Application of data quality assessment methods to an LCA of electricity generation |
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Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">John?R?MayEmail author David?J?Brennan |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, POB 36, 3800, VIC, Australia;(2) Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Clean Power from Lignite, Mulgrave, 3170, VIC, Australia |
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Abstract: | Background, Goal and Scope For the life cycle assessment (LCA) tool to provide maximum benefit for decision makers, the uncertainty of its results should
be reported. Several methods for assessing uncertainty have been developed, but despite recent efforts, there remains disagreement
about their merits.
Objectives The objectives of the study were to review several assessment methods for estimating numerical and qualitative uncertainty
of impact scores and recommend an appropriate uncertainty assessment scheme. The methods review has been conducted on the
basis of an LCA case study regarding the comparison of the use of either brown or black coals in Australian electricity generation.
Results and Discussion Each assessment method indicated greater uncertainty in the impact scores calculated for black coal use than for brown coal
use. Due to overlap of the uncertainty ranges in calculated impact scores neither of the coals could be regarded environmentally
preferred.
Conclusions Both qualitative and quantitative methods were found to provide useful information about the uncertainty of calculated impact
scores for the case study. Methods that combine qualitative and quantitative uncertainty provided no additional benefits,
and obscured much of the information gained from using qualitative methods.
Recommendation and Outlook It is recommended that LCA results should include separate numerical (using Monte-Carlo simulation) and qualitative uncertainty
assessments. When the ranges of calculated impact scores for compared options overlap, the normalised difference method is
recommended. |
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Keywords: | Australian electricity generation coal data quality data uncertainty life cycle assessment (LCA) |
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