IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v102y2019icp307-317.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental impact analysis of power generation from biomass and wind farms in different locations

Author

Listed:
  • Gao, Cheng-kang
  • Na, Hong-ming
  • Song, Kai-hui
  • Dyer, Noel
  • Tian, Fan
  • Xu, Qing-jiang
  • Xing, Yu-hong

Abstract

Accelerated urbanization in China has increased electricity demand. Recently, environmentally-friendly renewable energy resources have become more popular for generating power. Energy consumption and environmental impacts vary depending on the types of renewable energy, while the impacts of such variations are rarely studied in the existing literature. This study used a life-cycle perspective to analyze energy consumption and environmental impacts of wind farms and compared the results to a biomass power plant. The environmental impacts of wind power plants were further analyzed on a site by site basis, using locations in desert (G), steppe (S), and woodland (W) landscapes. The results showed that the G site had the lowest global warming potential of wind power plants at 51.547 gCO2-eq/kWh, about 60% that of the S site and 80% that of W. The global warming potential of the G site was also about 25% of the biomass power plant. Additionally, the G site had a solid waste potential of 25.248 g-eq/kWh, which is only 10% compared to the biomass plant. The results also indicated energy payback times for the G, S, and W wind farms to be 0.67, 2.40, and 1.42 years, respectively. The G site also had an acidification potential of 6.836 gSO2-eq/kWh, which was equivalent to 45% of the S site and 30% that of W. Consequently, wind farms located in the desert have the least environmental impact, followed by those located in the steppe and woodland. Accounting for energy payback time and environmental impacts, this study suggests that wind power plants should be built in desert areas when possible.

Suggested Citation

  • Gao, Cheng-kang & Na, Hong-ming & Song, Kai-hui & Dyer, Noel & Tian, Fan & Xu, Qing-jiang & Xing, Yu-hong, 2019. "Environmental impact analysis of power generation from biomass and wind farms in different locations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 307-317.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:102:y:2019:i:c:p:307-317
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2018.12.018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136403211830813X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2018.12.018?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. 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.
    2. Nian, Victor & Chou, S.K. & Su, Bin & Bauly, John, 2014. "Life cycle analysis on carbon emissions from power generation – The nuclear energy example," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 68-82.
    3. Bayer, Peter & Rybach, Ladislaus & Blum, Philipp & Brauchler, Ralf, 2013. "Review on life cycle environmental effects of geothermal power generation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 446-463.
    4. Bhandari, Khagendra P. & Collier, Jennifer M. & Ellingson, Randy J. & Apul, Defne S., 2015. "Energy payback time (EPBT) and energy return on energy invested (EROI) of solar photovoltaic systems: A systematic review and meta-analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 133-141.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. Peng, Jinqing & Lu, Lin & Yang, Hongxing, 2013. "Review on life cycle assessment of energy payback and greenhouse gas emission of solar photovoltaic systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 255-274.
    9. Lopes Silva, Diogo Aparecido & Delai, Ivete & Delgado Montes, Mary Laura & Roberto Ometto, Aldo, 2014. "Life cycle assessment of the sugarcane bagasse electricity generation in Brazil," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 532-547.
    10. Caffrey, Kevin R. & Veal, Matthew W. & Chinn, Mari S., 2014. "The farm to biorefinery continuum: A techno-economic and LCA analysis of ethanol production from sweet sorghum juice," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 55-66.
    11. 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.
    12. Pehnt, Martin, 2006. "Dynamic life cycle assessment (LCA) of renewable energy technologies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 55-71.
    13. Sastre, C.M. & González-Arechavala, Y. & Santos, A.M., 2015. "Global warming and energy yield evaluation of Spanish wheat straw electricity generation – A LCA that takes into account parameter uncertainty and variability," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 900-911.
    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. Dhunny, A.Z. & Allam, Z. & Lobine, D. & Lollchund, M.R., 2019. "Sustainable renewable energy planning and wind farming optimization from a biodiversity perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 1282-1297.
    2. 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).
    3. Li, Qiangfeng & Duan, Huabo & Xie, Minghui & Kang, Peng & Ma, Yi & Zhong, Ruoyu & Gao, Tianming & Zhong, Weiqiong & Wen, Bojie & Bai, Feng & Vuppaladadiyam, Arun K., 2021. "Life cycle assessment and life cycle cost analysis of a 40 MW wind farm with consideration of the infrastructure," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    4. Nguyen Van Song & Thai Van Ha & Tran Duc Thuan & Nguyen Van Hanh & Dinh Van Tien & Nguyen Cong Tiep & Nguyen Thi Minh Phuong & Phan Anh Tu & Tran Ba Uan, 2021. "Development of Rice Husk Power Plants Based on Clean Development Mechanism: A Case Study in Mekong River Delta, Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-10, June.
    5. Gao, Chengkang & Zhu, Sulong & An, Nan & Na, Hongming & You, Huan & Gao, Chengbo, 2021. "Comprehensive comparison of multiple renewable power generation methods: A combination analysis of life cycle assessment and ecological footprint," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    6. Ilbahar, Esra & Kahraman, Cengiz & Cebi, Selcuk, 2021. "Location selection for waste-to-energy plants by using fuzzy linear programming," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    7. 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.
    8. Rosini, A. & Labella, A. & Bonfiglio, A. & Procopio, R. & Guerrero, Josep M., 2021. "A review of reactive power sharing control techniques for islanded microgrids," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    9. Zang, Guiyan & Zhang, Jianan & Jia, Junxi & Lora, Electo Silva & Ratner, Albert, 2020. "Life cycle assessment of power-generation systems based on biomass integrated gasification combined cycles," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 336-346.
    10. Kang, Yating & Yang, Qing & Bartocci, Pietro & Wei, Hongjian & Liu, Sylvia Shuhan & Wu, Zhujuan & Zhou, Hewen & Yang, Haiping & Fantozzi, Francesco & Chen, Hanping, 2020. "Bioenergy in China: Evaluation of domestic biomass resources and the associated greenhouse gas mitigation potentials," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    11. Magdalena Muradin & Joanna Kulczycka, 2020. "The Identification of Hotspots in the Bioenergy Production Chain," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-17, November.
    12. Rahman, Abidur & Farrok, Omar & Haque, Md Mejbaul, 2022. "Environmental impact of renewable energy source based electrical power plants: Solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass, geothermal, tidal, ocean, and osmotic," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    13. Chengkang Gao & Huan You & Mingyan Tian & Yang Wu, 2023. "Comprehensive Evaluation of Different Heating Modes in Northeast China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-19, September.

