LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF A GAS TURBINE INSTALLATION IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Gas turbine installations (GTIs) are widely used for the generation of electrical and thermal energy, mainly by burning gaseous fuels, i.e. natural gas. Of particular interest at present is the use of GTIs to burn hydrogen as part of the development of hydrogen energy technology. To assess the prospects of using GTIs in this way, it is necessary to understand the carbon footprint of GTI as part of the carbon footprint of the entire hydrogen life cycle. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is widely used to analyze the environmental performance of products and has many compelling advantages. This article provides an overview of the results from previously published LCA studies of GTIs, an analysis of the accepted system boundaries, functional units, and other aspects of LCA. The characteristics of the stages considered and the resources used in assessing the stages of the GTI life cycle are given, including an analysis of the amount of materials used in production and construction. The subject of the analysis was a set of GTIs located in Russia with a capacity of 16 MW. An assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per MWh of electricity produced showed that at different stages of the life cycle of GTI, the total carbon footprint was 198.1–604.3 kg CO2-eq, of which more than 99% came from the GTI operation. The carbon footprint of GTI production stages was found to be significantly lower than other alternative power generation equipment.