IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v18y2025i5p1178-d1601864.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Limits of the Current Consensus Regarding the Carbon Footprint of Photovoltaic Modules Manufactured in China: A Review and Case Study

Author

Listed:
  • Enrico Mariutti

    (Independent Researcher, 00141 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

A transition to low-carbon energy sources is pivotal in addressing the escalating challenges of climate change and environmental degradation. Solar energy, particularly photovoltaic (PV) technology, stands out as a prominent solution because of its potential for clean and sustainable electricity generation with minimal greenhouse gas emissions. However, accurately assessing the carbon footprint of PV modules is essential for guiding policy, industry practices, and research. This paper reviews the state of the current literature and highlights the difficulties in estimating the carbon footprint of PV modules manufactured in China. It emphasises the inherent limitations of Process-Based Life Cycle Assessments (PLCAs), including data collection challenges, dynamic environmental changes, and subjective methodological choices. Through the case study of Ecoinvent 3.7 the study underscores the need for improved transparency, standardisation, and reproducibility in Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) to provide more accurate and reliable environmental impact evaluations.

Suggested Citation

  • Enrico Mariutti, 2025. "The Limits of the Current Consensus Regarding the Carbon Footprint of Photovoltaic Modules Manufactured in China: A Review and Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-16, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:5:p:1178-:d:1601864
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/5/1178/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/5/1178/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    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:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:5:p:1178-:d:1601864. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.