Conventional and Exergetic Life Cycle Assessment Process and Applications of

Abstract

This study presents the life cycle assessment of various power generation technologies based. The assessments cover impacts from extraction, processing and transportation of fuels, construction of power plants and power generation. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) to power generation technologies is very useful as the world seeks ways to meet growing electricity demand with less health and environmental impacts. LCA is an evolving methodology with several barriers and challenges but has helped in improving the understanding of the lifecycle energy, greenhouse gas emissions, air pollutant emissions, and water-use implications to power generation. The application of LCA tools facilitates an analytically thorough and environmentally holistic approach in assessment and comparison of power generation technologies. Most LCAs show that the best power plants are hydropower, both run-of-river and with reservoir, nuclear energy, and wind power. Fuel combustion directly leads to emissions and potential environmental harm. The cradle-to-grave approach considers all steps between material and fuel extraction from the environment until they are returned to the environment. The methodology used in lifecycle assessment (LCA) includes the effects of all the production phases, use and recycling on the environment. The complete LCA involves factors like water and air pollution, and noise. Exergy which is the maximum useful work that can be extracted from a system as it reversibly comes into equilibrium is used in various fields such as industrial ecology and environmental engineering, for efficient use of energy and to minimize harmful environmental impacts. Exergy analysis has been in application since the late 1990s and is extended into the realm of resource and environmental analysis, to develop integrated analytical frameworks. Exergy analysis can be used in decision-making by policy makers in making sustainable choices.