed desulfurization facilities, the application of full desulfurization would further reduce the greatest amount of SO2 emissions with the smallest amounts of additional water consumption and carbon emissions in the Northwest Grid. Replacing all wet desulfurization facilities with dry ones saves 498.38 million m3 of water consumption in total, and reduces 26.65 Mt of CO2 emissions; however, this is at an expense of 14.33 Mt of SO2 emissions. These conflicts are most pronounced in Shanxi Province in the North Grid, and in Guangdong Province in the South Grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution is highly variable, such that source contributions to air pollution can vary even within a single city. However, few tools exist to support city-scale air quality analyses, including impacts of energy system changes. We present a methodology that utilizes regional ground-based monitor measurements to scale speciation data from the Intervention Model for Air Pollution (InMAP), a national-scale reduced-complexity model. InMAP, like all air quality models, has biases in its concentration estimates; these biases may be pronounced when examining a single city. We apply the bias correction methodology to Madison, Wisconsin and estimate the relative contributions of sources to annual-average fine particulate matter (PM _2.5 ), as well as the impacts of coal power plant retirements and electric vehicle (EV) adoption. We find that the largest contributors to ambient PM _2.5 concentrations in Madison are on-road transportation, contributing 21% of total PM _2.5 ; non-point sources, 16%; and electricity generating units, 14%. State-wide coal power plant closures from 2014 to 2020 and planned closures through 2025 were modeled to assess air quality benefits. The largest relative reductions are seen in areas north of Milwaukee (up to 7%), though population-weighted PM _2.5 was reduced by only 3.8% across the state. EV adoption scenarios lead to a relative reduction in PM _2.5 over Madison of 0.5% to 13.7% or a 9.3% reduction in total PM _2.5 from a total replacement of light-duty vehicles (LDVs) with EVs. Similar percent reductions are calculated for population-weighted concentrations over Madison. Replacing 100% of LDVs with EVs reduced CO _2 emissions by over 50%, highlighting the potential benefits of EVs to both climate and air quality. This work illustrates the potential of combining data from models and monitors to inform city-scale air quality analyses, supporting local decision-makers working to reduce air pollution and improve public health.

The COVID-19 pandemic with subsequent economic fluctuations during consecutive epidemics waves and preventive measures in the form of lockdowns, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have had a meaningful impact on the European economy, including the energy market. These events have caused an increase in the prices of many products, including fossil fuels, and also a lack of their availability. The changes inspired the authors to conduct research on the current situation in Poland in the field of renewable energy and coal. The paper describes the research on the impact of the development of RES (mainly photovoltaic sources) on the change in the energy generation profile in the case of Poland. The article analyzes the impact of RES (renewable energy sources) on the reduction of CO2 emissions. The conducted analysis was based on the historical similarity of the replacement of conventional (carbon) sources by PV (photovoltaics) by determining in how many cases (%), a specific carbon source will be displaced. Based on the prepared forecast, it was determined that by the end of the year, the installed capacity in PV will reach the level of 11,213 MWp (in wind energy, it will be 7875 MWp). Replacement (reduction of consumption) of approximately 1.5 million Mg of hard coal and 2.87 million Mg of lignite was concluded to be possible (~4.4% and 6.3% of the hard-coal and lignite volume used for energy production). Limiting this volume of hard coal and lignite will also reduce CO2 emissions in the entire NPS by 5.24 million Mg (−5%) in 2022.

This paper contributes to the debate on the sustainability of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by analyzing Chinese investments in Indonesia's coal power sector. Insofar, scholarship on the BRI examined the role of Chinese companies “going out,” neglecting host countries' agency in shaping this initiative. This study analyses this important yet often overlooked dimension through the lens of local stakeholders. Fifteen in-depth interviews provide key insights into themes that are explored using a novel database. Results show a sharp increase in the Chinese-led financing, construction, and investments in Indonesia's coal power plants. While large State-owned enterprises spearheaded this increase, the BRI is also generating an impetus of private investments in new “instrumental” coal power plants that serve industrial parks, owned by non-energy companies. After the Paris Agreement, only Chinese, Japanese, and Malaysian institutions continued to finance coal power plants in Indonesia. However, unlike other foreign investors, Chinese companies are bringing mostly subcritical (low-end) technology, and their operations have been associated with the use of illegal labour. Overall, results show how China's export of industrial capacity and financing through the BRI is met by Indonesia's developmental attitude towards using coal and foreign investments to prioritize its economy growth over environmental and social sustainability.

