Life Cycle Environmental Impact of Onshore and Offshore Wind Farms in Texas

Jesuina Chipindula, Venkata Sai Vamsi Botlaguduru, Hongbo Du, Raghava Rao Kommalapati and Ziaul Huque
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Jesuina Chipindula: Center for Energy & Environmental Sustainability, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA
Venkata Sai Vamsi Botlaguduru: Center for Energy & Environmental Sustainability, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA
Hongbo Du: Center for Energy & Environmental Sustainability, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA
Raghava Rao Kommalapati: Center for Energy & Environmental Sustainability, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA
Ziaul Huque: Center for Energy & Environmental Sustainability, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Prairie View A & M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: The last decade witnessed a quantum increase in wind energy contribution to the U.S. renewable electricity mix. Although the overall environmental impact of wind energy is miniscule in comparison to fossil-fuel energy, the early stages of the wind energy life cycle have potential for a higher environmental impact. This study attempts to quantify the relative contribution of individual stages toward life cycle impacts by conducting a life cycle assessment with SimaPro ® and the Impact 2002+ impact assessment method. A comparative analysis of individual stages at three locations, onshore, shallow-water, and deep-water, in Texas and the gulf coast indicates that material extraction/processing would be the dominant stage with an average impact contribution of 72% for onshore, 58% for shallow-water, and 82% for deep-water across the 15 midpoint impact categories. The payback times for CO 2 and energy consumption range from 6 to 14 and 6 to 17 months, respectively, with onshore farms having shorter payback times. The greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) were in the range of 5–7 gCO 2 eq/kWh for the onshore location, 6–9 CO 2 eq/kWh for the shallow-water location, and 6–8 CO 2 eq/kWh for the deep-water location. A sensitivity analysis of the material extraction/processing stage to the electricity sourcing stage indicates that replacement of lignite coal with natural gas or wind would lead to marginal improvements in midpoint impact categories.

Keywords: SimaPro; midpoint impact categories; environmental impact; payback time; material extraction/processing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (26)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:6:p:2022-:d:152596

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