Abstract
Power system planning progressively demands integrated assessment methodologies to meet the requirements of environmental sustainability goals. An approach to include environmental impacts into power system decision procedures is the use of external costs. To investigate the applicability of external costs for the environmental assessment of power systems, we integrate external costs into the method of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) on the case of power generation technologies. The correlation between the LCA results considering external costs on the one hand and on the other hand standard midpoint impact assessment is investigated by regression analysis. We found that eutrophication (marine and terrestrial), acidification, photochemical ozone creation, respiratory effects and climate change show correlation (R2 = 0.97–0.66). In contrast, the categories concerning land and resource use are not correlating. The correlation mainly depends on the elementary flows which are accounted for. External costs lack in including the variety of elementary flows which are considered in the midpoint assessment. An application of external costs as sole impact indicator of power systems is not recommendable at the current state of development and further research activity for the use in LCA is proposed.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
ReCiPe is also available as endpoint method (derived from the midpoint assessment) but is commonly used on the midpoint level.
- 2.
LIME includes midpoint categories which are derived from the endpoint methodology.
- 3.
Ecosense web tool can be assessed online http://ecoweb.ier.uni-stuttgart.de/EcoSenseLE/current/index.php.
- 4.
Acidification, ecosystem human and ecosystem ionizing radiation, marine and terrestrial eutrophication, ozone depletion potential, photochemical ozone creation, respiratory effects.
- 5.
For land use negative impacts occur and therefore log-transformation is not used. The result is validated with log-transformed data excluding negative values.
- 6.
Full Life Cycle Impact Assessment results for the 22 electricity generation technologies can be found in the Electronic Supplementary Material including the ILCD midpoint impact categories and the external cost implementation (XTCosts).
References
BP (2018) BP Statistical review of world energy 2018, 67th edition, London
Stern DI (1997) Limits to substitution and irreversibility in production and consumption: a neoclassical interpretation of ecological economics. Ecol Econ 21(3):197–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(96)00103-6
United Nations (2017) World population prospects: the 2017 revision: volume I: comprehensive tables (ST/ESA/SER.A/399), New York
IPCC (2014) Climate change 2014: mitigation of climate change. contribution of working group III to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Umweltbundesamt (2018) National trend tables for the German atmospheric emission reporting 1990—2016 version for the EU-submission 15.01.2018. https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/themen/klima-energie/treibhausgas-emissionen. Accessed 07 Aug 2018
Umweltbundesamt (2018) National trend tables for the German atmospheric emission reporting 1990—2016 Final version 14.02.2018 (v1.0). https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/themen/luft/emissionen-von-luftschadstoffen. Accessed 07 Aug 2018
Rockström J, Steffen W, Noone K et al (2009) A safe operating space for humanity. Nature 461(7263):472. https://doi.org/10.1038/461472a
Steffen W, Richardson K, Rockström J et al. (2015) Sustainability. Planetary boundaries: guiding human development on a changing planet. Science 347(6223):1259855. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1259855
Wang J-J, Jing Y-Y, Zhang C-F et al (2009) Review on multi-criteria decision analysis aid in sustainable energy decision-making. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 13(9):2263–2278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2009.06.021
Rauner S, Budzinski M (2017) Holistic energy system modeling combining multi-objective optimization and life cycle assessment. Environ Res Lett 12(12):124005. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa914d
Pauliuk S, Arvesen A, Stadler K et al (2017) Industrial ecology in integrated assessment models. Nat Clim Change 7(1):13–20. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3148
Gagnon L, Bélanger C, Uchiyama Y (2002) Life-cycle assessment of electricity generation options: the status of research in year 2001. Energy Policy 30(14):1267–1278. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0301-4215(02)00088-5
Laurin L, Amor B, Bachmann TM et al (2016) Life cycle assessment capacity roadmap (section 1): decision-making support using LCA. Int J Life Cycle Assess 21(4):443–447. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-016-1031-y
European Commission (1995) ExternE: externalities of energy. Series ExternE, vol 1. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg
Markandya A, Bigano A, Porchia R (2010) The social costs of electricity: scenarios and policy implications. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK
European Commission (2009) NEEDS New energy externalities developments for sustainability—integrated project: publishable final activity report M1–M54. Sixth Framework Programme
Rabl A, Spadaro J (2005) Final technical report—externalities of energy: extension of accounting framework and policy applications (ExternE-Pol)
Friedrich R, Bachmann T, Nocker L de et al. (2004) NewExt: new elements for the assessment of external costs from energy technologies. Final report contract NENG1-CT2000–00129. EC DG Research
Strantzali E, Aravossis K (2016) Decision making in renewable energy investments: a review. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 55:885–898. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.11.021
Means P, Guggemos A (2015) Framework for life cycle assessment (LCA) based environmental decision making during the conceptual design phase for commercial buildings. Procedia Eng 118:802–812. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2015.08.517
