Harmonization of Energy Generation Life Cycle Assessments (LCA): FY2010 LCA Milestone Report, November 2010

Research output: NRELManagement

Abstract

One barrier to the full support and deployment of alternative energy systems and the development of a sustainable energy policy is the lack of robust conclusions about the life cycle environmental impacts of energy technologies. A significant number of life cycle assessments (LCA) of energy technologies have been published. However, the results reported for certain technologies vary greatly, thusclouding the overall synopsis and limiting the utility of LCA to inform policy. To date, little attention has been given to analyzing the large body of previously published results in a way that can reduce the uncertainty and variability in as-published estimates of life cycle environmental impacts and increase their value to decision-makers. It is also true that not all sources of inconsistencyamongst studies ought to be harmonized, but this report leaves the decision to the analyst about which dimensions of incongruity are appropriate to harmonize based on the specific context of the research question.
Original languageAmerican English
Number of pages17
StatePublished - 2010

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/MP-6A20-47492

Keywords

  • energy
  • energy generation
  • energy literature
  • energy policy
  • energy technologies
  • LCA
  • LCA harmonization
  • life-cycle assessment
  • market impacts
  • NREL
  • published studies
  • technology systems

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