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The impact of our societies on the environment is at the heart of today’s concerns. Industrialisation, fossil fuels, urbanisation, and deforestation are the main factors driving climate change, whose effects are growing stronger every year. This phenomenon has global consequences. This phenomenon has global consequences and is also reflected in local weather changes (precipitation, groundwater levels, temperatures, etc.) with repercussions on water supply and on food and energy production.
The strategy to address these challenges relies on increasing the penetration of renewable energy in the global energy mix. However, this transition may lead to some instability in the electric grid due to the variable nature of renewable resources. Hybrid renewable energy systems emerge as a promising solution, helping to reduce this variability and optimize electricity production in specific geographic areas.
To assess how sustainable these hybrid renewable energy systems are, the Hybrid for Renewable Energy System project (HY4RES) project focuses on measuring the holistic impact through a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA).
This methodology can balance several sustainability factors – environmental, economic, and social, also known as the three pillars of sustainability, across the entire value chain of a hybrid renewable energy system. LCSA is defined as the combination of environmental LCA (base LCA – Life Cycle Assessment), life cycle costing (LCC) and social LCA (S-LCA) and should follow the systematic methodology of LCA. As per, ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards LCA is carried out in four phases – Phase 1 – Goal and Scope Definition, Phase 2 – Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Analysis, Phase 3 – Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA), Phase 4 – Results Interpretation. Integrating the three approaches into a comprehensive LCSA is natural since LCC and S-LCA measure the economic and social sustainability dimensions using comparable procedures outlined in ISO 14040. LCSA adopts a comprehensive and holistic approach to Sustainability and could be a decisive framework for financing climate change mitigation actions, as well as a useful tool for preventing greenwashing and inappropriate solutions.
As part of the impact assessment process carried out in HY4RES, the economic and environmental consulting company Vertigo Lab conducted a series of interviews with development managers of three of the pilot sites. The aim of these interviews was to identify the specific features of each project at an early stage, in order to define a relevant and appropriate scope of analysis. This preliminary work is decisive in guaranteeing a rigorous and consistent assessment of socio-economic, social and environmental impacts, while considering the particularities of each site.
The diversity of the pilot sites represents a major challenge for the implementation of a harmonised evaluation methodology. Each site has unique characteristics in terms of level of maturity, scale, purpose and technologies employed. The interviews conducted helped to identify these specific features, to understand the expectations of the stakeholders and to anticipate the points of concern that could impact the analysis. This preliminary phase enables us to ensure consistency in the evaluation criteria, while preserving the flexibility needed to faithfully reflect the reality of each project.
Théo Breidenstein-Jullien, consultant-researcher at Vertigo Lab, explains the process:
“One of the major objectives of our approach is to apply comparable evaluation methodologies in order to draw global conclusions while respecting local singularities. To do this, we need to define common indicators while integrating specific criteria linked to each pilot site. This process guarantees a detailed and operational analysis of the impacts, providing responses adapted to local and global issues. By aligning our assessments with a structured and concerted approach, we ensure that we produce relevant and actionable results for all stakeholders.”
This preparatory work is therefore a decisive step towards the success of future impact assessments and the implementation of sustainable and effective solutions at each of the HY4RES pilot sites. The next steps will be to finalise the evaluation frameworks, engage local stakeholders in a collaborative process and start collecting field data to refine analyses.
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