IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v179y2021icp1548-1564.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Development of a framework for the sustainability evaluation of renewable and fossil fuel power plants using integrated LCA-emergy analysis: A case study in Iran

Author

Listed:
  • Alizadeh, Sadegh
  • Avami, Akram

Abstract

This study presents a comprehensive framework for evaluating renewable and non-renewable power plants' performance using the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and emergy analysis. The emergy analysis is used to consider the free ecosystem services in the sustainability of the systems as a supplement to the LCA. The results indicate that the wind and photovoltaic power plants have the best performance in terms of the LCA analysis, while the wind and combined cycle power plants have the highest emergy sustainability index. The best scenario is chosen under a two-objective optimization problem, including the single score and emergy sustainability as objective functions. Here, the wind power plant is the most interesting option while the combined cycle power plant with CO2 capture is the least interesting alternative. In this study, a novel framework is developed to assess the Cost of Avoided Carbon emissions (CACe) using the integrated LCA-emergy analysis for the combined cycle power plant in which its value is evaluated to be about $151.65/ton of CO2. Eventually, an uncertainty analysis is performed on the solar transformities using Monte Carlo simulation. The framework presented in this paper provides insights to increase power plants' sustainability for managers and authorities.

Suggested Citation

  • Alizadeh, Sadegh & Avami, Akram, 2021. "Development of a framework for the sustainability evaluation of renewable and fossil fuel power plants using integrated LCA-emergy analysis: A case study in Iran," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1548-1564.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:179:y:2021:i:c:p:1548-1564
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2021.07.140
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148121011514
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2021.07.140?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. Zerrin Günkaya & Alp Özdemir & Aysun Özkan & Müfide Banar, 2016. "Environmental Performance of Electricity Generation Based on Resources: A Life Cycle Assessment Case Study in Turkey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-14, October.
    2. Huang, Yu-Fong & Gan, Xing-Jia & Chiueh, Pei-Te, 2017. "Life cycle assessment and net energy analysis of offshore wind power systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(PA), pages 98-106.
    3. Magrassi, Fabio & Rocco, Elena & Barberis, Stefano & Gallo, Michela & Del Borghi, Adriana, 2019. "Hybrid solar power system versus photovoltaic plant: A comparative analysis through a life cycle approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 290-304.
    4. Li, Linjun & Lu, Hongfang & Campbell, Daniel E. & Ren, Hai, 2011. "Methods for estimating the uncertainty in emergy table-form models," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(15), pages 2615-2622.
    5. Guezuraga, Begoña & Zauner, Rudolf & Pölz, Werner, 2012. "Life cycle assessment of two different 2 MW class wind turbines," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 37-44.
    6. 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.
    7. Krauter, S & Rüther, R, 2004. "Considerations for the calculation of greenhouse gas reduction by photovoltaic solar energy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 345-355.
    8. Gerbinet, Saïcha & Belboom, Sandra & Léonard, Angélique, 2014. "Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of photovoltaic panels: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 747-753.
    9. Desideri, Umberto & Proietti, Stefania & Zepparelli, Francesco & Sdringola, Paolo & Bini, Silvia, 2012. "Life Cycle Assessment of a ground-mounted 1778kWp photovoltaic plant and comparison with traditional energy production systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 930-943.
    10. Rhodes, Joshua D. & King, Carey & Gulen, Gürcan & Olmstead, Sheila M. & Dyer, James S. & Hebner, Robert E. & Beach, Fred C. & Edgar, Thomas F. & Webber, Michael E., 2017. "A geographically resolved method to estimate levelized power plant costs with environmental externalities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 491-499.
    11. Yang, Jin & Chen, Bin, 2016. "Emergy-based sustainability evaluation of wind power generation systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 239-246.
    12. Mahmud, M.A. Parvez & Huda, Nazmul & Farjana, Shahjadi Hisan & Lang, Candace, 2020. "Life-cycle impact assessment of renewable electricity generation systems in the United States," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 1028-1045.
    13. Hudson, Amy & Tilley, David R., 2014. "Assessment of uncertainty in emergy evaluations using Monte Carlo simulations," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 271(C), pages 52-61.
    14. 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.
