Considering Time in LCA: Dynamic LCA and Its Application to Global Warming Impact Assessments

Levasseur, Annie; Lesage, Pascal; Margni, Manuele; Deschênes, Louise; Samson, Réjean

doi:10.1021/es9030003

Cited by 506 publications

(457 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…This indicates the weakness of the current usage of annual average EF for quantifying emission from electricity consumption, depending on when the electricity is consumed. Indeed, previous studies state the lack of temporal information in LCA as an important limitation of LCA (Levasseur et al 2010;Pinsonnault et al 2014;Reap et al 2008). To better quantify the respective emission for a specific consumer, higher resolutions of EFs may become relevant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The trends of hourly carbon emission factors in Germany and investigation on relevant consumption patterns for its application

Kono

Ostermeyer

Wallbaum

2017

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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Purpose The share of variable renewable energy sources (vRES) in the German electricity grid has increased over the past few decades. Due to the nature of the generation pattern of vRES, the increase of vRES causes the emission factor (EF) to fluctuate on an hourly basis. This fluctuation raises concerns about the accuracy of quantifying emissions with the current metric of the annual average EF as the respective EF may change depending on the time at which it is consumed. Methods The study calculated the hourly EF of Germany from 2011 to 2015 and investigated the effect of an increase of vRES on the EF. The calculated hourly EF was clustered based on three aspects of time: the period of time, the time of a day, and the day of the week. Results and discussion The study showed a higher proportion of vRES on weekend daytimes while the weekday nighttimes resulted in a lower share than the annual average. The study highlighted potential underestimation and overestimation of emissions by using annual average EF which ranged from +22% (2015 weekday nighttime of October) to −34% (2015 weekend daytime of May). Conclusions The study suggested that the application of hourly EF may be necessary to quantify the respective emission from the consumers that use electricity during the weekend daytime and weekend nighttime. For consumer use at other times, the emissions could be quantified appropriately by using the conventional annual average EF.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The trends of hourly carbon emission factors in Germany and investigation on relevant consumption patterns for its application

Kono

Ostermeyer

Wallbaum

2017

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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“…LCA is commonly used for assessing the climate impact of bioenergy systems [12,7], and is a standardised method (ISO 14040/44) for evaluating the environmental impacts throughout the entire lifespan of a service or product [13][14][15]. In order to consider the timing of GHG fluxes, a time-dependent LCA method can be used [16][17][18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time-Dynamic Effects on the Global Temperature When Harvesting Logging Residues for Bioenergy

et al. 2015

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The climate mitigation potential of using logging residues (tree tops and branches) for bioenergy has been debated. In this study, a time-dependent life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed using a single-stand perspective. Three forest stands located in different Swedish climate zones were studied in order to assess the global temperature change when using logging residues for producing district heating. These systems were compared with two fossil reference systems in which the logging residues were assumed to remain in the forest to decompose over time, while coal or natural gas was used for energy. The results showed that replacing coal with logging residues gave a direct climate benefit from a single-stand perspective, while replacing natural gas gave a delayed climate benefit of around 8-12 years depending on climate zone. A sensitivity analysis showed that the time was strongly dependent on the assumptions for extraction and combustion of natural gas. The LCA showed that from a single-stand perspective, harvesting logging residues for bioenergy in the south of Sweden would give the highest temperature change mitigation potential per energy unit. However, the differences between the three climate zones studied per energy unit were relatively small. On a hectare basis, the southern forest stand would generate more biomass compared to the central and northern locations, which thereby could replace more fossil fuel and give larger climate benefits.

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“…The permanence of CO 2 storage is a key assumption made by most previous CCS LCAs, although Viebahn et al [9] did include a sensitivity analysis of CO 2 leakage at varying rates. The time-dependent climatic impact potential of CO 2 emissions are increasingly well understood through modeling of radiative forcing [40]. Beyond these physical effects, however, current LCA methodology is poorly suited for analyzing extended time horizons, which involves questions of time discounting of impacts and intergenerational equity [41,23].…”

Section: Uncertainty Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

A framework for environmental assessment of CO2 capture and storage systems

Sathre

Chester

Cain

et al. 2012

Energy

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Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) is increasingly seen as a way for society to enjoy the benefits of fossil fuel energy sources while avoiding the climate disruption associated with fossil CO 2 emissions. A decision to deploy CCS technology at scale should be based on robust information on its overall costs and benefits. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a framework for holistic assessment of the energy and environmental footprint of a system, and can provide crucial information to policymakers, scientists, and engineers as they develop and deploy CCS systems. We identify seven key issues that should be considered to ensure that conclusions and recommendations from CCS LCA are robust: energy penalty, functional units, scale-up challenges, non-climate environmental impacts, uncertainty management, policy-making needs, and market effects. Several recent life-cycle studies have focused on detailed assessments of individual CCS technologies and applications. While such studies provide important data and information on technology performance, such case-specific data are inadequate to fully inform the decision making process. LCA should aim to describe the systemwide environmental implications of CCS deployment at scale, rather than a narrow analysis of technological performance of individual power plants.

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Considering Time in LCA: Dynamic LCA and Its Application to Global Warming Impact Assessments

Cited by 506 publications

References 25 publications

The trends of hourly carbon emission factors in Germany and investigation on relevant consumption patterns for its application

The trends of hourly carbon emission factors in Germany and investigation on relevant consumption patterns for its application

Time-Dynamic Effects on the Global Temperature When Harvesting Logging Residues for Bioenergy

A framework for environmental assessment of CO2 capture and storage systems

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