Renewable electricity generation for off grid remote communities; Life Cycle Assessment Study in Alaska, USA

McCallum, Christopher S.; Narendran, K.; Curry, Robin; McBride, Katherine; Doran, John

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117325

Cited by 24 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…As the predominance of electricity comes from hydroelectric plants, periods of drought can justify possible fluctuations in its production, which reinforces the country's need to diversify its production by investing in other renewable sources. Besides that, as the climate in the region is dependent on a series of conditions such as atmospheric pressure, air temperature, and humidity [47], solar power, for instance, can be affected by cloudiness and other factors [31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]. Nonetheless, despite the concern with climate change issues, there have been efforts towards diversifying the sources of renewable energy [49].…”

Section: Analysis and Discussion Of G20 Contributions To Renewable El...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, in the US, California is a state recognized for its innovative energy policy, mainly for the adoption of large amounts of solar panels in recent years [40]. Also in the US, [41] used life cycle assessment and revealed that deployment of renewable electricity generation devices to off-grid remote locations for electricity generation can have the same, or less, environmental impact as urban grid systems.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trends in Renewable Electricity Generation in the G20 Countries: An Analysis of the 1990–2020 Period

et al. 2022

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The use of electricity from non-renewable sources increases environmental impacts. Therefore, several countries have committed to increase the use of renewable sources. Considering the importance of the Group of Twenty (G20), this article aims to identify trends in renewable electricity supply in these countries. The data collected are from the International Energy Agency (IEA) between 1990 and 2020. The methods measured the production of each type of electricity in the G20 matrices and identified the influence of the population, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and CO2 emissions in renewable electricity production using multiple linear regression. In terms of results, Brazil and Canada have the most renewable electricity matrices and higher per capita renewable production than non-renewable. Saudi Arabia presented the smallest renewable matrix throughout the analyzed period. All 20 countries have varied electrical production, with different amounts of solar, wind, hydro, biomass, geothermal, and tidal energy. Countries with the highest GDP are not necessarily the largest producers of renewable electricity. Hydroelectric energy, the biggest highlight in renewable production, is making room for other sources such as wind and solar, which grew the most in terms of participation in the electrical matrices. The waste, geothermal, and tidal energy participation have shown a timid but constant growth.

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Section: Analysis and Discussion Of G20 Contributions To Renewable El...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in Renewable Electricity Generation in the G20 Countries: An Analysis of the 1990–2020 Period

et al. 2022

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“…42 The ODP 47 accounts for gaseous emissions leading to ozone destruction in the stratosphere, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and is measured in kg CFC-11-eq. 45 The overall ozone depletion potential of ChCl-U_CC was the lowest (8.55 × 10 −07 kg CFC-11-eq). The ODPs of Selexol_CC and ChCl-MEA_CC were comparable to each other (1.56 × 10 −06 and 1.41 × 10 −06 kg CFC-11-eq, respectively).…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The TAP estimates the impact of acid rain deposition and is measured in terms of kg SO 2 -eq 50 High concentrations of SO 2 in the air can cause acid rain and create acidic environments. 45 The TAP of ChCl-U_CC was the lowest (0.04 kg SO 2 -eq), followed by ChCl-MEA_CC (0.06 kg SO 2 -eq) and ChCl-U_CC (0.07 kg SO 2 -eq), with respective contributions from steam of 62, 75, and 73%. The production of 1 kg of steam generates 0.00097 kg SO 2 -eq, primarily from SO 2 itself (0.00052 kg SO 2 -eq) and nitrogen oxides (0.00016 kg SO 2eq) in the form of atmospheric emissions.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Deep Eutectic Solvents Reduce the Life Cycle Environmental Impacts and Energy Demands of Carbon Dioxide Capture

Zaib,

Jeong,

Eckelman

et al. 2023

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are emerging as prospective decarbonization media. Past studies have focused on their enhanced capacity to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from flue gas compared with conventional CO2 capture systems. However, it is also important to assess the environmental impacts and energy demands of DES-based CO2 capture systems, which could potentially undermine the rationale for their adoption as sustainable solvents. Here, we develop complete conceptual process designs of CO2 capture systems using DES-based systems. The environmental impacts and energy demands of DES-based CO2 capture systems are modeled, simulated, heat-integrated, optimized, and compared with a conventional Selexol process. Results show that, compared with the Selexol-based process, DES-based CO2 capture systems reduce environmental impacts by approximately 35% largely due to proportionately lower energy requirements. In a comparison of two DES-based alternatives, choline chloride-urea requires less energy and results in lower adverse environmental impacts compared with choline chloride-monoethanolamine. These results suggest the need for more research in this field to design DES systems that best conserve environmental and energy resources.

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Sustainable astronomy: A comparative life cycle assessment of off-grid hybrid energy systems to supply large telescopes

Viole,

Shen,

Camargo

et al. 2024

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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Purpose Supplying off-grid facilities such as astronomical observatories with renewable energy–based systems (RES) instead of diesel generators can considerably reduce their environmental impact. However, RES require oversized capacities to counter intermittency and comply with reliability requirements, hence shifting the environmental impact from operation to construction phase. We assess whether 100% RES scenarios are favorable from an environmental point of view and discuss the trade-offs in systems with backup fossil generators versus 100% renewable ones. Methods In this comparative life cycle assessment (LCA), we study various RES supply systems to power a new telescope in the Atacama Desert, Chile. We compare six setups, including 100% RES scenarios, namely, photovoltaics (PV) with batteries and hydrogen energy storage; high-renewable scenarios, with fossil fuel power generation next to RES and storage; and a system combining PV with diesel generation. We base system sizing on a techno-economical optimization for the start of operation in 2030. Foreground data stem from life cycle inventories of RES components since 2015 and 2030 electricity mix assumptions of production countries. We assess environmental impact in the categories climate change, mineral resource depletion, and water use. Results and discussion We find that 100% RES and high-renewable scenarios result in emissions of 0.077–0.115 kg CO2e/kWh supplied, compared to 0.917 kg CO2e/kWh in the reference case with solely diesel generation. One hundred percent RES scenarios have a lower CO2e impact than high-renewable scenarios. However, the latter lower the mineral resource depletion and water use by about 27% compared to 100% RES scenarios. Applying hybrid energy storage systems increases the water use impact while reducing the mineral resource depletion. Conclusions None of the six energy systems we compared was clearly the best in all environmental impacts considered. Trade-offs must be taken when choosing an energy system to supply the prospective off-grid telescope in Chile. We find high-renewable systems with some fossil generation as the better option regarding power reliability, mineral resource depletion, and water use, while inducing slightly higher greenhouse gas emissions than the 100% RES scenarios. As remote research facilities and off-grid settlements today are mainly supplied by fossil fuels, we expect to motivate more multifaceted decisions for implementing larger shares of RES for these areas. To advance the LCA community in the field of energy systems, we should strive to incorporate temporal and regional realities into our life cycle inventories. To ease the path for upcoming studies, we publish this work’s inventories as detailed activity level datasets.

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Renewable electricity generation for off grid remote communities; Life Cycle Assessment Study in Alaska, USA

Cited by 24 publications

References 29 publications

Trends in Renewable Electricity Generation in the G20 Countries: An Analysis of the 1990–2020 Period

Trends in Renewable Electricity Generation in the G20 Countries: An Analysis of the 1990–2020 Period

Deep Eutectic Solvents Reduce the Life Cycle Environmental Impacts and Energy Demands of Carbon Dioxide Capture

Sustainable astronomy: A comparative life cycle assessment of off-grid hybrid energy systems to supply large telescopes

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