    15. Pascale, Andrew & Urmee, Tania & Moore, Andrew, 2011. "Life cycle assessment of a community hydroelectric power system in rural Thailand," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2799-2808.
    16. Shuai Shao & Hailin Mu & Fenglin Yang & Yun Zhang & Jinhua Li, 2016. "Application of Emergy Analysis to the Sustainability Evaluation of Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-16, December.
    17. Matthias Finkenrath, 2011. "Cost and Performance of Carbon Dioxide Capture from Power Generation," IEA Energy Papers 2011/5, OECD Publishing.
    18. Tremeac, Brice & Meunier, Francis, 2009. "Life cycle analysis of 4.5Â MW and 250Â W wind turbines," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(8), pages 2104-2110, October.
    19. Sumper, Andreas & Robledo-García, Mercedes & Villafáfila-Robles, Roberto & Bergas-Jané, Joan & Andrés-Peiró, Juan, 2011. "Life-cycle assessment of a photovoltaic system in Catalonia (Spain)," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(8), pages 3888-3896.
    20. Martínez, E. & Sanz, F. & Pellegrini, S. & Jiménez, E. & Blanco, J., 2009. "Life cycle assessment of a multi-megawatt wind turbine," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 667-673.
    21. Fleck, Brian & Huot, Marc, 2009. "Comparative life-cycle assessment of a small wind turbine for residential off-grid use," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 2688-2696.
    22. Prakash, Vrishab & Ghosh, Sajal & Kanjilal, Kakali, 2020. "Costs of avoided carbon emission from thermal and renewable sources of power in India and policy implications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    23. Santoyo-Castelazo, E. & Gujba, H. & Azapagic, A., 2011. "Life cycle assessment of electricity generation in Mexico," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 1488-1499.
    24. Krebs-Moberg, Miles & Pitz, Mandy & Dorsette, Tiara L. & Gheewala, Shabbir H., 2021. "Third generation of photovoltaic panels: A life cycle assessment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 556-565.
    25. 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.
    26. Liu, Gengyuan & Hao, Yan & Dong, Liang & Yang, Zhifeng & Zhang, Yan & Ulgiati, Sergio, 2017. "An emergy-LCA analysis of municipal solid waste management," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 131-143.
    27. Lulu Qu & Xueyi Shi & Chang Liu & Ye Yuan, 2017. "An Emergy-Based Hybrid Method for Assessing Sustainability of the Resource-Dependent Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, January.
    28. Roth, Ian F. & Ambs, Lawrence L., 2004. "Incorporating externalities into a full cost approach to electric power generation life-cycle costing," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(12), pages 2125-2144.
    29. Atilgan, Burcin & Azapagic, Adisa, 2016. "Renewable electricity in Turkey: Life cycle environmental impacts," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 649-657.
    30. Sun, Jian & Schreifels, Jeremy & Wang, Jun & Fu, Joshua S. & Wang, Shuxiao, 2014. "Cost estimate of multi-pollutant abatement from the power sector in the Yangtze River Delta region of China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 478-488.
    31. Wang, Yuxuan & Sun, Tianye, 2012. "Life cycle assessment of CO2 emissions from wind power plants: Methodology and case studies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 30-36.
    32. Bastianoni, S. & Campbell, D.E. & Ridolfi, R. & Pulselli, F.M., 2009. "The solar transformity of petroleum fuels," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 220(1), pages 40-50.
    33. Saladini, Fabrizio & Gopalakrishnan, Varsha & Bastianoni, Simone & Bakshi, Bhavik R., 2018. "Synergies between industry and nature – An emergy evaluation of a biodiesel production system integrated with ecological systems," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 30(PB), pages 257-266.
    34. Peng, T. & Lu, H.F. & Wu, W.L. & Campbell, D.E. & Zhao, G.S. & Zou, J.H. & Chen, J., 2008. "Should a small combined heat and power plant (CHP) open to its regional power and heat networks? Integrated economic, energy, and emergy evaluation of optimization plans for Jiufa CHP," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 437-445.
    35. Markéta Šerešová & Jiří Štefanica & Monika Vitvarová & Kristina Zakuciová & Petr Wolf & Vladimír Kočí, 2020. "Life Cycle Performance of Various Energy Sources Used in the Czech Republic," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-17, November.
    36. Al-Behadili, S.H. & El-Osta, W.B., 2015. "Life Cycle Assessment of Dernah (Libya) wind farm," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 1227-1233.
    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. Nimmanterdwong, Prathana & Chalermsinsuwan, Benjapon & Piumsomboon, Pornpote, 2023. "Optimizing utilization pathways for biomass to chemicals and energy by integrating emergy analysis and particle swarm optimization (PSO)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 1448-1459.
    2. Hosseini, Seyed Mohsen & Kanagaraj, N. & Sadeghi, Shahrbanoo & Yousefi, Hossein, 2022. "Midpoint and endpoint impacts of electricity generation by renewable and nonrenewable technologies: A case study of Alberta, Canada," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 22-39.

