Regional representation of wind stakeholders' end-of-life behaviors and their impact on wind blade circularity.

The growing number of end-of-life (EOL) wind blades could further strain US landfills or be a valuable composite materials source, depending on stakeholders' behaviors. Technical solutions based on circular economy (CE) principles have been proposed but are not guaranteed to solve the issue of EOL management. Transitioning to CE implies changing how business models, supply chains, and behaviors deal with products and waste.

A critical review of the circular economy for lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaic modules - status, challenges, and opportunities.

To meet net-zero emissions and cost targets for power production, recent analysis indicates that photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the United States could exceed 1 TW by 2050 alongside comparable levels of energy storage capacity, mostly from batteries. For comparison, the total U.S.

Closing the methane gap in US oil and natural gas production emissions inventories.

Methane (CH) emissions from oil and natural gas (O&NG) systems are an important contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. In the United States, recent synthesis studies of field measurements of CH emissions at different spatial scales are ~1.5-2× greater compared to official greenhouse gas inventory (GHGI) estimates, with the production-segment as the dominant contributor to this divergence.

Temporal variability largely explains top-down/bottom-up difference in methane emission estimates from a natural gas production region.

This study spatially and temporally aligns top-down and bottom-up methane emission estimates for a natural gas production basin, using multiscale emission measurements and detailed activity data reporting. We show that episodic venting from manual liquid unloadings, which occur at a small fraction of natural gas well pads, drives a factor-of-two temporal variation in the basin-scale emission rate of a US dry shale gas play. The midafternoon peak emission rate aligns with the sampling time of all regional aircraft emission studies, which target well-mixed boundary layer conditions present in the afternoon.

Methane Leaks from Natural Gas Systems Follow Extreme Distributions.

Future energy systems may rely on natural gas as a low-cost fuel to support variable renewable power. However, leaking natural gas causes climate damage because methane (CH) has a high global warming potential. In this study, we use extreme-value theory to explore the distribution of natural gas leak sizes.

Integrated life-cycle assessment of electricity-supply scenarios confirms global environmental benefit of low-carbon technologies.

Decarbonization of electricity generation can support climate-change mitigation and presents an opportunity to address pollution resulting from fossil-fuel combustion. Generally, renewable technologies require higher initial investments in infrastructure than fossil-based power systems. To assess the tradeoffs of increased up-front emissions and reduced operational emissions, we present, to our knowledge, the first global, integrated life-cycle assessment (LCA) of long-term, wide-scale implementation of electricity generation from renewable sources (i.

Harmonization of initial estimates of shale gas life cycle greenhouse gas emissions for electric power generation.

Recent technological advances in the recovery of unconventional natural gas, particularly shale gas, have served to dramatically increase domestic production and reserve estimates for the United States and internationally. This trend has led to lowered prices and increased scrutiny on production practices. Questions have been raised as to how greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the life cycle of shale gas production and use compares with that of conventionally produced natural gas or other fuel sources such as coal.

Thin-film photovoltaic power generation offers decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing environmental co-benefits in the long term.

Thin-film photovoltaic (PV) technologies have improved significantly recently, and similar improvements are projected into the future, warranting reevaluation of the environmental implications of PV to update and inform policy decisions. By conducting a hybrid life cycle assessment using the most recent manufacturing data and technology roadmaps, we compare present and projected environmental, human health, and natural resource implications of electricity generated from two common thin-film PV technologies-copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) and cadmium telluride (CdTe)-in the United States (U.S.

Life cycle assessment of a power tower concentrating solar plant and the impacts of key design alternatives.

A hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to evaluate four sustainability metrics over the life cycle of a power tower concentrating solar power (CSP) facility: greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water consumption, cumulative energy demand (CED), and energy payback time (EPBT). The reference design is for a dry-cooled, 106 MW(net) power tower facility located near Tucson, AZ that uses a mixture of mined nitrate salts as the heat transfer fluid and storage medium, a two-tank thermal energy storage system designed for six hours of full load-equivalent storage, and receives auxiliary power from the local electric grid. A thermocline-based storage system, synthetically derived salts, and natural gas auxiliary power are evaluated as design alternatives.

Life cycle assessment of a parabolic trough concentrating solar power plant and the impacts of key design alternatives.

Climate change and water scarcity are important issues for today's power sector. To inform capacity expansion decisions, hybrid life cycle assessment is used to evaluate a reference design of a parabolic trough concentrating solar power (CSP) facility located in Daggett, CA, along four sustainability metrics: life cycle (LC) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water consumption, cumulative energy demand (CED), and energy payback time (EPBT). This wet-cooled, 103 MW plant utilizes mined nitrates salts in its two-tank, thermal energy storage (TES) system.

Life cycle environmental impacts of selected U.S. ethanol production and use pathways in 2022.

Projected life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and net energy value (NEV) of high-ethanol blend fuel (E85) used to propel a passenger car in the United States are evaluated using attributional life cycle assessment. Input data represent national-average conditions projected to 2022 for ethanol produced from corn grain, corn stover, wheat straw, switchgrass, and forest residues. Three conversion technologies are assessed: advanced dry mill (corn grain), biochemical (switchgrass, corn stover, wheat straw), and thermochemical (forest residues).

Environmental and sustainability factors associated with next-generation biofuels in the U.S.: what do we really know?

In this paper, we assess what is known or anticipated about environmental and sustainability factors associated with next-generation biofuels relative to the primary conventional biofuels (i.e., corn grain-based ethanol and soybean-based diesel) in the United States during feedstock production and conversion processes.