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Sustainability
indicators
D. GARRAÍN1*, D. IRIBARREN2, M. FUSS3, F. CAO3, W-R. POGANIETZ3, J.
DUFOUR2,4, Y. LECHÓN1
1 esLCA Network, CIEMAT – Energy Systems Analysis Unit, Av. Complutense 40, E28040 Madrid (Spain), www.ciemat.es
2 esLCA Network, Systems Analysis Unit, Instituto IMDEA Energía, E28935 Móstoles (Spain), www.energy.imdea.org
3 Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis, KIT. 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany), www.itas.kit.edu
4 Department of Chemical and Energy Technology, Rey Juan Carlos University, E28933 Móstoles (Spain), www.urjc.es
*daniel.garrain@ciemat.es – Tel. +34 913466321
SCREENING OF SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS FOR
CONVENTIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS
INTRODUCTION
Sustainability indicators are increasingly important to decision- and policy-makers. Within the framework of the EERA Joint Programme
on Economic, Environmental and Social Impacts of Energy Policies and Technologies (“EERA JP e3s”, www.eera-set.eu), a specific
sub-programme working on “A life-cycle approach for evaluating the sustainability performance of energy technologies” was launched in
2013.
MATERIALS & METHODS
A review of more than 100 articles and reports on the evaluation of energy systems
was carried out. The strategy followed for the identification of appropriate
sustainability indicators focuses on analyses at the sub-sector level.
This work complements a previous study on bioenergy systems [1] by screening
sustainability indicators for conventional renewable energy systems: hydro,
geothermal, solar and wind power systems.
After removing recurrent indicators, more than 150 indicators reported in the literature
were evaluated and screened according to the following criteria: life-cycle
perspective (approach), practicality (linked to availability and reliability), and
relevance (specificity to the sub-sector assessed).
RESULTS & DISCUSSION
The figure below shows the reduced set of
indicators required to assess thoroughly
renewable energy systems, covering not only
the three common sustainability dimensions
but also others (including multi-dimensional
indicators).
The selection of environmental indicators was
found to be significantly affected by the
specific sub-sector under assessment, in
contrast to social and economic indicators. The
table below shows the singularity of several
selected indicators.
CONCLUSIONS
•A complete assessment of the sustainability performance of conventional
renewable energy systems can be achieved using a relatively reduced set of
indicators (≈ 20).
•A list of additional environmental indicators is recommended when a specific
renewable energy system is assessed.
•Emerging indicators (e.g., criticality) will gain relevance in the near future.
REFERENCES
[1] Martín-Gamboa, M.,
Iribarren, D., Fuss, M., Garraín,
D., Lechón, Y., Poganietz, W-R.,
Dufour, J. Screening of
sustainability indicators for
bioenergy systems: Are they
suitable for single-score
aggregation?, SETAC Europe
25th Annual Meeting, 3-7 May
2015, Barcelona (Spain).
Why an EERA JP “e3s”?
Europe has adopted more ambitious energy-policy objectives to achieve a low-carbon scenario by 2050. The changes in energy
policy reflect a reorientation away from specific technological solutions and markets towards ‘system’ transformation. This
reorientation recognises that technological solutions alone are likely to be insufficient to address the ‘grand challenges’ in energy and
that enhanced policy advice is necessary to understand the complex interaction of a variety of socio-technical elements, such as
consumer behaviour and acceptance, markets and technologies. The goal of the sub-programme on “A life-cycle approach for
evaluating the sustainability performance of energy technologies” is to develop and harmonise holistic indicators and methodologies
used to evaluate environmental, social and economic impacts of energy systems.
ENVIRONMENTAL
DIMENSION
ECONOMIC
DIMENSION
Global Warming Potential
Water Footprint
Ecotoxicity
Biodiversity
Net Present Value
Return on Investment
Cost-Benefit Index
Payback Period
Internal Rate of Return
GDP Share
SOCIAL DIMENSION
OTHERS
Work conditions (child labour, fair wage,
etc.)
Community perception (social acceptance)
Job creation
Accidents
Non-Renewable CED (tech-
env)
Total CED (tech-env)
Energy Security (soc-eco)
Externalities (eco-
env)
Labour (soc-eco)
Risk (soc-env)
Indicator WIND SOLAR GEOTHERMAL BIOMASS[1]
Abiotic Depletion X X X
Noise X
Ozone Layer Depletion X X
Criticality X X
Land Use X X X
Deforestation X
Acidification X
Eutrophication X
22-26 May
QR code to download the poster