Evaluation of the environmental impact of the urban energy lifecycle based on lifecycle assessment

Energy resources have environmental impact through their entire lifecycle. The evaluation of the environmental impacts of the energy lifecycle can contribute to decision making regarding energy management. In this paper, the lifecycle assessment (LCA) method is introduced to calculate the environmen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFrontiers of earth science Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 123 - 130
Main Authors Chen, Chen, Su, Meirong, Yang, Zhifeng, Liu, Gengyuan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.03.2014
Higher Education Press
Springer Nature B.V
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Summary:Energy resources have environmental impact through their entire lifecycle. The evaluation of the environmental impacts of the energy lifecycle can contribute to decision making regarding energy management. In this paper, the lifecycle assessment (LCA) method is introduced to calculate the environmental impact loads of different types of energy resources (including coal, oil, natural gas, and electricity) used in urban regions. The scope of LCA includes the production, transportation, and consumption processes. The pollutant emission inventory is listed, and the environmental impact loads are acquired through the calculation of environmental impact potentials, normalization, and weighted assessment. The evaluation method is applied to Beijing, China, revealing that photochemical oxidant formation and acidification are the primary impact factors in the lifecycle of all energy resources and that the total environmental impact load increased steadily from 132.69 million person equivalents (PE) in 1996 to 208.97 million PE in 2010. Among the energy types, coal contributes most to the environmental impact, while the impacts caused by oil, natural gas, and electricity have been growing. The evaluation of the environmental impact of the urban energy lifecycle is useful for regulating energy structures and reducing pollution, which could help achieve sustainable energetic and environmental development.
Bibliography:Energy resources have environmental impact through their entire lifecycle. The evaluation of the environmental impacts of the energy lifecycle can contribute to decision making regarding energy manage- ment. In this paper, the lifecycle assessment (LCA) method is introduced to calculate the environmental impact loads of different types of energy resources (including coal, oil, natural gas, and electricity) used in urban regions. The scope of LCA includes the production, transportation, and consumption processes. The pollutant emission inventory is listed, and the environmental impact loads are acquired through the calculation of environmental impact potentials, normalization, and weighted assessment. The evaluation method is applied to Beijing, China, revealing that photochemical oxidant formation and acidification are the primary impact factors in the lifecycle of all energy resources and that the total environmental impact load increased steadily from 132.69 million person equivalents (PE) in 1996 to 208.97 million PE in 2010. Among the energy types, coal contributes most to the environmental impact, while the impacts caused by oil, natural gas, and electricity have been growing. The evaluation of the environmental impact of the urban energy lifecycle is useful for regulating energy structures and reducing pollution, which could help achieve sustainable energetic and environmental development.
11-5982/P
environmental impact, urban energy lifecycle, lifecycte assessment (LCA), Beijing
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11707-013-0384-9
Beijing
environmental impact
urban energy lifecycle
Document received on :2013-01-14
Document accepted on :2013-03-10
lifecycle assessment (LCA)
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:2095-0195
2095-0209
DOI:10.1007/s11707-013-0384-9