    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. 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.
    2. Ling-Chin, J. & Heidrich, O. & Roskilly, A.P., 2016. "Life cycle assessment (LCA) – from analysing methodology development to introducing an LCA framework for marine photovoltaic (PV) systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 352-378.
    3. 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.
    4. Sokka, L. & Sinkko, T. & Holma, A. & Manninen, K. & Pasanen, K. & Rantala, M. & Leskinen, P., 2016. "Environmental impacts of the national renewable energy targets – A case study from Finland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1599-1610.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Emblemsvåg, Jan, 2022. "Wind energy is not sustainable when balanced by fossil energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. Buonocore, Elvira & Vanoli, Laura & Carotenuto, Alberto & Ulgiati, Sergio, 2015. "Integrating life cycle assessment and emergy synthesis for the evaluation of a dry steam geothermal power plant in Italy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 476-487.
    11. Bany Mousa, Osama & Kara, Sami & Taylor, Robert A., 2019. "Comparative energy and greenhouse gas assessment of industrial rooftop-integrated PV and solar thermal collectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C), pages 113-123.
    12. Gkousis, Spiros & Thomassen, Gwenny & Welkenhuysen, Kris & Compernolle, Tine, 2022. "Dynamic life cycle assessment of geothermal heat production from medium enthalpy hydrothermal resources," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 328(C).
    13. 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.
    14. Mostafa Shaaban & Jürgen Scheffran & Jürgen Böhner & Mohamed S. Elsobki, 2018. "Sustainability Assessment of Electricity Generation Technologies in Egypt Using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-25, May.
    15. Ludin, Norasikin Ahmad & Mustafa, Nur Ifthitah & Hanafiah, Marlia M. & Ibrahim, Mohd Adib & Asri Mat Teridi, Mohd & Sepeai, Suhaila & Zaharim, Azami & Sopian, Kamaruzzaman, 2018. "Prospects of life cycle assessment of renewable energy from solar photovoltaic technologies: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 11-28.
    16. Yihsuan Wu & Jian Hua, 2022. "Investigating a Retrofit Thermal Power Plant from a Sustainable Environment Perspective—A Fuel Lifecycle Assessment Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-26, April.
    17. 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.
    18. 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.
    19. Soltani, M. & Moradi Kashkooli, Farshad & Souri, Mohammad & Rafiei, Behnam & Jabarifar, Mohammad & Gharali, Kobra & Nathwani, Jatin S., 2021. "Environmental, economic, and social impacts of geothermal energy systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    20. Nian, Victor & Liu, Yang & Zhong, Sheng, 2019. "Life cycle cost-benefit analysis of offshore wind energy under the climatic conditions in Southeast Asia – Setting the bottom-line for deployment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 1003-1014.

    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:rensus:v:102:y:2019:i:c:p:307-317. 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/600126/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.