In India, coal-based electricity is a leading cause for greenhouse gas emissions. However, many uncertainties prevail in the emissions estimation from coal-fired plants due to the dynamics of varying net calorific values (NCV) and carbon emission factors (CEF) associated with different grades of coal coupled with the coal oxidation factors (COF) of power plants. After 2012, a major change in the Indian non-coking coal grading system along with other developments like (a) rising efficiencies of thermal power plants, (b) changes in coal quality due to mining at deeper seams, (c) coal mining and distribution strategy have affected the NCVs, CEFs and COF associated with coal combustion in Indian power plants. These changes are expected to impact the CO2 emissions from coal-based power plants. Our findings suggest that implementation of the newly revised, power sector specific, NCV-CEF-COF-2015 have resulted in reduction of CO2 emission estimates from coal-based electricity generation by about 139 Tera grams (Tg) (12%) and 73 Tg (7%) for the year 2015 as compared to the corresponding emissions calculated using NCV-CEF-COF-1994 and NCV-CEF-COF-2007, respectively. Going forward, these newly estimated factors will provide greater accuracy in emissions estimation from coal-fired power plants in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unplanned power plant failures have been seen to be a major cause of power shortages, and thus customer power cuts, in the South African power grid. These failures are measured as the unplanned capability loss factor (UCLF). The study of South Africa’s UCLF is almost non-existent. Parameters that affect the future UCLF are, thus, still not well understood, making it challenging to forecast when power shortages may be experienced. This paper presents a novel study of South African UCLF forecasting using state-of-the-art deep learning techniques. The study further introduces a novel deep learning ensemble South African UCLF forecasting system. The performance of three of the best recent forecasting techniques, namely, long short-term memory recurrent neural network (LSTM-RNN), deep belief network (DBN), and optimally pruned extreme learning machines (OP-ELM), as well as their aggregated ensembles, are investigated for South African UCLF forecasting. The impact of three key parameters (installed capacity, demand, and planned capability loss factor) on the future UCLF is investigated. The results showed that the exclusion of installed capacity in the LSTM-RNN, DBN, OP-ELM, and ensemble models doubled the UCLF forecasting error. It was also found that an ensemble model of two LSTM-RNN models achieved the lowest errors with a symmetric mean absolute percentage error (sMAPE) of 6.43%, mean absolute error (MAE) of 7.36%, and root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 9.21%. LSTM-RNN also achieved the lowest errors amongst the individual models.

The roles of Ca/Fe phases on selenium (Se) enrichment behavior in fly ash during coal combustion were investigated by examining the Ca/Fe mineralogy of various ash samples, exploring the binding forms of Se in fly ashes, and performing bench-scale adsorption experiments (150–1000 ℃). The results indicated that Se capture by fly ash is a function of flue gas temperature, particle size, and more importantly, the contents and form of Ca/Fe in combustion ash. Physical condensation/adsorption was mainly determined by temperature and particle size, contributing to less than 25% of total Se in fly ash. The remaining Se in fly ash was captured by chemical reactions of Se with ash components. Calcium in ash mostly was present as Ca-aluminosilicates, Ca-silicates, gypsum, or complex Ca-Al-Si-Fe-O mixed phases. Iron mainly occurred as Fe-silicates and some crystalline minerals including hematite, magnetite, and maghemite. Although adsorption experiments found that only CaO was able to capture SeO 2 (g) at high temperature (> 900 ℃), the roles of lime as well as Fe2+-/Fe3+-silicates (conclusion from previous literature) can be excluded, as inferred from the small amount of CaO in ash and the lack of correlation between Fe-silicate and Se. Sequential extraction experiments and electron microscopy analysis revealed that Fe-bound Se was dominant and iron oxides might be the critical phase for Se retention. Simulated adsorption experiments demonstrated that magnetite had the best Se capture ability among the iron minerals. The extraction of Fe-bound Se from coal fly ash required more stringent conditions than that of physiosorbed-Se and Ca-bound Se. Therefore, pretreatment methods