Journal of Cleaner Production 69 (2014) 153e164

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Energy, emissions and environmental impact analysis of wind turbine

using life cycle assessment technique
Md. Shazib Uddin a, b, *, S. Kumar a
a
b

Energy Field of Study, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology, Rajshahi 6204, Bangladesh

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 30 August 2013
Received in revised form
27 November 2013
Accepted 26 January 2014
Available online 3 February 2014

Wind turbine used for electricity generation is known as clean and renewable energy technology. The
worldwide increasing trend of wind turbine installation present and future projection addressing the
issue of energy required for manufacture and environmental impact due to energy consumption. The life
cycle energy and environmental impact of wind turbine has been studied in many literature, but some
studies are based on average data, the life cycle stages are incomplete of some study, most of the
literature are horizontal axis type and the literature for Asian developing countries are rare. In addition,
the life cycle study of vertical axis wind turbine is unusual. Since, the life cycle assessment (LCA) study
varied from location to location due to industrial performance, countries energy mix and related issues, a
life cycle embodied energy, emissions and environmental impacts analysis were undertaken for two grid
connected rooftop wind turbines (vertical axis and horizontal axis) considering the industrial performance, applications and related issues in Thailand. The life cycle assessment was done using SimaPro
7.3.3 software from cradle to grave for base case and for alternative cases. The result showed that, wind
turbine installation in Thailand at Chiangmai is reliable to deliver wind energy over the year compared to
Phuket and Surat Thani Island. The vertical axis wind turbine is energy and emission intensive per kWh/
year energy delivered compared to horizontal axis wind turbine for base case system. The embodied
energy and environmental impact could be possible to reduce by more than 60% and 50% respectively
using reuse of materials strategy. The embodied energy of vertical axis wind turbine could be possible to
reduce by 36% with thermoplastic and 40% with berglass plastic turbine instead of aluminum turbine,
while the environmental impact reduction more than 15% has been observed. The energy intensity, CO2
emission intensity and energy payback time found to be lower when compared with literature.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Wind turbine
Life cycle approach
Energy
Emission
Environmental impact
Comparative study

1. Introduction
The energy availability and environmental threat due to combustion of fossil fuel (Natural gas, oil and coal) is the exciting issues
for the researchers now a day. The world population in 2007 was
6.6 billion and is expected to about 8.2 billion in 2030, which indicates the importance of energy requirements in near future
(World Nuclear Association, 2012). Currently, fossil fuels are the
major sources of energy and its share is about 87% of global total
energy consumption in 2011. The present reserve of fossil resources
are limited (gas 29,400 billion m3, oil 260,000 million barrels and

* Corresponding author. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology, Rajshahi 6204, Bangladesh. Tel.: 88 (0)
1782369498; fax: 88 (0)721750319.
E-mail
addresses:
shazib0397@gmail.com,
p_k_m_shazib@yahoo.com,
msu0397@yahoo.com (Md.S. Uddin).
0959-6526/$ e see front matter 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.01.073

coal 49,600 million tons) (Meindertsma and Blok, 2012). Based on

current consumption rate (10,600 million ton oil equivalent in
2011) (Dudley, 2012), the proof reserves are not sufcient to meet
the future energy demand. Conversely, environmental impacts are
other issues due to presence of green house gases (GHG) in the
atmosphere comes from the combustion of fossil fuel. The world
GHG emission in 2010 was 54 Gt CO2-eq (Parry, 2012) and is projected to 70 Gt CO2-eq in 2050, which is signicant and danger for
human living in near future (Akashi et al., 2012). Global electricity
generation has been increased by 3.1% in 2011 referring to last 10
years average (BP Statistical Review, 2012), but still two billion
people of the world have no access to electricity (World Nuclear
Association, 2012).
Because of the aforementioned issues, renewable energy technologies (RETs) are playing an important role and its applications
increasing worldwide. Renewable would be the world largest second power generation sources by 2015 (World energy outlook,
2012).

