Should photovoltaics stay at home? Comparative life cycle environmental assessment on roof-mounted and ground-mounted photovoltaics

Renewable energy technologies like photovoltaics may be considered an indispensable component of a low-carbon electricity mix, but social acceptance should not be taken for granted. For instance, in Greece there are still claims, especially in rural areas, regarding the land use and the competition against more traditional economic activities such as grazing. An argument in favor of confining to roof-mounted photovoltaic installations is the additional infrastructure requirements for ground-mounted larger-scale photovoltaics. These requirements reduce and could potentially negate their environmental benefits. The aim of this study is to investigate the life cycle environmental impacts of commercial ground-mounted photovoltaic farms and compare them against residential roof-mounted photovoltaic installations. Data were gathered for a 500 kW ground-mounted photovoltaic installation and for five roof-mounted installations of 10 kW capacity, each from the same area at the prefecture of Pella in Northern Greece. An LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) was performed and results show that panel production is the main contributor for both types and that ground-mounted photovoltaics—when no transmission/distribution infrastructure is considered—have lower impacts than the roof-mounted residential photovoltaic installations for all impact categories except terrestrial ecotoxicity. However, when located further than 10.22 km from grid connection, ground-mounted photovoltaics have higher impacts for almost all environmental impact categories

Decarbonising electricity supply: Is climate change mitigation going to be carried out at the expense of other environmental impacts?

AbstractAs nations face the need to decarbonise their energy supply, there is a risk that attention will be focused solely on carbon and climate change, potentially at the expense of other environmental impacts. To explore the trade-offs between climate change mitigation and other environmental impacts, this work focuses on electricity and considers a number of scenarios up to 2070 in a UK context with different carbon reduction targets and electricity demand to estimate the related life cycle environmental impacts. In total, 16 scenarios are discussed, incorporating fossil-fuel technologies with and without carbon capture and storage, nuclear power and a range of renewable options. A freely available model–Electricity Technologies Life Cycle Assessment (ETLCA)–developed by the authors has been used for these purposes. The results suggest that decarbonisation of electricity supply to meet carbon targets would lead to a reduction in the majority of the life cycle impacts by 2070. The exceptions to this are depletion of elements which would increase by 4–145 times and health impacts from radiation which would increase two- to four-fold if nuclear power were used. Ozone layer depletion would also go up in the short-term by between 2.5–3.7 times. If energy demand continued to grow, three other impacts would also increase while trying to meet the carbon targets: human toxicity (two times), photochemical smog (12%) and terrestrial eco-toxicity (2.3 times). These findings demonstrate the importance of considering a broader range of environmental impacts alongside climate change to avoid decarbonising the economy at the expense of other environmental impacts

Life cycle analysis for bioethanol production from sugar beet crops in Greece

The main aim of this study is to evaluate whether the potential transformation of the existing sugar plants of Northern Greece to modern bioethanol plants, using the existing cultivations of sugar beet, would be an environmentally sustainable decision. Using Life Cycle Inventory and Impact Assessment, all processes for bioethanol production from sugar beets were analyzed, quantitative data were collected and the environmental loads of the final product (bioethanol) and of each process were estimated. The final results of the environmental impact assessment are encouraging since bioethanol production gives better results than sugar production for the use of the same quantity of sugar beets. If the old sugar plants were transformed into modern bioethanol plants, the total reduction of the environmental load would be, at least, 32.6% and a reduction of more than 2 tons of CO2e/sugar beet of ha cultivation could be reached. Moreover bioethanol production was compared to conventional fuel (gasoline), as well as to other types of biofuels (biodiesel from Greek cultivations).Life cycle analysis Biofuels Bioethanol

Data for the project management, life cycle inventory, costings and energy production of a ground-mounted photovoltaic farm in Greece

