Life cycle assessment of Australian fossil energy options

Electricity generation in Australia has been almost entirely derived from combustion of its abundant fossil fuel resources. The consumption of these resources, and the emissions produced consequently, are known to impact upon the health of the local, regional, and global environment. To assist in planning Australia's future electricity supply, the environmental impacts from a number of likely fossil electricity production systems have been quantified using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, and conclusions about their suitability derived. Extended systems from cradle to delivery have been defined for brown coal, black coal, and natural gas, utilizing both currently practised and advanced electricity generation technology. The export of black coal and natural gas (as LNG) for power generation overseas was also considered. For currently practised technologies, no one-fuel system has the most significant contribution to all impacts, and no single impact dominates. The most significant impacts were climate change for brown coal systems, acidification, eutrophication, and solid waste generation for black coal systems, and photochemical smog for natural gas systems. For each fuel, advanced technology systems showed reduced impacts compared with conventional technology systems, elucidating the considerable potential for environmental benefits from technological substitution. For immediate implementation, natural gas CCGT systems have distinct advantages for most impact categories.