154

Md.S. Uddin, S. Kumar / Journal of Cleaner Production 69 (2014) 153e164

Wind turbine is one of the widely used renewable energy

technologies worldwide for electricity generation. It is a clean energy technology. Countries worldwide are providing taxes and incentives to promote wind turbine (KPMG International cooperative,
2011). Global wind turbine installation capacity was 18 GW in 2000
and is increased to 238 GW in 2011 (IEA, 2012). Thailand current
electricity generation capacity using wind turbine is 7.28 MW and
the generation target is 1200 MW by 2021 for the reduction target
is 76 million ton CO2/yr (Cheokul, 2012). However, the wind turbine
does not produce emission in the environment during its operation
stage, but it produce harmful emission during manufacture,
transport, disposal, etc.
Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a technique that quanties the energy consumption, emissions and environmental impacts of a
product or system throughout the life cycle stages (Cradle to gate or
cradle to grave) namely, extraction of raw materials, transportation,
manufacture, installation and disposal with recycling (Pehnt,
2006). The LCA study provides the useful information to developers, designers, policy makers and researchers, to develop and
promote the technology. The environmental regulatory team can
benet to establish benchmarks in national and international level.
The life cycle assessment of wind turbine has been published.
The environmental impacts were published for a wind rm located
in Spain (Martinez et al., 2009). In this study, foundation is the
major contributors to the environmental impacts. The recycling of
materials reduced the impacts signicantly. The energy and carbon
emissions of rooftop wind turbine in New-Zealand have been
studied (Mithraratne, 2009). In this study, the rooftop wind turbine
installation have the potential to reduce the energy and carbon
intensity by 81% and 26% respectively compared to wind rm using
large turbine. The emissions of 141.5 MW wind rm in Brazil have
been studied (Oebels and Pacca, 2013). The study showed that,
more than 50% emissions come from the manufacture of tower,
where the transportation is responsible for 6% only. The CO2emission intensity found to 7.10 g CO2/kWh in Brazil. The energy
and environmental performance of an Italian wind rm for the
generation of 1 kWh electricity using the average European data
have been studied (Ardente et al., 2008). In this study, energy intensity varies from 0.04 to 0.07 kWhprim/kWhel and CO2 emission
intensity varies from 8.8 to 18.5 g/kWh. The payback indexes found
to lower than 1 year.
The literature shows that, material recycle/reuse, complete life
cycle stages, extraction of raw materials were not taken into account in some studies (Crawford, 2009; Ardente et al., 2008), The
detail life cycle analysis considering all the aspects (energy, emission and environmental impacts) are not taken into account in
most of the studies (Martinez et al., 2009; Mithraratne, 2009;
Oebels and Pacca, 2013; Crawford, 2009; Ardente et al., 2008).
Furthermore, the sizes of the systems in the literature are different
and the LCA studies were conducted at different location and
conditions. Most of the LCA study of wind turbine reported for
horizontal axis type and the literature are other than Asian developing countries (Lenzen and Munksgaard, 2002). In addition, the
vertical axis wind turbine is relatively new and currently under
developing mode (Parsons and Chatterton, 2011). The LCA study of
vertical axis wind turbine is rare. The advantages of vertical axis
wind turbine over horizontal axis wind turbine are, lower noise and
vibration, reliable for multidirectional wind velocity, easy to install,
simple design, can captured turbulent wind and no gear box is
required (Clean eld Energy Company Limited, 2012).
The objectives of this study are to estimate the life cycle energy
consumption, emissions and environmental impacts of vertical axis
and horizontal axis wind turbine over all the life cycle stages. The
study was conducted for base case and alternative cases for possible
improvement to promote the wind turbine. Since, the countries

industrial performance, energy policy, transportation, etc greatly

inuence the LCA results, the novelty of this study lies in the national industries data, transportation, country energy mix and
application in Asian developing country Thailand. The LCA study for
vertical axis wind turbine is an extended novelty of this study. The
inventory stages namely, extraction of raw materials, transportation, manufacture of component parts, distribution, installation, use and disposal were considered to conduct LCA study. The
life cycle embodied energy consumptions (MJ-eq), emissions (air,
water) and environmental impacts of wind turbine from cradle to
grave were estimated. The alternative cases namely, reuse of materials and alternative materials were considered for the potential
reductions of energy consumption and environmental impacts. The
life time of the wind turbine was considered 20 years based on the
data provided by the wind turbine seller in Thailand. The application of the wind turbine for energy generation was considered at
three wind potential sites (Phuket Island, Surat Thani Island and
Chiangmai) in Thailand. The comparative study with other literature has been also studied. The capital goods, building construction,
vehicle manufacture, machine manufacture, etc were excluded for
the estimation of embodied energy consumption, emissions and
environmental impacts.
2. Methodology
The methodology to estimate the life cycle (cradle to grave)
embodied energy (MJeq); emissions in air namely, carbon monoxide
(CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrogen oxide (NOx)
and sulphur dioxide (SOx); emissions in water namely, chemical
oxygen demand (COD), dissolve organic carbon (DOC), suspended
solids, phosphate (PO4) and sulphate (SO4); environmental impacts
namely, global warming potential (kg CO2-eq), acidication (kg
SO2-eq) and eutrophication (kg PO4-eq) of selected wind turbine is
presented in this Section.
According to International Organization for Standardization
(ISO), the methodological framework of LCA study consists four
phases namely, goal and scope, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation the results. Goal and scope describes the
objectives of the study and selection the product to be considered
for LCA study. Inventory analysis is the key phase for LCA study. It
includes the life cycle stages from cradle to grave and data to be
collected for the estimation of LCA results from each stage within
the system boundary. The description of wind turbine, system
boundary, data and estimation, presentation the results and analysis are described as follows:
2.1. System description
Two types of grid connected wind turbines were considered
(300 W vertical axis and 500 W horizontal axis) for the estimation
of life cycle embodied energy, emissions and environmental impacts. The descriptions of the wind turbine systems are given as
follows:
 Vertical axis wind turbine
The component part of the vertical axis wind turbine includes
turbine, rotor, three frame, tower, generator, switchboard and
inverter. The turbine made of aluminum support and 12 slice of
aluminum fan set at a certain angle to receive the wind. Rotor is
made of galvanized steel set at the centre of the turbine and joint
with aluminum support. Three frames made of aluminum acts as an
external support for the turbine. A 6 m height and 25 cm outside
diameter hollow galvanized steel tower were considered for
rooftop installation. Disc generator without iron core inside,

