Abstract
Heat pumps are increasingly seen as efficient and cost-effective heating systems also in industrial applications. They can drastically reduce the carbon footprint of heating by utilizing waste heat and renewable electricity. Recent research on Stirling cycle-based very high temperature heat pumps is motivated by their promising role in addressing global environmental and energy-related challenges. Evaluating the environmental footprint of a heat pump is not easy, and the impacts of Stirling cycle-based heat pumps, with a relatively high temperature lift have received little attention. In this work, the environmental footprint of a Stirling cycle-based very high temperature heat pump is evaluated using a “cradle to grave” LCA approach. The results for 15 years of use (including manufacturing phase, operation phase, and decommissioning) of a 500-kW heat output rate system are compared with those of natural gas- and oil-fired boilers. It is found that, for the Stirling cycle-based HP, the global warming potential after of 15 years of use is nearly −5000 kg CO2 equivalent. The Stirling cycle-based HP offers an environmental impact reduction of at least 10% up to over 40% in the categories climate change, photochemical ozone formation, and ozone depletion when compared to gas- and oil-fired boilers, respectively.
Highlights
Energy is one of the sectors that pollute and harm the environment the most [1]
While hardly any work on life cycle assessment (LCA) applied to Stirling cycle-based energy technology has been reported in the open literature, this paper addresses a reversed
The following section assesses the environmental impacts associated with Stirling cycle-based heat pump, natural gas-fired boiler, and oil boiler with design capacity of 500 kW and compares them with a Stirling cycle-based heat pump
Summary
Energy is one of the sectors that pollute and harm the environment the most [1]. A key challenge is to address global environmental problems by supporting energy and environmental conditions in parallel. It is important to change practices and technologies. Total energy use and efficiency are significant motivating factors for assessing the environmental effect of energy use on the environment. It is essential to follow the principles of sustainable development strictly [2]. Aiming at a cleaner and better future, the negative impacts of energy use on the environment can be minimized by implementing the usage of renewable energy sources or by adopting environmentally friendly technologies
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