Operational Emissions in Prosuming Dwellings: A Study Comparing Different Sources of Grid CO2 Intensity Values in South Wales, UK

Abstract

This paper analysed operational CO2 emissions from electricity grid interaction in photovoltaic prosumer dwellings in South Wales, UK. Operational CO2 emissions were quantified in four prosumer dwellings aiming to analyse (1) the differences in the result when time-varying data and static emission factors are used, and (2) the association of load-matching indicators to the results. Electricity balance data were obtained through monitoring (April 2020 to March 2021), and three sources for the grid’s CO2 intensity were considered: (1) UK nationwide average time-varying values (UK), (2) South Wales (SW) average time-varying values and (3) the UK Government’s official CO2 emissions factor (EF) for the study period. UK and SW grid CO2 intensity were obtained as dynamic data flows in a 30 min resolution, whereas EF was a year constant. Gross CO2 emissions calculated using SW data reached the highest emissions results: between 67.5% and 69.3% higher than the results obtained using the UK time-varying data, and between 41.1% and 45.1% higher than using the EF. The differences between the obtained yearly net emissions using dynamic data and the EF in each studied dwelling ranged between 6.2% and 294%. Results also show that the definition of geographic boundaries for location-based approach calculations can significantly affect the obtained emissions values.