Evaluation of the environmental impact of the urban energy lifecycle based on lifecycle assessment

Abstract

Energy resources have environmental impact through their entire lifecycle. The evaluation of the environmental impacts of the energy lifecycle can contribute to decision making regarding energy management. In this paper, the lifecycle assessment (LCA) method is introduced to calculate the environmental impact loads of different types of energy resources (including coal, oil, natural gas, and electricity) used in urban regions. The scope of LCA includes the production, transportation, and consumption processes. The pollutant emission inventory is listed, and the environmental impact loads are acquired through the calculation of environmental impact potentials, normalization, and weighted assessment. The evaluation method is applied to Beijing, China, revealing that photochemical oxidant formation and acidification are the primary impact factors in the lifecycle of all energy resources and that the total environmental impact load increased steadily from 132.69 million person equivalents (PE) in 1996 to 208.97 million PE in 2010. Among the energy types, coal contributes most to the environmental impact, while the impacts caused by oil, natural gas, and electricity have been growing. The evaluation of the environmental impact of the urban energy lifecycle is useful for regulating energy structures and reducing pollution, which could help achieve sustainable energetic and environmental development.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

environmental impact / urban energy lifecycle / lifecycle assessment (LCA) / Beijing

Chen Chen gained her B.S. degree in environmental science from Ocean University of China, China in 2010. Currently, she is a postgraduate student in School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, China. Her research focuses on urban energy system analysis and optimization. She has published several academic papers about urban energy structure optimization based on lifecycle assessment. E-mail:[e-mail].

Meirong Su gained her B.S. degree in ecology from Northeast Normal University, China in 2003 and Ph.D degree in environmental science from Beijing Normal University, China in 2008. Now she is a lecturer of School of Environment, Beijing Normal University. She has published over 20 papers in Ecological Indicators, Science of the Total Environment, Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation, Ecological Modelling, Ecohealth, and so on. Her research focuses on urban ecosystem health assessment and urban ecological planning. She is serving as an editorial board member of Energy and Environment Research and reviewer of many prestigious journals such as Ecological Modelling and Acta Ecologica Sinica. She has won the Second Prize of National Science and Technology Progress awarded by Ministry of Science and Technology in 2012 and the First Prize of Science and Technology Progress awarded by Ministry of Education, China in 2010. E-mail: [e-mail].

Zhifeng Yang gained his Ph.D degree from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China in 2010. Now he is a professor of Beijing Normal University. He is the specially appointed Professor of Chang Jiang Scholars Program and the Chief Scientist at the National Basic Research Program of China. His research focuses on water resource management in basin and urban ecological planning. He is a Committee Member of Academic Subjects Assessment Committee under State Council and the Branch Chairman of International Society for Environmental Informatics Science. He served or is serving as associate editor, guest editor and an editorial board member of many prestigious journals. He has won over 20 awards, such as the National Outstanding Youth Science Fund, the Second Prize of National Science and Technology Progress awarded by Ministry of Science and Technology and the First Prize of Science and Technology Progress awarded by Ministry of Education, China. E-mail: [e-mail].

Gengyuan Liu gained his B.E. degree in environmental engineering from Tsinghua University, China in 2005 and Ph.D degree in environmental science from Beijing Normal University, China in 2010. Currently, he is a lecturer of School of Environment, Beijing Normal University. He has published about 20 papers in Science of the Total Environment, Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation, Ecological Modelling, Ecological Informatics, and so on. His research focuses on urban metabolism and urban ecological modelling. Dr. Liu is serving as reviewer of many prestigious journals such as Ecological Modelling and Acta Ecologica Sinica. He has won the First Prize of Science and Technology Progress awarded by Ministry of Education, China in 2010. E-mail: [e-mail].

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Acknowledgements

Financial support is provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40901269, 41101564), the National Science Foundation for Innovative Research Group (Grant No. 51121003), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

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2013 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg