Abstract
The need for energy is constantly growing due to economic, population growth, and technological advancement. In India, coal is the largest contributor with about 75% in electricity generation in 2019, but coal combustion produces higher emissions among the fossil fuels and other non-renewable energy sources. Thus, the contribution of renewables (especially wind) is gaining importance in recent years due to its easy availability and low carbon emission. The wind turbine does not impact the environment in its operational phase; however, raw material extraction, production, transportation, and decommissioning affect the environment through harmful emissions. This study aims to integrate the circular economy in the life cycle of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT). The study presents the assessment of environmental impact for baseline case and circular economy scenario (recycling) of materials used in VAWT production. The result suggests that aluminium has a higher contribution to environmental impact for each impact category CO2, NOx, SO2, and PM2.5. Among different impact categories, global warming potential highly impacts the environment. The capacity factor is a key parameter in reducing the impact on the environment using a VAWT. The recycling scenario of 50% and 90% reduces the environmental impact by 25.7% and 46.3%, respectively. Thus, the integration of circular economy with VAWT is likely to be a sustainable transition with reduced emissions.
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Abbreviations
- VAWT:
-
Vertical axis wind turbine
- HAWT:
-
Horizontal axis wind turbine
- CE:
-
Circular economy
- EoL:
-
End-of-life
- LCA :
-
Life cycle assessment
- CF:
-
Capacity factor
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Dayalu, S., Verma, S., Paul, A.R., Haque, N. (2023). Analysis of Environmental Impact of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Using Circular Economy Approach. In: Alam, S., et al. Energy Technology 2023. TMS 2023. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22638-0_1
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