Md.S. Uddin, S. Kumar / Journal of Cleaner Production 69 (2014) 153e164

155

Fig. 1. Vertical axis wind turbine (taken from Energy Park at AIT).

Fig. 2. Horizontal axis wind turbine (taken from Energy Park at AIT).

inverter (500 W) and plastics switchboard was considered as an

electrical component. The sample vertical axis wind turbine (Fig. 1)
and its features (Table 1) are given as follows:

manufacture industries in Thailand. The quantity raw materials

required for the manufacture of component parts are considered
for extraction. The extracted raw materials are then transported to
component parts manufacture industry.

 Horizontal axis wind turbine

The major component parts of horizontal axis wind turbine are
turbine blades, nacelle, tail rod, tower, switchboard and inverter.
The turbine blades (3 blades) are made of berglass plastics. Nacelle
includes generator and gear arrangement inside. The cover of the
nacelle made of aluminum. Permanent magnet generator with
small size of gear meshed was used for the system. The tail rod
made of aluminum which controls the wind direction during
operation. The dimension and materials of tower is similar as
described in earlier paragraph (Section 2.1). The inverter, switchboard was considered as an electrical component. The sample
horizontal axis wind turbine (Fig. 2) and its features (Table 2) are
given as follows:
2.2. LCA system boundary
The LCA system boundary from cradle to grave for the estimation of life cycle embodied energy, emissions and environmental
impacts of wind turbine are shown in Fig. 3. The system boundary
includes the stages were considered for LCA study. The stages are
described as follows:
2.2.1. Stage 1:
The quantities of component materials (steel, aluminum, etc) for
one unit grid connected wind turbine system were collected from
the wind turbine supplier in Thailand. Based on the quantity
required for the assembly of wind turbine, the basic raw materials
(silica, ingot, etc) were estimated from the component parts

2.2.3. Stage 3:
The component parts are then transported to supplier or
distributor at an average distance of 25 km from the industry. The
suppliers are supplied the individual parts to the customer installation site. No production is considered in this stage. Handling and
cleaning of the parts in this stage is assumed to be manual.
2.2.4. Stage 4:
The individual parts are then assembled at the installation site
for operation. Assembly the component parts are assumed to be

Table 2
Specications of horizontal axis wind turbine.a

Table 1
Specications of vertical axis wind turbine.a
Parameters

Values

Type
Rated power
Rated wind speed
Start wind speed
Safe wind speed
Life time

Vertical axis
300 W
12 m/s
1.5 m/s
40 m/s
20 years

2.2.2. Stage 2:
The component parts are manufactured using the raw materials
and industrial processes. The component parts manufacture industries in Thailand related to studied wind turbine are mostly
recycling. It should be noted that, 99% recycling in steel industry,
50% recycling in aluminum industry, 80% recycling in copper industry, 30% recycling in plastic industry and 30% recycling in
berglass plastic industry are observed as per manufacturer
considered in Thailand. The recycling ratios were selected as per
government policy, industries rules and regulations for quality
product. The component parts manufacture industry in Thailand
received the raw materials from local and abroad. The local transportations were considered small trucks (16 ton) and delivery vans
(<3.5 ton). Transoceanic freight ship was considered for the
transportation from abroad. The transportation inside the industry
assumed to be negligible.

From the instruction manual, energy park, AIT.

Parameters

Values

Type
Rated power
Rated wind speed
Rated rotate speed
Rotor diameter
Start-up wind speed
Life time

Horizontal axis
500 W
12 m/s
650 rev/min
1.7 m
2.5 m/s
20 years

From the instruction manual, energy park, AIT.

