Investigating the intensity of GHG emissions from electricity production in Iran using renewable sources

Abstract

The emission intensity is considered important data in determining technical and environmental efficiency in power plants. In this research, the goal is to determine the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions in the electricity production sector in Iran under the influence of new energies. To achieve this goal, the total greenhouse gases produced in a year in the electricity sector in fossil and renewable power plants are divided by the total electricity produced and obtained quantitatively in terms of tCO2/kWh. Also, the effect of each primary source of electricity generation is analyzed separately in terms of emission intensity. The results showed that the participation of renewable sources in the highest situation was about 9.5%, and their emission intensity was 2.2 tCO2/kWh. The fossil fuel-based power plant had an estimated emission intensity of 506 tCO2/kWh in the same year. Although the environmental policies in Iran seek to reduce the intensity of emissions, and generally, the growth of this index is negative, there are many fluctuations in this process. With the reduction of rainfall in Iran and the reduction of water behind the dams, the dependence of electricity production on water sources has decreased significantly So that in the year when the precipitation is significant, the intensity of emission has increased from its minimum value of 613.6 tCO2/kWh to 654.34 tCO2/kWh in the year of low rainfall. As a result, it has been suggested that the potential of solar resources, which emission intensity is lower than other renewable sources and is one of the most reliable and stable primary sources, should be used more effectively to reduce the emissions of electricity production sector.