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Göran Wall*
Department of Culture, Energy and Environment University of Gotland Cramérgatan 3, SE-621 67, Visby, Sweden
Abstract: Exergy concepts and exergy based methods offer an insight to the understanding of sustainable energy
engineering. The utilization of energy and other resources by applying physical concept as exergy and exergy based
methods and the value of these tools in the design are presented, in particular Life Cycle Exergy Analysis (LCEA). LCEA
is applied to a typical wind power plant. This brings a new approach and insight to the engineering conditions for a
sustainable development that is further elaborated. The importance of introducing this new knowledge into present
engineering education and practices is argued for.
Keywords: Life cycle analysis, exergy, wind power.
product is assumed to be divided into these three “life proc- Fig. (5). Main steps of a LCA.
esses”, or as it is sometimes named “from cradle to grave”.
For every “life process” the total inflow and outflow of
energy and material is computed, thus, LCA is similar to
Exergy Analysis. In general Exergy Analysis and LCA have
been developed separately even though they are strongly
linked. This inventory of energy and material balances is
then put into a framework as described in Fig. (5). Four
stages in the LCA can be distinguished: (1) Objectives and
boundaries, (2) Inventory, (3) Environmental impact, and (4)
Measures. These four main parts of an LCA are indicated by
boxes, and the procedure is shown by arrows. Green arrows
show the basic steps and red arrows indicate suitable next
steps, in order to further improve the analysis.
In LCA the environmental burdens are associated with a Fig. (6). LCEA of a fossil fueled power plant.
product, process, or activity by identifying and quantifying
energy and materials used, and wastes released to the envi-
ronment. Secondly one must assess the impact on the envi-
ronment, of those energy and material uses and releases.
Thus it is divided into several steps (Fig. 4).
The multidimensional approach of LCA causes large
problems when it comes to comparing different substances,
and general agreements are crucial. This problem is avoided
Fig. (7). LCEA of a wind power plant.
if exergy is used as a common quantity, which is done in
Life Cycle Exergy Analysis (LCEA) [10]. renewable resource, e.g. fossil fuel and in Fig. (7) the direct
In this method we distinguish between renewable and exergy is a renewable resource, e.g. wind.
non renewable resources. The total exergy use over time is In the first case, the system is not sustainable, since we
also considered. These kinds of analyses are of importance in use exergy originating from a non-sustainable resource. We
order to develop sustainable supply systems of exergy in will never reach a situation where the total exergy input will
society. The exergy flow through a supply system, such as a be paid back, simply because the situation is powered by a
power plant, usually consists of three separate stages over depletion of resources, we have Epr<Ein+Eindirect. In the sec-
time (Fig. 6). At first, we have the construction stage where ond case, instead, at time t=tpayback the produced exergy that
exergy is used to build a plant and put it into operation. Dur- originates from a natural flow has compensated for the indi-
ing this time, 0ttstart, exergy is spent of which some is ac- rect exergy input, see Fig. (7), i.e.
cumulated or stored in materials, e.g. in metals etc. Secondly
we have the maintenance of the system during time of opera- t pay back t life
tion, and finally the clean up stage. These time periods are E pr (t)dt = E indirect (t)dt = E indirect
t start 0
analogous to the three steps of the life cycle of a product in (4)
an LCA. The exergy input used for construction, mainte-
nance and clean up we call indirect exergy Eindirect and we Since the exergy input originates from a renewable re-
assume this originates from non renewable resources. When source we may not account for it. By regarding renewable
a power plant is put into operation, it starts to deliver a prod- resources as free then after t=tpayback there will be a net ex-
uct, e.g. electricity with exergy power E pr , by converting the ergy output from the plant, which will continue until it is
direct exergy power input E in into demanded energy forms, closed down, at t=tclose. Then, exergy has to be used to clean
e.g. electricity. In Fig. (6) the direct exergy is a non- up and restore the environment, which accounts for the last
Life Cycle Exergy Analysis of Renewable Energy Systems The Open Renewable Energy Journal, 2011, Volume 4 75
Fig. (8). LCEA of an offshore wind power farm and a land based farm.
part of the indirect exergy input, i.e., Eindirect, which is already or, even better, not used at all. Thus, by using LCEA and
accounted for (Eq. 8). By considering the total life cycle of distinguishing between renewable and non-renewable re-
the plant the net produced exergy becomes Enet,pr=Epr-Eindirect. sources we have an operational method to define sustainable
These areas representing exergies are indicated in Fig. (7). engineering.
