US electric industry response to carbon constraint: a life-cycle assessment of supply side alternatives

Meier, P.J.; Wilson, Paul P. H.; Kulcinski, G.L.; Denholm, Paul

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2003.11.009

Cited by 78 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…However, for the purpose of this work, life-cycle emissions of low-carbon power technologies are small compared to the emissions their deployment avoids, so that the error due to double-counting is unlikely to have a significant influence on our results. 15 Indirect life-cycle emissions for natural gas are higher (≈20% of direct emissions) than for coal (≈10%) because of fugitive emissions during venting and flaring, and leakage (Lenzen 2001;Foran et al 2005;Meier et al 2005;Weisser 2007;Odeh and Cockerill 2008). Negative net emissions of carbon capture and storage technologies represent avoided emissions, as defined in Fig.…”

Section: A2 Specific Emissions Coefficients ηmentioning

confidence: 97%

Historical and potential future contributions of power technologies to global warming

Lenzen

Schaeffer

2011

Climatic Change

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Using the mathematical formalism of the Brazilian Proposal to the IPCC, we analyse eight power technologies with regard to their past and potential future contributions to global warming. Taking into account detailed bottom-up technology characteristics we define the mitigation potential of each technology in terms of avoided temperature increase by comparing a "coal-only" reference scenario and an alternative low-carbon scenario. Future mitigation potentials are mainly determined by the magnitude of installed capacity and the temporal deployment profile. A general conclusion is that early technology deployment matters, at least within a period of 50-100 years. Our results conclusively show that avoided temperature increase is a better proxy for comparing technologies with regard to their impact on climate change, and that numerous short-term comparisons based on annual or even cumulative emissions may be misleading. Thus, our results support and extend the policy relevance of the Brazilian Proposal in the sense that not only comparisons between countries, but also comparisons between technologies could be undertaken on the basis of avoided temperature increase rather than on the basis of annual emissions as is practiced today.

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Section: A2 Specific Emissions Coefficients ηmentioning

confidence: 97%

Historical and potential future contributions of power technologies to global warming

Lenzen

Schaeffer

2011

Climatic Change

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“…Compared with PCA, IOA provides results that are not only less case-dependent and more complete but also less precise [30,31]. Generally, IOA estimates larger impacts than PCA because the system boundaries are extended, and no process cut-offs are applied [32]. A range of hybrid approaches have been developed to overcome these limitations [33][34][35][36]; however, relatively few studies using these approaches are available in the literature.…”

Section: Lca Methodology Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment (LCA) of electricity generation technologies: Overview, comparability and limitations

Turconi

Boldrin

Astrup

2013

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

576

300

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Electricity generation is a key contributor to global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), NO x and SO 2 and their related environmental impact. A critical review of 167 case studies involving the life cycle assessment (LCA) of electricity generation based on hard coal, lignite, natural gas, oil, nuclear, biomass, hydroelectric, solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind was carried out to identify ranges of emission data for GHG, NO x and SO 2 related to individual technologies. It was shown that GHG emissions could not be used as a single indicator to represent the environmental performance of a system or technology. Emission data were evaluated with respect to three life cycle phases (fuel provision, plant operation, and infrastructure). Direct emissions from plant operation represented the majority of the life cycle emissions for fossil fuel technologies, whereas fuel provision represented the largest contribution for biomass technologies (71% for GHG, 54% for NO x and 61% for SO 2 ) and nuclear power (60% for GHG, 82% for NO x and 92% for SO 2 ); infrastructures provided the highest impact for renewables. These data indicated that all three phases should be included for completeness and to avoid problem shifting. The most critical methodological aspects in relation to LCA studies were identified as follows: definition of the functional unit, the LCA method employed (e.g., IOA, PCA and hybrid), the emission allocation principle and/or system boundary expansion. The most important technological aspects were identified as follows: the energy recovery efficiency and the flue gas cleaning system for fossil fuel technologies; the electricity mix used during both the manufacturing and the construction phases for nuclear and renewable technologies; and the type, quality and origin of feedstock, as well as the amount and type of co-products, for biomass-based systems. This review demonstrates that the variability of existing LCA results for electricity generation can give rise to conflicting decisions regarding the environmental consequences of implementing new technologies.

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“…This shift was not only economically favourable at the time but the lower carbon emissions of natural gas powered plants, which are roughly half that of coal (Meier, 2005), provided additional incentive for the industry to shift in that direction. However, natural gas prices have undergone significant increases as shown in Figure 5.…”

Section: Natural Gasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Supply Concerns: A United States Perspective on Electric Power Generation

Gerdes

Fuller

Gopalakrishnan

et al. 2011

Energy Studies Review

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This review discusses the outlook for electric power generation in the U.S. covering both traditional fossil fuel and renewable energy sources. Environmental policy, technology and economics combine with the advantages and disadvantages of each electric power source to drive the direction of the industry. Coal, while sensitive to carbon emissions regulations, will likely continue to play a large role; natural gas use will continue to be dependent on supply and price; nuclear power has the potential to grow, but requires new plant construction for the first time in 30 years; and despite projected growth in renewable energy sources (particularly for wind), changes in policy would be required to have renewable energy become a significant contributor to the electric power generation mix.

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US electric industry response to carbon constraint: a life-cycle assessment of supply side alternatives

Cited by 78 publications

References 4 publications

Historical and potential future contributions of power technologies to global warming

Historical and potential future contributions of power technologies to global warming

Life cycle assessment (LCA) of electricity generation technologies: Overview, comparability and limitations

Energy Supply Concerns: A United States Perspective on Electric Power Generation

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