Sustainability assessment of energy production: A critical review of methods, measures and issues

Turkson, Charles; Acquaye, Adolf; Liu, Wenbin; Παπαδόπουλος, Θάνος

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110464

Cited by 38 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 107 publications

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“…With the exhaustion of fossil fuel resources and aggravation of global energy demand, the utilization of renewable energies to achieve sustainability has become an important subject of research and development in the modern era [1]. One of the main challenges associated with renewable energies is their intermittent nature [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An innovative s olar‐powered natural g as‐based compressed air energy storage system integrated with a liquefied air power cycle

et al. 2021

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A novel solar-based compressed air energy storage system is developed and analyzed in this paper. The integrated system includes a multi-stage air compression unit, thermal oil loop, multi-stage gas turbine unit, high-temperature molten salt-based solar power tower unit, liquefied air power cycle, thermoelectric generator, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification unit. A eutectic mixture of carbonate salt is used for thermal energy storage in the solar subsystem. Energy, exergy, and economic analyses are performed to evaluate the performance of the proposed system. A parametric study investigates the effects of important parameters on the performance of the integrated system. The proposed system stores 356 MWh of grid electricity during the charging mode. Considering all the available energy sources, the energy output of the integrated system is 797.6 MWh. Energy and exergy efficiencies of the integrated system are 55.3% and 46.4%, respectively. The results show that the highest contributor to the overall exergy destruction rate of the integrated system is the combustion chamber unit. Finally, levelized cost of electricity is evaluated as 12.4 ¢/kWh.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An innovative s olar‐powered natural g as‐based compressed air energy storage system integrated with a liquefied air power cycle

et al. 2021

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“…To evaluate the sustainability of electricity, system transitions a host of models have been proposed 3 , with the most prevalent being least cost optimization models. Often in these models environmental sustainability metrics are calculated after the optimization has solved, or integrated as one of the constraints 14,15 , when in reality environmental and social objectives lend themselves more to a multiple objective optimization problem. Thus, economic optimization drives the model decision making while environmental factors are considered as a constraint or post analysis, potentially missing how myopic decision-making impacts national copollutant emissions, and vulnerable groups.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While much of the literature addresses environmental sustainability, there is a need for a deeper understanding regarding how different decarbonization pathways will affect pollution distribution across vulnerable groups 15 . Often social dimensions (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Often social dimensions (i.e. equality, equity, and justice) are nonexistent, considered as retroactive analyses, or analyzed separately from capacity expansion models 15,16 . Based on the review of energy transition literature, Kohler et al ( 2019) 16 illuminates the need for exploration in how energy transitions may place undue burden on regions with high poverty rates or low-income populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Inequality in energy transitions: Subnational air pollution disparities resulting from national decarbonization strategies

Goforth

Nock

2021

Preprint

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Energy transitions and decarbonization require rapid changes to a nation’s generation mix. There are a host of possible decarbonization pathways, yet there is vast uncertainty about how different decarbonization pathways will advance or derail the nation’s energy equality goals. We present a framework for investigating how decarbonization pathways, driven by a least cost paradigm, will lead to air pollution inequality across different vulnerabilities (e.g., low-income, energy poverty). If an equitable energy transition is the goal (i.e., one that reaches total equality), using least cost optimization capacity expansion models without strict renewable energy technology mandates will not accomplish this. Thus, it is imperative that decisions regarding national regarding national decarbonization pathways have strict mandates for equality outcomes or be driven by an equality focused paradigm.

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“…Broad and comprehensive literature surveys on sustainability assessment methods adopted in energy systems have been carried out in [1,26,27]. Comparative analysis of publications was systematically conducted for existing assessment methodologies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Key index framework for quantitative sustainability assessment of energy infrastructures in a smart city: An example of Western Sydney

Yang

Liu

Wang

et al. 2020

Energy Conversion and Economics

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Human society is experiencing a rapidly changing environment in which energy shortages and an ongoing climate crisis have been identified as two of the major challenges to the sustainable development of human civilization. In the face of these challenges, the concept of a smart city is proposed which aims at achieving sustainable development, increasing the quality of life, and improving the cost‐effectiveness of existing and new energy infrastructures. To this end, this study proposes a general framework with a three‐tier story chart for guiding the establishment of sustainability assessment models and the selection of their indicators. In addition, a quantitative analysis method is developed for assessing the sustainability of energy infrastructures in a smart city, which indicates how the long‐term sustainability of the energy infrastructure can be achieved. The proposed method incorporates extensive environmental, economic, and social indicators, which go beyond conventional facility‐level criteria and seamlessly relate to the broader community that benefits from the renewable energy transition (including energy construction, operations, and energy services). The proposed methodologies can be implemented through collecting the corresponding history data of the indicators and following the analysis procedures presented in this study. The proposed methodology can serve as a supporting tool for decision‐making on new infrastructure investment and policymaking toward sustainable development. Case studies in Western Sydney were carried out to demonstrate the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed methodologies.

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Sustainability assessment of energy production: A critical review of methods, measures and issues

Abstract: The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record.

Cited by 38 publications

References 107 publications

An innovative s olar‐powered natural g as‐based compressed air energy storage system integrated with a liquefied air power cycle

An innovative s olar‐powered natural g as‐based compressed air energy storage system integrated with a liquefied air power cycle

Inequality in energy transitions: Subnational air pollution disparities resulting from national decarbonization strategies

Key index framework for quantitative sustainability assessment of energy infrastructures in a smart city: An example of Western Sydney

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