Life Cycle Assessment of Renewable Energy

In the present scenario, renewable energy sources contribute to global climate change. The main reason for this can be that all the countries start manufacturing power using renewable sources which is almost free from CO2 emission. But some amount of carbon is emitting in the manufacturing, construction, maintenance, and decommissioning stages. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool used to quantify the environmental impact of a particular system or product throughout its entire life span, usually from raw material extraction to final disposal. Life cycle assessment has been done for some renewable energy projects in India. For this projects carbon intensity, Energy intensity has been calculated and compared with the conventional method. Wind and Solar PV power plants are compared with the coal-based conventional power production system, solar street light is compared with a conventional streetlight, and the solar water heater is compared with the electric water heater. Based on that, the Carbon Pay Back Period (CPBP) and Energy Pay Back Period (EPBP) have been calculated.