Life Cycle Analysis for Wind Turbines and/or other Electricity Generation Technologies from Renewable Sources

Abstract

In recent years, there have been increasing advances in the field of wind farms. A growing interest for wind farms brings, at the same time concerns about potential impacts on the environment. An extensive study has been conducted to contribute to the existing knowledge about influences of wind energy systems on the environment. The study involves the following stages: to measure the environmental impact of a single Vesta NM82 wind turbine, including all stages from raw material extraction to the end of life stage; in the next stage, the emissions resulting from electricity generation by wind energy extraction and coal use and combustion are compared. This study also demonstrates the potential of wind energy production sector and the necessity in development of energy production from renewable sources. In addition, this study demonstrates the importance of material recycling, which alleviates some of the negative impacts to the environment. During the research, it was realized that wind turbines, combined with additional energy sources, have significantly lower impact to the environment in comparison with coal energy. Furthermore, proper selection of materials is found to be one of the most important issues that one should take into account