including magnetic separation, flotation, size segregation, etc. were suggested to be used prior to acid leaching. This study can provide scientific basis for developing high-efficiency Se recovery methods or Se emission control techniques for high-Se coal utilization in thermal power stations. [Display omitted] • Selenium partitioned into solid particles primarily by surface chemical reaction with Fe-/Ca-bearing minerals (78.1–90.9%). • Calcium and iron mostly occurred as amorphous phases in ash having limited roles in Se enrichment. • Grain-scale distribution of Se revealed the large Fe-rich domains extremely enriching in Se (0.1–0.36 wt%). • Combustion process can greatly enrich Se in fly ash, particularly concentrated in ash containing Zn-containing Fe-oxides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantitative assessment of health burden of coal power stack emissions is a vital step to frame effective policy measures to achieve emission reductions and corresponding health benefits. A plant-specific stack emission, dispersion, and health risk integrated (SEHRI) model has been proposed to estimate coal power stack emissions, resulting ambient air concentrations and associated health risks in the vicinity of a coal power plant. In this study, we have estimated the health benefits due to closure of Badarpur Thermal Power Station (BTPS), New Delhi. The SEHRI model has been applied to estimate decreased health risks due to particulates (PM2.5) and gaseous (SO2, NOx) stack emissions released from the plant. More than 1050 premature deaths are avoided and 526 life years are saved resulting from reduction in particulate and gaseous stack emissions, respectively, due to closure of the plant. It is expected that environmental engineers, scientists, and air quality managers would find the SEHRI model as a useful tool to study emissions and health impacts related to coal-based power plants and guide an effective control policy for air pollution abatement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The integration of the Power to Fuel, Ptf, plant increases capacity factor and efficiency of the Coal Fired Power Plant. • The Carbon Capture and Sequestration System, CCS is not economically justified under the current EU ETS CO2 price. • With the EU ETS CO2 price over 25 €/ton, the solution with PtF and CCS became the most favorable as Cost of Electricity, COE. • Electrical energy cost, followed by the oxygen selling cost, affects the most methanol production cost. • In a future scenario, methanol production cost would be very close to the actual market ones. In this paper, an analysis of the integration of a carbon capture unit and a power to fuel system for methanol synthesis with a coal power plant is presented from the energetic, environmental and economic standpoints. The study is carried out in three different sections. In the first part, the impact of the integration of a carbon capture system (CCS) and of a power to fuel plant (PtF) for methanol production is investigated in terms of plant average efficiency, fuel consumption, CO 2 emissions. In the second part, the annual fixed and variable costs of the power plant, and the annual cost of electricity (COE) are assessed for different plant configurations. Additionally, future scenarios are analyzed considering the impact of European policies on the CO 2 emission's cost, defined by the European Emission Trading System (ETS). Finally, an economic feasibility analysis of the power to fuel plant is performed and the methanol production is evaluated. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is carried out to evaluate the impact of the most affecting parameters (electrical energy cost, the methanol selling price and the capital cost of the electrolyzer) in terms of Internal Rate of Return (IRR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) caused an estimated 4.2 million deaths worldwide in 2015. However, PM emission standards for power plants vary widely. To explore if the current levels of these standards are sufficiently stringent in a simple cost-benefit framework, we compared the health benefits (avoided monetized health costs) with the control costs of tightening PM emission standards for coal-fired power plants in Northeast (NE) Brazil, where ambient PM concentrations are below World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. We considered three Brazilian PM 10 (PM x refers to PM with a diameter under x micrometers) emission standards and a stricter U.S. EPA standard for recent power plants. Our integrated methodology simulates hourly electricity grid