Correlation Analysis on CO 2 Emission and Cost of Energy Resources and Life Cycle Assessment

The world is moving towards a post-carbon society and needs clean and renewable energy for sustainable development. There are many methodological approaches which are helping this shift based on analyzed data about energy resources and which focus on limited types of energy including liquid fossil, solid fossil, gaseous fossil, and biomass (e.g. IPCC Guidelines, ISO 14064-1, WRI Protocol, etc.). We should also consider environmental impact (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions, water use, etc.) and the economic cost of the renewable energy to make a better decision. Recently, researchers have addressed the environmental impact of new technologies which include photovoltaics, wind turbines, hydroelectric power, and biofuel. In this work, we analyze the environmental impact with a carbon emission factor to present a correlation between CO₂ emission and the cost of energy resources standardized by the energy output. In addition, we reviewed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as another methodology. Researchers who are studying energy systems have ignored the impacts of entire energy systems, e.g. the extraction and processing of fossil fuels. In power sector, the assessment should include extraction, processing, and transportation of fuels, building of power plants, production of electricity, and waste disposal. Therefore LCA could be more suitable tool for energy cost and environmental impact estimation.