Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/19345
Title: | Life Cycle Analysis of the Embodied Carbon Emissions from 14 Wind Turbines with Rated Powers between 50 Kw and 3.4 Mw | Contributor(s): | Smoucha, Emily A (author); Fitzpatrick, Kate (author); Buckingham, Sarah (author); Knox, Oliver (author) | Publication Date: | 2016 | Open Access: | Yes | DOI: | 10.4172/20904541.1000211 | Handle Link: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/19345 | Abstract: | In order to facilitate increased renewable energy production, there continues to be a global increase in wind turbine installation. When quantifying the carbon offsets from these installations, the production emissions are rarely accounted for. This paper reports on the embodied carbon emissions from the production of 14 wind turbines, rated between 50 kW and 3.4 MW. The embodied emissions were quantified from emission factors specific to each material involved in manufacture, transport to site, and installation of the turbines. The resulting trend was that higher-rated turbines had greater embodied carbon emissions with one 3 MW turbine incorporating 1046 tCO2eq compared to only 58 tCO2eq for an 80 kW turbine. However, the greater electricity output of the turbines offset these emissions more quickly with a recovery in 64 days for a 3.4 MW turbine compared to 354 days for a 100 kW one. This also resulted in lower carbon emissions per kilowatt hour of electricity generated and quicker payback as a percentage of lifetime of 0.9% for a 3.4 MW turbine compared to 4.3% and 4.9% for a 50 and 100 kW turbines, respectively. The findings of this analysis indicate that a preference for installation of higher-rated, over lower-rated, turbines should be favoured for greater environmental benefits. | Publication Type: | Journal Article | Source of Publication: | Journal of Fundamentals of Renewable Energy and Applications, 6(4), p. 1-10 | Publisher: | Ashdin Publishing | Place of Publication: | Belgium | ISSN: | 2090-4541 2090-4533 |
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: | 090607 Power and Energy Systems Engineering (excl. Renewable Power) 090608 Renewable Power and Energy Systems Engineering (excl. Solar Cells) 129999 Built Environment and Design not elsewhere classified |
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: | 410604 Soil chemistry and soil carbon sequestration (excl. carbon sequestration science) 410404 Environmental management 410101 Carbon sequestration science |
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: | 960302 Climate Change Mitigation Strategies 850509 Wind Energy |
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: | 190301 Climate change mitigation strategies 170808 Wind energy |
Peer Reviewed: | Yes | HERDC Category Description: | C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal |
---|---|
Appears in Collections: | Journal Article School of Environmental and Rural Science |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format |
---|
Page view(s)
1,344
checked on Apr 7, 2024
Items in Research UNE are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.