Life Cycle Assessment of Natural Gas and Heavy Fuel Oil Power Plants in Bangladesh

The threats of global warming and climate change are becoming rampant worldwide day by day due to increasing production of greenhouse gases. The generation of electricity is a key contributor to the global emission of greenhouse gases. This study uses life cycle assessment approach to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions in combined cycle natural gas and heavy fuel oil power plants in Bangladesh for generation of 1 kWh electricity. The results show that heavy fuel oil has nearly 2 times more emissions than natural gas creating more dangerous impact on environment. The share of direct emission from fuel combustion is around 87% for heavy fuel oil and for natural gas it is around 71%. Further evaluation of energy technologies using LCA approach can bring more insights in emission reduction strategies and development of powerplant efficiencies.