Prospective Life Cycle Assessment: Effect of Electricity Decarbonization in Building Sector

Leslie Ayagapin, Jean Philippe Praene, Doorgeshwaree Jaggeshar and Dinesh Surroop
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Leslie Ayagapin: PIMENT Laboratory, Department of Building Sciences and Environment, University of Reunion Island, 97430 Le Tampon, France
Jean Philippe Praene: PIMENT Laboratory, Department of Building Sciences and Environment, University of Reunion Island, 97430 Le Tampon, France
Doorgeshwaree Jaggeshar: Department of the Chemical & Environmental Engineering, University of Mauritius Reduit, Moka 80837, Mauritius
Dinesh Surroop: Department of the Chemical & Environmental Engineering, University of Mauritius Reduit, Moka 80837, Mauritius

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: The building sector is responsible for 43% of France’s final energy consumption and is strongly associated with a high environmental impact due to its high consumption of energy and natural resources. These impacts are significant in isolated islands. Due to its geographical isolation and an area of 2512 km 2 , Reunion Island has a heavily carbon-based economy with a high import rate of raw materials for the building sector. This study aimed to investigate the effect of electricity mix decarbonization on residential house environmental impact. The methodology consists of three parts: (i) evaluating environmental impacts of Single-Family Houses (SFH) using life cyce assessment(LCA), (ii) defining SFH typologies using the K-means clustering algorithm, and (iii) implementing energy scenario in LCA of SFH to assess decarbonization effect. The environmental results were particularly sensitive in the operational phase, with a decrease of 83% between 2020 to 2040 of the global warming potential (GWP). The structural phase highlights the weight of imports in the building sector, as a decrease of only 1% is observed. This study clearly shows the necessary energy transition for Reunion Island. In the structural phase, the study recommends that stakeholders reduce imports and increase the share of recovered materials to achieve a substantial reduction in impacts.

Keywords: decarbonization; LCA; building sector; prospective; electricity scenario; waste energy; biomass; island (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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