Are Renewables as Friendly to Humans as to the Environment?: A Social Life Cycle Assessment of Renewable Electricity

Shutaro Takeda, Alexander Ryota Keeley, Shigeki Sakurai, Shunsuke Managi and Catherine Benoît Norris
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Shutaro Takeda: Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8306, Japan
Alexander Ryota Keeley: Department of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
Shigeki Sakurai: Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8306, Japan
Catherine Benoît Norris: Extension School, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: The adoption of renewable energy technologies in developing nations is recognized to have positive environmental impacts; however, what are their effects on the electricity supply chain workers? This article provides a quantitative analysis on this question through a relatively new framework called social life cycle assessment, taking Malaysia as a case example. Impact assessments by the authors show that electricity from renewables has greater adverse impacts on supply chain workers than the conventional electricity mix: Electricity production with biomass requires 127% longer labor hours per unit-electricity under the risk of human rights violations, while the solar photovoltaic requires 95% longer labor hours per unit-electricity. However, our assessment also indicates that renewables have less impacts per dollar-spent. In fact, the impact of solar photovoltaic would be 60% less than the conventional mix when it attains grid parity. The answer of “ are renewables as friendly to humans as to the environment? ” is “ not-yet, but eventually .”

Keywords: renewable energy; supply chain; social responsibility; social life cycle assessment; labor conditions; Malaysia; solar PV; Biomass; Hydro (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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