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Sustainable energy > LCA > Flashcards

LCA Flashcards

1
Q

What is a scope 1 emission?

A

Direct emissions from owned and controlled sources

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2
Q

What is a scope 2 emission?

A

Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy

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3
Q

What is a scope 3 emission?

A

Emissions as a consequence of activities of the company but occur from sources not controlled or owned by it. Such as production of purchased materials

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4
Q

What are upstream emissions?

A

Emissions from suppliers of the organisation.

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5
Q

What are downstream emissions?

A

Emissions from clients/customers of the organisation.

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6
Q

What are the 3 steps to succeed the energy transition and reach carbon neutrality?

A
  1. Energy efficiency first
  2. Electrify where possible (with RES)
  3. Green/carbon neutral molecules (where needed)
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7
Q

What are marginal abatement costs?

A

Costs needed to reduce a certain volume of emissions after implementing a new source of energy.

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8
Q

What is traditional biomass?

A

Woodfuels, agricultural by-products and dung burned for cooking and heating purposes

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9
Q

Is focusing on power sector enough to reach climate goals?

A

No, only 38% of the overall emissions would be reduced if all electricity generation is green. Industry, transport and building account for half of the emissions today.

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10
Q

What does CCUS stands for?

A

Carbon capture utilisation and storage

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11
Q

What does TRL stands for?

A

Technology readiness level

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12
Q

What does IEA stands for?

A

International energy agency

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13
Q

What are the 6 big TRL’s ?

A
  1. Concept
  2. Small prototype
  3. Large prototype
  4. Demonstration
  5. Early adoption
  6. Mature
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14
Q

What does SDS stands for?

A

Sustainable development scenario: The Sustainable Development Scenario presents a realistic, desirable scenario in terms of human and global safety whereby nations work together to successfully limit climate change by transforming the energy market.

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15
Q

What is the problem with the innovation and R&D when we want to reach net-zero emissions by 2050?

A

Half of the emissions reductions required to reach net-zero rely on technologies that are not yet mature/commercial today. That share jumps to three-quarters for heavy industry and long-distance transport. Government need to support their development now.

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16
Q

What year-on-year growth is needed for wind and solar to reach the 1.5 DS?

A

20% till 2030 => the last 10 years growth averaged +20% => this is possibble

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17
Q

What does LCP stands for?

A

Large combustion plants

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18
Q

What are the three compromises for electricity production?

A
  1. Economics
  2. Enviromental impact
  3. Security of supply
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19
Q

What are pros and cons for using oil for power generation?

A

Pros:
- High power density
- Best for mobile power applications
Cons:
- Fossil fuel
- Not preferred for power generation

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20
Q

What are pros and cons for using coal for power generation?

A

Pros:
- Cheapest energy source in certain regions
Cons:
-Fossil fuel
- Low efficiency and high emissions
- Baseload power

21
Q

What are pros and cons for using gas for power generation?

A

Pros:
- Economics significantly improved with unconventional gas (employment)
Cons:
- Fossil fuel
- Cleaner than coal
- More flexible power

22
Q

What are pros and cons for using nuclear for power generation?

A

Pros:
- No emissions
Cons:
- Public safety concerns
- Base load power
- Disposal of hazardous waste

23
Q

What are pros and cons for using hydro for power generation?

A

Pros:
- Renewable
- Can be dispatchable
Cons:
- Requires suitable geography
- Negative environmental impact in reservoirs and rivers

24
Q

What are pros and cons for using bioenergy for power generation?

A

Pros:
- Renewable
- Dispatchable
Cons:
- May compete with other land uses

25
Q

What are pros and cons for using wind for power generation?

A

Pros:
- Renewable
- Competitive on-shore economics
Cons:
- Limited regional application
- Public concerns, noise, view

26
Q

What are pros and cons for using solar for power generation?

A

Pros:
- Renewable
- Expected to be the cheapest power source in the future
Cons:
- Limited regional application

27
Q

What is the duck curve?

A

Curve where the typical load during the day is reduced due to solar power generation. As the evening approaches, solar power generation decreases but the power demand stays high or increases. In this way a steep ramp up of power is needed from other conventional power stations. This happens mostly in areas where solar power covers a big component of the consumption. This ramp up can be reduced by:
1. Using storage
2. Curtailing power generation
3. Incentivise evening energy use reduction

28
Q

When a LCA is done, what is important to keep in mind when you want to compare different options?

A

The comparison needs to be based on equivalent functions

29
Q

What does NEDC stands for?

A

New european driving cycle: designed to assess the emission levels of car engines and fuel economy in passenger cars.

30
Q

What is LCA?

A

A standardized and quantitative methodology to assess potential environmental impacts of a given system (product, process, service, organisation, territory …) on its whole life cycle following multi-criteria approach.

31
Q

What are different criterias used for an LCA?