Data was collected using standard communication equipment and invoices provided by an established civil construction and renewable energy development and operation company. Data referring to the construction, costings, operation and environmental impacts of a photovoltaic farm were recorded into four distinct Excel files namely: i) Project Management Data, ii) Life Cycle Inventory (LCI), iii) Electricity Generation Data and iv) Operational Cost Data.For the project management, the given quantities of the resources used in each activity could be further combined with the costs from different geographical and time regions to estimate overall project implementation costs for similar projects. The LCI data for the materials and transportation used can set the basis for life cycle assessment modelling of ground-mounted photovoltaic farms of that size and type. The electricity generation data along with meteorological parameters and location coordinates can be further enhanced to predict and manage energy generation and cashflow of expectations installations of this type and size over time. Finally, the data referring to a number of cost categories(‘maintenance costs’, ‘operational costs’, ‘insurance costs’ and ‘any other costs’), especially combined with the previously mentioned types of data could support a holistic technoeconomic and environmental assessment of comparable commercial photovoltaic installations.In addition, these data can be used for a comparative multi-disciplinary evaluation between photovoltaics and among various renewable electricity generation alternatives and traditional fossil fuel-based options as well

A Review of Water-Related LCA Indicators

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a systematic methodology that monitors, measures and evaluates the environmental performance of a system throughout its entire life cycle. This performance is quantitatively measured using midpoint (representing the impact on certain categories) or endpoint (representing the damage to human health, the ecosystem and resources) indicators.For the standardization of the process, ISO 14040:2006 presented the framework that needs to be followed for LCA studies, while ISO 14046:2014 formalized the water footprint framework. Despite the introduction of the standards, the specific methods that need to be applied are not explained in detail, and, for that reason, LCA practitioners who focus on water use apply several methods and approaches to assess the water quantity consumed or the water/wastewater quality

ICE Report 2.1.2: ICE General Methodology

This document describes a proposed methodological approach to the design and implementation of smart energy island systems. It is informed by a desk review of the available literature on smart energy islands (see T2.1.1 ICE deliverable report), current thinking in electricity system planning, and the particular challenges facing isolated systems (eg. Ushant). The approach consists of a series of sequential steps and iterations between steps that aim to guide communities through the process of creating a smart energy system. Unique to this approach is the emphasis of fostering local skills, businesses and industry in the delivery of the program with the aim of retaining these long-term benefits within the community. The document lays out the specific considerations of the proposed generic methodology for the isolated system smart energy transition. The conceptual overview of the methodology is presented and the rationale behind this choice of framework is supported. The framework comprises a set of guidelines based on the understanding of the best practices in ongoing smart energy transition projects and the approaches to electricity system planning. Within the scope of the ICE methodological approach the role of the different key players in the implementation of the methodology and the rationale behind the choices made regarding technologies, policies and so on are detailed. These includes stakeholder engagement, assessing energy demand and supply outlook and issues around balancing. Options, system reliability, scenarios and the implementation, monitoring and revision of the energy transition aspects are then considered. The ultimate goal of the document is to provide a blueprint for smart energy transitions in isolated and peripheral territories and to allow transferability of the methodology. The result here is that the specificities including business models related to issues featuring isolated territories are all covered by this generic approach. In turn, the document aims to empower policymakers and stakeholders with the outlook, circumstantial evidence, and innovation on how to develop smart energy transition strategies for isolated and peripheral territories. Following an introduction to the aims and scope of the methodology and a schematic overview of the key elements, seven key processes are described: (a) Section 2 emphasises the significance of stakeholder engagement to successful implementation and proposes some guidelines for community involvement (b) Section 3 explores important considerations in the assessment of current energy demand patterns and their evolution through time (c) Section 4 presents guidelines in the identification and assessment of available energy supply options (d) Section 5 explores the issues and approaches to ensuring electricity system stability and reliability (e) Section 6 provides guidance on how communities might synthesise various sources of information to create a range of credible future scenarios and identify a preferred plan (f) Section 7 discusses implementation, in particular drawing attention to the crucial importance of ongoing monitoring and revision (g) Section 8 outlines the key area for consideration to ensure local business involvement in smart energy island transitio