Accounting for temporal variation of electricity production and consumption in the LCA of an energy-efficient house

Roux, Charlotte; Schalbart, Patrick; Peuportier, Bruno

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.11.052

Cited by 93 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…In line with numerous studies regarding energy-system-level implications [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38], our results highlight the relevance of marginal system implications. These studies have mainly focused on single measures, short-term implications, or general implications, while our study has focused on municipal planning and municipal energy planning.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Studies such as Olkkonen & Syri [35] and Zivin et al [36] have suggested that marginal electricity can be highly variable, both spatially and temporally. For example, Roux et al [37] and Kopsakangas-Savolainen et al [38] have suggested that even short-term temporal changes in emissions are changing the actual carbon emissions caused by a subject.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Consequential Implications of Municipal Energy System on City Carbon Footprints

et al. 2017

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Climate change mitigation is an important goal for cities globally. Energy production contributes more than half of the global greenhouse gas emissions, and thus the mitigation potential of local municipal energy systems is important for cities to recognize. The purpose of the study is to analyze the role of local municipal energy systems in the consumption-based carbon footprint of a city resident. The research supplements the previous carbon footprint assessments of city residents with an energy system implication analysis. The study includes 20 of the largest cities in Finland. The main findings of the study are as follows: first, the municipal combined heat and power energy system contributes surprisingly little (on average 18%) to the direct carbon footprint of city residents, supporting some previous findings about a high degree of outsourcing of emissions in cities in developed countries. Second, when indirect emissions (i.e., the implication of a municipal energy system on the national energy system) are allocated to city residents, the significance of the local energy system increases substantially to 32%. Finally, without the benefits of local combined heat and power technology based electricity consumption, the carbon footprints would have increased by an additional 13% to 47% due to the emissions from compensatory electricity production. The results also show that the direct application of consumption-based carbon assessment would imply a relatively low significance for municipal energy solutions. However, with a broader understanding of energy system dynamics, the significance of municipal energy increases substantially. The results emphasize the importance of the consequential energy system implications, which is typically left out of the evaluations of consumption-based carbon footprints.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequential Implications of Municipal Energy System on City Carbon Footprints

et al. 2017

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“…To compute the inventory of elementary flows corresponding to the functional unit, it is necessary to identify the electric sources that are expected to power the extra data centers in each scenario. As previously stated, electric networks are complex systems in constant evolution and their modeling in LCA is problematic (Astudillo et al 2015;Lund et al 2010;Messagie et al 2014;Roux et al 2016;Soimakallio et al 2011;Weber et al 2009Weber et al , 2010. Determining the electricity sources affected by changes in electricity demand remains challenging in CLCA because of the uncertainty of the CLCA approach (Mathiesen et al 2009).…”

Section: Inventory Of Elementary Flowsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of Future Data Center Deployment in Canada on Electricity Generation and Environmental Impacts: A 2015–2030 Prospective Study

Dandres¹,

Vandromme²,

Obrekht³

et al. 2016

J of Industrial Ecology

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Summary The environmental impacts of data centers that provide information and communication technologies (ICTs) services are strongly related to electricity generation. With the increasing use of ICT, many data centers are expected to be built, causing more absolute impacts on the environment. Given that electricity distribution networks are very complex and dynamic systems, an environmental evaluation of future data centers is uncertain. This study proposes a new approach to investigate the consequences of future data center deployment in Canada and optimize this deployment based on the Energy 2020 technoeconomic model in combination with life cycle assessment methodology. The method determines specific electricity sources that will power the future Canadian data centers and computes related environmental impacts based on several indicators. In case‐study scenarios, the largest deployment of data centers leads to the smallest impact per megawatt of data centers for all of the environmental indicators. It is found that an increase in power demand by data centers would lead to a reduction in electricity exports to the United States, driving the United States to generate more electricity to meet its energy demand. Given that electricity generation in the United States is more polluting than in Canada, the deployment of data centers in Canada is indirectly linked to an increase in overall environmental impacts. However, though an optimal solution should be found to mitigate global greenhouse gas emissions, it is not clear whether the environmental burden related to U.S. electricity generation should be attributed to the Canadian data centers.

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“…The issue of assessing market change independent from the proposed system or product alternatives within the scope of an LCA is not addressed in the aforementioned ILCD definitions for either consequential or attributional LCA, but some of the language used regarding attributional LCA might lead to the belief that attributional DLCA would be precluded from such an assessment. In practice, however, both consequential and attributional LCA methods are used in developing DLCA as seen among the assessed DLCA where Sohn et al () used an attributional approach, while Roux et al () take a consequential approach. The application of attributional and consequential approaches in DLCA is also further discussed by Collinge et al (); they describe the concept that in a DLCA, the application or function of the system studied, the supply chain, and environmental effects of an emission can vary independently, thus allowing both consequential or attributional approaches.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining Temporally Dynamic Life Cycle Assessment: A Review

Sohn

Kalbar

Goldstein

et al. 2020

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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Durable goods last for years, decades, or even centuries. The environmental implications of the changing social, economic, and material conditions in which these goods are embedded can be overlooked by conventional life cycle assessment (LCA) that assumes a static world. To avoid this oversight, methods such as dynamic LCA (DLCA) are increasingly being used. Despite the growing use of DLCA, numerous questions remain, including how this dynamism is incorporated and what aspects of any given DLCA are dynamic. To answer these questions, we performed a review of 56 DLCAs, of which 44 propose a framework for DLCA covering all International Organization for Standardization phases of an LCA or that carry out a DLCA. Three types of LCA dynamism are identified and assessed for the reviewed literature: dynamic process inventory, dynamic systems, and dynamic characterization, while a further 2 types of LCA dynamism, dynamic scope and dynamic weighting, are proposed but not applied in the assessed literature. We found that the implementation of DLCA varies widely, and inventories accounting for dynamic characteristics are by far the most prevalent expression of DLCA. To reduce confusion surrounding the discussion of DLCA, we propose a definition of DLCA and its subtypes: full DLCA, partial DLCA, and prospective LCA. It is concluded that, among the current array of DLCA definitions, the implementation of partially dynamic LCA (PDLCA), which applies dynamism in only some parts of the LCA, is common and likely to continue. This is because PDLCA offers quantifiable marginal utility in terms of increased validity of the assessment, in relation to conventional LCA methods, but caution is needed in applying PDLCA because of potential for introducing bias into the LCA. To avoid this problem, we propose incorporating system dynamism as part of a sensitivity analysis, particularly in PDLCA that are limited by missing data. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2020;16:314-323. © 2019 SETAC

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Accounting for temporal variation of electricity production and consumption in the LCA of an energy-efficient house

Cited by 93 publications

References 22 publications

Consequential Implications of Municipal Energy System on City Carbon Footprints

Consequential Implications of Municipal Energy System on City Carbon Footprints

Consequences of Future Data Center Deployment in Canada on Electricity Generation and Environmental Impacts: A 2015–2030 Prospective Study

Defining Temporally Dynamic Life Cycle Assessment: A Review

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