The energy return on energy investment (EROI) of photovoltaics: Methodology and comparisons with fossil fuel life cycles

A high energy return on energy investment (EROI) of an energy production process is crucial to its long-term viability. The EROI of conventional thermal electricity from fossil fuels has been viewed as being much higher than those of renewable energy life-cycles, and specifically of photovoltaics (PVs). We show that this is largely a misconception fostered by the use of outdated data and, often, a lack of consistency among calculation methods. We hereby present a thorough review of the methodology, discuss methodological variations and present updated EROI values for a range of modern PV systems, in comparison to conventional fossil-fuel based electricity life-cycles.

[1]  Monforti-Ferrario Fabio,et al.  Renewable Energy Snapshots 2010 , 2010 .

[2]  Charles A. S. Hall,et al.  A Preliminary Investigation of Energy Return on Energy Investment for Global Oil and Gas Production , 2009 .

[3]  R. Herendeen,et al.  Gasohol: Does It or Doesn't It Produce Positive Net Energy? , 1979, Science.

[4]  Carey W. King,et al.  Energy intensity ratios as net energy measures of United States energy production and expenditures , 2010 .

[5]  Carey W. King,et al.  Relating Financial and Energy Return on Investment , 2011 .

[6]  Vasilis Fthenakis,et al.  The optimum mix of electricity from wind- and solar-sources in conventional power systems: Evaluating the case for New York State , 2011 .

[7]  Bob Lloyd,et al.  The transition to renewables: Can PV provide an answer to the peak oil and climate change challenges? , 2010 .

[8]  Hyung Chul Kim,et al.  Photovoltaics: Life-cycle Analyses , 2011 .

[9]  Charles A. S. Hall,et al.  EROI of different fuels and the implications for society , 2014 .

[10]  Cutler J. Cleveland,et al.  Energy quality and energy surplus in the extraction of fossil fuels in the U.S. , 1992 .

[11]  C. Hall,et al.  Revisiting the Limits to Growth After Peak Oil : In the 1970s a rising world population and the finite resources available to support it were hot topics. Interest faded-but it's time to take another look , 2009 .

[12]  K. Mulder,et al.  Energy Return on Investment: Toward a Consistent Framework , 2008, Ambio.

[13]  Robert Ilg,et al.  Update of environmental indicators and energy payback time of CdTe PV systems in Europe , 2011 .

[14]  Ted Trainer,et al.  Can Europe run on renewable energy? A negative case , 2013 .

[15]  Charles A. S. Hall,et al.  Peak Oil, EROI, Investments and the Economy in an Uncertain Future , 2008 .

[16]  Cutler J. Cleveland,et al.  Encyclopedia of Energy , 2004 .

[17]  Charles A. S. Hall,et al.  Petroleum drilling and production in the United States: yield per effort and net energy analysis. , 1981, Science.

[18]  Geociênicias.  Encyclopedia of Earth , 2013 .

[19]  E. Alsema,et al.  Photovoltaics energy payback times, greenhouse gas emissions and external costs: 2004–early 2005 status , 2006 .

[20]  Amy Q. Shen,et al.  Can large-scale advanced-adiabatic compressed air energy storage be justified economically in an age of sustainable energy? , 2009 .

[21]  Robert A. Herendeen,et al.  Net Energy Analysis: Concepts and Methods , 2004 .

[22]  V. Fthenakis,et al.  Coupling PV and CAES power plants to transform intermittent PV electricity into a dispatchable electricity source , 2008 .

[23]  Charles A. S. Hall,et al.  Energy return on investment, peak oil, and the end of economic growth , 2011, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[24]  C. Hall,et al.  Energy and the U.S. Economy: A Biophysical Perspective , 1984, Science.

[25]  Gerald Leach,et al.  Net energy analysis — is it any use? , 1975 .

[26]  Cutler J. Cleveland,et al.  Meta-analysis of net energy return for wind power systems , 2010 .

[27]  Alberto Bertucco,et al.  Energy profitability analysis for microalgal biocrude production , 2013 .

[28]  Paul Denholm,et al.  Evaluating the limits of solar photovoltaics (PV) in electric power systems utilizing energy storage and other enabling technologies , 2007 .

[29]  Seamus D. Garvey,et al.  Analysis of flexible fabric structures for large-scale subsea compressed air energy storage , 2009 .

[30]  Marco Raugei.  Energy pay-back time: methodological caveats and future scenarios , 2012 .

[31]  N. Lewis.  Toward Cost-Effective Solar Energy Use , 2007, Science.

[32]  Eva Pongrácz,et al.  The potential of using biomass-based reducing agents in the blast furnace: A review of thermochemical conversion technologies and assessments related to sustainability , 2013 .

[33]  Frank Kreith,et al.  Economic analysis of solar thermal energy systems , 1988 .

[34]  Charles A. S. Hall,et al.  Year in review—EROI or energy return on (energy) invested , 2010, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[35]  C. Cleveland.  Net energy from the extraction of oil and gas in the United States , 2005 .

[36]  Silvia Bargigli,et al.  Life cycle assessment and energy pay-back time of advanced photovoltaic modules : CdTe and CIS compared to poly-Si , 2007 .

[37]  J. Laherrère,et al.  The End of Cheap Oil , 1998 .

[38]  Charles A. S. Hall,et al.  A New Long Term Assessment of Energy Return on Investment (EROI) for U.S. Oil and Gas Discovery and Production , 2011 .