Life cycle analysis of external costs of a parabolic trough Concentrated Solar Power plant

Abstract

A number of developing countries have undertaken measures to diversify into renewable electricity generation. Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is one of the technologies, though despite the high capital costs have numerous technological capabilities. CSP however is a new technology in many developing countries, where the external costs have not been fully understood. Thus far, South Africa has not conducted any detailed externalities assessments for renewable electricity sources. The presented research aims to evaluate the external cost associated with a solar CSP plant using life cycle analysis. The analysis uses a parabolic trough CSP plant with 100MW capacity located in the Northern Cape region in South Africa. The analysis evaluated external impacts and costs for climate change, human health, loss of biodiversity, local effects on crops, and damage to materials. The study found that climate change accounted for an estimated 32.2 g CO 2 eq/kWh of electricity generated. A number of non-greenhouse gas impacts were also analysed of which the effect on human health was the most significant category (0.214g/kWh). The damage cost quantified in the study for the solar CSP plant was in the range of 2.10-3.31 ZA c/kWh (1.4-2.2 €/MWh) with a central estimate of 2.83 ZA c/kWh (1.9 €/MWh). The results suggested that climate change and human health had a combined contribution of 91% to the central estimate of the external costs which was mostly attributed by the manufacturing life cycle phase. The analysis showed that manufacturing activities have a major contribution across all impact categories. A major policy understanding is that the overall damage costs can be reduced if manufacturing the main components can be localised, to reduce the emissions caused by the transport systems. This could bring added benefits for local communities and industries.

CO2 Emission Reduction by Integrating Concentrating Solar Power into Lithium Mining

“…ERs were estimated simply as the amount of CO 2 that will no longer be released to the atmosphere in the scenario where the energy needs of the plant are partially supplied by CSP. According to Khan and Arsalan, there is no harm to the environment once CSP plants are installed and under operation, while impact during fabrication is considerably reduced if compared with manufacturing of PV devices. , Readers interested in full life-cycle analyses of CSP plants are referred to the excellent studies by Li et al, May Tzuc et al, Mahlangu and Thopil, and Desideri et al In the general case, CO 2 ER is calculated according to eq , where C r is the volumetric consumption of natural gas, given in dam . The volumetric consumption equals the daily consumption (see Table ), times the days in a given month.…”

Luonnon monimuotoisuuden huomioivat toimitusketjut ja luontopohjaiset ratkaisut

“…2018). Alkutuotantoon keskittyvien artikkelien lisäksi katsaukseemme valikoitui yksittäisiä muita toimialoja, kuten aurinkoenergian tuotantoa (Mahlangu & Thopil 2018) ja kuljetuspalveluja (Whiteman ym. 2011) käsitteleviä artikkeleita sekä tutkimuspapereita, joissa toimialaa ei määritelty tarkasti (Teixeira ym.…”

“…Monet laajennuksista sisälsivät luonnon monimuotoisuuteen liittyvien vaikutusten arviointia (esim. Mahlangu & Thopil 2018). Ympäristövaikutuksia käsitteleviä muita laskenta-ja arviointimenetelmiä olivat otoksessa esimerkiksi erilaiset indeksit (Kobayashi ym.…”

A Through-Life Cost Analysis Model to Support Investment Decision-Making in Concentrated Solar Power Projects

“…Dale [9] performed a meta-analysis to assess the overnight capital cost, operating costs and LCoE of CSP technologies and compared the results with those of PV technologies. Mahlangu and Thopil [10] presented an LCCA approach to evaluate the external costs associated with a 100 MW parabolic trough CSP plant located in the Northern Cape region in South Africa. Zhao et al [11] proposed a mathematical model to calculate the LCoE from CSP projects using a lifetime cost structure analysis.…”