A Prospective Net Energy and Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of the UK Electricity Grid
National Grid, the UK’s largest utility company, has produced a number of energy transition scenarios, among which “2 degrees” is the most aggressive in terms of decarbonization. This paper presents the results of a combined prospective net energy and environmental life cycle assessment of the UK el...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-05-01
|
| Series: | Energies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/9/2207 |
| _version_ | 1797568992566575104 |
|---|---|
| author | Marco Raugei Mashael Kamran Allan Hutchinson |
| author_facet | Marco Raugei Mashael Kamran Allan Hutchinson |
| author_sort | Marco Raugei |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | National Grid, the UK’s largest utility company, has produced a number of energy transition scenarios, among which “2 degrees” is the most aggressive in terms of decarbonization. This paper presents the results of a combined prospective net energy and environmental life cycle assessment of the UK electricity grid, based on such a scenario. The main findings are that the strategy is effective at drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions (albeit to a reduced degree with respect to the projected share of “zero carbon” generation taken at face value), but it entails a trade-off in terms of depletion of metal resources. The grid’s potential toxicity impacts are also expected to remain substantially undiminished with respect to the present. Overall, the analysis indicates that the “2 degrees” scenario is environmentally sound and that it even leads to a modest increase in the net energy delivered to society by the grid (after accounting for the energy investments required to deploy all technologies). |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:04:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8ed3aea133c443d7a740eb3ad8cd1e21 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:04:36Z |
| publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-8ed3aea133c443d7a740eb3ad8cd1e212023-11-19T23:21:10ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732020-05-01139220710.3390/en13092207A Prospective Net Energy and Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of the UK Electricity GridMarco Raugei0Mashael Kamran1Allan Hutchinson2School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, Oxford Brookes University, Wheatley, Oxford OX33 1HX, UKSchool of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, Oxford Brookes University, Wheatley, Oxford OX33 1HX, UKSchool of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, Oxford Brookes University, Wheatley, Oxford OX33 1HX, UKNational Grid, the UK’s largest utility company, has produced a number of energy transition scenarios, among which “2 degrees” is the most aggressive in terms of decarbonization. This paper presents the results of a combined prospective net energy and environmental life cycle assessment of the UK electricity grid, based on such a scenario. The main findings are that the strategy is effective at drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions (albeit to a reduced degree with respect to the projected share of “zero carbon” generation taken at face value), but it entails a trade-off in terms of depletion of metal resources. The grid’s potential toxicity impacts are also expected to remain substantially undiminished with respect to the present. Overall, the analysis indicates that the “2 degrees” scenario is environmentally sound and that it even leads to a modest increase in the net energy delivered to society by the grid (after accounting for the energy investments required to deploy all technologies).https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/9/2207LCAEROInet energyenergy scenarioenergy transitionelectricity |
| spellingShingle | Marco Raugei Mashael Kamran Allan Hutchinson A Prospective Net Energy and Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of the UK Electricity Grid Energies LCA EROI net energy energy scenario energy transition electricity |
| title | A Prospective Net Energy and Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of the UK Electricity Grid |
| title_full | A Prospective Net Energy and Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of the UK Electricity Grid |
| title_fullStr | A Prospective Net Energy and Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of the UK Electricity Grid |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Prospective Net Energy and Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of the UK Electricity Grid |
| title_short | A Prospective Net Energy and Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment of the UK Electricity Grid |
| title_sort | prospective net energy and environmental life cycle assessment of the uk electricity grid |
| topic | LCA EROI net energy energy scenario energy transition electricity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/9/2207 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marcoraugei aprospectivenetenergyandenvironmentallifecycleassessmentoftheukelectricitygrid AT mashaelkamran aprospectivenetenergyandenvironmentallifecycleassessmentoftheukelectricitygrid AT allanhutchinson aprospectivenetenergyandenvironmentallifecycleassessmentoftheukelectricitygrid AT marcoraugei prospectivenetenergyandenvironmentallifecycleassessmentoftheukelectricitygrid AT mashaelkamran prospectivenetenergyandenvironmentallifecycleassessmentoftheukelectricitygrid AT allanhutchinson prospectivenetenergyandenvironmentallifecycleassessmentoftheukelectricitygrid |