dispatch from utility-scale power plants, disperses the resulting PM 2.5 , and estimates selected human health impacts from PM 2.5 exposure using the latest integrated exposure-response model. Since the emissions inventories required to model secondary PM are not available in our study area, we modeled only primary PM so our benefit estimates are conservative. We found that tightening existing PM 10 emission standards yields health benefits that are over 60 times greater than emissions control costs in all the scenarios we considered. The monetary value of avoided hospital admissions alone is at least four times as large as the corresponding control costs. These results provide strong arguments for considering tightening PM emission standards for coal-fired power plants worldwide, including in regions that meet WHO guidelines and in developing countries. Graphical abstract Health benefits and control costs of tightening PM 10 standards for coal power plants in NE Brazil. Unlabelled Image Highlights • We compare health benefits and control costs of tightening PM 10 emissions standards. • We model electricity generation in NE Brazil and focus on coal power plants. • In our study area, PM concentrations are below WHO guidelines. • We combine an hourly dispatch model with dispersion and health assessment models. • Benefits of tighter PM 10 emission standards exceed control costs by a factor > 60. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is the largest electricity producer in the world and more than 70% of its electricity is from coal-fired power plants where water is an indispensable input, primarily for cooling purposes. Water shortages could hamper coal-fired power plants productions and result in economic losses. In this study, we simulate monthly river flows in China on a 0.5° × 0.5° spatial resolution using a calibrated physically based hydrological model, H08, that incorporates human interventions during the current (1981–2014) and future period 2050s (2035–2065) under two carbon emission scenarios Representative Concentration Pathway 2.6 and 8.5. Water demands by individual power plants are calculated based on plant-level data. We define power plants as facing low-flow water risks when the monthly 10 year return low flow is projected to be below the plant’s water withdrawal requirement. We find that around 10% of China’s coal-fired power capacities face low-flow water risks from July to October (the monsoon peak in the eastern Asia), and 20% the rest of the year. Particularly in the North Grid, around 35% to 60% of its regional coal-fired power capacity is at such risks from December to June. Under climate change, low-flow amounts are expected to increase in the current dry northern China except decreasing in the northwest, which is expected to alleviate the low flow water risks facing coal power plants in China except in the Northwest Inland River Basin. In the East and South Grids, if their growing electricity demands continue depending on coal, increasing utilization rate of coal power facilities can lead to heightened demand-driven water risks.

We studied the contribution of coal-fired power plant (CPP) emissions (SO _2 and NO x ) to air pollution levels and annual excess mortality by cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in Europe, based on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations computed with a regional atmospheric chemistry-transport model. The health burden of European CPP emission-induced PM2.5, estimated with the Global Exposure Mortality Model, amounts to at least 16 800 (CI95 14 800–18 700) excess deaths per year over the European domain. We identified an underestimation of the emissions magnitude and correcting for it doubles CPP-attributed annual excess mortality to 33 900 (CI95 33 000–37 600) per year. Due to the non-linearity of exposure-responses, especially at relatively low concentrations, these estimates represent lower limits of possible health benefits for the EU-28 states. CPP emission phase-out would avoid 18 400 (CI95 16 000–20 500) excess deaths annually assuming background PM2.5 levels of 10 μ g m ^−3 , 25 500 (CI95 22 600–28 200) per year if pollution levels from other sources are reduced by 50% in parallel, and 105 900 (CI95 89 900–121 700) deaths by drastically reducing anthropogenic pollution from other sources to 2.4 μ g m ^−3 that represents the threshold for health impacts. Depending on the emission scenario, large health gains can be achieved from the phase-out of CPP emissions, which calls for coordinated air pollution control strategies at the European level.