156

Md.S. Uddin, S. Kumar / Journal of Cleaner Production 69 (2014) 153e164

Fig. 3. LCA system boundary.

manual for installation. The installation site is considered 30 km

apart from the supplier and transportation is by delivery van. The
customer beneted from the system until its end life. During
operation, the use of lubricant on wind turbine is considered
negligible.
At the end of life, the system disassembled and is ready to
dispose. The disposal scenarios are divided as follows:
2.2.5. Stage 5:
A portion of the wind turbine materials could not be recovered
as reuses or recycle material. So, the materials are considered to
landll as waste. The location of the landll was considered 5 km
apart from the installation site and transportation is by small truck.
2.2.6. Stage 6:
A portion of the wind turbine materials could be reused as
component materials (steel, aluminum, etc) and sent to supplier.
The transportation was considered by delivery van.
2.2.7. Stage 7:
The remaining portion was considered as recycle materials and
sent to the component parts manufacture industry. The location of
the industry was considered 40 km apart from the installation sites
and transportation by delivery van.
All the stages within the system boundary were taken into
consideration for the data (raw materials, energy and transportation) collection.
2.3. Data and estimation
The data required for the estimation of life cycle embodied energy, emissions and environmental impacts of wind turbine were
collected from the related industries in Thailand following the
system boundary stages (Fig. 3). The input data (raw materials,
energy and transportation) were collected from the industries using questionnaire per unit production basis and then calculated as

per requirements. The data were then veried checking the consistency and neutrality with industries annual report, available
literature, etc (KME-EPD, 2011; Rankin, 2012). The raw materials for
the extraction were estimated based on the quantities required in
the component materials manufacture industry. The quantities
required for the component materials manufacture industry were
estimated based on the mass allocation of the materials for one unit
wind turbine system. Three types of transportation mode namely,
trucks, vans and ships were considered for the estimation of
embodied energy, emissions and environmental impacts. The
quantities of component materials allocation for the selected vertical axis (Table 3) and horizontal axis (Table 4) wind turbines are
given as follows:
SimaPro 7.3.3 software (PRe Sustainability, 2012) was used to
estimate the embodied energy, emissions and environmental impacts for the given quantities of input data. The steps/approach for
the estimation is shown in Fig. 4. At the end of data collection and
verication, the preparation of input data and assumption is
required. The data is then input in the software for the calculation.
The calculation requires the selection of method available in the
software and analyze. The estimated values of energy consumption,
emissions and environmental impacts for the given input data are
available in the inventory list of the software. The values are then
drawn from the inventory list to estimate the life cycle results. The

Table 3
Component materials and transportation for one unit vertical
axis wind turbine system.a
Materials

Quantity

Aluminum (kg)
Galvanized steel (kg)

13.5
42.5

Transportation:
Trucks (t km)
Van (t km)
Ships (t km)

3.1
2.9
44.6

Selling company, Thailand.

Md.S. Uddin, S. Kumar / Journal of Cleaner Production 69 (2014) 153e164

Table 4
Component materials and transportation for one unit horizontal axis wind turbine
system.
Materials

Quantity

Plastic (kg)a
Aluminum (kg)a
Galvanized steel (kg)a
Permanent Magnet (kg) (Ancona and Veigh, 2001)
Copper (kg) (Ancona and Veigh, 2001)

1.2
12
42.1
1.6
0.9

Transportation:
Trucks (t km)a
Van (t km)a
Ships (t km)a

3.1
5.6
42.8

Selling company, Thailand.

embodied energy and emissions were estimated using the method

Eco-indicator 99 (H) available in the software. The impacts were
estimated using the method CML 2001 available in the software.
The procedure of the software program for the estimation is
described as follows:
 Life cycle embodied energy estimation
SimaPro software database contains the values of embodied
energy for the extraction of raw materials per unit production.
Hence, for given quantities of raw materials the embodied energy
was estimated. Similarly, the embodied energy for the transportation per t km (ton materials  km travel) is also available in
the database for different vehicles and was estimated for the given
input t km. The operating energy (MJequivalent) was estimated from
the stages other than extraction stage. The life cycle total embodied
energy were estimated by summing up the embodied energy for
extracted materials, all transportation, operating energy at various
stages and embodied energy for inverter.
 Life cycle emission estimation
SimaPro software database contains the values of emissions (air,
water) per unit resources (raw materials, energy, t km, etc)

