Energy content and indirect greenhouse gas emissions embedded in 'emission-free' power plants: results for the Low Countries

In the absence of direct sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (i.e. co mbustion), other sources of emission become dominant in so-called 'emission -free' power plants. In this study the indirect GHG emissions, related to c onstruction of nuclear plants, windfarms and photovoltaic plants, are estim ated with two different types of life-cycle assessment. The process-chain a nalysis divides an investment good into its material components (tons of ma terial) and then unravels the entire production process of each material pr oduct. The energy required in, and the GHG emissions related to, the constr uction of the power plant are obtained by integration over all process step s and summation over all material products. The input/output analysis looks at the different economic sectors called on in the construction of the pow er plant. The sectors that represent a part of the total cost of the power plant are responsible for the amount of energy used (and the corresponding GHG emissions) to deliver their final product. A result is provided by deta iled analysis of all relevant sectors and fitting them into the constructio n phase. Using similar techniques, energy use and GHG emissions related to maintenance and demolition, including storage of nuclear equipment, can be quantified. For construction, maintenance and demolition of these power pla nts, following orders of magnitude are obtained: nuclear: 40kJ(prim)/kWh(el ), 3g(CO2)/kWh(el); wind(coast): 120kJ(prim)/kWh(el), 9g(CO2)/kWh(el); wind (inland): 350kJ(prim)/kWh(el), 25g(CO2)/kWh(el); PV(1998): 3000kJ(prim)/kWh (el), 130g(CO2)/kWh(el); PV(near future): 1500kJ(prim)/kWh(el) and 60g(CO2) /kWh(el). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.