IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v139y2015icp196-204.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Product and corporate carbon footprint using the compound method based on financial accounts. The case of Osorio wind farms

Author

Listed:
  • Alvarez, Sergio
  • Sosa, María
  • Rubio, Agustín

Abstract

The challenge of developing clean and renewable energy sources is becoming ever more urgent. Over the last decade, the concept of carbon footprint has been used to report direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions and as a support for sustainable consumption decisions. However, the discrepancies in the approaches based on either the product or corporate carbon footprint can seriously hinder its successful implementation. The so-called compound method based on financial accounts is a tiered hybrid method which enables the calculation of both the product and corporate carbon footprint. This work aims to assess this method as a tool for carbon footprint through its implementation in a comprehensive life-cycle assessment of the Osorio Wind Farms in Brazil. The total cumulative life-cycle emissions are 362.455t CO2eq, representing 18.33gr CO2eq per kWh delivered to the Brazilian national power grid. The difference with regard to previous works derives from its broader scope and different assumptions. In this study the comparable value from wind turbine manufacture, transport and construction is 8.42gr CO2eq per kWh, 56% lower than the mean figure reported by Arvesen and Hertwich (2012). This study includes sources, phases and areas previously unreported in the carbon footprint reviews for the wind power sector. We conclude that the compound method based on financial accounts is a practical method that allows the definition of a more comprehensive goal and scope. Its implementation at Osorio Wind Farms demonstrates the method’s suitability for application in major international projects and institutions interested in closely monitoring their carbon footprint.