Zhang Y, Liang K, Li J et al (2016) LCA as a decision support tool for evaluating cleaner production schemes in iron making industry. Environ Progr Sustain Energy 35(1):195–203. https://doi.org/10.1002/ep.12208
Yilmaz O, Anctil A, Karanfil T (2015) LCA as a decision support tool for evaluation of best available techniques (BATs) for cleaner production of iron casting. J Clean Prod 105:337–347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.02.022
Meyer DE, Upadhyayula VKK (2014) The use of life cycle tools to support decision making for sustainable nanotechnologies. Clean Technol Environ Policy 16(4):757–772. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-013-0686-3
Luglietti R, Rosa P, Terzi S et al (2016) Life cycle assessment tool in product development: environmental requirements in decision making process. Procedia CIRP 40:202–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2016.01.103
European Parliament, Council of the European Union (2009) Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC, vol 5
United States Environmental Protection Agency Renewable Fuel Standard Program (RFS2) Regulatory impact analysis: assessment and standards division, Washington, DC
Deutsches Institut für Normung (2006) DIN EN ISO 14044: Umweltmanagement—Ökobilanz—Anforderungen und Anleitungen (ISO 14044:2006); Deutsche und Englische Fassung EN ISO 14044:2006. Beuth Verlag, Berlin
Deutsches Institut für Normung (2009) DIN EN ISO 14040: Umweltmanagement–Ökobilanz–Grundsätze und Rahmenbedingungen (ISO 14040: 2006); Deutsche und Englische Fassung EN ISO 14040: 2006. Beuth Verlag, Berlin
Bruijn H, Duin R, Huijbregts MAJ et al (eds) (2004) Handbook on life cycle assessment: operational guide to the ISO standards. Eco-efficiency in industry and science, vol 7. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht
Goedkoop M, Heijungs R, Huijbregts M et al (2013) ReCiPe 2008: a life cycle impact assessment method which comprises harmonised category indicators at the midpoint and the endpoint level. First edition (revised)
European Commission (2011) Joint Research Centre. Institute for Environment and Sustainability. Recommendations for life cycle impact assessment in the European context: institute for environment and sustainability: international reference life cycle data system (ILCD) handbook-recommendations for life cycle impact assessment in the European context. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg
Goedkoop MJ, Spriensma R (2000) The eco-indicator 99: a damage oriented method for life cycle impact assessment methodology report. Second edition, Amersfoort
Itsubo N, Inaba A (2005) LIME2, Life-cycle impact assessment method based on endpoint modelling: summary. Japan Environmental Management Association for Industry
Steen B (1999) A systematic approach to environmental priority strategies in product development (EPS): version 2000—General system characteristics, Gothenburg
University of Stuttgart (2018) EcoSense Web2. http://ecosenseweb.ier.uni-stuttgart.de/. Accessed 09 Aug 2018
European Commission (2010) Joint Research Centre. Institute for Environment and Sustainability. International reference life cycle data system (ILCD) handbook—general guide for life cycle assessment—detailed guidance, First edition. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg
European Commission (2012) Joint Research Centre. Institute for Environment and Sustainability. Characterisation factors of the ILCD recommended life cycle impact assessment methods. Database and supporting information. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg
Weidema BP, Bauer C, Hischier R et al (2013) Overview and methodology: data quality guideline for the ecoinvent database version 3: ecoinvent report 1 (v3). The ecoinvent Centre, St. Gallen
Fisher RA (1971) The design of experiments. Hafner Press, New York
Fthenakis V, Kim HC (2009) Land use and electricity generation: a life-cycle analysis. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 13(6–7):1465–1474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2008.09.017
de Haes HAU, Heijungs R, Suh S et al (2004) Three strategies to overcome the limitations of life-cycle assessment. J Ind Ecol 8(3):19–32. https://doi.org/10.1162/1088198042442351
Wernet G, Bauer C, Steubing B et al (2016) The ecoinvent database version 3 (part I): overview and methodology. Int J Life Cycle Assess 21(9):1218–1230. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-016-1087-8
von Hirschhausen C, Gerbaulet C, Kemfert C et al (2015) German nuclear phase-out enters the next stage: Electricity supply remains secure—Major challenges and high costs for dismantling and final waste disposal. DIW Econ Bull 5(22/23):293–301
Pizzol M, Christensen P, Schmidt J et al (2011) Eco-toxicological impact of “metals” on the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem: a comparison between eight different methodologies for Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA). J Clean Prod 19(6–7):687–698. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.12.008
Nordborg M, Arvidsson R, Finnveden G et al (2017) Updated indicators of Swedish national human toxicity and ecotoxicity footprints using USEtox 2.01. Environ Impact Assess Rev 62:110–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2016.08.004
Jeon J (2015) The strengths and limitations of the statistical modeling of complex social phenomenon: focusing on SEM, path analysis, or multiple regression models. Int J Econ Manage Eng 9:1634–1642. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1105869
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
1 Electronic Supplementary Material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lazar, L., Tietze, I. (2019). External Costs as Indicator for the Environmental Performance of Power Systems. In: Teuteberg, F., Hempel, M., Schebek, L. (eds) Progress in Life Cycle Assessment 2018. Sustainable Production, Life Cycle Engineering and Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12266-9_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12266-9_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-12265-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-12266-9
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)