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Energies
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Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprint in Energy Systems
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Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprint in Energy Systems

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "B: Energy and Environment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2020) | Viewed by 20224

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Sara González García

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Rúa Lope Gómez de Marzoa s/n, E-15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Interests: biorefineries; carbon footprint; circular economy; industrial ecology; life cycle assessment; renewable energy systems; urban metabolism; waste management; agri-food waste valorization strategies; water footprint. life cycle sustainability and healthy aspects of food-based products and dietary patterns; sustainable food systems; development of strategies to reduce of impacts of food system on climate change and water consumption

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The growth of population and rising standards of living involve the increasing consumption of goods and energy and, therefore, the ensuing generation of environmental consequences. Hindering global warming and achieving a more competitive, safe, and sustainable energy sector are key issues within the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Framework for climate and energy of the European Union (EU). Accordingly, actions on reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) emission are crucial to mitigate the impacts of climate change worldwide and to achieve these goals. Since the circular economy is also at the top of the EU agenda, Member States should move away from fossil-based energy systems to more sustainable ones encompassing the circular economy approach in the energy sector. Therefore, the international community is motivated to introduce easing strategies to reduce and/or avoid the use of fossil-based energy, promoting the development of bioenergy considering multiple sources such as municipal solid wastes, agricultural and forest residues or algal biomass, among others. It is quite relevant since energy-related industries have contributed to more than 30% of global carbon dioxide emissions over the last 20 years. However, promoting bioenergy as an alternative mitigation strategy requires the assessment of not only environmental consequences but also the technical, political, and social constraints. Life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology is a widely accepted method for evaluating different production systems and processes, which takes into account detailed material flow analysis in the analyzed systems. Social life cycle assessment and life cycle costing are also recommended to identify the sustainability of evaluated systems. Case studies of energy-based systems at different scales will be covered in this Special Issue, as well as multidisciplinary valuation techniques and methods for estimating derived GHG emissions and sustainability in energy-based case studies.

Dr. Sara González-García
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biomass
  • biorefinery
  • energy performance
  • environmental impact
  • LCA
  • power plants
  • renewable energy
  • SLCA
  • sustainability