Suggested Citation

  • Alvarez, Sergio & Sosa, María & Rubio, Agustín, 2015. "Product and corporate carbon footprint using the compound method based on financial accounts. The case of Osorio wind farms," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 196-204.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:139:y:2015:i:c:p:196-204
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.11.039
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030626191401201X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.11.039?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Proietti, Stefania & Sdringola, Paolo & Desideri, Umberto & Zepparelli, Francesco & Brunori, Antonio & Ilarioni, Luana & Nasini, Luigi & Regni, Luca & Proietti, Primo, 2014. "Carbon footprint of an olive tree grove," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 115-124.
    2. Hondo, Hiroki, 2005. "Life cycle GHG emission analysis of power generation systems: Japanese case," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 2042-2056.
    3. Sybil Seitzinger, 2010. "A sustainable planet needs scientists to think ahead," Nature, Nature, vol. 468(7324), pages 601-601, December.
    4. Kubiszewski, Ida & Cleveland, Cutler J. & Endres, Peter K., 2010. "Meta-analysis of net energy return for wind power systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 218-225.
    5. Meier, Paul J. & Wilson, Paul P. H. & Kulcinski, Gerald L. & Denholm, Paul L., 2005. "US electric industry response to carbon constraint: a life-cycle assessment of supply side alternatives," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 1099-1108, June.
    6. Raadal, Hanne Lerche & Gagnon, Luc & Modahl, Ingunn Saur & Hanssen, Ole Jørgen, 2011. "Life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the generation of wind and hydro power," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(7), pages 3417-3422, September.
    7. Yang, Q. & Chen, G.Q. & Liao, S. & Zhao, Y.H. & Peng, H.W. & Chen, H.P., 2013. "Environmental sustainability of wind power: An emergy analysis of a Chinese wind farm," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 229-239.
    8. Schleisner, L, 2000. "Life cycle assessment of a wind farm and related externalities," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 279-288.
    9. Lenzen, Manfred & Wachsmann, Ulrike, 2004. "Wind turbines in Brazil and Germany: an example of geographical variability in life-cycle assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 119-130, February.
    10. Bin, Guoshu & Parker, Paul, 2012. "Measuring buildings for sustainability: Comparing the initial and retrofit ecological footprint of a century home – The REEP House," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 24-32.
    11. Tian, Xin & Chang, Miao & Lin, Chen & Tanikawa, Hiroki, 2014. "China’s carbon footprint: A regional perspective on the effect of transitions in consumption and production patterns," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 19-28.
    12. Arvesen, Anders & Hertwich, Edgar G., 2012. "Assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of wind power: A review of present knowledge and research needs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(8), pages 5994-6006.
    13. Cranston, G.R. & Hammond, G.P., 2010. "North and south: Regional footprints on the transition pathway towards a low carbon, global economy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(9), pages 2945-2951, September.
    14. Lenzen, Manfred & Munksgaard, Jesper, 2002. "Energy and CO2 life-cycle analyses of wind turbines—review and applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 339-362.
    15. Weinzettel, Jan & Reenaas, Marte & Solli, Christian & Hertwich, Edgar G., 2009. "Life cycle assessment of a floating offshore wind turbine," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 742-747.
    16. Crawford, R.H., 2009. "Life cycle energy and greenhouse emissions analysis of wind turbines and the effect of size on energy yield," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(9), pages 2653-2660, December.
    17. Messagie, Maarten & Mertens, Jan & Oliveira, Luis & Rangaraju, Surendraprabu & Sanfelix, Javier & Coosemans, Thierry & Van Mierlo, Joeri & Macharis, Cathy, 2014. "The hourly life cycle carbon footprint of electricity generation in Belgium, bringing a temporal resolution in life cycle assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 469-476.
    18. Elena Marañón & Giovanna Iregui & Juan Luis Doménech & Yolanda Fernández-Nava & Mónica González-Arenales, 2008. "Propuesta De Índices De Conversión Para La Obtención De La Huella De Los Residuos Y Los Vertidos," Observatorio Iberoamericano del Desarrollo Local y la Economía Social, Servicios Académicos Intercontinentales SL, issue 4, June.
    19. Nomura, Noboru & Inaba, Atsushi & Tonooka, Yutaka & Akai, Makoto, 2001. "Life-cycle emission of oxidic gases from power-generation systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 215-227, February.
    20. Oebels, Kerstin B. & Pacca, Sergio, 2013. "Life cycle assessment of an onshore wind farm located at the northeastern coast of Brazil," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 60-70.
    21. Pehnt, Martin, 2006. "Dynamic life cycle assessment (LCA) of renewable energy technologies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 55-71.
    22. Proietti, Stefania & Desideri, Umberto & Sdringola, Paolo & Zepparelli, Francesco, 2013. "Carbon footprint of a reflective foil and comparison with other solutions for thermal insulation in building envelope," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 843-855.
    23. Bush, Ruth & Jacques, David A. & Scott, Kate & Barrett, John, 2014. "The carbon payback of micro-generation: An integrated hybrid input–output approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 85-98.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gueddari-Aourir, A. & García-Alaminos, A. & García-Yuste, S. & Alonso-Moreno, C. & Canales-Vázquez, J. & Zafrilla, J.E., 2022. "The carbon footprint balance of a real-case wine fermentation CO2 capture and utilization strategy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    2. Ji, Shiyu & Chen, Bin, 2016. "Carbon footprint accounting of a typical wind farm in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 416-423.
    3. Nagashima, Shin & Uchiyama, Yohji & Okajima, Keiichi, 2017. "Hybrid input–output table method for socioeconomic and environmental assessment of a wind power generation system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 1067-1075.
    4. Zhang, Xiaoyue & Huang, Guohe & Liu, Lirong & Li, Kailong, 2022. "Development of a stochastic multistage lifecycle programming model for electric power system planning – A case study for the Province of Saskatchewan, Canada," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nugent, Daniel & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2014. "Assessing the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from solar PV and wind energy: A critical meta-survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 229-244.
    2. Arvesen, Anders & Hertwich, Edgar G., 2012. "Assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of wind power: A review of present knowledge and research needs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(8), pages 5994-6006.
    3. Turconi, Roberto & Boldrin, Alessio & Astrup, Thomas, 2013. "Life cycle assessment (LCA) of electricity generation technologies: Overview, comparability and limitations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 555-565.
    4. Mendecka, Barbara & Lombardi, Lidia, 2019. "Life cycle environmental impacts of wind energy technologies: A review of simplified models and harmonization of the results," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 462-480.
    5. Song, Cuihong & Gardner, Kevin H. & Klein, Sharon J.W. & Souza, Simone Pereira & Mo, Weiwei, 2018. "Cradle-to-grave greenhouse gas emissions from dams in the United States of America," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 945-956.
    6. Yang, Jin & Chen, Bin, 2013. "Integrated evaluation of embodied energy, greenhouse gas emission and economic performance of a typical wind farm in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 559-568.
    7. Abolhosseini, Shahrouz & Heshmati, Almas & Altmann, Jörn, 2014. "A Review of Renewable Energy Supply and Energy Efficiency Technologies," IZA Discussion Papers 8145, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Niklas Andersen & Ola Eriksson & Karl Hillman & Marita Wallhagen, 2016. "Wind Turbines’ End-of-Life: Quantification and Characterisation of Future Waste Materials on a National Level," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-24, November.
    9. Feng, Kuishuang & Hubacek, Klaus & Siu, Yim Ling & Li, Xin, 2014. "The energy and water nexus in Chinese electricity production: A hybrid life cycle analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 342-355.
    10. Lombardi, Lidia & Mendecka, Barbara & Carnevale, Ennio & Stanek, Wojciech, 2018. "Environmental impacts of electricity production of micro wind turbines with vertical axis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 128(PB), pages 553-564.
    11. Amponsah, Nana Yaw & Troldborg, Mads & Kington, Bethany & Aalders, Inge & Hough, Rupert Lloyd, 2014. "Greenhouse gas emissions from renewable energy sources: A review of lifecycle considerations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 461-475.
    12. Raadal, Hanne Lerche & Gagnon, Luc & Modahl, Ingunn Saur & Hanssen, Ole Jørgen, 2011. "Life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the generation of wind and hydro power," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(7), pages 3417-3422, September.
    13. Kaldellis, J.K. & Apostolou, D., 2017. "Life cycle energy and carbon footprint of offshore wind energy. Comparison with onshore counterpart," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 72-84.
    14. Li, Jinying & Li, Sisi & Wu, Fan, 2020. "Research on carbon emission reduction benefit of wind power project based on life cycle assessment theory," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 456-468.
    15. Evans, Annette & Strezov, Vladimir & Evans, Tim J., 2009. "Assessment of sustainability indicators for renewable energy technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 1082-1088, June.
    16. Cao, Yijia & Wang, Xifan & Li, Yong & Tan, Yi & Xing, Jianbo & Fan, Ruixiang, 2016. "A comprehensive study on low-carbon impact of distributed generations on regional power grids: A case of Jiangxi provincial power grid in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 766-778.
    17. Varun & Bhat, I.K. & Prakash, Ravi, 2009. "LCA of renewable energy for electricity generation systems--A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 1067-1073, June.
    18. Raadal, Hanne Lerche & Vold, Bjørn Ivar & Myhr, Anders & Nygaard, Tor Anders, 2014. "GHG emissions and energy performance of offshore wind power," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 314-324.
    19. Karagiannis, Ioannis C. & Soldatos, Peter G., 2010. "Estimation of critical CO2 values when planning the power source in water desalination: The case of the small Aegean islands," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 3891-3897, August.
    20. Varun & Prakash, Ravi & Bhat, Inder Krishnan, 2009. "Energy, economics and environmental impacts of renewable energy systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(9), pages 2716-2721, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:139:y:2015:i:c:p:196-204. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.