In this study, a holistic well-to-wheel (WtW) life cycle assessment of the production and utilization of short oligomers of OME3–5 as produced via a Power-to-Liquid (PtL) pathway has been conducted.

Renewable energy systems are especially challenging both in terms of planning and operation. Energy system models that take into account not only the costs but also a wide range of environmental impacts support holistic planning. In this way, burden-shifting caused by greenhouse gas mitigation can be identified and minimised at an early stage. The Life cycle Assessment based ENergy Decision support tool LAEND combines a multi-criteria optimising tool for energy system modelling and an integrated environmental assessment for the analysis of decentral systems. By a single or multi-objective optimisation, considering costs, environmental impact indicators as well as weighted impact indicator sets, the model enables the determination of optimal investment planning and dispatch of the analysed energy system. The application of LAEND to an exemplary residential quarter shows the benefit of the model regarding the identification of conflicting goals and of a system that compensates for the different objectives. The observed shift of environmental impacts from the use phase to the production phase of the renewable electricity generators points further to the importance of the integration of the entire life cycle.Energies 2020, 13, 614 2 of 22 detailed consideration. On the community level, less technical, administrative and economic resources for sustainable energy projects are available which hinders a successful transition. Decision support at the community level, therefore gains importance [8].With regard to climate impacts, renewable energies are often considered carbon-free in general and to emit less or no emissions to the air in the use phase (besides the burning of biomass) [9]. But the utilisation of renewable energies like e.g., wind and photovoltaics, lead to new conflicts of goals only partly implicated by storage needs: use of resources, especially the exploitation of rare earth materials, toxicities, land use and the loss of biodiversity might increase [10][11][12][13]. Additionally, the environmental impacts shift from the use phase (key emission phase of fossil energies) to the manufacturing phase of the energy converters (key emission phase of renewable energies and storages) [14].Thus, decision support considering the environmental impact of decentral energy systems gains importance and needs to cope with additional requirements in terms of: