ABSTRACT
Estimates of the amount of land used for a defined amount of utility-scale electricity generation in the solar power industry, referred to as solar land use energy intensity (LUEI), are important to decision makers for evaluating the environmental impact of energy technology choices. In general, solar energy tends to have a larger on-site LUEI than that of fossil fuels because the energy generated per square meter of power plant area is much lower. Unfortunately, there are few studies that quantify the off-site LUEI for utility-scale solar energy, and of those that do, they share common methodologies and data sets. In this study, we develop a new method for calculating the off-site LUEI for utility-scale solar energy for three different technologies: silicon photovoltaic (Si-PV), cadmium-telluride (CdTe) PV, and parabolic trough concentrated solar thermal. Our results indicate that the off-site LUEI is most likely 1% or less of the on-site LUEI for each technology. Although our results have some inherent uncertainties, they fall within an order of magnitude of other estimates in the literature.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The submitted manuscript has been created by UChicago Argonne, LLC, Operator of Argonne National Laboratory (“Argonne”). Argonne, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science laboratory, is operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. Argonne's work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Solar Energy Technology. The U.S. Government retains for itself, and others acting on its behalf, a paid-up nonexclusive, irrevocable worldwide license in said article to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies to the public, and perform publicly and display publicly, by or on behalf of the Government.
REFERENCES
- 1. R. M. Horner and C. E. Clark, “ Characterizing variability and reducing uncertainty in estimates of solar land use energy intensity,” Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev. 23, 129–137 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2013.01.014, Google ScholarCrossref
- 2. S. Ong, C. Campbell, P. Denholm, R. Margolis, and G. Heath, “ Land-use requirements for solar power plants in the United States,” Report No. NREL/TP-6A20-56290, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, 2013. see http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy13osti/56290.pdf (last accessed May 2, 2014). Google ScholarCrossref
- 3. V. Fthenakis and H. C. Kim, “ Land use and electricity generation: A life-cycle analysis,” Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev. 13, 1465–1474 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2008.09.017, Google ScholarCrossref
- 4. J. J. Burkhardt, G. A. Heath, and E. Cohen, “ Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of trough and tower concentrating solar power electricity generation: Systematic review and harmonization,” J. Ind. Ecol. 16(S1), S93–S109 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-9290.2012.00474.x, Google ScholarCrossref
- 5. J. E. Mason, V. M. Fthenakis, T. Hansen, and H. C. Kim, “ Energy payback and life-cycle CO2 emissions of the BOS in an optimized 3.5 MW PV installation,” Prog. Photovoltaics: Res. Appl. 14, 179–190 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.652, Google ScholarCrossref
- 6. E. A. Alsema, M. J. de Wild-Scholten, and V. M. Fthenakis, “ Environmental impacts of PV electricity generation—A critical comparison of energy supply options,” paper presented at the 21st European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, Dresden, Germany, 4–8 September 2006. Google Scholar
- 7. M. J. de Wild-Scholten, E. A. Alsema, E. W. ter Horst, M. Bachler, and V. M. Fthenakis, “ A cost and environmental impact comparison of grid-connected rooftop and ground-based PV systems,” paper presented at the 21st European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, Dresden, Germany, 4–8 September 2006. Google Scholar
- 8. S. J. W. Klein and E. S. Rubin, “ Life cycle assessment of greenhouse gas emissions, water and land use for concentrated solar power plants with different energy backup systems,” Energy Policy 63, 935–950 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.08.057, Google ScholarCrossref
- 9. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2014, 2014, see http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/AEO/ (last accessed May 2, 2014). Google Scholar
- 10. See supplementary material at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4921650 for detailed tables containing the facilities found and analyzed in the upstream and downstream pathways for each technology, including all key parameters. Google Scholar
- 11. M. J. de Wild-Scholten and E. A. Alsema, “ Environmental life cycle inventory of crystalline silicon photovoltaic module production,” paper presented at the Materials Research Society Fall 2005 Meeting, Boston, USA, November 2005. Google Scholar
- 12. P. Sinha, Email Communication Between Sinha (First Solar) and D. J. Murphy (Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois), July 12 2012. Google Scholar
- 13. V. Fthenakis, H. C. Kim, R. Frischknecht, M. Raugei, P. Sinha, and M. Stucki, “ Life cycle inventories and life cycle assessment of photovoltaic systems,” International Energy Agency(IEA) PVPS Task 12, Report No. T12-02:2011, 2011. Google Scholar
- 14. J. A. Martin, “ A total fuel cycle approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions: Solar generation technologies as greenhouse gas offsets in U.S. utility systems,” Sol. Energy 59(4–6), 195–203 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0038-092X(96)00150-8, Google ScholarCrossref
- 15. U.S. Department of Energy, 2008 Solar Technologies Market Report, DOE/GO-102010-2867, 2008, see http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/46025.pdf (last accessed January 11, 2012). Google Scholar
Please Note: The number of views represents the full text views from December 2016 to date. Article views prior to December 2016 are not included.
