Life Cycle Assessment on Environmental Impact of Wind Power Turbines

2013 ◽  
Vol 448-453 ◽  
pp. 1897-1903
Author(s):  
Jia Hua Dong ◽  
Wei Guang Zhu ◽  
Cheng Kang Gao
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Wind Power Generation

Wind power is an important type of renewable energy sources. In this passage we will apply Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to analyze the four stages of wind power generation,which are production of raw materials, transportation, build-operate process of wind plants and demolition stages, calculate the energy consumption and the environmental impact, set a contrastive analysis between coal-fired power plants and wind power plants. We will take WangHaiSi Wind Plant in Faku, Shenyang as an example to show the difference between the two ways of getting power. The analysis shows that: in comparison with coal-fired generation, wind power generation saves more energy and reduces emissions of pollutants markedly; the main energy consumption comes from production of raw materials, which takes 79.3% of the total energy consumption throughout the life cycle. In the meantime, the large amount of ecological resources consumption from construction, operation and maintenance of wind plants leads to mass emission of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, which respectively take 67.3% and 96.6% of total emissions. Besides, wind generation only accounts for 0.93%, 0.89% and 2.72% of energy consumption, global warming potential (GWP) and acid potential (AP) of coal-fired power generation. Thus, it proved that wind power generation has lesser impacts on environment than coal-fired power generation. However, it is still of great necessity to strengthen the environmental protection measures to reduce the consumption and destroy of ecologic resources.

Contrastive Analysis between Wind Power Generation and Coal Generation on the Environmental Impact Assessment

2013 ◽  
Vol 316-317 ◽  
pp. 254-258
Author(s):  
Jia Hua Dong ◽  
Wei Guang Zhu ◽  
Cheng Kang Gao ◽  
Han Mei Tang
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Wind Power Generation ◽  
Contrastive Analysis

Wind power is an important type of renewable energy sources. In this passage we will apply Life Cycle Assessment to analyze the four stages of wind power generation，which are production of raw materials, transportation, build-operate process of wind plants and demolition stages, calculate the energy consumption and the environmental impact, set a contrastive analysis between coal-fired power plants and wind power plants. We will take WangHaiSi Wind Plant in Faku, Shenyang as an example to show the difference between the two ways of getting power. The analysis shows that: in comparison with coal-fired generation, wind power generation saves more energy and reduces emissions of pollutants markedly; the main energy consumption comes from production of raw materials, which takes 79.3% of the total energy consumption throughout the life cycle. In the meantime, the large amount of ecological resources consumption from construction, operation and maintenance of wind plants leads to mass emission of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, which respectively take 67.3% and 96.6% of total emissions. Besides, wind generation only accounts for 0.93%, 0.89% and 2.72% of energy consumption, global warming potential (GWP) and acid potential (AP) of coal-fired power generation. Thus, it proved that wind power generation has lesser impacts on environment than coal-fired power generation. However, it is still of great necessity to strengthen the environmental protection measures to reduce the consumption and destroy of ecologic resources.

scholarly journals Examining Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions of Microbial Induced Carbonate Precipitation Using the Life Cycle Assessment Method

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4856
Author(s):  
Xuejie Deng ◽  
Yu Li ◽  
Hao Liu ◽  
Yile Zhao ◽  
Yinchao Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Carbonate Precipitation ◽  
Application Process

Microbial induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is a new geotechnical engineering technology used to strengthen soils and other materials. Although it is considered to be environmentally friendly, there is a lack of quantitative data and objective evaluation to support conclusions about its environmental impact. In this paper, the energy consumption and carbon emissions of MICP technology are quantitatively analyzed by using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. The environmental effects of MICP technology are evaluated from the perspectives of resource consumption and environmental impact. The results show that for each tonne of calcium carbonate produced by MICP technology, 1.8 t standard coal is consumed and 3.4 t CO2 is produced, among which 80.4% of the carbon emissions and 96% of the energy consumption come from raw materials. Comparing using MICP with cement, lime, and sintered brick, the current MICP application process consumes less non-renewable resources but has a greater environmental impact. The major environmental impact that MICP has is the production of smoke and ash, with secondary impacts being global warming, photochemical ozone creation, acidification, and eutrophication. In five potential application scenarios of MICP, including concrete, sintered brick, lime mortar, mine cemented backfill, and foundation reinforcement, the carbon emissions of MICP are 3 to 7 times greater than the emissions of traditional technologies. The energy consumption is 15 to 23 times. Based on the energy consumption and carbon emissions characteristics of MICP technology at the current condition, suggestions are given for the future research of MICP.

Life cycle assessment of geothermal power generation in the Southern German Molasse Basin – The binary plant Kirchstockach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Bott ◽  
Kathrin Menberg ◽  
Florian Heberle ◽  
Dieter Brüggemann ◽  
Peter Bayer
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Molasse Basin ◽  
Geothermal Systems ◽  
System Parameters

