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Life Cycle Assessment of Electricity Generation from an Array of Subsea Tidal Kite Prototypes

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  • Mohamad Kaddoura

    (Division of Environmental System Analysis, Department of Technology Management and Economics, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
    CIRAIG, Department of Industrial Engineering, École Polytechnique de Montréal, P.O. Box 6079, Succ, Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3A7, Canada)

  • Johan Tivander

    (Division of Environmental System Analysis, Department of Technology Management and Economics, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden)

  • Sverker Molander

    (Division of Environmental System Analysis, Department of Technology Management and Economics, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden)

Abstract

Tidal current technologies have the potential to provide highly predictable energy, since tides are driven by lunar cycles. However, before implementing such technologies on a large scale, their environmental performance should be assessed. In this study, a prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed on a 12 MW tidal energy converter array of Minesto Deep Green 500 (DG500) prototypes, closely following the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) standards, but including scenarios to cover various design possibilities. The global warming potential (GWP) of the prototype array was in the range of 18.4–26.3 gCO 2 -eq/kWhe. This is comparable with other renewable energy systems, such as wind power. Material production processes have the largest impact, but are largely offset by recycling at the end of life. Operation and maintenance processes, including the production of replacement parts, also provide major contributions to environmental impacts. Comparisons with other technologies are limited by the lack of a standardized way of performing LCA on offshore power generation technologies.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohamad Kaddoura & Johan Tivander & Sverker Molander, 2020. "Life Cycle Assessment of Electricity Generation from an Array of Subsea Tidal Kite Prototypes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-18, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:2:p:456-:d:309936
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    References listed on IDEAS

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