Life cycle assessment of Italian electricity production and comparison with the European context

Carvalho, Maria Leonor; Marmiroli, Benedetta; Girardi, Pierpaolo

doi:10.1016/j.egyr.2022.02.252

Cited by 14 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…LCA methodology has been widely adopted to evaluate and compare the environmental profile of systems and products [26]. During the last decades, many assessments were performed to investigate the outcomes deriving from changing the energy scenarios at national or regional levels [27][28][29][30]. Through a wider perspective, Carvalho et al [30] carried out an environmental assessment to gain insights into the environmental profile of the electricity system of seven European countries in 2030.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the last decades, many assessments were performed to investigate the outcomes deriving from changing the energy scenarios at national or regional levels [27][28][29][30]. Through a wider perspective, Carvalho et al [30] carried out an environmental assessment to gain insights into the environmental profile of the electricity system of seven European countries in 2030. The authors found out that the implementation of the policies promoted by the European Commission would eventually lead to an average reduction of 42% in the impacts of climate change, with the best result coming from the reduction of acidification (impact category closely linked to the first).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Environmental Impacts of Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage on the Electricity Sector: A Life Cycle Assessment Comparison between Italy and Poland

et al. 2022

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Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) is a set of technologies aimed at capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from point-source emitters to either store permanently or use as a feedstock to produce chemicals and fuels. In this paper, the potential benefits of CCUS integration into the energy supply sector are evaluated from a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) perspective by comparing two different routes for the CO2 captured from a natural gas combined cycle (NGCC). Both the complete storage of the captured CO2 and its partial utilization to produce dimethyl ether are investigated. Moreover, the assessment is performed considering the region-specific features of two of the largest CO2 emitters in Europe, namely Italy and Poland. Results shows that the complete storage of the captured CO2 reduces Global Warming Potential (GWP) by ~89% in Italy and ~97%, in Poland. On the other hand, the partial utilization of CO2 to produce dimethyl ether leads to a decrease of ~58% in Italy and ~68% in Poland with respect to a comparable reference entailing conventional dimethyl ether production. A series of environmental trade-offs was determined, with all the investigated categories apart from GWP showing an increase, mainly connected with the higher energy requirements of CCUS processes. These outcomes highlight the need for a holistic-oriented approach in the design of novel implemented configurations to avoid burden shifts throughout the value chain.

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