Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Refrigerator Modelled with Application of Various Electricity Mixes and Technologies

Abstract

Improving national electricity mixes and increasing a share of renewable energy covered by credible and reliable tracking systems are vital topics, also in a context of life cycle assessment. There are many publications devoted to the relevance of energy in the life cycle of products, but only few LCA examples applying residual mixes have been found in the literature. The paper presents the results of an LCA study for a refrigerator calculated with using different electricity mixes and technologies. The life cycle was divided into eight stages and the electricity consumption was modelled as renewable energy, national residual mix, or national supplier mix. Electricity mixes for three different countries were selected and used. The study aimed to answer the following questions: “what are the most relevant elements in the life cycle of the analysed refrigerator?”, “do the elements change if various electricity mixes are applied?”, and “what differences are there in the environmental impact of electricity generation modelled as residual and supplier mixes?”. From the life cycle perspective, not only may differences in national electricity systems between countries turn out to be important, but equally significant may be the choice between different types of mixes for a certain country.

Keywords

• energy
• life cycle management
• environmental relevance