<p>Under geologically beneficial conditions, geothermal facilities are often rated as efficient, as well as clean and climate-neutral energy technologies. In fact, for supporting a good environmental performance of a technology, the total environmental impact caused by all associated material and energy consumption needs to be examined. Life cycle assessment (LCA) according to ISO standards 14040 and 14044 considers not only operation, but also the construction and decommissioning phases while addressing different environmental impact categories. Therefore, LCA-based environmental evaluation has been proposed in several previous studies. A review of the state-of the art in this field shows that some critical system parameters are often disregarded. Furthermore, many existing studies are solely based on theoretical datasets without validation to specific application cases.</p><p>Our work addresses these two shortcomings by performing a comprehensive LCA using operational data of the binary, two-stage ORC, Kirchstockach power plant in the Southern German Molasse Basin. Given its technical specifications, a representative base case scenario provides an excellent reference for benchmarking against other power plants. Environmental impacts of different technical modifications are assessed in terms of global warming potential, non-renewable energy consumption, aquatic acidification and eutrophication. Using scenario analyses, we consider the influence of emerging key factors, such as refrigerant leakage, focusing on various system components. Firstly, we identify reinforcing effects due to interrelationships between these system parameters, e.g. when using environmentally friendly ORC refrigerants. Secondly, uncertainty analyses provide insights into potential measures for ecological system improvements by using different materials and methods in the construction and operation phases. For comparison and benchmarking purposes, conventional power generation resources and comparable studies in the field of binary geothermal systems, enhanced geothermal systems, and flash systems are included. Besides the general positive ranking of the Kirchstockach power plant environmental performance, our multi-objective study ultimately reveals not only key performance factors, but it also underlines the overall relevance of case studies to validate generic and global assumptions.</p>

Power Electronics for Grid Integration of Wind Power Generation System

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S Okundamiya
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Power Electronics ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Wind Power Generation ◽  
Generation System ◽  
Electricity Grid ◽  
Power Generation System ◽  
Promising Source

The rising demands for a sustainable energy system have stimulated global interests in renewable energy sources. Wind is the fastest growing and promising source of renewable power generation globally. The inclusion of wind power into the electric grid can severely impact the monetary cost, stability and quality of the grid network due to the erratic nature of wind. Power electronics technology can enable optimum performance of the wind power generation system, transferring suitable and applicable energy to the electricity grid. Power electronics can be used for smooth transfer of wind energy to electricity grid but the technology for wind turbines is influenced by the type of generator employed, the energy demand and the grid requirements. This paper investigates the constraints and standards of wind energy conversion technology and the enabling power electronic technology for integration to electricity grid.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of an Innovative Compact Hybrid Electrical-Thermal Storage System for Residential Buildings in Mediterranean Climate

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5322
Author(s):  
Gabriel Zsembinszki ◽  
Noelia Llantoy ◽  
Valeria Palomba ◽  
Andrea Frazzica ◽  
Mattia Dallapiccola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Mediterranean Climate ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Storage System ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Electrical Consumption ◽  
The Impact

The buildings sector is one of the least sustainable activities in the world, accounting for around 40% of the total global energy demand. With the aim to reduce the environmental impact of this sector, the use of renewable energy sources coupled with energy storage systems in buildings has been investigated in recent years. Innovative solutions for cooling, heating, and domestic hot water in buildings can contribute to the buildings’ decarbonization by achieving a reduction of building electrical consumption needed to keep comfortable conditions. However, the environmental impact of a new system is not only related to its electrical consumption from the grid, but also to the environmental load produced in the manufacturing and disposal stages of system components. This study investigates the environmental impact of an innovative system proposed for residential buildings in Mediterranean climate through a life cycle assessment. The results show that, due to the complexity of the system, the manufacturing and disposal stages have a high environmental impact, which is not compensated by the reduction of the impact during the operational stage. A parametric study was also performed to investigate the effect of the design of the storage system on the overall system impact.

scholarly journals A Statistical Modeling Methodology for Long-Term Wind Generation and Power Ramp Simulations in New Generation Locations

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jussi Ekström ◽  
Matti Koivisto ◽  
Ilkka Mellin ◽  
Robert Millar ◽  
Matti Lehtonen
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Statistical Modeling ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Measurement Data ◽  
Wind Power Generation ◽  
System Level ◽  
Wind Generation ◽  
The Impact

In future power systems, a large share of the energy will be generated with wind power plants (WPPs) and other renewable energy sources. With the increasing wind power penetration, the variability of the net generation in the system increases. Consequently, it is imperative to be able to assess and model the behavior of the WPP generation in detail. This paper presents an improved methodology for the detailed statistical modeling of wind power generation from multiple new WPPs without measurement data. A vector autoregressive based methodology, which can be applied to long-term Monte Carlo simulations of existing and new WPPs, is proposed. The proposed model improves the performance of the existing methodology and can more accurately analyze the temporal correlation structure of aggregated wind generation at the system level. This enables the model to assess the impact of new WPPs on the wind power ramp rates in a power system. To evaluate the performance of the proposed methodology, it is verified against hourly wind speed measurements from six locations in Finland and the aggregated wind power generation from Finland in 2015. Furthermore, a case study analyzing the impact of the geographical distribution of WPPs on wind power ramps is included.

scholarly journals LCA and LCC of Emerging and Incumbent Technologies on Energy Harvesters

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Ada Malagnino ◽  
Maddalena Rostagno ◽  
Giuseppe Gaspare Amaro ◽  
Anestis Vlysidis ◽  
Anastasia Gkika ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Thermoelectric Materials ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Rare Elements ◽  
Environmental Friendly

In this study, life cycle assessment and life cycle costing results about piezoelectric and thermoelectric materials for energy harvesters (EHs) are extracted from the literature and evaluated. This study serves as a basis for comparing current EHs with innovative EHs that will be developed within the Horizon 2020 FAST SMART project. FAST—SMART aims at increasing the performance of current EHs while reducing at the same time: The use of rare elements and toxic substances; resources and energy consumption; environmental impact and costs; paving the way for the adoption of new and more environmental-friendly systems for energy harvesting.

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