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A closer look at the environmental impact of solar and wind energy

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dc.affiliation.dptoUC3M. Departamento de Ingeniería Térmica y de Fluidoses
dc.affiliation.grupoinvUC3M. Grupo de Investigación: Ingeniería de Sistemas Energéticoses
dc.contributor.authorFernández Torres, Jaime
dc.contributor.authorPetrakopoulou, Foteini Konstantina
dc.contributor.funderMinisterio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España)es
dc.date.accessioned2023-09-06T12:21:23Z
dc.date.available2023-09-06T12:21:23Z
dc.date.issued2022-08
dc.description.abstractMoving towards a sustainable society implies constant improvement in the way energy is supplied and consumed, with wider implementation of solar and wind energy facilities in stand-alone or hybrid configurations. The goal of this work is to evaluate the lifecycle performance (construction and operation-related impact) of large-scale solar and wind energy systems and to compare it with conventional coal and natural gas fossil fuel plants under similar conditions. Environmental analyses of energy conversion systems today usually neglect the construction-related environmental impact of fossil fuel plants, because it is significantly smaller than the impact related to the operation of the plant. However, the construction of large-scale renewable plants implies the use of rare materials, transport-related emissions, and other environmentally impactful activities. The plants evaluated here are configured and compared for similar emissions and similar power output. It is found that the life-cycle environmental impact of the renewable plants could, in some specific cases, exceed that of the fossil fuel plants. Understanding the reasons behind this and the possible limitations of the different technologies can help plan for sustainable energy systems in the future. Finally, solutions to minimize the impact of renewable energy are proposed for more environmentally friendly implementation and future research.en
dc.description.sponsorshipF.P. would like to thank the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Ramón y Cajal Programme, RYC-2016-20971).en
dc.format.extent12
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationFernández Torres, J., & Petrakopoulou, F. (2022). A closer look at the environmental impact of solar and wind energy. Global Challenges, 6(8), 2200016.en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1002/gch2.202200016
dc.identifier.issn2056-6646
dc.identifier.publicationfirstpage2200016-1
dc.identifier.publicationissue8
dc.identifier.publicationlastpage2200016-12
dc.identifier.publicationtitleGlobal Challengesen
dc.identifier.publicationvolume6
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10016/38251
dc.identifier.uxxiAR/0000032953
dc.language.isoengen
dc.publisherWileyen
dc.relation.projectIDGobierno de España. RYC-2016-20971es
dc.rights© 2022 The Authors.en
dc.rightsAtribución 3.0 España*
dc.rights.accessRightsopen accessen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/*
dc.subject.ecienciaEnergías Renovableses
dc.subject.ecienciaIngeniería Civil y de la Construcciónes
dc.subject.ecienciaIngeniería Mecánicaes
dc.subject.ecienciaMedio Ambientees
dc.subject.ecienciaQuímicaes
dc.subject.ecienciaRecursos Naturaleses
dc.subject.otherEnvironmental Impacten
dc.subject.otherFossil fuelsen
dc.subject.otherLife cycle assessmenten
dc.subject.otherSolar energyen
dc.subject.otherWind energyen
dc.titleA closer look at the environmental impact of solar and wind energyen
dc.typeresearch article*
dc.type.hasVersionVoR*
dspace.entity.typePublication
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