157

consumption (Michigan Techs Research Group, 2011). The emissions were estimated using the available values in the database for
the given quantities of input raw materials, operating energy and
t km. The emissions for the operating energy were estimated based
on Thailand electricity mix are 71% gas, 12% coal, 8% hydro and 9%
renewable (Thailand Ministry of Energy, 2012). The emissions from
extraction, transportations, operating energy were then summed to
estimate the life cycle total emission.
 Life cycle environmental impact estimation
The environmental impacts (GWP, acidication and eutrophication) due to emissions in the environment were estimated using
the available method CML-2001 in the SimaPro software. The
impacts are presented in terms of kg-eq. The emissions those are
responsible for the impacts are classied. Each emission has a potential to contribute on several impact categories at the same time.
The impact potential of an emission is characterized by a numerical
value is called impact coefcient. The characterization values are
available for varieties of emissions in the software database. The
impact of a particular emission is calculated multiplying the characterization value with the quantity emission. The numbers of
emissions falls within the categories are summed by multiplying
their characterization values to obtain the total impact (Goedkoop,
2012). The life cycle environmental impacts were calculated
considering all the emissions within the boundary system.
 Wind power estimation
The power generation characteristics by the vertical axis wind
turbine for different wind speed (m/s) are shown in Fig. 5 provided
by the selling company (instruction manual) in Thailand. It is seen
that the power generation characteristics for vertical axis wind
turbine at different wind speed is quite proportional.
The monthly electricity generation for vertical axis wind turbine
was calculated using the power generation characteristics curve
(Fig. 5) for the selected locations.
The power generation for horizontal axis wind turbine at the
selected locations was calculated using the Betz law of wind power
(RWE Npower Renewable). According to Betz law, the wind power
is calculated using the equation as follows:

P 1=2  r  A  V 3

(1)

where, r air density (1.23 kg/m3 at standard atmospheric condition), A Swept area of turbine blade (m2), V wind velocity (m/s)

Fig. 4. Approach to estimate the energy consumption, emissions and environmental

impacts.

Fig. 5. Power generation characteristics of vertical axis wind turbine.

(Source: Selling company in Thailand).

158

Md.S. Uddin, S. Kumar / Journal of Cleaner Production 69 (2014) 153e164

3.1. Energy generations

Table 5
Monthly mean wind speed at three potential locations in Thailand.
Average wind speed (m/s)

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

(Phuket Island
at 36 m above
ground level)
(EGAT, 2006)

(Surat Thani
Island at 30 m
above ground level)
(PEA, 2010)

(Chiangmai at 30 m
above ground level)
(Chaichana and Chaitep, 2010)

4.9
5
5
4.2
6
4
5.7
6
6.8
5.5
4
4.7

5.73
5.12
5.20
3.97
5.99
6.27
5.70
6.66
6.16
4.51
4.58
6.64

7.6
8.5
9.3
11.9
12.7
11.4
10.8
10.8
10
9.2
8.1
7.7

 Wind availability

According to Albert Betz, no wind turbine that converts more

than 59% kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical energy in
the rotating rotor and it is called Betz limit. The wind turbine
converts 70% of Betz limit into electrical energy. Hence, the
extractable wind power was calculated using the equation as
follows:

P 1=2  r  A  V 3  Cp

Life cycle energy analysis of renewable energy technologies requires the quantity of energy generation by the system. The electricity generations of wind turbines were estimated considering the
wind velocity of three potential sites namely, Phuket Island, Surat
Thani Island and Chiangmai in Thailand. The sites were selected
based on the wind data availability (Thailand Electricity Generation
Authority, 2006). The estimation of electricity generations are
described as follows:

(2)

where, Cp is the power coefcient 0.41 (for best design wind

turbine)
2.4. Assumptions
The assumptions for the estimation of life cycle embodied energy, emissions and environmental impacts of wind turbine are
presented as follows:
 The embodied energy, emissions and environmental impacts
during maintenance for the use of lubricant were neglected as
their effect on overall result is negligible.
 The micro inverter was considered in this study and the life time
of inverter was considered 20 years (Sher and Addoweesh,
2012).
 No degradation of performance was assumed due to dust formation on the turbine blade. Since, the system was considered
to install on rooftop at average of 30 m height.
 The electricity loss in the inverter was assumed to be negligible.
 The embodied energy, emissions and environmental impacts of
connecting wire and circuit board were neglected as their effects on overall results are negligible.
 The embodied energy, emissions and environmental impacts for
the manufacture of vehicle for transportation, factory building
and machinery were not taken into account.
 The embodied energy and emissions for cutting, bending,
disassembly, etc was not taken into consideration as their effects
on overall result are negligible.
3. Results and discussions
The results of the study are presented in this Section. The
functional unit for the life cycle assessment was chosen per kWh/
year energy generation. The energy generation was considered at
Chiangmai. The results and discussions of the study are presented
in the following Sub-sections.