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3463 KiB  
Article
Pellet Production from Miscanthus: Energy and Environmental Assessment
by Alessandra Fusi, Jacopo Bacenetti, Andrea R. Proto, Doriana E. A. Tedesco, Domenico Pessina and Davide Facchinetti
Energies 2021, 14(1), 73; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14010073 - 25 Dec 2020
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 2610
Abstract
The production of wood pellets has grown considerably in the last decades. Besides woody biomass, other feedstocks can be used for pellet production. Among these, miscanthus presents some advantages because, even if specifically cultivated, it requires low inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides [...] Read more.
The production of wood pellets has grown considerably in the last decades. Besides woody biomass, other feedstocks can be used for pellet production. Among these, miscanthus presents some advantages because, even if specifically cultivated, it requires low inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides and shows high biomass yield (up to 28 tons of dry matter ha−1 in Europe). Even if in the last years some studies evaluated the environmental impact of woody pellet production, there is no information about the environmental performances of miscanthus pellet production. In this study, the environmental impact of miscanthus pellet was evaluated using the Life Cycle Assessment approach with a cradle-to plant gate perspective. Primary data were collected in a small-medium size pelletizing plant located in Northern Italy where miscanthus is cultivated to be directly processed. The results highlight how the miscanthus pellet shows lower environmental impact compared to woody pellet, mainly due to the lower energy consumption during pelletizing. The possibility to pelletize the miscanthus biomass without any drying offsets the environmental impact related to the miscanthus cultivation for all the evaluated impact categories (except for Marine eutrophication). In detail, for global warming potential, 1 ton of miscanthus pellet shows an impact of 121.6 kg CO2 eq. (about 8% lower respect to woody pellet) while for the other evaluated impact categories the impact reduction ranges from 4 to 59%. Harvesting, which unlike the other field operations is carried out every year, is by far the main contributor to the impacts of the cultivation phase while electricity is the main contributor to the pelletizing phase. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprint in Energy Systems)
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18 pages, 752 KiB  
Article
Definition of LCA Guidelines in the Geothermal Sector to Enhance Result Comparability
by Maria Laura Parisi, Melanie Douziech, Lorenzo Tosti, Paula Pérez-López, Barbara Mendecka, Sergio Ulgiati, Daniele Fiaschi, Giampaolo Manfrida and Isabelle Blanc
Energies 2020, 13(14), 3534; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13143534 - 9 Jul 2020
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 3410
Abstract
Geothermal energy could play a crucial role in the European energy market and future scenarios focused on sustainable development. Thanks to its constant supply of concentrated energy, it can support the transition towards a low-carbon economy. In the energy sector, the decision-making process [...] Read more.
Geothermal energy could play a crucial role in the European energy market and future scenarios focused on sustainable development. Thanks to its constant supply of concentrated energy, it can support the transition towards a low-carbon economy. In the energy sector, the decision-making process should always be supported by a holistic science-based approach to allow a comprehensive environmental assessment of the technological system, such as the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. In the geothermal sector, the decision-making is particularly difficult due to the large variability of reported results on environmental performance across studies. This calls for harmonized guidelines on how to conduct LCAs of geothermal systems to enhance transparency and results comparability, by ensuring consistent methodological choices and providing indications for harmonized results reporting. This work identifies the main critical aspects of performing an LCA of geothermal systems and provides solutions and technical guidance to harmonize its application. The proposed methodological approach is based on experts’ knowledge from both the geothermal and LCA sectors. The recommendations cover all the life cycle phases of geothermal energy production (i.e., construction, operation, maintenance and end of life) as well as a selection of LCA key elements thus providing a thorough base for concerted LCA guidelines for the geothermal sector. The application of such harmonized LCA framework can ensure comparability among LCA results from different geothermal systems and other renewable energy technologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprint in Energy Systems)
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18 pages, 1814 KiB  
Article
Preliminary Study on the GWP Benchmark of Office Buildings in Poland Using the LCA Approach
by Joanna Rucińska, Anna Komerska and Jerzy Kwiatkowski
Energies 2020, 13(13), 3298; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13133298 - 27 Jun 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2553
Abstract
The decarbonisation goal stated in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) regarding the building sector will be achieved only if the whole building life-cycle is considered. To fulfil this requirement, a benchmark based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) must be integrated [...] Read more.
The decarbonisation goal stated in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) regarding the building sector will be achieved only if the whole building life-cycle is considered. To fulfil this requirement, a benchmark based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) must be integrated into the early planning phase of buildings by designers. The estimation of such indicators requires the development of a database of building assessments. In this study, an LCA of 11 office buildings in Poland was used to set average values that can be used as a benchmark. The LCA methodology based on the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) certification was used. The analysis did not concentrate on one type of office building. The main objective was to investigate a possible range of total Global Warming Potential (GWP) index values normalized to the usable unit floor area. The importance of the GWP of individual life-cycle phases was also considered. The study shows that the used methodology is adequate for LCA benchmark estimation to set preliminary average values for office buildings in Poland. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprint in Energy Systems)
