Energy Return on Energy Invested (ERoEI) for photovoltaic solar systems in regions of moderate insolation: A comprehensive response

Raugei, Marco; Sgouridis, Sgouris; Murphy, David J.; Fthenakis, Vasilis; Frischknecht, Rolf; Breyer, Christian; Bardi, Ugo; Barnhart, C. J.; Buckley, Alastair; Carbajales‐Dale, Michael; Csala, Dénes; Wild-Scholten, M. de; Heath, Garvin; Arnulf, Jaeger-Waldau; Jones, Christopher; Keller, A. C.; Leccisi, Enrica; Mancarella, Pierluigi; Pearsall, Nicola; Siegel, A.; Sinke, W.C.; Stolz, Philippe

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2016.12.042

Cited by 63 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…75,76 Therefore, the potential impact of biofuel mandates on water resources needs to be evaluated to minimize the degree to which biofuels will contribute to water depletion and pollution. Bioethanol will also have to be evaluated against alternative renewable forms of energy, like solar and wind energy, which have a much smaller WF than biofuels 69 and a more favorable energy balance as well, 85 and which can be used in electrified transport or used to produce hydrogen-fuel. By estimating footprints at state level, the current study shows differences in the regional water and energy footprints of bioethanol from corn and sugar cane.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water, Energy, and Carbon Footprints of Bioethanol from the U.S. and Brazil

Mekonnen

Romanelli

Ray

et al. 2018

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Driven by biofuel policies, which aim to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increase domestic energy supply, global production and consumption of bioethanol have doubled between 2007 and 2016, with rapid growth in corn-based bioethanol in the U.S. and sugar cane-based bioethanol in Brazil. Advances in crop yields, energy use efficiency in fertilizer production, biomass-to-ethanol conversion rates, and energy efficiency in ethanol production have improved the energy balance and GHG emission reduction potential of bioethanol. In the current study, digitalcommons.unl.edu

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water, Energy, and Carbon Footprints of Bioethanol from the U.S. and Brazil

Mekonnen

Romanelli

Ray

et al. 2018

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…Hall et al [74] argued for a minimum EROI = 3.0, but for the US, Fizaine and Court [75] have theorised that an EROI in the primary energy system of at least 11 is needed for economic growth. Not only is the cut-off point for a viable EROI contest, but the values of EROI for each RE source are themselves hotly contested, especially that for PV solar electricity [76][77][78][79][80][81]. The claims for PV cells vary from PV still being an energy sink to PV cells paying back their energy costs in a few days.…”

Section: Technical Potential For Other Re Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Accounting for a Renewable Energy Future

Moriarty

Honnery

2019

Energies

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For millennia, humans relied almost entirely on renewable energy (RE), largely biomass, for their energy needs. Over the past century, fossil fuels (FFs) have not only largely replaced RE, but have enabled a many-fold rise in total energy use. This FF dominance changed the way we think about and accounted for energy use. If (as at present) the world essentially continues to ignore climate change, eventual resource depletion will force conversion to RE and, perhaps, nuclear energy will once again have to provide most of the world’s energy use. However, the change is more likely to come about because of the urgent need for climate change mitigation. At present, primary RE electricity accounting is done by calculating the FF energy that would be needed to produce it. But as FFs disappear, this approach makes less sense. Instead, a new approach to energy accounting will be needed, one that allows for the intermittent nature of the two most abundant RE sources, wind and solar power. Surplus intermittent RE might be converted to H2, further complicating energy accounting. An additional complication will be the treatment of energy reductions, especially from passive solar energy, likely to be more important in the coming decades. This paper is a review of the evidence to try to determine the best approach to future energy accounting.

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“…3,14,17,25,43 There are studies reaching signicantly higher estimates for energy inputs for PV systems, using signicantly broader system boundaries. 44,45…”

Section: Energy Inputsmentioning

confidence: 99%