Part3 LCA GF
Part3 LCA GF
Part3 LCA GF
October 2023
1
Summary
2
PROJECT, ASSET, LIFETIME
3
Energy Project:‘Project-Based’
conventional System
Oil/Gas
project
Uranium/Coal project
© 2023 by G. Falcone 4
Energy Project: renewables
UNFC for ‘Renewables’
A Project is the link between the Source and marketable quantities of Products.
A Project provides the basis for economic evaluation and decision-making.
© 2023 by G. Falcone 5
Energy Project: integrated systems
(Stopford, 2021)
(Bilfinger, 2021)
(NZTC, 2021)
© 2023 by G. Falcone (after Boesten et al. 2019) 6
Project # Asset
© 2023 by G. Falcone 7
Energy Project Lifetime
© 2023 by G. Falcone 8
Project/Product vs. Lifetime (‘in operation’)
PRODUCT (if produced)
PROJECT
Site selection
Regulatory Monitoring progress of storage, mass CO2 injected – crediting, Injection ceased, facilities Ongoing monitoring and
characterisation & risk management via contingency and
review & matching to simulation (SPF), ongoing regulatory reporting decommissioning, monitoring continues,
assessment long-term monitoring fund
permitting MMV data match performance criteria
– liability transfer from operator
© 2023 by G. Falcone 10
LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
11
Life Cycle of Energy Projects
© 2023 by G. Falcone 12
What is LCA?
© 2023 by G. Falcone 13
LCA ISO-Standards
© 2023 by G. Falcone 14
LCA System Boundaries
© 2023 by G. Falcone 15
LCA Cradle-to-Cradle
© 2023 by G. Falcone 16
LCA Phases
(ISO 14040)
© 2023 by G. Falcone 17
LCA Phases & Standards
© 2023 by G. Falcone 18
Example of Product System for LCA
(ISO 14040)
© 2023 by G. Falcone 19
LCA – Impact Assessment
(ISO 14040)
© 2023 by G. Falcone 20
LCA Software
…and more
© 2023 by G. Falcone 21
CRADLE-TO-CRADLE EXAMPLES
22
Wind
UK total operational capacity: ~ 11 GW
2022 British Energy Security Strategy set ambition to deliver up to 50
GW by 2030.
© 2023 by G. Falcone 24
Oil & Gas
(OGA, 2020)
2. Age age.
Orange lines
are more i. Pipeline material grades X42 and X52 are recommended by ASME for H2 use.
suitable for H2
service ii. No public data on material grades, but trend in recent years towards higher grades;
pipelines built in1990s are more likely to be a suitable grade.
© 2023 by G. Falcone 26
Compatibility of NG pipelines &
components for H2 service
▪ Are pipelines and components designed for NG fully compatible with a changeover to H2? What changes are required ?
▪ At standard conditions, methane has 3x times the calorific heating value of H2, yet in pipelines, H2 with its lower density flows 3x faster
than methane. The same pipeline can convey 3x as much H2 for a given period at the same pressure.
▪ Depending on steel quality and exposure to H2, embrittlement can accelerate propagation of cracks, reducing the pipeline’s service life
by 20% to 50%, but this is only likely if the pipeline already has fractures and is subjected to stresses due to fluctuating internal pressure
while at the same time being exposed to H2.
▪ To compress H2 to the operating pressure of the pipeline, compressor stations are required along the way. If H2 is mixed with methane
and the existing compressors for NG are kept in place, some parts might need to be adapted, depending on the admixture of H2. If the
share of H2 exceeds 40%, the compressors will need to be replaced. Switching to a 100% H2 pipeline requires installing new and more
powerful compressors to deliver the 3x volume flow of H2 compared to NG.
© 2023 by G. Falcone 27
UKCS pipelines material
compatibility for H2 service
▪ Offshore pipelines made of carbon steel of different material grades, reflecting design codes, operating pressures and age
▪ Suitability of such pipelines for transporting H2 depends on embrittlement and degradation mechanisms attributed to H2.