The mean wind speed of Thailand usually varies from 2.5 m/s to
4 m/s from the northern part to southern part respectively
(Thailand Electricity Generation Authority, 2006). The annual
monthly average wind velocities (m/s) for the selected sites are
given in Table 5. It is seen that the wind velocity for Chiangmai is
higher and Phuket Island is lower at the same elevation.
The characteristics of wind velocity at three selected locations
over the year are shown in Fig. 6. The wind velocity at Chiangmai is
quite uniform over the year and higher wind velocity is observed
from April to June. The wind velocity for Phuket and Surat Thani
Island are almost similar characteristics and uniform over the year
but lower in magnitude compared to Chiangmai.
 Electricity generations
The electricity generations for vertical axis and horizontal axis
wind turbine at the selected sites are given in Table 6. The estimation was done using 35% load hour of wind per year (Oebels and
Pacca, 2013; Crawford, 2009). It is seen that the total electricity
generation per year for Chiangmai is higher and for Phuket Island is
lower at the same elevation among the selected sites. This is due to
the availability of wind velocity for Chiangmai is higher than that of
Phuket and Surat Thani Island over the year.
The characteristics of electricity generation of wind turbines
over the year for the selected sites are shown in Fig. 7. The electricity generation of vertical axis and horizontal axis wind turbine
for Chiangmai is higher compared to Phuket and Surat Thani Island.
The generation is higher from April to September a year and is quite
uniform. The electricity generation characteristics for Phuket and
Surat Thani Island are similar for two types of wind turbine. The
electricity generation for Surat Thani Island is higher from May to
September and December to January. During the other months of
the year, the wind turbines will not be able to deliver electricity
satisfactorily. The Phuket Island is only able to generate higher
electricity from JulyeSeptember and May.
Hence, the installation of wind turbine in Chiangmai is better
and reliable to deliver wind energy over the year compared to
Phuket Island and Surat Thani Island.
3.2. LCA results for base case
The life cycle estimation of embodied energy, emissions and
environmental impacts for base case was considered from raw
materials extraction to disposal (stages 1e5) of wind turbine
without recovery of materials (Fig. 3). It was assumed that, 100%
materials of wind turbine at the end of life sent to landll. The
results of the base case are described as follows.
3.2.1. Life cycle total embodied energy
The life cycle total embodied energy is the sum of energy
required at all the life cycle stages consists, extraction, manufacture, transportation, installation, maintenance and disposal of wind

Md.S. Uddin, S. Kumar / Journal of Cleaner Production 69 (2014) 153e164

159

extraction of raw materials (stage 1) are less compared to energy

requires for the manufacture of component parts (stage 2) for two
types of wind turbine. This is due to the component materials (steel,
aluminum, plastics, etc) manufacture industries considered are
recycling industry. The recycle industry consumes less raw materials
and operating energy. The embodied energy for the stage 3 (use) and
stage 4 (disposal) are negligible compared to stage 1 and 2 as the
stages 3 and 4 energy requires only for transportation. Hence,
manufacture stage (stage 2) is the energy intensive stage (share is
75% of total life cycle embodied energy) and turbine is the energy
intensive component of wind turbine systems.

Fig. 6. Wind velocity characteristics over the year for the selected sites.

turbine. The life cycle total estimated embodied energy for vertical
axis and horizontal axis wind turbine systems are 532 MJ and
590 MJ equivalent (MJeq) respectively. The embodied energy for
vertical axis and horizontal axis wind turbine per functional unit
are 0.98 MJeq and 0.33 MJeq respectively. Hence, vertical axis wind
turbine is energy intensive compared to horizontal axis wind
turbine.
3.2.2. Life cycle embodied energy distribution
Wind turbine construction is required varieties of component
materials have a diversied characteristics. The distinguish
contribution of materials on embodied energy draw an importance
of energy distribution. In addition, the entire life cycle of wind
turbine consists several stages (Fig. 3). Hence, to investigate the
energy intensive stages, the study of life cycle embodied energy
distribution is important. Table 7 shows the breakdown of
embodied energy for major parts and stages per functional unit.
The embodied energy characteristics over the life cycle stages for
vertical axis and horizontal axis wind turbine are shown in Fig. 8. The
stage 3 (supplier) was not included as there is no production and
internal transportation is negligible. The characteristics of distributions are similar for two types of wind turbine. The area occupied
under the trend for vertical axis wind turbine is higher than that of
horizontal axis wind turbine. It implies that the embodied energy
required for vertical axis wind turbine is higher than that of horizontal axis wind turbine. It is seen that, the energy requires for the
Table 6
Electricity generation per unit wind turbine per month.
Electricity generation per unit wind turbine per month (kWh)

