Comparative Life-Cycle Assessment of Electricity-Generation Technologies: West Texas Case Study

Abstract

This comparison of five power plants in West Texas is intended to provide various decision-makers and stakeholders with a holistic picture of the life-cycle environmental impacts associated with these power plants. A key contribution of this analysis is that we assumed all power plants generate the same amount of electricity over a 30-year life, taking a 500 MW combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant as a benchmark. Also, in two cases, we added battery storage to wind and solar PV facilities to render them nearly as dispatchable as the CCGT. We included the entire supply chain supporting electricity generation, which encompassed raw material sourcing, processing, manufacturing, operations, and product end of life, also called “cradle to grave”. We report on 18 environmental impacts using ReCiPe midpoint (H) impact assessment. The supply chains are global, and impacts are felt differently by host communities across the world. The results can help stakeholders identify hotspots across numerous supply chains with the highest environmental impacts. We discuss some remedial measures and challenges to inform future analysis by the research community.