Coal power plants are crucial in both the power sector and central heating sector and also emit large amount of carbon dioxide. Existing research on coal power plants transformation mainly focused on their role in the power sector, with insufficient attention paid to their heat and power cogeneration capabilities. To address this gap, this paper proposes a long-term expansion joint optimization model for power sector and central heating sector incorporating the competitive technologies in both sectors, which is used to obtain the optimal low-carbon transition pathway of power sector and central heating sector, and analyse the pathway of coal power plants. China is selected for a case study for its largest scale of existing coal power plants in the world and urgent need of decarbonization. Compared to the scenario only considering electricity generation function from coal power plants to power sector, another scenario also considering the heating production to central heating sectors brings less than 5% increase in their remaining capacity, whilst results in significant changes in their regional distribution. Proportion of heat and power cogeneration of coal power plants in the heat generation structure is expected to increase first to 80% in 2030 and decrease to 58% in 2055. • A long-term optimization model for sectors of power and central heating is built. • Impacts of considering heating sector on coal power plants paths are quantified. • Proportion of coal power plants in total heat production increases to 80% in 2030. • Electric heat pumps are developed rapidly for negative carbon emission constraint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, harmful emissions from coal power plants cause many illnesses contribute to premature deaths burden. Despite its high impact on human health and being a major source of toxic pollutants, coal has been considered a component of global energy for decades. Hence, this work was envisaged to understand the rising environmental and multiple health issues from coal power plants. Studies on the adverse impacts of coal power plants on the environment, including soil, surface water, groundwater and air, were critically evaluated. The health risk from exposure to different pollutants and toxic metals released from the power plant was also demonstrated. The study also highlighted the government initiatives and policies regarding coal power operation and generation. Lastly, the study focused on guiding coal power plant owners and policymakers in identifying the essential cues for the risk assessment and management. The current study found an association between environmental and human health risks due to power generation, which needs intervention from the scientific and medical fields to jointly address public concerns. It is also suggested that future research should concentrate on exposure assessment techniques by integrating source-identification and geographic information systems to assess the health effects of different contaminants from power plants and to mitigate their adverse impact. [Display omitted] • Study reviews the status of thermal power plants in India, energy mix contribution and environmental impacts. • Thermal power plants pose public health risks to the nearby population. • Major initiatives and strategies to minimize the adverse effects on public health are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• First of its kind intra-annual water withdrawal assessments for thermal power plants in India. • Consequences of climate change on the future intra-annual water availability for thermal power generation. • Water stressed regions of India may face severe deficits in water in the pre-monsoon months. • 49 % reduction of surface water availability for Rajasthan in the future scenarios. • Need for detailed region specific intra-annual assessment to ensure sustainability of the thermal power sector. The objective of this work is to quantify the effect of climate change on the intra-annual water stress experienced by thermal power plants in India. The Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM v11.5) is used to quantify the monthly water withdrawal and consumption for thermal power plants in four different water-stressed states of India. Current water withdrawal range was 2400–5500 l/MWh, and increased during the summer months by as much as 24 % compared to winter months. Simulations for two representative climate change scenarios, namely SSP2 – RCP 4.5 and SSP5 – RCP 8.5, showed 7–18 % increase in water withdrawal as compared to the present. For the state of Rajasthan, future surface water availability, estimated using Budyko's framework, decreased by more than 49 % for both scenarios as compared to present. Power plants in regions analysed will face water deficits during January-May, necessitating careful planning to manage climate change impacts in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For conventional power plants, the integration of thermal energy storage opens up a promising opportunity to meet future technical requirements in terms of flexibility while at the same time improving cost-effectiveness. In the FLEXI- TES joint project, the flexibilization of coal-fired steam power plants by integrating thermal energy storage (TES) into the power plant process is being investigated. In the concept phase at the beginning of the research project, various storage integration concepts were developed and evaluated. Finally, three lead concepts with different storage technologies and integration points in the power plant were identified. By means of stationary system simulations, the changes of net power output during charging and discharging as well as different storage efficiencies were calculated. Depending on the concept and the operating strategy, a reduction of the minimum load by up to 4% of the net capacity during charging and a load increase by up to 5% of the net capacity during discharging are possible. Storage efficiencies of up to 80% can be achieved.

