International Comparative Study on Dynamic Change of Onshore Wind Power Carbon Footprint

Abstract

The global wind energy industry is expected to expand in the context of carbon neutralization. Meanwhile, with the continuous improvement in carbon reduction tools such as carbon market and carbon tariffs, the carbon footprint of renewable energy may impact the cost and development of wind power in the future. Taking China, Europe, and the United States as the research object, this study constructs the lifecycle evaluation process and list of onshore wind power systems, conducts parameter comparison regarding the carbon footprint of onshore wind power in relevant regions, and summarizes the change trends. Moreover, it analyzes the cause of the trend and clarifies the influencing factors. The results indicate that the carbon footprint of onshore wind power shows a downward trend in the aforementioned regions from 2011 to 2022 owing to the large-scale wind turbines, improved generation efficiency, and cleanliness of industrial production. Specifically, the average decrease in China, Europe, and the United States was 49.2%, 46.2%, and 20.8%, respectively, and the decrease was concentrated in the equipment production stage. China has reduced its carbon footprint to a level close to Europe, and its gap with the United States has been reduced to 3.63 g/kW·h. However, China still lags behind Europe and the United States in terms of industrial production cleanliness and fan capacity factor, respectively. In the process of promoting industrial development, China should further promote the power generation efficiency of its wind power system, improve the cleanliness of industrial production, and support the recycling of decommissioned wind power systems, so as to steadily reduce the carbon footprints within the lifecycle of onshore wind power systems.

Keywords

• wind power
• lifecycle assessment
• carbon footprint
• international comparison
• large-scale wind turbines
• industrial production cleanliness