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Total/yr

Phuket Island at
36 m above ground
level

Surat Thani Island at

30 m above ground
level

Chiangmai at 30 m
above ground level

Vertical

Horizontal

Vertical

Horizontal

Vertical

Horizontal

8
8
8
3
15
2
14
15
20
11
2
7
113

17
18
18
11
31
9
27
31
46
24
9
15
256

14
8
9
2
15
16
13
19
15
5
6
18
140

27
19
20
9
31
36
27
43
34
13
14
42
315

23
32
42
63
71
59
55
55
50
39
25
24
539

63
89
116
243
295
214
182
182
144
112
77
66
1782

3.2.3. Life cycle embodied energy share

The percentage contributions of component parts on life cycle
total embodied energy are different. It is important to investigate
the parts which are acting dominant share of energy on total
embodied energy. The energy shares of component parts are shown
in Fig. 9.
 Vertical axis wind turbine
Turbine is the major energy share component and the share is
about 50% of life cycle total embodied energy (Fig. 9). The turbine is
made of energy intensive material (aluminum). External three
frames are made of aluminum and energy share is about 20%. A 6 m
height and 25 cm outside diameter hollow galvanized steel tower
were considered for rooftop installation and the energy share is
about 16%, though the quantity required is high. This is because of
the steel industry considered for this study is 99% recycling.
Auxiliary component includes inverter, nails, generator, etc and
there share is about 10%.
 Horizontal axis wind turbine
Turbine head (nacelle) is the major energy share component and
its share is about 50% of total life cycle embodied energy (Fig. 9).
The turbine head is made of energy intensive materials
(aluminum). Turbine blade is made of berglass plastics and is
lowest energy intensive component due to the industry considered
for this study is 30% recycling. Auxiliary component includes
inverter, nails, generator, etc and their energy share is about 20%.
The specication of the tower is same as vertical axis wind turbine
and its share is about 18%.
3.2.4. Life cycle emissions and environmental impacts
The life cycle total emissions and environmental impacts (sum
of emissions and impacts in extraction, transportation, manufacture, installation, use and disposal) per functional unit for two types
of wind turbine are shown in Table 8. The major air emission, water
emission and environmental impacts are CO2, SO4 and GWP
respectively. The CO2 and SO4 emissions per functional unit are
0.24 kg and 9.55 gm respectively for vertical axis wind turbine,
where 0.08 kg and 3.39 gm respectively for horizontal axis wind
turbine. The GWP for vertical axis and horizontal axis wind turbine
are 0.27 kg CO2-eq, and 0.09 kg CO2-eq respectively. The estimated
values of acidication and eutrophication are insignicant
compared to GWP. Hence, the vertical axis wind turbine is emission
intensive compared to horizontal axis wind turbine. In addition, the
turbine and stage 2 are the emission intensive component and
stage respectively as the energy share is high.
3.3. LCA results for alternative cases
The alternative cases were considered based on the analysis in
Section 3.2.The potential improvement opportunities of wind

160

Md.S. Uddin, S. Kumar / Journal of Cleaner Production 69 (2014) 153e164

Fig. 7. Electricity generation characteristics of wind turbine over the year for selected sites.

turbine were investigated. The sensitivity analysis was considered

for the estimation of embodied energy, emissions and environmental impacts. The detail sensitivity and LCA results for the
alternative cases are presented as follows:
 Vertical axis wind turbine
- The materials of turbine are aluminum. The aluminum could
be reused as component materials at the end life of wind
turbine and the percentages of reuse considered are 100%, 90%
and 80%.
- The turbine materials (aluminum) could be replaced by
thermoplastics.
- The turbine materials (aluminum) could be replaced by
berglass plastics.
- The materials for three external frames are aluminum. The
material could be reused at the end life of wind turbine and
the percentages of reuse considered are 100%, 90% and 80%.
The reuse materials sent to supplier 30 km apart from the
installation site.
 Horizontal axis wind turbine
- Turbine blade (3 kg berglass), ange and shield (1.2 kg
thermoplastics) were considered as recycle materials and sent
to industry 40 km apart from the installation site.
- Turbine head and tail (12 kg aluminum) could be reused at the
end life of wind turbine and sent to supplier 30 km apart from
the installation site.
- The magnet of magnetic generator could be reused at the end
life of wind turbine.
 Tower
A hollow tower of 6 m height and 25 cm outside diameter was
considered for wind turbine installation on rooftop.
- The material of tower is galvanized steel. The tower material
could be reused at the end life of wind turbine and the percentages of reuse considered are 100%, 90% and 80%.