Assume that, at time t=0, the production of a wind power
LCEA diagrams are of particular importance in the plan-
plant starts and at time t=tstart it is completed and put into
ning of large scale renewable energy systems of multiple
operation. At that time, a large amount of exergy has been
plants. Initially, this system will consume most of its supply
used in the construction of the plant, which is indicated by
within its own constructions phase. However, some time
the area of Eindirect between t=0 and t=tstart Then the plant
after completion it will deliver at full capacity. Thus, the
starts to produce electricity, which is indicated in Fig. (7) by energy supply over time is heavily affected by internal sys-
the upper curve Epr=Eindirect+Enet,pr. At t=tpayback the exergy
tem dynamics.
used for construction, maintenance and clean up has been
paid back. For modern wind power plants this time is only LCEA APPLIED TO TYPICAL WIND POWER
some months. Then the system has a net output of exergy SYSTEMS
until it is closed down, which for a wind power station may
last for decades. Thus, these diagrams could be used to show There are numerous publications on life cycle analysis of
if a power supply system is sustainable. different wind power systems. The energy use for construc-
tion, operation and destruction are often presented. Schleis-
LCEA is very important in the design of sustainable
ner [11] analyzed energy and emissions of the production
systems, especially in the design of renewable energy
and manufacturing of materials for an offshore and land
systems. Take a solar panel, made of mainly aluminum and
based wind farm. The offshore wind farm consisted of 10
glass that is used for the production of hot water for units of 500 kW turbines or 5 MW and a land based wind
household use, i.e. about 50°C. Then, it is not obvious that
farm 18 of 500 kW or 9 MW. The primary energies used in
the exergy being spent in the production of this unit ever will
the production and disposal of materials amount to about 44
be paid back during its use, i.e., it might be a misuse of
and 47 TJ for the offshore and land based farm respectively.
resources rather than a sustainable resource use. The
With yearly electricity production of about 45 and 71 TJ this
production of aluminum and glass require a lot of exergy as
imply about 1 and 0.7 years payback time respectively. As-
electricity and high temperature heat or several hundred sume that the construction accounts for 97%, operation for
degrees Celsius, whereas the solar panel delivers small
1% and deconstruction for 2% of the total exergy input and
amounts of exergy as low temperature heat. LCEA must
that construction and deconstruction last for one year each
therefore be carried out as a natural part of the design of
then we will have the following LCEA diagram for a life
sustainable systems in order to avoid this kind of misuse.
time of 20 years, see Fig. (8).
Another case to investigate is the production of biofuels in
order to replace fossil fuels in the transport sector. This may We see that the total exergy input is minor to the pro-
not necessarily be sustainable since the production process duced electrical exergy and the exergy input for operation
uses a large amount of fossil fuels, directly for machinery or and deconstruction is hardly visible. Thus, the LCEA shows
indirectly as fertilizers, irrigation and pesticides. This will be that this wind power system is truly sustainable.
well described by a LCEA. In a study for Taiwan the lifecycle stages of a planned
Sustainable engineering could be defined as systems land based wind turbine farm of three different turbines are
which make use of renewable resources in such a way that analyzed [12]. Three turbines are investigated Vestas (V-47),
the input of non-renewable resources will be paid back dur- Enercon (E-40), and Vestas (V-66), see Table 1. The turbine
ing its life time, i.e. Epr>Ein+Eindirect. In order to be truly sus- manufacturing, foundation construction, as well as operation
tainable the used deposits must also be completely restored and disposal of the wind power systems are considered.
76 The Open Renewable Energy Journal, 2011, Volume 4 Göran Wall
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Received: May 30, 2011 Revised: June 28, 2011 Accepted: July 02, 2011