Performance-based contracting (PBC) is applied to Chinese industry for cleaner production, which is characterized by the payment made on measurable environmental outcome. Policy, technology, market, and capital are four elements that co-shape PBC where the synthesized effects are hard for intuition to tell. This study introduced an original interdisciplinary assessment model of PBC for SO 2 emission control in Chinese coal power plants that involves key environmental policies including command-and-control regulations, market-based approaches, and administrative measures, as well as technology, market, and capital variables. The evaluation showed that in key regions, both pollution levy programs 8 and 10 CNY/kg SO 2 (with the only penalty of concentration) could drive total emission amount close to regulatory targets. Interest expenses seem less relevant to SO 2 abatement cost in terms of the whole contract period; however, it can raise the SO 2 abatement cost similar to the service premium in the first few years. Fluctuation of power market is a business risk to PBC. As unitization hours of generator sets decrease from 4760 to 4115 h/y, the proportion of profits in the income decreased from 12.12 to 4.16%. Since payment is made on the basis of emission verification, economic benefits can represent both environmental and economic benefits. Profits and financial chain of the contractor depending on the synthesized effects of technology, capital, market, and tax policy. Sensitivity analysis quantitatively indicates technical factor as crucial; however, the buyer's business fluctuation is the real key to operational sustainability. The method was proved useful to integrated policy assessment at project level and PBC managerial decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is the third largest electricity generator in the world after China and USA. India has already committed to its Nationally Determined Contributions submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change for the period 2021-2030, which inter alia, includes a commitment, to achieve about 40% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030 with the help of technology transfer and low-cost international finance. However, India's power sector is facing several major challenges as it makes a transition to a more environment-friendly energy mix. Since electricity is a concurrent subject as per the Constitution of India, there is an urgent need to create an empowered National Electricity Council (NEC) with pooled sovereignty to realize the goal - 'One Nation-One Grid-One Price'. The proposed NEC will facilitate the evolution of a vibrant and self-sustaining power sector in India in a timely manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) are acknowledged as important R&D priorities to achieve environmental goals set for next decades. This work studies biomass-based energy supply chains with CO 2 capture and utilisation. The problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program. This study presents a flexible supply chain superstructure to answer issues on economic and environmental benefits achievable by integrating biomass-coal plants, CO 2 capture and utilisation plants; i.e. location of intermediate steps, fraction of CO 2 emissions captured per plant, CO 2 utilisation plants' size, among others. Moreover, eventual incentives and environmental revenues will be discussed to make an economically feasible project. A large-size case study located in Spain will be presented to highlight the proposed approach. Two key scenarios are envisaged: (i) Biomass, capture or utilisation of CO 2 are not contemplated; (ii) Biomass, capture and CO 2 utilisation are all considered. Finally, concluding remarks are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toxic substances, including heavy metals, may be present in foods; they may also enter the food chain as a result of human activities, including industrial or agricultural processes. Mercury, lead, arsenic and cadmium, among others, rank as some of the most hazardous metals as they accumulate in biological tissues in a process known as bioaccumulation. This process is common among all living organisms and happens due to the exposure to metals in the food and environment. Humans as well as animals suffer the consequences of heavy metals in their diets. Therefore, it is crucial to have the heavy metals levels in foods under control, so as to ensure that human health is not adversely affected. In this study, we determined the levels of zinc, copper, lead and cadmium in potato samples in Kastriot, a town where Kosovo's two power plants are situated. We also determined the bioavailability of these elements from soil samples which can enter the food chain. For the determination of heavy metals in bioavailable form, we used the inductively coupled plasma - optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) technique; whereas for the determination of heavy metals in potato we used the AAS method. The results of this study show that the concentration of heavy metals in potato samples are from 0.78 to 32.25 mg kg-1 for zinc, copper as of 2.34 to 7.55 mg kg-1 and lead from 0.34 to 1.84 mg kg-1. On the other hand, cadmium was below the minimal detectable value. Overall, certain agricultural zones are considered risky to the health of the local consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Annually, coal-fired power plants in Vietnam discharge hundreds of thousand tons of coal ash. Most of this ash goes into the environment without treatment or any plan for the efficient reuse of this precious resource. There are many reasons for this, such as poor quality of the ash, no suitable and feasible ash treatment technology, a lack of awareness about environmental pollution and resource saving, and inappropriate sanctions and policies. This study analyzed and summarized information and data pertaining to the current status of the production, discharge, and utilization of coal ash from the Cao Ngan Power Plant (CNPP) in Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam. In addition, the potential for applying advanced emission reduction technologies in order to recycle coal ash for cement production, as well as geographical, socio-economic, and market factors were assessed. This paper reveals the results of a preliminary assessment of carbon-mineralization technologies which seek to achieve the following three goals: (1) effectively disposing of coal ash to protect the environment and local community, (2) contributing to the nationally determined effort to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions which cause climate change, and (3) making value-added products and bringing economic benefits to a sustainable society.

