Materials, resources, and CO2 impacts of building new renewable power plants to reach EU's goals of carbon neutrality

Abstract

The European Union's low carbon power plants installed capacity needs to increase by 90% by 2030. Using a spreadsheet model, we calculate the total amounts of construction materials (henceforth materials) and natural resources (henceforth resources) used for the new renewable and nuclear power plants. Considering concrete, glass, and steel as materials and sand and water as resources, future CO2e impacts are estimated using 2010–2020 as a reference. To test if circular economy measures reduce the effects of materials and resource consumption, we derive three near-future scenarios for the decade 2020–2030: business as usual (BAU), EU manufacture (EUM), and circular (CIRC). Independent of the scenario, CO2e emissions double from increasing low-carbon power plants. Circular economy substantially lowers resource consumption but not carbon emissions. With 90% recycling (CIRC), we spare 90% sand and 5% water compared to a BAU scenario. Resource-efficient power plant design and major technological advancement in recycling processes are needed to fulfill a CIRC scenario.