A comparison and methodological proposal for hybrid approaches to quantify environmental impacts: A case study for renewable energies

A R Gamarra; Y Lechón; S Banacloche; B Corona; J M de Andrés

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161502

A comparison and methodological proposal for hybrid approaches to quantify environmental impacts: A case study for renewable energies

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Apr 1:867:161502. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161502. Epub 2023 Jan 10.

Authors

A R Gamarra¹, Y Lechón², S Banacloche³, B Corona⁴, J M de Andrés⁵

Affiliations

¹ Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), C/ José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain; Research Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology (Ciemat), Av. Complutense, 40, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: AnaRosa.Gamarra@ciemat.es.
² Research Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology (Ciemat), Av. Complutense, 40, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: yolanda.lechon@ciemat.es.
³ Research Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology (Ciemat), Av. Complutense, 40, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: SantacruzP.Banacloche@ciemat.com.
⁴ Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Vening Meinesz building A, Princetonlaan 8a, 3584 CB Utrecht, Netherlands. Electronic address: b.c.coronabellostas@uu.nl.
⁵ Department of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), C/ José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: juanmanuel.deandres@upm.es.

PMID: 36634782
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161502

Abstract

The transition towards a more sustainable and decarbonised energy system is mandatory for achieving global climate objectives, and counting on proper tools to evaluate sustainability is essential. Among sustainability assessment methodologies, hybrid approaches integrating Input-Output analysis (IOA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are often proposed to overcome limitations and take advantage of strengths of both methodologies. In this paper we propose a new hybrid tiered approach, named Identification and Subtraction Method (ISM). Through a case study of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology, we test the proposed method assessing seven environmental indicators and compare the results obtained by different methodological approaches: Environmental Extended Multiregional Input-Output (EMRIO), LCA and two hybrid approaches. Results showed that, in general, LCA and EMRIO provide the lowest and uppest impact values, respectively. The ISM method expands the LCA boundaries by including indirect impacts, avoiding double-counting and retaining the technological detail and representativeness of the LCA. The main advantage is the ability to establish with high accuracy the impact coming from the LCA system boundaries. Furthermore, ISM is easy to undertake for LCA practitioners, is a low time-consuming hybrid approach once the LCA and EMRIO models are run, and it does not require the alteration of the IO matrix as other hybrid methods. However, the need to perform the EMRIO and LCA analysis could imply high detailed data needs. An additional limitation of the model is that it is not be able to include partial contributions from EMRIO sectors. The highest differences between results obtained by the different methods are found in the assessment of local impacts and the resources depletion, while the methods tend to agree more on global and regional impacts quantification. However, there are limitations to the implementation of the impact characterization methods that should be borne in mind when comparing the results of the different methods.

Keywords: Concentrated solar power; Environmental impact assessment; Hybrid life cycle assessment; Life cycle assessment; Multiregional input-output.