Volume 27: Closing Carbon Cycles – A Transformation Process Involving Technology, Economy, and Society: Part II

Combining Life Cycle Assessment and Energy System Optimization to Model Sustainable Power Systems Transformation Sophie Pathe, Valentin Bertsch

Abstract

We link the highly flexible Energy System Model Backbone with Life Cycle Assessments of energy system technologies to optimize various environmental impact indicators in addition to system costs. Additionally, we perform a multi-objective optimization of costs and environmental impacts and determine a pareto front to investigate interrelationships and trade-offs even further. We apply this to the power system of twelve central european countries with a special focus on the Rhenish Mining Area, a structural change region in western Germany, in the year 2040. This reveals a decrease in electricity generation in the region for all objective functions compared to 2020, as well as a strong preference for gas power for cost minimization and onshore wind power for minimization of environmental indicators.

Keywords Energy System Model, Life Cycle Assessment, Multi-objective Optimization, Energy Transition, Structural Change, Rhenish Mining Area