Life Cycle Assessment-Based Carbon Footprint Accounting Model and Analysis for Integrated Energy Stations in China

Abstract

To achieve its carbon neutrality goal, China has invested broadly in energy infrastructure and the emerging integrated energy stations (IESs) projects will bring enormous opportunities. Accurate carbon emission accounting for IESs is challenging in view of the complexity of the manufacturing process and uncertainty in construction and operation processes. To overcome these challenges, this paper develops a novel quantitative carbon footprint analysis model for IESs from a lifecycle perspective, with production and materialization, construction, operation and maintenance, and disposal and recycling phases considered. The method is applied on a 110 kV wind power IES project in China, to analyze and calculate lifecycle carbon emissions, identify the key influence factors of carbon footprints and provide suggestions for carbon reduction. The findings can identify key influence factors and provide suggestions for carbon reduction for the development of IES projects.

How to build green substations? An LCA comparison of different sustainable design strategies for substations

“…LCAs offer benefits such as identifying key impacts, estimating changes during product use, and comparing technologies and supply chains. Substations play a crucial role in DC LCA as they connect the power grid, impacting energy consumption and environmental footprint, making them an important aspect to consider in comprehensive assessments [15,16].…”

Simulation of Carbon Emission Reduction in Power Construction Projects Using System Dynamics: A Chinese Empirical Study

“…Sun et al used the carbon footprint method to measure the carbon emissions at all stages of China's integrated energy stations. The calculation results showed that the percentage of carbon emissions in the production and materialization phases was as high as 87.21%, among which the carbon emissions of transformers account for more than half, which is considered the main influencing factor of carbon emissions in PCPs [11]. Li et al analyzed the carbon emission sources and carbon emission paths of PCPs from the five phases of production, transportation, construction, operation, and recovery.…”

“…With an increase in population and per capita GDP [28], an increase in regional electricity consumption leads to a growth in the SPCP [43]. The carbon emission reduction coefficient (η ′ ) should consider technological progress, the use scale of energy-saving building materials, and the impact of energy efficiency of transmission equipment [11,26,28,44]. With the application of various carbon reduction technologies, energy-saving materials, and energy-saving transmission equipment to PCPs, the carbon emissions in PCPs can be reduced.…”

“…Buildings 2023, 13, 3117 2 of 20 According to LCA theory, the carbon emissions of PCPs mainly include five aspects: the production phase, transportation phase, construction phase, operation and maintenance phase, and disposal and recycling phase. The main source of carbon emissions in the production phase is the carbon dioxide produced during the production of the main equipment materials; carbon emissions in the transportation phase mainly come from fuel emissions or energy consumption emissions during transport; the sources of carbon emissions during the construction phase mainly include site construction and installation; carbon emissions in the operation and maintenance phase come from energy consumption during the operation of the project; the source of carbon emissions in the disposal and recycling phase mainly includes building demolition and garbage transportation [9][10][11]. These stages all involve a lot of carbon-intensive products [12], among which the carbon emissions in the construction stage are the most significant, accounting for more than 50% of overall carbon emissions [8].…”