    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. Campos-Guzmán, Verónica & García-Cáscales, M. Socorro & Espinosa, Nieves & Urbina, Antonio, 2019. "Life Cycle Analysis with Multi-Criteria Decision Making: A review of approaches for the sustainability evaluation of renewable energy technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 343-366.
    2. 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.
    3. Cartelle Barros, Juan José & Lara Coira, Manuel & de la Cruz López, María Pilar & del Caño Gochi, Alfredo & Soares, Isabel, 2020. "Probabilistic multicriteria environmental assessment of power plants: A global approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    4. 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.
    5. Hosseini, Seyed Mohsen & Kanagaraj, N. & Sadeghi, Shahrbanoo & Yousefi, Hossein, 2022. "Midpoint and endpoint impacts of electricity generation by renewable and nonrenewable technologies: A case study of Alberta, Canada," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 22-39.
    6. 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.
    7. 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).
    8. Mohamed R. Gomaa & Hegazy Rezk & Ramadan J. Mustafa & Mujahed Al-Dhaifallah, 2019. "Evaluating the Environmental Impacts and Energy Performance of a Wind Farm System Utilizing the Life-Cycle Assessment Method: A Practical Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-25, August.
    9. Riccardo Basosi & Roberto Bonciani & Dario Frosali & Giampaolo Manfrida & Maria Laura Parisi & Franco Sansone, 2020. "Life Cycle Analysis of a Geothermal Power Plant: Comparison of the Environmental Performance with Other Renewable Energy Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-29, April.
    10. Mahmud, M.A. Parvez & Farjana, Shahjadi Hisan, 2022. "Comparative life cycle environmental impact assessment of renewable electricity generation systems: A practical approach towards Europe, North America and Oceania," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 1106-1120.
    11. Yashuang Feng & Lixiao Zhang, 2023. "The GHG Intensities of Wind Power Plants in China from a Life-Cycle Perspective: The Impacts of Geographical Location, Turbine Technology and Management Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-17, March.
    12. Ozoemena, Matthew & Hasan, Reaz & Cheung, Wai Ming, 2016. "Analysis of technology improvement opportunities for a 1.5 MW wind turbine using a hybrid stochastic approach in life cycle assessment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 369-382.
    13. Jesuina Chipindula & Venkata Sai Vamsi Botlaguduru & Hongbo Du & Raghava Rao Kommalapati & Ziaul Huque, 2018. "Life Cycle Environmental Impact of Onshore and Offshore Wind Farms in Texas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-18, June.
    14. Nurullah Yildiz & Hassan Hemida & Charalampos Baniotopoulos, 2021. "Life Cycle Assessment of a Barge-Type Floating Wind Turbine and Comparison with Other Types of Wind Turbines," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-19, September.
    15. Asdrubali, Francesco & Baldinelli, Giorgio & D’Alessandro, Francesco & Scrucca, Flavio, 2015. "Life cycle assessment of electricity production from renewable energies: Review and results harmonization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1113-1122.
    16. Yang, Jin & Chen, Bin, 2016. "Emergy-based sustainability evaluation of wind power generation systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 239-246.
    17. 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.
    18. Michaela Gkantou & Carlos Rebelo & Charalampos Baniotopoulos, 2020. "Life Cycle Assessment of Tall Onshore Hybrid Steel Wind Turbine Towers," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-21, August.
    19. Xiaohang Wang & Wentong Chong & Kokhoe Wong & Saihin Lai & Liphuat Saw & Xianbo Xiang & Chin-Tsan Wang, 2019. "Preliminary Techno–Environment–Economic Evaluation of an Innovative Hybrid Renewable Energy Harvester System for Residential Application," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-28, April.
    20. Sica, Daniela & Malandrino, Ornella & Supino, Stefania & Testa, Mario & Lucchetti, Maria Claudia, 2018. "Management of end-of-life photovoltaic panels as a step towards a circular economy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2934-2945.

    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:renene:v:179:y:2021:i:c:p:1548-1564. 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.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    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.