Mannheim, V.; Nehéz, K.; Brbhan, S.; Bencs, P. Primary Energy Resources and Environmental Impacts of Various Heating Systems Based on Life Cycle Assessment. Energies2023, 16, 6995.
Mannheim, V.; Nehéz, K.; Brbhan, S.; Bencs, P. Primary Energy Resources and Environmental Impacts of Various Heating Systems Based on Life Cycle Assessment. Energies 2023, 16, 6995.
Mannheim, V.; Nehéz, K.; Brbhan, S.; Bencs, P. Primary Energy Resources and Environmental Impacts of Various Heating Systems Based on Life Cycle Assessment. Energies2023, 16, 6995.
Mannheim, V.; Nehéz, K.; Brbhan, S.; Bencs, P. Primary Energy Resources and Environmental Impacts of Various Heating Systems Based on Life Cycle Assessment. Energies 2023, 16, 6995.
Abstract
This paper utilizes a life cycle assessment to evaluate the energy resources and environmental impacts of three heating systems. In the first step, life cycle assessments (LCAs) are prepared for the renewable, conventional, and combined systems. The system boundary of the LCA method is "cradle to gate," which means it includes the entire life cycle of a product or process. This includes energy supply, transport, energy generation, and operational energy use. The system scenarios were compared based on ecological and energy loads in the second step. Primary energy, resources, emissions, and environmental potentials are calculated for the system scenarios using the life cycle assessment methods CML 2016 and ReCiPe 2016. Finally, models for environmental reliability and complex decision-support tools have been developed. This work addresses two main questions: how to characterize the environmental and energy impacts of the systems under study, and what is the optimal scenario for the system? The research results show that the gas boiler system has a greater environmental impact. The most significant differences between the systems relate to the degrada-tion of abiotic fossil fuels when using a gas boiler and the process of acidification when using an electric heat pump. The results can be used to develop sustainable heating systems with reduced environmental impacts and enhanced energy efficiency.
Keywords
heating systems; life cycle assessment; environmental impact; primary energy; environmental reliability model, complex decision-support model
Subject
Engineering, Energy and Fuel Technology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
