Decarbonization of electricity generation can support climatechange mitigation and presents an opportunity to address pollution resulting from fossil-fuel combustion. Generally, renewable technologies require higher initial investments in infrastructure than fossil-based power systems. To assess the tradeoffs of increased up-front emissions and reduced operational emissions, we present, to our knowledge, the first global, integrated lifecycle assessment (LCA) of long-term, wide-scale implementation of electricity generation from renewable sources (i.e., photovoltaic and solar thermal, wind, and hydropower) and of carbon dioxide capture and storage for fossil power generation. We compare emissions causing particulate matter exposure, freshwater ecotoxicity, freshwater eutrophication, and climate change for the climate-change-mitigation (BLUE Map) and business-as-usual (Baseline) scenarios of the International Energy Agency up to 2050. We use a vintage stock model to conduct an LCA of newly installed capacity year-by-year for each region, thus accounting for changes in the energy mix used to manufacture future power plants. Under the Baseline scenario, emissions of air and water pollutants more than double whereas the low-carbon technologies introduced in the BLUE Map scenario allow a doubling of electricity supply while stabilizing or even reducing pollution. Material requirements per unit generation for low-carbon technologies can be higher than for conventional fossil generation: 11-40 times more copper for photovoltaic systems and 6-14 times more iron for wind power plants. However, only two years of current global copper and one year of iron production will suffice to build a low-carbon energy system capable of supplying the world's electricity needs in 2050.land use | climate-change mitigation | air pollution | multiregional input-output | CO 2 capture and storage
Nanotechnologies have reached maturity and market penetration that require nano‐specific changes in legislation and harmonization among legislation domains, such as the amendments to REACH for nanomaterials (NMs) which came into force in 2020. Thus, an assessment of the components and regulatory boundaries of NMs risk governance is timely, alongside related methods and tools, as part of the global efforts to optimise nanosafety and integrate it into product design processes, via Safe(r)‐by‐Design (SbD) concepts. This paper provides an overview of the state‐of‐the‐art regarding risk governance of NMs and lays out the theoretical basis for the development and implementation of an effective, trustworthy and transparent risk governance framework for NMs. The proposed framework enables continuous integration of the evolving state of the science, leverages best practice from contiguous disciplines and facilitates responsive re‐thinking of nanosafety governance to meet future needs. To achieve and operationalise such framework, a science‐based Risk Governance Council (RGC) for NMs is being developed. The framework will provide a toolkit for independent NMs' risk governance and integrates needs and views of stakeholders. An extension of this framework to relevant advanced materials and emerging technologies is also envisaged, in view of future foundations of risk research in Europe and globally.
a b s t r a c tIn this paper we investigate the influence of fugitive methane emissions from coal, natural gas, and shale gas extraction on the greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts of fossil fuel power generation through its life cycle. A multiregional hybridized life cycle assessment (LCA) model is used to evaluate several electricity generation technologies with and without carbon dioxide capture and storage. Based on data from the UNFCCC and other literature sources, it is shown that methane emissions from fossil fuel production vary more widely than commonly acknowledged in the LCA literature. This high variability, together with regional disparity in methane emissions, points to the existence of both significant uncertainty and natural variability. The results indicate that the impact of fugitive methane emissions can be significant, ranging from 3% to 56% of total impacts depending on type of technology and region. Total GHG emissions, in CO 2 -eq./kWh, vary considerably according to the region of the power plant, plant type, and the choice of associated fugitive methane emissions, with values as low as 0.08 kg CO 2 -eq./kWh and as high as 1.52 kg CO 2 -eq./kWh. The variability indicates significant opportunities for controlling methane emissions from fuel chains.
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