Perspectives for Expansion of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) Generation Technologies in Brazil

The world is moving towards a low-carbon economy through renewable energy sources. In this context, concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies can exploit the rich solar resource in Brazil, diversifying the national electricity mix. The aim of this paper is to support the insertion of CSP generati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energies (Basel) 2022-12, Vol.15 (24), p.9286
Main Authors: Matos, Denise, Lassio, João Gabriel, Castelo Branco, David, Pereira Júnior, Amaro Olímpio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternative energy sources
concentrating solar power
Consumption
Cooling
Electric power generation
Electricity generation
Emissions
Emissions control
Energy resources
Energy sources
Environmental aspects
environmental impacts
Expansion
Green technology
Greenhouse effect
greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gases
Heat transfer
Hydroelectric plants
Hydroelectric power
Industrial plant emissions
life cycle assessment
Linear programming
Power plants
Radiation
renewable energy
Renewable energy sources
Renewable resources
Solar energy
Solar heating
Solar power
Technology
Thermal storage
Value chain
Value engineering
Water consumption
Wind power
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Summary:The world is moving towards a low-carbon economy through renewable energy sources. In this context, concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies can exploit the rich solar resource in Brazil, diversifying the national electricity mix. The aim of this paper is to support the insertion of CSP generation in the Brazilian bottom-up model MATRIZ by analyzing the environmental performance of three CSP technologies: (i) solar tower power (STP) with a thermal storage system (TSS) of 7.5 h; (ii) solar thermal parabolic trough (STPT) with a TSS of 6 h; and (iii) STPT without TSS. From a life cycle perspective, their freshwater consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are addressed by employing the software SimaPro, the Ecoinvent database, and the ReCiPe 2016 method, as well as information from the system advisory model (SAM) and the literature. As a result, STP is the most environmentally sound CSP alternative, presenting lower GHG emissions and water consumption than the two STPT technologies. In general, CSP generation proves to be more environmentally attractive than some fossil-fired power plants and renewable energy sources. Moreover, moving the manufacturing of CSP technologies to Brazil has the potential to reduce GHG emissions from the upstream processes of their value chain.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en15249286