Hybrid Approaches to Quantify the Environmental Impacts of Renewable Energy Technologies: A Comparison and Methodological Proposal

The transition towards a more sustainable and decarbonised energy system is mandatory for achieving global climate objectives, and renewable energies are essential to this purpose. There are different methodologies to assess the sustainability, each with its strengths and limitations. Thus, hybrid approaches integrating Input-Output analysis and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are often proposed to overcome limitations and take advantage of strengths of renewable technologies. Through a case study of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology, a potentially significant technology in the European context, this study provides an environmental assessment of seven environmental indicators by applying and comparing methodological approaches: Environmental Extended Multiregional Input-Output (EMRIO), Life Cycle Assessment and two hybrid approaches used in literature. Among those, we propose a new hybrid tieredapproach, named Identification and Subtraction Method (ISM), that expands the boundaries of the LCA method, identifying in MRIO results the impacts from sectors not included in the LCA. The results indicated that the LCA and EMRIO approaches provide impact values in the lower and upper ranges, respectively, although there are some exceptions. The proposed ISM method achieves to expand the LCA boundaries by including indirect impacts, avoiding any double-counting and retaining the technological detail and representativeness of the process-based LCA.The highest differences between methods are found in the assessment of local impacts and the depletion of the resources for either fuels or minerals and metals, while the methods tend to agree more on the quantification of global and regional impacts. However, there are limitations to the implementation of the impact characterization methods and the quantification of the potential impacts that should be borne in mind when comparing the results of the different methods

Hybrid water footprint and life cycle assesment of crude palm oil production

The purpose of this study was to evaluate water footprint (WF) of 1 ton crude palm oil (CPO) production from nursery, plantation, and palm oil mill. WF is one of the methods that can be used as a tool for calculating volume of water consumption through the processing of the product. Moreover, this study integrated WF methods for quantifying water volume and used life cycle assessment approach as a tool to evaluate potential impacts through the supply chain. In addition, geo informatics system method was used to illustrate topography and land surface of study locations. Furthermore, this study also determined water deprivation from freshwater used in producing per ton of crude palm oil. The amount of WF at nursery stage ranges from 1.02 to 1.07 m3/seedling. Meanwhile, the WF at plantation stage ranges from 685 m3/ton of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) to 1528 m3/ ton of FFB. The total water foot print for various mill processes ranges from 6.90 m3 to 9.00 m3/ton. Therefore, the average WF in this study is equivalent to 4391 m3/ton of CPO. The significant environmental impacts from this study are freshwater ecotoxicity (kg 1,4-DB eq.), marine eutrophication (kg N-eq.), water depletion (m3), fossil depletion (kg oil eq.), and climate change (kg CO2-eq.). For water deprivation results at nursery range from 8x10e-6 to 5x10e-4 H2O eq. Meanwhile at plantation stage, it ranges from 6x10e-2 H2O eq. to 5.5x10e-1 H2O eq. At mill stage, water deprivation ranges from 1.18 H2O eq. to 1.55 H2O eq. This study has highlighted the outcomes to the environment, governance, and economic sector

A comparison and methodological proposal for hybrid approaches to quantify environmental impacts: A case study for renewable energies

The transition towards a more sustainable and decarbonised energy system is mandatory for achieving global climate objectives, and counting on proper tools to evaluate sustainability is essential. Among sustainability assessment methodologies, hybrid approaches integrating Input-Output analysis (IOA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are often proposed to overcome limitations and take advantage of strengths of both methodologies. In this paper we propose a new hybrid tiered approach, named Identification and Subtraction Method (ISM). Through a case study of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology, we test the proposed method assessing seven environmental indicators and compare the results obtained by different methodological approaches: Environmental Extended Multiregional Input-Output (EMRIO), LCA and two hybrid approaches. Results showed that, in general, LCA and EMRIO provide the lowest and uppest impact values, respectively. The ISM method expands the LCA boundaries by including indirect impacts, avoiding double-counting and retaining the technological detail and representativeness of the LCA. The main advantage is the ability to establish with high accuracy the impact coming from the LCA system boundaries. Furthermore, ISM is easy to undertake for LCA practitioners, is a low time-consuming hybrid approach once the LCA and EMRIO models are run, and it does not require the alteration of the IO matrix as other hybrid methods. However, the need to perform the EMRIO and LCA analysis could imply high detailed data needs. An additional limitation of the model is that it is not be able to include partial contributions from EMRIO sectors. The highest differences between results obtained by the different methods are found in the assessment of local impacts and the resources depletion, while the methods tend to agree more on global and regional impacts quantification. However, there are limitations to the implementation of the impact characterization methods that should be borne in mind when comparing the results of the different methods

Rethinking Sustainability Towards a Regenerative Economy

This open access book is based on work from the COST Action “RESTORE - REthinking Sustainability TOwards a Regenerative Economy'', and highlights how sustainability in buildings, facilities and urban governance is crucial for a future that is socially just, ecologically restorative, and economically viable, for Europe and the whole planet. In light of the search for fair solutions to the climate crisis, the authors outline the urgency for the built environment sector to implement adaptation and mitigation strategies, as well as a just transition. As shown in the chapters, this can be done by applying a broader framework that enriches places, people, ecology, culture, and climate, at the core of the design task - with a particular emphasis on the benefits towards health and resilient business practices. This book is one step on the way to a paradigm shift towards restorative sustainability for new and existing buildings. The authors want to promote forward thinking and multidisciplinary knowledge, leading to solutions that celebrate the richness of design creativity. In this vision, cities of the future will enhance users’ experience, health and wellbeing inside and outside of buildings, while reconciling anthropic ecosystems and nature. A valuable resource for scientists and students in environmental sciences and architecture, as well as policy makers, practitioners and investors in urban and regional development