Life Cycle Assessment of Italian Electricity Scenarios to 2030
The study presents a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Italian electricity scenarios, devised in the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (INECP). A fully representative LCA of the national electricity system was carried out, taking into consideration a great number of different power plant typo...
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doaj-63114a4ad7154b4398b78754230394072020-11-25T03:28:58ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732020-07-01133852385210.3390/en13153852Life Cycle Assessment of Italian Electricity Scenarios to 2030Alessia Gargiulo0Maria Leonor Carvalho1Pierpaolo Girardi2Ricerca Sistema Energetico–RSE SpA, 20134 Milan, ItalyRicerca Sistema Energetico–RSE SpA, 20134 Milan, ItalyRicerca Sistema Energetico–RSE SpA, 20134 Milan, ItalyThe study presents a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Italian electricity scenarios, devised in the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (INECP). A fully representative LCA of the national electricity system was carried out, taking into consideration a great number of different power plant typologies for current (2016 and 2017) and future (2030) electricity mixes. The study confirms that LCA can be a powerful tool for supporting energy planning and strategies assessment. Indeed the results put in evidence not only the improvement of the environmental profile from the current to the future mix (the impacts decrease from 2016 to 2030 due to the transition towards renewables, mainly wind and photovoltaic), but also underline the difference between two scenarios at 2030 (being the scenario that includes the strategic objectives of the INECP to 2030 the one showing best environmental profile), providing an evaluation of the effect of different energy policies. For example, in the INECP scenario CO<sub>2</sub> eq/kWh is 46% lower than current scenario and 37% lower than business as usual scenario for 2030. Moreover, considering different impact categories allowed to identify potential environmental trade-offs. The results suggest also the need of future insight on data related to photovoltaic technologies and materials and their future development.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/15/3852electricity scenarioslife cycle assessmentItalian electricityenvironmental impacts |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Alessia Gargiulo Maria Leonor Carvalho Pierpaolo Girardi |
spellingShingle |
Alessia Gargiulo Maria Leonor Carvalho Pierpaolo Girardi Life Cycle Assessment of Italian Electricity Scenarios to 2030 Energies electricity scenarios life cycle assessment Italian electricity environmental impacts |
author_facet |
Alessia Gargiulo Maria Leonor Carvalho Pierpaolo Girardi |
author_sort |
Alessia Gargiulo |
title |
Life Cycle Assessment of Italian Electricity Scenarios to 2030 |
title_short |
Life Cycle Assessment of Italian Electricity Scenarios to 2030 |
title_full |
Life Cycle Assessment of Italian Electricity Scenarios to 2030 |
title_fullStr |
Life Cycle Assessment of Italian Electricity Scenarios to 2030 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Life Cycle Assessment of Italian Electricity Scenarios to 2030 |
title_sort |
life cycle assessment of italian electricity scenarios to 2030 |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Energies |
issn |
1996-1073 |
publishDate |
2020-07-01 |
description |
The study presents a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Italian electricity scenarios, devised in the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (INECP). A fully representative LCA of the national electricity system was carried out, taking into consideration a great number of different power plant typologies for current (2016 and 2017) and future (2030) electricity mixes. The study confirms that LCA can be a powerful tool for supporting energy planning and strategies assessment. Indeed the results put in evidence not only the improvement of the environmental profile from the current to the future mix (the impacts decrease from 2016 to 2030 due to the transition towards renewables, mainly wind and photovoltaic), but also underline the difference between two scenarios at 2030 (being the scenario that includes the strategic objectives of the INECP to 2030 the one showing best environmental profile), providing an evaluation of the effect of different energy policies. For example, in the INECP scenario CO<sub>2</sub> eq/kWh is 46% lower than current scenario and 37% lower than business as usual scenario for 2030. Moreover, considering different impact categories allowed to identify potential environmental trade-offs. The results suggest also the need of future insight on data related to photovoltaic technologies and materials and their future development. |
topic |
electricity scenarios life cycle assessment Italian electricity environmental impacts |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/15/3852 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT alessiagargiulo lifecycleassessmentofitalianelectricityscenariosto2030 AT marialeonorcarvalho lifecycleassessmentofitalianelectricityscenariosto2030 AT pierpaologirardi lifecycleassessmentofitalianelectricityscenariosto2030 |
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