Greenhouse gas emissions of stationary battery installations in two renewable energy projects

Pucker-Singer, Johanna (author), Aichberger, Christian (author), Zupančič, Jernej (author), Neumann, Camilla (author), Bird, David Neil (author), Jungmeier, Gerfried (author), Gubina, Andrej (author), Türk, Andreas (author)

The goal to decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is spurring interest in renewable energy systems from time-varying sources (e.g., photovoltaics, wind) and these can require batteries to help load balancing. However, the batteries themselves add additional GHG emissions to the electricity system in all its life cycle phases. This article begins by investigating the GHG emissions for the manufacturing of two stationary lithium-ion batteries, comparing production in Europe, US and China. Next, we analyze how the installation and operation of these batteries change the GHG emissions of the electricity supply in two pilot sites. Life cycle assessment is used for GHG emissions calculation. The regional comparison on GHG emissions of battery manufacturing shows that primary aluminum, cathode paste and battery cell production are the principal components of the GHG emissions of battery manufacturing. Regional variations are linked mainly to high grid electricity demand and regional changes in the electricity mixes, resulting in base values of 77 kg CO$_2$-eq/kWh to 153 kg CO$_2$-eq/kWh battery capacity. The assessment of two pilot sites shows that the implementation of batteries can lead to GHG emission savings of up to 77%, if their operation enables an increase in renewable energy sources in the electricity system.

• Language: English
• Keywords: greenhouse gas emissions, energy storage impact, LCA analysis, renewables, energy storage, batteries, renewable energy, life cycle assessment
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FE - Faculty of Electrical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2021
• Number of pages: 19 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 13, iss. 11, art. 6330
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-135642
• UDC: 620.9
• ISSN on article: 2071-1050
• DOI: 10.3390/su13116330
• COBISS.SI-ID: 66158339
• Publication date in RUL: 23.03.2022

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Sustainability
• Shortened title: Sustainability
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2071-1050
• COBISS.SI-ID: 5324897

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.
• Licensing start date: 03.06.2021

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: emisije toplogrednih plinov, vpliv shranjevalnikov energije, LCA analiza, obnovljivi viri energije