Life cycle environmental impact assessment of Taean coal power plant with CO₂ capture module

To prevent the generation of pollutants and secondary pollutants owing to the adoption of novel technologies or processes including carbon capture and storage (CCS), it is necessary to characterize the environmental impact more precisely based on actual data. This study established an analysis model utilizing life cycle assessment (LCA) data at the secondary data level, based on the actual data of the Taean coal power plant in the Republic of Korea. The collected data were statistically analyzed to verify the changes in environmental impact according to operation factor, and appropriate life cycle inventories were structured to model the Taean coal power plant. From the created life cycle inventories, the modeled Taean coal power plant was firstly evaluated based on its environmental impacts. It was found that the global warming potential could be reduced by 78%, from 1.04 to 0.23 kgCO₂/kWh by applying the CO₂ capture module to the Taean model. It was therefore confirmed that applying the CO₂ capture facility from a point emission source, such as a thermal power plant, is an effective solution to achieve targeted greenhouse gas reduction from the 2050 Low Emission Development strategy. Also, it was found that upon assessing environmental impact for application of the CO₂ capture module to the coal power plant, integrating both the time horizon and country characterization factor should be considered. With the help of the precise LCA methodology, it was confirmed that application of air pollutant control and CO₂ capture modules are effective solution to achieve greenhouse gas reduction with environmental regulation standards.