Life Cycle Assessment of Renewable Energy Systems and Infrastructure: Assessing Sustainability and Environmental Performance

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental assessment and lifecycle assessment (LCA) are essential tools for evaluating the environmental sustainability and impacts of renewable energy technologies. The reasons behind this need include:

Resource Scarcity and Environmental Concerns: The increasing demand for energy, coupled with concerns about resource scarcity and environmental degradation, has led to a growing interest in renewable energy sources as a means to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. However, it is crucial to understand the environmental implications of renewable energy technologies in order to ensure they are truly sustainable.

Comparative Analysis: Environmental assessments and LCAs provide a structured framework for comparing renewable energy technologies with traditional fossil fuel-based energy sources. They help in quantifying the environmental impacts of each technology, allowing decisionmakers to make informed choices.

Identifying Key Environmental Issues: These assessments help identify the key environmental issues associated with a particular technology. This includes impacts on air and water quality, land use, wildlife, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Life Cycle Perspective: LCAs look at the entire life cycle of a technology, from raw material extraction and manufacturing to installation, operation, and disposal. This holistic approach is crucial for understanding the overall environmental impact. For example, the manufacturing of solar panels or wind turbines can have significant environmental consequences.

Energy Transition Goals: Many countries have set ambitious goals to transition to a low-carbon and sustainable energy system. Environmental assessments and LCAs are essential for tracking progress toward these goals, ensuring that renewable energy technologies contribute positively to environmental and climate objectives.

Policy and Regulation: Governments often use environmental assessments and LCAs to inform policy decisions. For instance, they may offer incentives or subsidies for certain renewable technologies based on their environmental performance. Robust assessments can guide the development of effective policies.

Informed Investment Decisions: Investors, whether in the private or public sector, need to make informed decisions about where to allocate resources. Environmental assessments and LCAs provide valuable information for assessing the environmental risks and benefits associated with different renewable energy projects.

Continuous Improvement: Through environmental assessments and LCAs, the renewable energy industry can identify areas for improvement. This can lead to innovations in technology and processes that reduce environmental impacts over time.

The aim of this Special Issue is to provoke dialogue regarding the environmental impact assessment and lifecycle assessment of renewable energy technologies and systems. This offers opportunities for both technical and interdisciplinary research in this key aspect of the sustainability of renewable energy. Clean energy will underpin the future of humanity’s economic, social, and cultural activities to mitigate the consequences of global warming; thus, being able to measure their environmental effects through environmental impact assessment and lifecycle assessment is a necessity.

Suggested themes: Research papers and review articles on the lifecycle assessment, environmental impact assessment, environmental performance, and sustainability of renewable energy technologies, systems, and supporting infrastructure, e.g., storage, distribution, and end-use.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to):

• Environmental impact assessment of renewable energy technologies and/or systems;
• Lifecycle assessment of renewable energy technologies, infrastructure, and/or systems;
• Comparative studies between different energy technologies that consider EIA/LCA;
• Studies on environmental performance improvement of renewable energy technologies and systems;
• Climate mitigation studies for renewable energy systems;
• Studies informing policy, regulation, investment, and decision-making in the scope of this Special Issue’s theme.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Richard Blanchard
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• lifecycle assessment
• renewable energy systems
• environmental impact assessment
• environmental mitigation
• climate mitigation
• circular economy
• resource efficiency
• resilience