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Environmental life cycle assessment of seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant powered by renewable energy

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  • Shahabi, Maedeh P.
  • McHugh, Adam
  • Anda, Martin
  • Ho, Goen

Abstract

This paper evaluates life cycle Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions of a Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant and assesses its performance under three power supply scenarios. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis is conducted for a plant located in Perth, Western Australia (WA). Input and output flows of SWRO plant are based on literature and Perth desalination plants. The Simapro Australian and Ecoinvent databases are used for operational phase Life Cycle Inventory (LCI). An LCI for the construction phase of the plant is developed using economic input–output analysis. Electricity supply scenarios are “100% WA grid”, “100% wind energy” and “92% wind energy plus 8% Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy”. Results indicate that renewable energy powered desalination plants achieve GHG emissions reduction of ∼90% compared to the plant powered by WA grid scenario. For the plant powered by fossil based grid electricity, electricity use in the operational phase is found to be responsible for more than 92% of its GHG emissions. On the other hand, for the plants powered by renewable energy, the highest contribution belongs to chemical use in the operational phase (60%) followed by the construction phase (17%). Indirect emissions due to the electricity consumption in the chemical, wind turbine and PV solar panel manufacturing are found to contribute the lion's share (36–39%) of the life cycle emissions for the renewable energy powered desalination plants. Any improvement in fuel mixes in grid electricity towards cleaner energy sources can be beneficial by reducing impacts associated with upstream electricity use in manufacturing. This work provides the first reference to identify and quantify supply chain contributions to the overall environmental impact associated with renewable energy powered desalination plants.

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  • Shahabi, Maedeh P. & McHugh, Adam & Anda, Martin & Ho, Goen, 2014. "Environmental life cycle assessment of seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant powered by renewable energy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 53-58.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:67:y:2014:i:c:p:53-58
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2013.11.050
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. 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.
    2. 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.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kaczmarczyk, Michał & Mukti, Mentari & Ghaffour, Noreddine & Soukane, Sofiane & Bundschuh, Jochen & Tomaszewska, Barbara, 2024. "Renewable energy-driven membrane distillation in the context of life cycle assessment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    2. Li, J.S. & Chen, G.Q. & Hayat, T. & Alsaedi, A., 2015. "Mercury emissions by Beijing׳s fossil energy consumption: Based on environmentally extended input–output analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1167-1175.
    3. L. Hay & A. H. B. Duffy & R. I. Whitfield, 2017. "The S‐Cycle Performance Matrix: Supporting Comprehensive Sustainability Performance Evaluation of Technical Systems," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(1), pages 45-70, January.
    4. Latifah Abdul Ghani & Nora’aini Ali & Ilyanni Syazira Nazaran & Marlia M. Hanafiah & Norhafiza Ilyana Yatim, 2021. "Carbon Footprint-Energy Detection for Desalination Small Plant Adaptation Response," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-12, November.
    5. Anwar Aljuwaisseri & Esra Aleisa & Khawla Alshayji, 2023. "Environmental and economic analysis for desalinating seawater of high salinity using reverse osmosis: a life cycle assessment approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 4539-4574, May.
    6. Tsai, Yu-Ching & Chiu, Chih-Pin & Ko, Fu-Kuang & Chen, Tzong-Chyuan & Yang, Jing-Tang, 2016. "Desalination plants and renewables combined to solve power and water issues," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1018-1030.
    7. Yuan Yuan & Fengting Qian & Jiaqi Lu & Dungang Gu & Yuhang Lou & Na Xue & Guanghui Li & Wenjie Liao & Nan Zhang, 2022. "Design Optimization and Carbon Footprint Analysis of an Electrodeionization System with Flexible Load Regulation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-13, November.
    8. Farayi Musharavati, 2023. "RETRACTED: A Study on Life Cycle Impact Assessment of Seawater Desalination Systems: Seawater Reverse Osmosis Integrated with Bipolar-Membrane-Enhanced Electro-Dialysis Process," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-20, December.
    9. Esmaeil Ahmadi & Benjamin McLellan & Behnam Mohammadi-Ivatloo & Tetsuo Tezuka, 2020. "The Role of Renewable Energy Resources in Sustainability of Water Desalination as a Potential Fresh-Water Source: An Updated Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-31, June.
    10. Esmaeil Ahmadi & Benjamin McLellan & Seiichi Ogata & Behnam Mohammadi-Ivatloo & Tetsuo Tezuka, 2020. "An Integrated Planning Framework for Sustainable Water and Energy Supply," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-37, May.
    11. Pugsley, Adrian & Zacharopoulos, Aggelos & Mondol, Jayanta Deb & Smyth, Mervyn, 2016. "Global applicability of solar desalination," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 200-219.

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