Life cycle assessment of a parabolic trough concentrating solar power plant and impacts of key design alternatives : preprint / Garvin A. Heath and Craig S. Turchi [and] John J. Burkhardt III.

Format:

Book

Conference/Event

Government document

Author/Creator:

Heath, Garvin

Contributor:

Turchi, Craig S. (Craig Steven)

Burkhardt, John J.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (U.S.)

Conference Name:

SolarPACES (Conference) http://viaf.org/viaf/142879145

Series:

Conference paper (National Renewable Energy Laboratory (U.S.)) ; 6 A 20-52186.

NREL/CP ; 6A20-52186

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Parabolic troughs.

Solar concentrators.

Water use.

Greenhouse gas mitigation.

Product life cycle--Research.

Product life cycle.

Genre:

technical reports.

Technical reports

Technical reports.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (8 pages).

Place of Publication:

Golden, CO : National Renewable Energy Laboratory, [2011]

Summary:

Climate change and water scarcity are important issues for today's power sector. To inform capacity expansion decisions, hybrid life cycle assessment is used to evaluate a reference design of a parabolic trough concentrating solar power (CSP) facility located in Daggett, California, along four sustainability metrics: life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water consumption, cumulative energy demand (CED), and energy payback time (EPBT). This wet-cooled, 103 MW plant utilizes mined nitrate salts in its two-tank, thermal energy storage (TES) system. Design alternatives of dry-cooling, a thermocline TES, and synthetically-derived nitrate salt are evaluated. During its life cycle, the reference CSP plant is estimated to emit 26 g CO2eq per kWh, consume 4.7 L/kWh of water, and demand 0.40 MJeq/kWh of energy, resulting in an EPBT of approximately 1 year. The dry-cooled alternative is estimated to reduce life cycle water consumption by 77% but increase life cycle GHG emissions and CED by 8%. Synthetic nitrate salts may increase life cycle GHG emissions by 52% compared to mined. Switching from two-tank to thermocline TES configuration reduces life cycle GHG emissions, most significantly for plants using synthetically-derived nitrate salts. CSP can significantly reduce GHG emissions compared to fossil-fueled generation; however, dry-cooling may be required in many locations to minimize water consumption.

Notes:

Title from title screen (viewed Oct. 10, 2011).

"September 2011."

"To be presented at SolarPACES 2011, Granada, Spain, September 20 - 23, 2011."

Includes bibliographical references.

OCLC:

756528517