Title :
A Sustainability Assessment of Electricity Generation
Author :
Evans, Annette ; Strezov, Vladimir
Author_Institution :
Grad. Sch. of the Environ., Macquarie Univ., Sydney, NSW, Australia
Abstract :
The sustainability of electricity generation has been assessed by the application of eight key indictors. Literature data has been applied to rank different electricity generating technologies in order of sustainability. Photovoltaics, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass, natural gas, coal and nuclear power have been compared according to their price, greenhouse gas emissions, efficiency, land use, water use, availability, limitations and social impacts on a per kilowatt hour basis. The relevance of this information to the Australian context is discussed.
Keywords :
electric power generation; hydroelectric power; nuclear power; photovoltaic power systems; wind power; biomass; coal; electricity generation; geothermal; greenhouse gas emissions; hydro; natural gas; nuclear power; photovoltaics; sustainability assessment; wind; Air pollution; Carbon dioxide; Costs; Fuels; Geothermal power generation; Global warming; Nuclear power generation; Power generation; Production; Wind energy generation; electricity; life cycle; renewable; sustainability;
Conference_Titel :
Biosciences (BIOSCIENCESWORLD), 2010 International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Cancun
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-5929-2
DOI :
10.1109/BioSciencesWorld.2010.29
