The Earth is facing huge implications from Anthropogenic Global Warming and peaks
in the production of finite fossil fuels. Decision-makers have to choose strategies for
combating these dual problems whilst ensuring minimal costs to society and the
environment. Unfortunately, renewable technologies in particular have doubt associated
with their ability to reduce total life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of
electricity due to uncertainty in estimates. This thesis analyses historic associated GHG
estimates of wind farms, the largest renewables contributor to electricity generation in
the UK, to reduce the uncertainty inherent in estimates and better understand critical
factors that influence estimation. Through harmonisation of published life cycle GHG
emissions estimates, they are reduced by 56% to between 2.9 and 37.3gCO2e/kWh.
Average values for onshore and offshore wind power are calculated as 16 and
18.2gCO2e/kWh respectively and exhibit similar characteristics in their life cycle GHG
emissions. Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm is analysed using a novel hybrid approach
and gives total baseline GHG emissions of 17.5gCO2e/kWh and is the largest wind
power installation to be analysed to date. Finally, an estimate of the effect of load
variability of wind on thermal plant in the UK system is calculated. It is shown that this
effect may reduce the net emissions saving from wind power relative to the whole UK
system’s savings when wind power is included
