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Environmental Effects of Technological Improvements in Polysilicon Photovoltaic Systems in China—A Life Cycle Assessment

Author

Listed:
  • Haicheng Jia

    (Business School, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, China
    College of Business, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai 200434, China)

  • Ling Liang

    (School of Management, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, Shanghai 201620, China)

  • Jiqing Xie

    (College of Business, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai 200434, China)

  • Jianyun Zhang

    (Finance Department, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China)

Abstract

Due to increasing pollution and the overexploitation of traditional energy, there is both an environmental and a resource threat to sustainable development. China’s government prioritizes the optimization of resource structures with photovoltaic industrial support policies to address the potential hazards of traditionally highly polluting energy resources. However, applying green energy resources is not a panacea for solving existing industrial pollution as environmental problems cannot be solved with the level of optimized energy types. Instead, it is necessary to further explore the potential carbon emissions from clean energy resources. Therefore, we construct a polysilicon PV system’s whole life cycle carbon emission model by applying the LCA method and further building the emission coefficient model. More specifically, we divided the system’s carbon emissions into six components and calculated each part separately. In addition, we further applied the case analysis method. We analyzed the carbon emissions of the 280 MW solar cell production project of a leading global PV module company in China. The research results indicated that polysilicon companies should proactively develop advanced production technologies to upgrade energy-saving and environmental safety measures to reduce resource and energy consumption from raw materials in the final disposal process.

Suggested Citation

  • Haicheng Jia & Ling Liang & Jiqing Xie & Jianyun Zhang, 2022. "Environmental Effects of Technological Improvements in Polysilicon Photovoltaic Systems in China—A Life Cycle Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:14:p:8670-:d:863509
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    References listed on IDEAS

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