10.5071/22ndEUBCE2014-2BV.2.53Cebrucean, D.Cebrucean, V.Ionel, I.Towards Low Emission Power Plants: Biomass Co-Firing Combined with Post-Combustion CO<sub>2</sub> CaptureETA-Florence Renewable Energies2014BiomassengConference paper978-88-89407-52-32282-58195 Pagesapplication/pdfCoalfired power plants generate significant amounts of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. Among carbon mitigation strategies, biomass cofiring with coal in existing coalbased power generation plants combined with postcombustion CO2 capture is one of the potential options for reducing fossilbased CO2 emissions. Cofiring biomass with coal can also reduce the emissions of SO2 and NOx. Postcombustion CO2 capture based on chemical absorption is the most advanced technology that can be relatively easily integrated into existing power plants without altering the combustion process. However, the addition of carbon capture technologies may significantly reduce the net efficiency of a plant (by up to 14% points). As the result, more fuel will be used in order to generate the same amount of energy as the reference plant. The use of biomass cofiring can avoid the release of fossilbased CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. It is estimated that about 140 kilotonnes of fossilCO2 emissions per year can be avoided by cofiring 10% biomass in a power plant with a capacity of 330 MW. Proceedings of the 22nd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 23-26 June 2014, Hamburg, Germany, pp. 749-753