Page 220 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

208 E. Martínez Cámara et al.

All these results refer to state-of-the-art wind turbines currently available on the
market, but the trend in wind power is toward even larger turbines with greater
rotor diameters and higher power ratings. It is therefore reasonable to assume that
the increased scale of future wind turbines will make for even greater reductions in
environmental impact in electricity generated in this way.
Moreover, wind power technology is gradually maturing, and more and more
efforts are being devoted into improving the operating and maintenance conditions
of wind turbines. For example, more and more commercial wind turbines without
gearboxes are being installed because gearboxes are among the most failure prone
components in turbines. This is done in an attempt not only to reduce maintenance
and breakdown costs but also to increase the effective production time of turbines
over the course of their useful lifetimes.

5 Conclusions

This study looks at wind power from the viewpoint of life-cycle assessment. Such
analyses have, of course, been conducted at various times throughout the devel-
opment of wind power, and their results have varied as the designs and main
characteristics of wind turbines have evolved. For that reason, the latest DFIG
multimegawatt turbines are considered here, as theirs is the most numerous type
currently in use on wind farms. On that basis, a comprehensive LCA is conducted
on a wind turbine, covering all phases from its manufacture to its decommis-
sioning and the processing of waste at the end of its useful lifetime.
The results clearly show how low the environmental impact of wind power is in
the various impact categories studied, especially when compared to the figures for
other, conventional sources of electricity generation. This confirms the positive
nature of wind power in all environmental and climate change-related aspects, but
does not take into account other essential elements such as the financial and
technical viability of installing such systems within a specific electrical grid. LCA
can thus be confirmed as a potentially important tool in the field of energy pro-
vided that it is used as just one of the means of support for decision making by the
relevant authorities and other players in the field of energy system development.

References

Ardente F, Beccali M, Cellura M, Lo Brano V (2008) Energy performances and life cycle
assessment of an Italian wind farm. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 12(1):200–217
Ben Amar F, Elamouri M, Dhifaoui R (2008) Energy assessment of the first wind farm section of
Sidi Daoud, Tunisia. Renew Energy 33(10):2311–2321
Boustead I, Hancock GF (2003) Implementation of life cycle assessment methods. Ecoinvent
report no. 3. In: Frischknecht R, Jungbluth N (eds) Handbook of industrial energy analysis.
Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf, pp 22–28