Environment impact of a concentrated solar power plant

Abstract

More recently, there has been an increasing interest in the use of concentrated solar thermal energy for the production of electricity, but also for the use in cogeneration and trigeneration. In this sense, the increasing use of solar thermal energy in urban areas is expected, and its impact on the environment is inducing an increasing interest. The paper analyses the impact of concentrated solar power technology (linear Fresnel, parabolic trough, parabolic dish, and central tower) on the environment in terms of water consumption, land use, wasted heat, emissions of gases, emissions of pollutants that include the leakage of heat transfer fluid through pipelines and tanks, impact on flora and fauna, impact of noise and visual impact. The impact on the environment is different for different concentrated solar power technologies and depends on whether thermal energy storage is included in the plant. Water is mainly used for cooling the system, but also for cleaning the surface of the mirror. To reduce water consumption, other cooling technologies (e.g. air cooling) are being developed. The available data from the literature show large variances depending on the size of the plant, geographic location and applied technology.

Evolution of External Health Costs of Electricity Generation in the Baltic States

“…Though there are several studies dealing with assessment of external costs of electricity generation in EU Members States such as Croatia [ 28 ], Bosnia and Hercegovina [ 29 ], Poland [ 30 , 31 ], and Greece [ 32 ] etc., these studies did not analyze the linkages between penetration of renewables and reduction of external health costs. The study by Ortega-Izquierdo and del Rio [ 59 ] and Ortega et al [ 60 ] analyzed the benefits and costs of renewable electricity in EU member states and have found that benefits of renewable energy penetration due to avoided GHG emissions and fuel savings were higher than support provided for internalization of external benefits of renewable energy sources.…”

“…There are regional external costs of electricity generation studies performed in various countries around the world. The main approach applied in these studies for the assessment of external costs of electricity generation is based on the impact pathway approach and ExternE methodology, including studies in Croatia [ 28 ], Bosnia and Hercegovina [ 29 ], Poland [ 30 , 31 ], and Greece [ 32 ]. In Iran [ 33 ], India [ 34 ], Cuba [ 35 ], South Africa [ 36 ], Mexico [ 37 ], Syria [ 38 ], and China [ 39 , 40 ], the simplified methodologies of the assessment of external costs of electricity generation were applied.…”

Multi-Time Scale Spillover Effect of International Oil Price Fluctuation on China’s Stock Markets

“…Unlike Brent spot crude oil, the Shanghai Composite Index had a high-scale (256-1024 days) low-frequency significant fluctuation zone at approximately 800 days during 2005-2017. This outcome was related with reform in the crude oil pricing mechanism, financial reform, and increasing openness of finance [39,40].…”

“…Energies 2020, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 15 of 31 changes suggest that phases of Brent spot crude oil and the Shanghai Composite Index have uneven distributions on different time scales. On the other hand, China's stock markets, which represent an important importer of crude oil and the second largest global economic entity, can exert relatively strong long-term influences on the international crude oil market [40]. Finally, a middle-scale (32-128 days) low-frequency reverse significant fluctuation zone occurs from 2019 to 2020.…”

Concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies: Status and analysis

“…Unsafe disposal of lead or sulfuric acid, used in certain CSP systems, may have serious consequences for human health and the environment [40,41]. Furthermore, the noise pollution created by certain CSP systems might harm surrounding wildlife [42].…”