Journal article
Life cycle assessment of renewable energy technologies in Northern Africa: A critical review
Energy sources. Part A, Recovery, utilization, and environmental effects, v 44(4), pp 10248-10269
21 Dec 2022
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
The need to transition from fossil energy sources, a major contributor to greenhouse gases has become more critical than ever in the face of rising climate threats. Consequently, there has been a wider acceptance and deployment of renewable energy sources. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), on the other hand, is a standardized tool that has been deployed to comprehend the environmental effects of these alternative energy systems. Most studies conducted in LCA on renewable energy are mostly featured in regions like Europe, Asia, North and South America. While leaving a substantial gap in the volume of work conducted so far in Africa, especially concerning North African countries, a region that shares the largest energy-related CO₂ emissions in the continent. Thus, an in-depth review article is required to discuss the state-of-art on life cycle assessment of renewable energy technologies in North Africa, highlighting the region's peculiarities, outlook, and future prospects. Aspects including the study's overview, goal, scope, kind of renewable energy sources, functional unit, system boundary, and impact categories are included in this review. Results from this review reveal that studies on LCA in this area of work are still at their early stages, accounting for only 2% of the total LCA research in the continent, with solar and bioenergy constituting most of the case studies with 27% and 33% of the total research outlook. In terms of GWP contribution, bioenergy and wind energy recorded the most and least impact in the region, respectively. Findings from this review can help policymakers and researchers have a broader understanding of the environmental contributions of various renewable energy deployed in the region while seeking to improve and regularize the LCA methodology as a standard tool for evaluation.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Life cycle assessment of renewable energy technologies in Northern Africa: A critical review
- Creators
- Chima Cyril Hampo - Drexel UniversityDamilola Oluwatobi Ojo - Federal University of AgricultureDare Ebenezer Olatunde - Kwara State UniversityObasih Judith Isioma - Covenant UniversityOluwatosin Omolola Oni - Obafemi Awolowo UniversityAdaku Jane Echendu - Queen's UniversityMusa Mathew - Modibbo Adama University of TechnologyModupeoluwa Abisoluwa Adediji - Federal University of TechnologySeun Festus Oladipo - Federal University of TechnologyPeace Oluwatomisin Aro - Federal University of Technology
- Publication Details
- Energy sources. Part A, Recovery, utilization, and environmental effects, v 44(4), pp 10248-10269
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- Number of pages
- 22
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- College of Engineering
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000884295400001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85142289179
- Other Identifier
- 991022049010204721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Energy & Fuels
- Engineering, Chemical
- Environmental Sciences