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25 pages, 2908 KiB  
Article
Assessing the Environmental Performance of Palm Oil Biodiesel Production in Indonesia: A Life Cycle Assessment Approach
by Yoyon Wahyono, Hadiyanto Hadiyanto, Mochamad Arief Budihardjo and Joni Safaat Adiansyah
Energies 2020, 13(12), 3248; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13123248 - 23 Jun 2020
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 5635
Abstract
The production of palm oil biodiesel in Indonesia has the potential to negatively impact the environment if not managed properly. Therefore, we conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) study on the production of palm oil biodiesel to assess the environmental performance in Indonesia. [...] Read more.
The production of palm oil biodiesel in Indonesia has the potential to negatively impact the environment if not managed properly. Therefore, we conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) study on the production of palm oil biodiesel to assess the environmental performance in Indonesia. Using an LCA approach, we analyzed the environmental indicators, including the carbon footprint, as well as the harm to human health, ecosystem diversity, and resource availability in palm oil biodiesel production. The functional unit in this study was 1 ton of biodiesel. The life cycle of palm oil biodiesel production consists of three processing units, namely the oil palm plantation, palm oil production, and biodiesel production. The processing unit with the greatest impact on the environment was found to be the oil palm plantation. The environmental benefits, namely the use of phosphate, contributed 62.30% of the 73.40% environmental benefit of the CO2 uptake from the oil palm plantation processing unit. The total human health damage of the life cycle of palm oil biodiesel production was 0.00563 DALY, while the total ecosystem’s diversity damage was 2.69 × 10−5 species·yr. Finally, we concluded that the oil palm plantation processing unit was the primary contributor of the carbon footprint, human health damage, and ecosystem diversity damage, while the biodiesel production processing unit demonstrated the highest damage to resource availability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprint in Energy Systems)
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22 pages, 3387 KiB  
Article
A PV-Powered TE Cooling System with Heat Recovery: Energy Balance and Environmental Impact Indicators
by Agnieszka Żelazna and Justyna Gołębiowska
Energies 2020, 13(7), 1701; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13071701 - 3 Apr 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2179
Abstract
Over the past decades, clean and renewable energy has become a subject of great interest to both science and industry in response to the pollution caused by conventional energy sources. Its useful form should always meet the requirements of high performance and low [...] Read more.
Over the past decades, clean and renewable energy has become a subject of great interest to both science and industry in response to the pollution caused by conventional energy sources. Its useful form should always meet the requirements of high performance and low environmental impact, while remaining within the scope of the expected functionality. The purpose of study presented in this paper was to determine the operational characteristics for a recently developed photovoltaic (PV)-powered thermoelectric (TE) cooling system with heat recovery. The characteristics of operation of the tested system were determined within the use of a specially developed measurement system. The conducted experimental research allowed describing the conditions of power supply for TE module using PV system, calculate the coefficient of performance (COP) for the whole TE cooling system with heat recovery and calculate the environmental impact indicators based on the material and energy balance used for life cycle assessment (LCA). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprint in Energy Systems)
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18 pages, 3429 KiB  
Article
Carbon Handprint: Potential Climate Benefits of a Novel Liquid-Cooled Base Station with Waste Heat Reuse
by Heli Kasurinen, Saija Vatanen, Kaisa Grönman, Tiina Pajula, Laura Lakanen, Olli Salmela and Risto Soukka
Energies 2019, 12(23), 4452; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12234452 - 22 Nov 2019
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3277
Abstract
The novel life cycle assessment (LCA)-based carbon handprint indicator represents a potential carbon footprint reduction that producers/products create for customers who use the(ir) product instead of a baseline product. The research question is how to consider a situation in which multiple customers use [...] Read more.
The novel life cycle assessment (LCA)-based carbon handprint indicator represents a potential carbon footprint reduction that producers/products create for customers who use the(ir) product instead of a baseline product. The research question is how to consider a situation in which multiple customers use a product for different purposes to provide a carbon handprint quantification and the associated communication. The study further provides new insight into the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction potential within the mobile telecommunications and energy sectors. The carbon handprint of a novel Finnish liquid-cooled base station technology is quantified. The liquid-cooled base station provides a telecommunications service and waste heat that is recoverable through the cooling liquid for heating purposes. The baseline solutions are an air-cooled base station, and district and electrical heating. The liquid-cooled base station creates a carbon handprint, both through energy savings in telecommunications and additional waste heat reuse, replacing other energy production methods. A large-scale climate change mitigation potential through a liquid-cooled base station expansion could be significant. Different supply chain operators’ contributions to the total carbon handprint could be terminologically distinguished in communications to emphasize their roles in a shared handprint. The handprint should be transparently communicated for each customer and function. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprint in Energy Systems)
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