2. Embrittlement dependent on operating conditions and material properties and has a greater effect on steels with higher tensile strength
3. Blistering, sulphide stress cracking and H2-induced cracking are possible where H2 is blended with sour natural gas.
4. MAOP should be defined so that maximum stress in the pipeline walls is below 30-50% of the minimum specified yield strength
5. Recommended pipeline grades are API X42 and X52 (older pipelines); grades above X52 more likely to be severely affected by embrittlement
6. Limitations of stress and material grade equates to approximately 50 to 150 bar maximum pressures for typical sizes of X52 pipelines which appears feasible
for H2 storage and transportation
© 2023 by G. Falcone 28
Nuclear
8,923 MWe
(WNA, 2021)
(NIA, 2018)
Is cradle-to-cradle possible?
© 2023 by G. Falcone 30
ENERGY AND EMISSIONS
31
UK emissions by ‘sector’
(BEIS, 2022)
© 2023 by G. Falcone 32
Energy emissions from source to use
?
Incomplete picture without considering also
embodied emissions and end-of-life
© 2023 by G. Falcone 33
Emissions, boundaries and carbon accounting
(Kennedy, 2020)
Territorial: Only emissions that occur within the UK’s borders. Used as basis for reporting to EC and UNFCCC.
Production: “Residents” based, i.e. produced by UK residents/industry, whether in the UK or abroad, but excluding
emissions within the UK that are attributed to overseas residents and businesses. Reported in UK Environmental Accounts.
Consumption: Production minus exports plus imports.
© 2023 by G. Falcone 35
Greenhouse Gas Protocol
39
LCA – Environmental Footprint
© 2023 by G. Falcone 40
Energy Trilemma
© 2023 by G. Falcone 42
Examples of Sustainability Indicators
(EC, 2018)
(Colla et al., 2019 )
© 2023 by G. Falcone 43
Social LCA
© 2023 by G. Falcone 44
LCA EXAMPLES FOR THE ENERGY
TRANSITION
45
LCA of blue hydrogen •
•
No UK CCS projects in operation yet.
Selected sites still under appraisal; E&A, not
storage licenses.
• First CO2 injection in 2025 (EIS), 2026/7 (SNS).
• Norwegian flagship CCS projects have issues too.
• Snøvhit has had to change its storage target and
was offline for 2 yrs.
• Sleipner 2020 seismic survey showed CO2 plume
migrating 3x faster than predicted into a new area.
Findings in ~25 yrs, a fraction of CO2 storage time
scale of IPCC, who concluded that reservoirs are
“very likely' to retain >99% of the sequestered
CO2 for >100 yrs”, pointing to greater than
New CO2 emissions.
anticipated subsurface containment risk.
< 90% capture efficiency.
HYDROGEN TRANSPORT,
Existing/new gas fields.
Time to first production.
STORAGE & DISTRIBUTION
Gas field lifetime.
Total reserves (not resources!).
PLATFORM
CONSTRUCTION
Workers paid 35p/hr.
Source/destiny of materials 137 fatalities in 2009-2019.
© 2023 by G. Falcone 46
LCA of lithium: sourcing aspects
Announcement of upcoming
European Critical Raw
Materials Act in Sep-2022.
(Source: Minviro)
Preliminary sampling in Cornwall indicates
© 2023 by G. Falcone lithium grades of 220-260 mg/L. 47
LCA of lithium ion batteries
© 2023 by G. Falcone 48
SUGGESTED GROUP ACTIVITY
49
Activity
• You are asked to work in groups to introduce a (real or notional) energy
project of your choice, based on single- or multi- energy sources, delivering
single- or multi-energy products, with or without CCS, and discuss:
• (a) how you would define the lifetime of the project;
• (b) how you would approach the Life Cycle Assessment of the project,
and within which boundaries;
• (c) what quantitative KPIs you would use to assess the 'sustainability' of
the project during its lifetime;
• (d) whether disclosure of quantitative sustainability KPIs will enhance or
hinder the chances of success of the project.
© 2023 by G. Falcone 50