Is the secondary consumption of renewable energy sustainable? Empirical evidence from the photovoltaic industry in China

Abstract

The vigorous development of renewable energy is an important way to achieve carbon neutrality in China, but the water and electricity consumption of renewable energy in its life cycle is still unclear. This study took the life cycle of photovoltaic (PV) industry as an example, combined the life cycle assessment method, Weibull model and water resources vulnerability index to evaluate the life cycle water and electricity consumptions of PV industry in 31 provinces and cities in China and further analyzed the effects of these consumptions on local resources. The results indicated that the PV industry consumed 7841.08 kg of water and 2580.6 kWh of electricity for 1 kWp. The discarded capacities of China will increase with growing installed capacities and reach nearly 13 GW in 2050, which will lead to significantly increasing usage of water and electricity of PV industry and exert pressure on water and electricity systems. Considering severe situation of water resources in central and northern China and huge demand for electricity in eastern China, the Chinese government should rationally arrange development of PV.