Life Cycle Assessment of producing 1 MWh of Biomass Energy using Woodchips: A Case Study of Prince Edward Island, Canada

The increasing urgency to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions has prompted a global shift towards ‘net zero’ and sustainable energy sources. As a renewable resource, biomass, specifically wood chips, has emerged as an alternative to fossil fuels for generating heat and warrants an insightful investigation of its environmental implications. The research conducted a resource analysis and Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of producing 1 Megawatt hour (MWh) of heat energy from biomass wood chips using biomass boilers with an average capacity of 300 kW and compared it to the production of 1 MWh of heat from oil on the Island. While this specific case study was scoped for Prince Edward Island, Canada, the methods and conclusions may be extended to communities around the globe facing similar decisions. While intuitive, a critical finding from the research is that harvesting strategies are imperative to the long-term sustainability of a healthy biomass-for-energy industry and are often not properly evaluated. The adopted LCA methodology follows ISO 14040 standards. The findings indicate that biomass energy production from wood chips has distinct environmental advantages over fossil fuel oil in several categories. Greenhouse gas emissions and ozone depletion are significantly lower when heat is generated from biomass, however it is important to emphasize that biomass heat generation is not ‘net zero,’ as greenhouse gases are emitted in different life-cycle phases with current harvesting methods. Despite these benefits, biomass heat also generates greater impacts in areas such as freshwater ecotoxicity, land use, and particulate matter formation, which pose risks to the health and resilience of the environment and human populations. If a sustainable transition to renewable biomass heating is pursued, these harvesting and environmental risks must be acknowledged and properly addressed rather than neglected in the sole pursuit of a ‘net zero’ future.