Response to 'Life-cycle green-house gas emissions of onshore and offshore wind turbines'. (10th May 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Marx, Josefine; Schreiber, Andrea; Zapp, Petra
• Is Part Of: Journal of cleaner production. Volume 219(2019)
• Page Start: 33
• Page End: 34
• Publication Date: 2019-05-10
• Subjects: Factory and trade waste -- Management -- Periodicals; Manufactures -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Déchets industriels -- Gestion -- Périodiques; Usines -- Aspect de l'environnement -- Périodiques; 628.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.02.090
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-6526

Abstract

Abstract: In this letter, we respond to the article by Wang et al., (2019) in this journal, Volume 210, which estimates the life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of onshore and offshore wind turbines with the nominal capacity of 2 MW. The results show GHG emissions of 33278.19 t CO2 -eq for onshore and 75904.84 t CO2 -eq for offshore turbines for a 20-year lifetime. The results suggest that 'transport and installation' contributes most to the life-cycle GHG emissions (>90%). This is contrary to many other LCA studies concerning wind power. We think that several serious mistakes have been made in the study, leading to completely wrong conclusions of the authors. We would like to clarify some of the results. Highlights: Wind energy. Onshore and offshore wind turbines. Greenhouse gas emissions. Life cycle assessment. Share of transport processes to the overall environmental impacts.