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Comparative life cycle assessment of thermal energy storage systems for solar power plants

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  • Oró, Eduard
  • Gil, Antoni
  • de Gracia, Alvaro
  • Boer, Dieter
  • Cabeza, Luisa F.

Abstract

The present work compares the environmental impact of three different thermal energy storage (TES) systems for solar power plants. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for these systems is developed: sensible heat storage both in solid (high temperature concrete) and liquid (molten salts) thermal storage media, and latent heat storage which uses phase change material (PCM). The aim of this paper is to analyze if the energy savings related to the stored energy of the different systems are enough to balance the environmental impact produced during the manufacturing and operation phase of each storage system. Some hypothetical scenarios are studied using LCA methodology to point out the differences between each TES system.

Suggested Citation

  • Oró, Eduard & Gil, Antoni & de Gracia, Alvaro & Boer, Dieter & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2012. "Comparative life cycle assessment of thermal energy storage systems for solar power plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 166-173.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:44:y:2012:i:c:p:166-173
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2012.01.008
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Medrano, Marc & Gil, Antoni & Martorell, Ingrid & Potau, Xavi & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2010. "State of the art on high-temperature thermal energy storage for power generation. Part 2--Case studies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 56-72, January.
    2. Larcker, David F. & So, Eric C. & Wang, Charles C. Y., 2010. "Boardroom Centrality and Stock Returns," Research Papers 2061, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    3. Pehnt, Martin, 2006. "Dynamic life cycle assessment (LCA) of renewable energy technologies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 55-71.
    4. Herrmann, Ulf & Kelly, Bruce & Price, Henry, 2004. "Two-tank molten salt storage for parabolic trough solar power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 883-893.
    5. Gil, Antoni & Medrano, Marc & Martorell, Ingrid & Lázaro, Ana & Dolado, Pablo & Zalba, Belén & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2010. "State of the art on high temperature thermal energy storage for power generation. Part 1--Concepts, materials and modellization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 31-55, January.
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    Keywords

    LCA; PCM; Thermal energy storage; Solar power plant; EI99;
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