| Work Detail |
Researchers from Brazil compare the environmental impact of the life cycle of a photovoltaic plant that uses solar modules produced in Malaysia and another with modules made in Brazil. The results indicate that the nationalization of the modules reduces the emission of carbon gases by 1.5% and increases the use of water by less than 1%. Scientists from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and the Center for Research in Electric Power (Cepel), both in Brazil, have modeled the difference in the environmental impact of photovoltaic plants that use modules produced in Malaysia and plants with national modules. The researchers used the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) technique to carry out the environmental impact analysis. The team focused its analysis on three LCA categories that, according to the Energy Research Company (EPE), are the ones that most influence the evolution of the energy sector in Brazil: global warming, space use and water consumption. The VCA covers the phases of production, distribution, construction, operation and maintenance (O&M) and decommissioning. Data on entries and exits were obtained from the international Ecoinvent database. The analyzes were processed with the SimaPro 9.0 software. The ACV reflects the environmental performance of the systems for the production of 1 kWh of electricity. First, the team performed LCA for PV plants with modules from Malaysia. It then calculated the difference in environmental impact across the three categories above assuming the modules were made in Brazil and not Malaysia. The results indicate that the nationalization of the modules has the potential to reduce carbon gas emissions associated with the generation of 1kWh of electricity by 1.5%, from 55.13 grams of carbon to 54.31 grams. “This hypothesis implies considering that the carbon intensity of the energy used to manufacture the modules is lower, given that the Brazilian energy sector is one of the least carbon-intensive in the world,” the researchers point out. Eliminating the transportation of the panels between Malaysia and Brazil also contributed to reducing the contribution to global warming. On the other hand, transferring the manufacturing of the modules to Brazil would imply an increase in water use of 0.56%, from 1.79 x 10-3 m3 of water to 1.80 x 10-3 m3, due to the fact that the Electricity in Brazil is predominantly of hydraulic origin. “Taken together, the data presented here provide evidence that we may unknowingly intensify other adverse environmental effects by focusing on a single environmental problem,” the researchers concluded. El equipo publicó su estudio en “Environmental life cycle-based analysis of fixed and single-axis tracking systems for photovoltaic power plants: A case study in Brazil”, en la revista científica Cleaner Engineering and Technology. |
