TY - JOUR
T1 - Differences in CO2 emissions of solar PV production among technologies and regions
T2 - Application to China, EU and USA
AU - Liu, Feng
AU - van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M.
PY - 2020/3
Y1 - 2020/3
N2 - A widespread implicit assumption is that renewable energy options are approximately low-carbon. However, production and life cycles of such technologies tend to produce CO2 emissions. To minimize life-cycle emissions, one should account for such emissions and implement adequate policies to encourage innovation and adoption of well-performing technologies in this respect. We develop a framework to analyse this issue, grounded in the concepts of ‘energy return on energy invested’ (EROI) and ‘net energy return on carbon invested’ (EROC). Applying these to the main PV technologies and production regions – namely China, EU and USA – displays considerable discrepancies. We conditionally predict the development of average EROI and EROC over time under business-as-usual and low-carbon electricity generation scenarios. A main policy lesson is that without a systemic policy instrument, such as carbon pricing, incentives for low-carbon production of renewable energy options are too weak, which likely will delay a complete transition to a low-carbon economy.
AB - A widespread implicit assumption is that renewable energy options are approximately low-carbon. However, production and life cycles of such technologies tend to produce CO2 emissions. To minimize life-cycle emissions, one should account for such emissions and implement adequate policies to encourage innovation and adoption of well-performing technologies in this respect. We develop a framework to analyse this issue, grounded in the concepts of ‘energy return on energy invested’ (EROI) and ‘net energy return on carbon invested’ (EROC). Applying these to the main PV technologies and production regions – namely China, EU and USA – displays considerable discrepancies. We conditionally predict the development of average EROI and EROC over time under business-as-usual and low-carbon electricity generation scenarios. A main policy lesson is that without a systemic policy instrument, such as carbon pricing, incentives for low-carbon production of renewable energy options are too weak, which likely will delay a complete transition to a low-carbon economy.
KW - Climate policy
KW - EROC
KW - EROI
KW - Life-cycle assessment
KW - PV technologies
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85077345705&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85077345705&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.enpol.2019.111234
DO - 10.1016/j.enpol.2019.111234
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85077345705
VL - 138
SP - 1
EP - 11
JO - Energy Policy
JF - Energy Policy
SN - 0301-4215
M1 - 111234
ER -