Environmental externalities related to power production on biogas and natural gas based on the EU ExternE methodology

This paper assesses the environmental impacts and external costs from selected electricity generation systems in Denmark. The assessment is carried out as part of the ExternE National Implementation, which is the second phase of the ExternE project and involves case studies from all Western European countries. The project use a “bottom-up” methodology to evaluate the external costs associated with a wide range of different fuel cycles. The project has identified priority impacts, where most are impacts from air emissions. Externalities due to atmospheric emissions are calculated through the use of a software package, EcoSence, having an environmental database at both a local and regional level including population, crops, building materials and forest. The system also incorporates two air transport models, allowing local and regional scale modelling. The results of the Danish case study show that estimated damages due to the greenhouse effect are predominant, however, the uncertainty is high. The predominant damage at the local and regional level is related to emission of NOx, which results in effects on public health.