Evaluating the Emissions of the Heat Supplied by District Heating Networks through A Life Cycle Perspective
The Life Cycle Assessment methodology has proven to be effective in evaluating the impacts of goods production throughout their life cycle. While many studies are available on specific products, in recent years a growing interest is related to the analysis of services, including energy supply for fi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Clean Technologies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8797/2/4/24 |
| _version_ | 1797551694275411968 |
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| author | Francesco Neirotti Michel Noussan Marco Simonetti |
| author_facet | Francesco Neirotti Michel Noussan Marco Simonetti |
| author_sort | Francesco Neirotti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Life Cycle Assessment methodology has proven to be effective in evaluating the impacts of goods production throughout their life cycle. While many studies are available on specific products, in recent years a growing interest is related to the analysis of services, including energy supply for final customers. Different LCA evaluations are available for electricity, while the heating and cooling sector has not yet been properly investigated. The objective of this study is the analysis of the specific impacts of the heat supplied to the final users connected to a district heating system, in comparison with traditional individual natural gas boilers, which represent the baseline heating solution in several urban contexts in Europe. The results show that the comparison is heavily dependent on the allocation method used for combined heat and power plant production. District Heating impact on heat supplied to the users can vary from 0.10 to 0.47 kg<inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mrow><msub><mi>CO</mi><mn>2</mn></msub><mi>eq</mi></mrow></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula>/kWh, while distributed natural gas boilers present an overall impact equal to 0.27 kg<inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mrow><msub><mi>CO</mi><mn>2</mn></msub><mi>eq</mi></mrow></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula>/kWh. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:49:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4e8219bc6b5f4f23b123b07efd86a997 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-8797 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:49:39Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Clean Technologies |
| spelling | doaj.art-4e8219bc6b5f4f23b123b07efd86a9972023-11-20T16:09:38ZengMDPI AGClean Technologies2571-87972020-10-012439240510.3390/cleantechnol2040024Evaluating the Emissions of the Heat Supplied by District Heating Networks through A Life Cycle PerspectiveFrancesco Neirotti0Michel Noussan1Marco Simonetti2Department of Energy, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, ItalyFondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Corso Magenta 63, 20123 Milano, ItalyDepartment of Energy, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, ItalyThe Life Cycle Assessment methodology has proven to be effective in evaluating the impacts of goods production throughout their life cycle. While many studies are available on specific products, in recent years a growing interest is related to the analysis of services, including energy supply for final customers. Different LCA evaluations are available for electricity, while the heating and cooling sector has not yet been properly investigated. The objective of this study is the analysis of the specific impacts of the heat supplied to the final users connected to a district heating system, in comparison with traditional individual natural gas boilers, which represent the baseline heating solution in several urban contexts in Europe. The results show that the comparison is heavily dependent on the allocation method used for combined heat and power plant production. District Heating impact on heat supplied to the users can vary from 0.10 to 0.47 kg<inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mrow><msub><mi>CO</mi><mn>2</mn></msub><mi>eq</mi></mrow></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula>/kWh, while distributed natural gas boilers present an overall impact equal to 0.27 kg<inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mrow><msub><mi>CO</mi><mn>2</mn></msub><mi>eq</mi></mrow></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula>/kWh.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8797/2/4/24LCAdistrict heating systemsdecarbonizationclimate changeenvironmental impact |
| spellingShingle | Francesco Neirotti Michel Noussan Marco Simonetti Evaluating the Emissions of the Heat Supplied by District Heating Networks through A Life Cycle Perspective Clean Technologies LCA district heating systems decarbonization climate change environmental impact |
| title | Evaluating the Emissions of the Heat Supplied by District Heating Networks through A Life Cycle Perspective |
| title_full | Evaluating the Emissions of the Heat Supplied by District Heating Networks through A Life Cycle Perspective |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating the Emissions of the Heat Supplied by District Heating Networks through A Life Cycle Perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating the Emissions of the Heat Supplied by District Heating Networks through A Life Cycle Perspective |
| title_short | Evaluating the Emissions of the Heat Supplied by District Heating Networks through A Life Cycle Perspective |
| title_sort | evaluating the emissions of the heat supplied by district heating networks through a life cycle perspective |
| topic | LCA district heating systems decarbonization climate change environmental impact |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8797/2/4/24 |
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