Development of life cycle inventories for electricity grid mixes in Japan

Since most industrial processes consume electricity, it is quite important to develop reliable inventory data for electricity. There is, however, a problem that only a few figures concerning emissions related to electricity have been reported. In this work, process models of power plants were developed for the Japanese situation which simulate the mass flows and estimate the missing figures of emissions dependent on technical parameters of the plants and fuels. In Japan, electricity is supplied to the various regions by 10 electric companies. Therefore, life cycle inventories for the electricity grid mixes of the 10 electric companies in 1997 were developed. The functional unit is 1 kWh of electricity distributed to electricity users in each region. The emission of CO2, SO2, NO(x), CH4, CO, non-methane volatile organic compound (NMVOC), dust (all particulates) and heavy metals (Ni, V, As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb, Zn) from power stations as well as those from fuel production and transport were investigated. Other pollutants into air, emissions to water, solid wastes, radiation and radioactive emissions from atomic power stations were not included due to a limitation of the available data. Direct CO2 emissions related to 1 kWh of electricity distributed by companies ranged from 0.21 to 1.0 kg/kWh (average value: 0.38 kg/kWh). Direct emissions of SO2 and NO(x) from power stations related to 1 kwh of electricity are 2.5* 10-4 and 2.2* 10-4 kg/kWh on the average, respectively. SO2 emissions calculated in this work were somehow large compared with those reported by electric companies. Detailed information concerning total sulfur content in oil consumed in each oil-fired power station are required for an exact calculation of SO2 emissions from oil-fired power stations. In addition, the ratio of sulfur that goes into slag in combustion must be investigated further. The average amounts of CO, CH4, NMVOC and dust emissions were 5.0* 10-5, 8.2* 10-6, 1.8* 10-5 and 6.8* 10-6 kg/kWh, respectively. Heavy metal emissions from power stations were on the order of 10-9 to 10-8 kg/kWh. Detailed information concerning heavy metal content in oil and coals consumed in fossil fuel power stations are further required for an improved assessment of heavy metal emissions. Contribution of fuel production and transport to total CO2 emission was relatively small. On the other hand, contributions of fuel production and transport to total SO2 and NO(x) emissions were relatively large. In the case of CO, NMVOC and dust, emissions in fuel production and transport were predominant to total emissions. Heavy metal emissions into air during production and transport of fuels were on the order of 10-8 to 10-9 kg/kWh.