The Indian power sector relies heavily on coal power plants for electricity generation as 59% of the total installed capacity is from coal power plants. Considerable research has been done in developed countries to analyze the suitability of CO2 capture technologies for coal power plants, but not in India. This work analyzes the suitability of various CO2 capture technologies for Indian coal power plants on the basis of different parameters: energy penalty, cost of CO2 capture, efficiency, and age and size of the power plant. An Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) was used to simulate the power plants, and to calculate the energy penalty and cost of capture. All existing 517 units of 115 coal power plants in India, along with one Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plant and one ultra-supercritical plant were analyzed for CO2 capture suitability. Results show that the total installed capacity of Indian coal power plants would reduce to somewhere between 66 896 and 105 991 MW, depending on the CO2 capture technology applied, from and existing 126 320 MW. The average efficiency of Indian coal power plants would reduce from the current 29% to 24.4%, 20.7%, and 15.4% if we retrofit the plants with amine-, ammonia-, and membrane-based capture systems, respectively. Cost of CO2 capture for these three technologies would be $42.3, $75.2, and $81.9 per tonne of CO2, respectively. The CO2 capture technologies would be better off on coal power plants which are less than 20 years old, as the energy penalty would be less. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ca-Looping (CaL) process is at the root of a promising 2nd generation technology for post-combustion CO 2 capture at coal fired power plants. The process is based on the reversible and quick carbonation/calcination reaction of CaO/CaCO ​3 at high temperatures and allows using low cost, widely available and non toxic CaO precursors such as natural limestone. In this work, the efficiency penalty caused by the integration of the Ca-looping technology into a coal fired power plant is analyzed. The results of the simulations based on the proposed integration model show that efficiency penalty varies between 4% and 7% points, which yields lower energy costs than other more mature post-combustion CO 2 capture technologies such as the currently commercial amine scrubbing technology. A principal feature of the CaL process at CO 2 capture conditions is that it produces a large amount of energy and therefore an optimized integration of the systems energy flows is essential for the feasibility of the integration at the commercial level. As a main novel contribution, CO 2 capture efficiency is calculated in our work by considering the important role of the solid-state diffusion controlled carbonation phase, which becomes relevant when CaO regeneration is carried out under high CO 2 partial pressure as is the case with the CaL process for CO 2 capture. The results obtained based on the new model suggest that integration energy efficiency would be significantly improved as the solids residence time in the carbonator reactor is increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changing landscape of environmental regulations, discovery of new domestic sources of natural gas, and the economics of energy markets has resulted in a major shift in the choice of fuel for electric power generation. This research focuses on the relevant factors that impact a power plant's decision to switch fuel from coal to natural gas and the timing of such decisions. The factors studied in this article include capital costs of plant replacement, public policy, associated monetary penalties, availability and access to gas supply networks, and the option of plant retirement. These factors are evaluated in a case study of power plants in the Southeastern United States, using mathematical programming and logistic regression models. The results show that environmental regulations can be effective if the monetary penalties imposed by such regulations are set at an appropriate level, with respect to plant replacement costs. Although it is economic for large-size (power generation capacity > 600 MW) coal-fired power plants to switch fuel to natural gas, plant retirement is more suitable for smaller-sized plants. This article also presents a multi-logit decision model that can help identify the best time for a power plant to switch fuel and whether such a decision is useful in the context of plant replacement costs, fuel costs, electric power decommission limits, and environmental penalties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Adsorption energy of AlNNTs indicates proper adsorption of different form of As. • DFT calculation helped to explain the reactive sites and removal pathways. • The AlNNTs and As act as acceptor and donor respectively. In this paper, we characterized the different forms of arsenic (As) in flue gas (FG), which is produced by coal power plants, at varying temperatures using density functional theory (DFT) and thermodynamics computations. Also, the interaction of an aluminum nitride nanotube (AlNNT) with various gaseous species of As was scrutinized. The content of the trivalent As (As3+) was the highest in FG, and the temperature of FG had a significant impact upon the morphological distribution of As3+. The As 2 O 3 molecules primarily had a trigonal bipyramid molecular geometry when the temperature of FF was below 850 K. However, the primary molecular geometry of the As 2 O 3 molecules when the temperature of FG exceeded 850 K was in the following order: chain > trigonal bipyramid. The current study confirmed that the AlNNT is capable of adsorbing As in the FG, and the Al surface had better performance. The current study also theoretically supported the fact that As could be removed from FG produced by coal power plants using the AlNNT as well as other semi-conductive materials as adsorbents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]