3 Analysis and Outcomes of the Session
The problem of particulate matter impacts from energy production in China had not
been assessed on a high regional resolution due to a lack of a site-specific
technology-linked inventory for emissions. Oberschelp et al. have developed a
detailed inventory for Chinese power production derived from the International
Energy Agency’s coal power atlas and the PLATTS World electric power plant
(WEPP) database. Remaining gaps in the inventory were filled with global US
Geological Survey (USGS) fossil fuel data. A combustion model was moreover
applied to quantify outputs of the main pollutants contributing to particulate matter
formation (PM 2.5, NO x , SO 2 ). Flue gas cleaning is included by taking into account
technology-specific cleaning rates. These emissions were multiplied by regional
characterization factors for all global cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants and
characterization factor recommendations by the UNEP SETAC Life Cycle
Initiative. Results and conclusions have been drawn from the country-level PM
characterization factors provided by LC-Impact. Impacts were put into perspective
by comparing them with other sectors (transport, industry, domestic coal combustion) in China [1].
With regard to the comprehensiveness of a LCA study, the ISO 14040 principles
establish that such a study should consider the entire life cycle of the system and
assess all relevant impacts on the natural environment, human health and resources.
This is important in order to be able to identify and evaluate potential shifting of
environmental burdens or trade-offs between life cycle stages or impact categories.
However, according to Chatzsisideris et al. existing review papers of LCA on
photovoltaic systems tend to exclusively focus on greenhouse gas assessments
disregarding other impacts on human health and ecosystems and eluding an explicit
description of which parts of the PV life cycle were considered by the LCA studies
under review. Hotspots may not be properly identified if there is not a full coverage
of impact categories. The analysis of Chatzsisideris showed that only a third of the
analysed contributions were including the balance of system (BOS) components
(i.e. power electronics, wiring, mounting structures) in their assessments, which has
been proved to contribute significantly to most environmental impact categories [3].
The use of consequential LCA modelling was performed by Weyand et al. [4], to
evaluate the environmental response of a phone charger made of an emerging
technology such as organic photovoltaics. The impacts of an OPV charger associated with “an additional 10 Wh electricity generation for charging phones” as
functional unit, were calculated and compared them to possible substituted conventional energy generation technologies and country-specific electricity mixes.
Based on the assumptions, that charging the mobile phone with an OPV charger
reduces electricity at the grid, substitution scenarios of several European countries
are analysed. The environmental responses of these scenarios are modelled within
the software OpenLCA and analysed for the impact categories using the ReCiPe
Midpoint (H) method. Current substitution scenarios of the electricity mixes of
France and Germany assume that the substituted electricity is nuclear power and
226
N. Espinosa and Y. J. Suh
The problem of particulate matter impacts from energy production in China had not
been assessed on a high regional resolution due to a lack of a site-specific
technology-linked inventory for emissions. Oberschelp et al. have developed a
detailed inventory for Chinese power production derived from the International
Energy Agency’s coal power atlas and the PLATTS World electric power plant
(WEPP) database. Remaining gaps in the inventory were filled with global US
Geological Survey (USGS) fossil fuel data. A combustion model was moreover
applied to quantify outputs of the main pollutants contributing to particulate matter
formation (PM 2.5, NO x , SO 2 ). Flue gas cleaning is included by taking into account
technology-specific cleaning rates. These emissions were multiplied by regional
characterization factors for all global cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants and
characterization factor recommendations by the UNEP SETAC Life Cycle
Initiative. Results and conclusions have been drawn from the country-level PM
characterization factors provided by LC-Impact. Impacts were put into perspective
by comparing them with other sectors (transport, industry, domestic coal combustion) in China [1].
With regard to the comprehensiveness of a LCA study, the ISO 14040 principles
establish that such a study should consider the entire life cycle of the system and
assess all relevant impacts on the natural environment, human health and resources.
This is important in order to be able to identify and evaluate potential shifting of
environmental burdens or trade-offs between life cycle stages or impact categories.
However, according to Chatzsisideris et al. existing review papers of LCA on
photovoltaic systems tend to exclusively focus on greenhouse gas assessments
disregarding other impacts on human health and ecosystems and eluding an explicit
description of which parts of the PV life cycle were considered by the LCA studies
under review. Hotspots may not be properly identified if there is not a full coverage
of impact categories. The analysis of Chatzsisideris showed that only a third of the
analysed contributions were including the balance of system (BOS) components
(i.e. power electronics, wiring, mounting structures) in their assessments, which has
been proved to contribute significantly to most environmental impact categories [3].
The use of consequential LCA modelling was performed by Weyand et al. [4], to
evaluate the environmental response of a phone charger made of an emerging
technology such as organic photovoltaics. The impacts of an OPV charger associated with “an additional 10 Wh electricity generation for charging phones” as
functional unit, were calculated and compared them to possible substituted conventional energy generation technologies and country-specific electricity mixes.
Based on the assumptions, that charging the mobile phone with an OPV charger
reduces electricity at the grid, substitution scenarios of several European countries
are analysed. The environmental responses of these scenarios are modelled within
the software OpenLCA and analysed for the impact categories using the ReCiPe
Midpoint (H) method. Current substitution scenarios of the electricity mixes of
France and Germany assume that the substituted electricity is nuclear power and
226
N. Espinosa and Y. J. Suh