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Understanding the life cycle surface land requirements of natural gas-fired electricity

Author

Listed:
  • Sarah M. Jordaan

    (Johns Hopkins University
    University of Calgary)

  • Garvin A. Heath

    (Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis
    Strategic Energy Analysis Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

  • Jordan Macknick

    (Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis
    Strategic Energy Analysis Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

  • Brian W. Bush

    (Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis
    Strategic Energy Analysis Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

  • Ehsan Mohammadi

    (University of Calgary)

  • Dan Ben-Horin

    (Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis
    Strategic Energy Analysis Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

  • Victoria Urrea

    (Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis
    Strategic Energy Analysis Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

  • Danielle Marceau

    (University of Calgary)

Abstract

The surface land use of fossil fuel acquisition and utilization has not been well characterized, inhibiting consistent comparisons of different electricity generation technologies. Here we present a method for robust estimation of the life cycle land use of electricity generated from natural gas through a case study that includes inventories of infrastructure, satellite imagery and well-level production. Approximately 500 sites in the Barnett Shale of Texas were sampled across five life cycle stages (production, gathering, processing, transmission and power generation). Total land use (0.62 m2 MWh−1, 95% confidence intervals ±0.01 m2 MWh−1) was dominated by midstream infrastructure, particularly pipelines (74%). Our results were sensitive to power plant heat rate (85–190% of the base case), facility lifetime (89–169%), number of wells per site (16–100%), well lifetime (92–154%) and pipeline right of way (58–142%). When replicated for other gas-producing regions and different fuels, our approach offers a route to enable empirically grounded comparisons of the land footprint of energy choices.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah M. Jordaan & Garvin A. Heath & Jordan Macknick & Brian W. Bush & Ehsan Mohammadi & Dan Ben-Horin & Victoria Urrea & Danielle Marceau, 2017. "Understanding the life cycle surface land requirements of natural gas-fired electricity," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 2(10), pages 804-812, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:2:y:2017:i:10:d:10.1038_s41560-017-0004-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41560-017-0004-0
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Kan, Siyi & Chen, Bin & Meng, Jing & Chen, Guoqian, 2020. "An extended overview of natural gas use embodied in world economy and supply chains: Policy implications from a time series analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    2. Dylan Harrison-Atlas & Galen Maclaurin & Eric Lantz, 2021. "Spatially-Explicit Prediction of Capacity Density Advances Geographic Characterization of Wind Power Technical Potential," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-28, June.
    3. Palmer-Wilson, Kevin & Donald, James & Robertson, Bryson & Lyseng, Benjamin & Keller, Victor & Fowler, McKenzie & Wade, Cameron & Scholtysik, Sven & Wild, Peter & Rowe, Andrew, 2019. "Impact of land requirements on electricity system decarbonisation pathways," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 193-205.
    4. Tavakkoli, Sakineh & Macknick, Jordan & Heath, Garvin A. & Jordaan, Sarah M., 2021. "Spatiotemporal energy infrastructure datasets for the United States: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    5. Mariem Maaoui & Rachid Boukchina & Noureddine Hajjaji, 2021. "Environmental life cycle assessment of Mediterranean tomato: case study of a Tunisian soilless geothermal multi-tunnel greenhouse," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 1242-1263, February.
    6. Sarah M. Jordaan & Junghun Lee & Maureen R. McClung & Matthew D. Moran, 2021. "Quantifying the ecosystem services values of electricity generation in the US Chihuahuan Desert: A life cycle perspective," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(4), pages 1089-1101, August.

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