Life Cycle Assessment of Electricity Generation from an Array of Subsea Tidal Kite Prototypes

Energies

Johan Tivander¹  Sverker Molander¹  Mohamad Kaddoura¹ 

[1] Division of Environmental System Analysis, Department of Technology Management and Economics, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden;

关键词: tidal energy;    ocean energy;    marine energy;    renewable energy;    life cycle assessment;    deep green;    tidal kite;   

DOI  :  10.3390/en13020456

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Tidal current technologies have the potential to provide highly predictable energy, since tides are driven by lunar cycles. However, before implementing such technologies on a large scale, their environmental performance should be assessed. In this study, a prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed on a 12 MW tidal energy converter array of Minesto Deep Green 500 (DG500) prototypes, closely following the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) standards, but including scenarios to cover various design possibilities. The global warming potential (GWP) of the prototype array was in the range of 18.4−26.3 gCO₂-eq/kWhe. This is comparable with other renewable energy systems, such as wind power. Material production processes have the largest impact, but are largely offset by recycling at the end of life. Operation and maintenance processes, including the production of replacement parts, also provide major contributions to environmental impacts. Comparisons with other technologies are limited by the lack of a standardized way of performing LCA on offshore power generation technologies.

【 授权许可】

Unknown