Gasification greenhouse gases

Ethanol can also be produced from "non-food" materials, such as garbage or wastewater sludge, which are "negative-cost" feedstocks. If all American wastes (industrial and municipal) were converted to biofuels, not only would some 50 to 100 million gallons of fuel be obtained, but the emission of methane from landfills and other wastes would also be eliminated. Plasma gasification, a commercially available process, can also simultaneously increase the fuel supply and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

An advantage of this technology is that carbon dioxide can be separated easily from the syngas and captured rather than released into the atmosphere. If carbon dioxide can be successfully sequestered, hydrogen can be produced from coal gasification with near-zero greenhouse gas emissions. 

Hydrogen currently produced from the gasification of coal is essentially used as an intermediate for the synthesis of chemicals. However, with the increasing awareness of the necessity to control greenhouse gas emissions there is an incentive to move toward the production of hydrogen for power generation with carbon dioxide capture/sequestration. 

Spallina, V., Romano, M.C., Chiesa, P. et al. (2014) Integration of coal gasification and packed bed CLC for high efficiency and near-zero emission power generation. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 27, 28-41. 

Gazzani, M., Turi, D. M., Manzolini, G. (2014). Techno-economic assessment of hydrogen selective membranes for CO2 capture in integrated gasification combined cycle. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 20, 293—309. http //dx.doi.0rg/lO.lOl6/ j.ijggc.2013.11.006. 

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