A
  1. Human health [DALY: disability-adjusted life years] is a measure of overall disease burden, expressed as the cumulative number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or death
  2. Ecosystem quality [PDFm2years: potentially disappeared fraction of species in a certain are during a certain period]
  3. Global warming [kg CO2 eq] quantity that describes, for a given mixture and amount of greenhouse gas, the amount of CO2 that would have the same global warming potential (GWP), when measured over a specified timescale (generally, 100 years)
  4. Resources [MJ primary] Impact category that indicates the potential for depletion of non-renewable resources, in particular fossil fuels. Measured in primary energy megajoules (MJ). In summary, “MJ primary” refers to the amount of energy consumed or produced by a power generation source measured in Mega Joules, and primary energy refers to the original sources of energy that are used to generate electricity.
32
Q

How are impacts on the environment measured?

A

Sum of the multiplication of the elementary flows and characterization factors

33
Q

What are elementary flows in LCA?

A

Elementary flows are a foundational component of the life cycle assessment data model, used to represent resources and emissions that are used or released in human and industrial activities.

34
Q

What does CCS stands for?

A

Carbon capture storage

35
Q

What is the top 3 of Rick Smalley’s list of humanity’s ten grandest challenges and how do they relate?

A
  1. Energy
  2. Water
  3. Food
    => Clean water is depending on availability of energy. If you solve the water problem, you solve the food problem.
36
Q

What does “the nexus of energy” means?

A

The water-energy nexus is the relationship between the water used for energy production, including both electricity and sources of fuel such as oil and natural gas, and the energy consumed to extract, purify, deliver, heat/cool, treat and dispose of water (and wastewater) sometimes referred to as the energy intensity.

Oppurtunity: infite energy gives ininite water and vice versa
Bad news: water problem becomes energy problem and vice versa
Good news: there are solutions

37
Q

Give an exemple of a water problem that becomes a energy problem.

A

Heatwaves left rivers and reservoirs at low levels. Hydroelectric power generation needs to cut down. Nuclear power stations need to lower output because rivers get to warm. Level of rivers get to low, cargo ships moving coal are restricted to a lower amount of coal transported at once. This increases coal prices.

38
Q

Why does green hydrogen and e-fuels will require lots of clean water?

A

To produce 1 kg of hydrogen, 9 kg clean water is needed.

H20 => H2 + 0.5 O2 => moleculair gewicht (g/mol)
=> 2x1 + 16 => 2x1 + 0.5* (2*16)
=> 18 g/mol water => 2 g/mol hydrogen + 16 g/mol oxygen
So per 2 g of hydrogen you need 18 g of water (i.e. 1 kg and 9 kg)

39
Q

How much energy is used for heating, treating, pumping water & steam?

A

10% of all energy

40
Q

How can source switching save energy and water?

A
  1. Fuel switching: use fuels that require less water
    Less water intensive: solar PV, wind, CCGT with aero-condenser (air as liquid fuel instead of water
    More intensive: nuclear, coal => cooling
  2. Water source switching: use water sources that compete less with fresh water
    Use brackish, saline or reclaimed water for power plant cooling and oil/extraction
    Reclaimed or greywater re-use for irrigation
41
Q

What is the difference between an open cycle and a cooling tower used for cooling power plants?

A

In an open cycle the concentration factor is 1, meaning that all the water that comes in is rejected back into the sea, no water is consumed. A cooling tower has a concentration factor > 1 meaning that a certain amount of water is evaporated and thus consumed. (Sea CT = 1.19, surface CT = 1.95)

42
Q

What is a downside of the deployment of clean energy technologies concerning the use of minerals?

A

There is a significant increase in demand for minerals. Think of silicon for solar, lithium for batteries of EV’s, …

43
Q

What does SDS stands for?

A

Sustainability development strategy

44
Q

What does STEPS stands for?

A

Stated policies scenario, more conservative benchmark than SDS

45
Q

What indicators can be used to determine whether a mineral is critical?

A
  1. Supply risk: availability in EU, import reliances, availability of substitutes
  2. Economic importance: what industrial sectors use the raw material, what is the share of demand per sector, added value per sector, availability of substitutes
46
Q

What does HHI stands for and what does it mean?

A

Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index = sum of [share in production per country x 100]^2: measures the concentration of primary supply of raw materials

47
Q

What is a problem concerning the production of H2 in the future?

A

We want to use renewables to produce this H2, which is more available in sunnier locations. These locations are water-stressed regions. We need 9kg clean water to produce 1kg H2. Therefore desalination will be crucial in these regions. But up till today most large scale desalination is powered by fossil fuels.

48
Q

For what purposes is water used in the energy sector?

A
  1. Driving hydroelectric turbines
  2. Cooling powerplants
  3. Driving steam turbines
  4. Growing biomass
  5. Mining raw materials
  6. Extracting oil and gas
  7. Transport of fuels
49
Q

What does WGI stands for?

A

World Governance Indicators: Evaluation of the likelihood of disruption in producing countries

Sustainable energy (17 decks)

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