Energy efficiency and global warming potential of a wind-energy complex at Brazilian Piauí State

Abstract

The human addiction to fossil fuel and global warming leads to the search for alternative energy sources. The Brazilian government intends to increase its dependence on renewable energy sources, including hydropower, biomass, and wind. Many political and economic efforts have been directed to wind-energy, however, there is a lack of case-specific information regarding its performance for CO2emissions and dependence on fossil fuels. The aim of this work is to assess the global warming potential (GWP) and the fossil energy embodied in an important wind-energy complex located at Piauí State, Brazil. Results show that evaluated wind-complex demands lower amount of fossil energy (0.0404 MJ) and has lower GWP (4.13 gCO2-eq.) per kWh of electricity generated when compared to landmark studies. Wind-electricity showed better performance than hydroelectricity (0.1516 MJ/kWh and 11.84 gCO2-eq./kWh), which supports wind-electricity as an important alternative towards an economy decarbonization.