Assessing the impact of climate change and water scarcity of ferronickel production in Indonesia: A life cycle assessment approach

Abstract

In Indonesia, emissions from coal-fired steam power stations are the greatest environmental concern of the nickel industry. Prior researches have exclusively focused on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Meanwhile, this study includes CO2 fossil and CO2 biogenic emissions as well as CO2 absorption by plants into its assessment of the climate change consequences associated with ferronickel production in Indonesia. The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential impacts of climate change and water scarcity on the nickel industry in Indonesia by implementing various power facility scenarios. The methodology chosen for this study was Attributional Life Cycle Assessment (ALCA). The impact of climate change can be reduced by 38.9 %, or from 99,024.7 to 60,522.2 kg CO2 eq/t, if coal fuel is replaced with biomass fuel in steam power plants. By replacing steam power stations fuelled by coal with hydroelectric facilities, the impact of climate change can be reduced by 96 %, from 99,024.7 to 3,993.7 kg CO2 eq/t. This results in a 12.5 % decrease in water scarcity, from 100.3 to 89.1 m3 H2O eq/t. In the nickel industry, hydroelectric power plants are more effective at mitigating climate change than steam power plants powered by coal or biomass.