Considering supply and demand of electric energy in life cycle assessments - a review of current methodologies

A stable power grid requires a balance between electricity supply and demand. To compensate for changes in the demand the network operator puts on or takes off power plants from the net. Peak load plants operate only at times of high electricity demand. As levels for air pollutants emissions are typically lower for peak load plants for reasons of cost-effectiveness, one could argue that a unit of electric energy consumed during peak load has always been associated with a higher environmental impact than at other times. Furthermore, renewable energy technologies, smart approaches for improving the matching between electricity consumption and supply and new products such as electric vehicles or net zero emission buildings gain in importance. In life cycle assessment (LCA) environmental impacts associated with the production and possibly transmission of electricity are most often assessed based on temporally averaged national electricity mixes as electricity flows cannot be traced back to their origin. Neither fluctuations in the supply structure nor the composition of energy supply at a certain moment or regional differences are accounted for. A literature review of approaches for handling electricity in LCA is carried out to compare strengths and weaknesses of the approaches. A better understanding and knowledge about the source of electricity at a given time and place might be valuable information for further reducing environmental impacts, e.g. by shifting electricity consumption to times with ample supply of renewables. Integrating such information into LCA will allow a fairer assessment of a variety of new products which accept a lower energy efficiency to achieve a better integration of renewables into the grid. (authors)