The life cycle results of alternative cases are presented in terms

of base case and alternative cases as follows:
3.3.1. Effect of reuse of materials on embodied energy
The embodied energy of vertical axis and horizontal axis wind
turbine per functional unit for alternative case (reuse) is presented
in Fig. 10. Figure shows that a reduction of 89%, 80% and 71%
embodied energy of vertical axis wind turbine could be possible for
100%, 90% and 80% reuse of materials respectively. Reduction of
embodied energy of horizontal axis wind turbine for 100%, 90% and
80% reuse are 73%, 66% and 59%, respectively. Hence, the potential
reduction using reuse case for vertical axis wind turbine is higher
than that of horizontal axis wind turbine.
3.3.2. Effect of alternative materials on embodied energy
Turbine is the energy and emission intensive component of
vertical axis wind turbine as discussed in Section 3.2. Turbine fan is
made of aluminum (8.5 kg). Instead of aluminum, thermoplastic
and berglass was considered as fan materials, as they are light in
weight and less energy and emission intensive. Thermoplastic
quantity of 2 kg and density of 1470 kg/m3 was considered as a
replacement of 8.5 kg aluminum for the estimation of embodied
energy. Fiberglass plastic quantity of 2.15 kg and density of 1660 kg/
m3 was considered as a replacement of 8.5 kg aluminum for the
estimation of embodied energy. The embodied energy for the
alternative materials per functional unit is shown in Fig. 11.
It is seen that the life cycle embodied energy reduced are 36%
with thermoplastic and 40% with berglass plastic as a fan materials when compared with aluminum fan.
3.3.3. Effect of reuse scenario on emissions and environmental
impacts
The emissions and environmental impacts of wind turbine for
reuse case are presented in Table 9. The major air emission, water
emission and environmental impact are CO2, SO4 and GWP
respectively. The potential reduction of CO2 emission and GWP for

Table 7
Life cycle embodied energy distribution at different life cycle stages of wind turbine (MJeq/kWh/year).
Vertical axis wind turbine

Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage

1
2
4
5

(Extraction)
(Manufacture of component parts)
(Installation and use)
(Disposal)

Horizontal axis wind turbine

Turbine

Frame

Tower

Auxiliary

Blade

Turbine head

Tail

Tower

Auxiliary

0.17
0.32
0.001
1  104

0.07
0.13

0.002
0.17

3.7  105
0.10

1.6  104
0.03
1.4  103
1.4  104

0.05
0.10

0.01
0.02

8.4  104
0.05

1.5  103
0.05

Md.S. Uddin, S. Kumar / Journal of Cleaner Production 69 (2014) 153e164

161

Table 8
Life cycle total emissions and environmental impacts of wind turbine per unit energy delivered per year.
Emissions/impacts

Emissions and impacts per kWh/year

Vertical axis

Horizontal axis

Air emissions:
CO2 (kg)
CH4 (gm)
CO (gm)
Nox (gm)
SOx (gm)

0.24
0.70
1.06
0.64
1.40

0.08
0.37
0.31
0.24
0.46

Water emissions:
COD (gm)
DOC (gm)
Suspended solids (gm)
PO4 (gm)
SO4 (gm)

0.71
0.49
0.15
0.38
9.55

0.28
0.15
0.10
0.13
3.39

Environmental impact:
GWP, 100a (kg CO2 eq)

0.27

0.09

Fig. 8. Life cycle embodied energy characteristics over the life cycle stages.

vertical axis wind turbine is more than 50%, while SO4 emission
reduction is more than 5%. The potential reduction of CO2 emission
and GWP for horizontal axis wind turbine is more than 50%, while
SO4 emission reduction is more than 10%. The potential reduction of
emission for horizontal axis wind turbine is higher than that of
vertical axis wind turbine for reuse case. Hence, the reuse case is
attractive for the reduction of emissions signicantly.

3.4.1. Energy intensity

The energy intensity of vertical axis and horizontal axis wind
turbine for alternative materials at the site Chiangmai is shown in
Fig. 12. The energy intensity of vertical axis wind turbine is more
than 60% higher than that of horizontal axis wind turbine for base
case system.
The energy intensity of vertical axis wind turbine is reduced
signicantly for the use of thermoplastic and berglass materials as
a replacement of aluminum fan. The reduction of intensity using

3.3.4. Effect of alternative materials on emissions and

environmental impacts
Table 10 shows the emissions and environmental impacts of
vertical axis wind turbine per functional unit for alternative materials. It is seen that the emissions and environmental impacts
could be possible to reduce using alternative fan materials namely
thermoplastics and berglass plastics. The reduction of CO2 and
GWP are 16% and 18% respectively, while 5% increase the SO4
emission for thermoplastic materials. The reduction of CO2 and
GWP are 16% and 22%, while the SO4 emission remains unchanged
for berglass plastic materials. Hence, the berglass plastic material
is attractive as alternative materials for turbine fan compared to
aluminum and thermoplastic material.
3.4. Intensity indexes and energy payback time
The ratio of embodied energy and CO2 emission to the electricity
generation over the lifetime of wind turbine is called energy intensity
and CO2 emission intensity respectively. Energy intensity and CO2
emission intensity are denoted by MJeq/kWhe and g CO2/kWhe
respectively (Tremeac and Meunier, 2009). The intensity was calculated considering 35% load hour of wind per year for electricity generation (Oebels and Pacca, 2013). The indexes are described as follows:

Fig. 9. Life cycle embodied energy share of wind turbine components.

Fig. 10. Embodied energy for base case and reuse of material cases.

Fig. 11. Embodied energy of vertical axis wind turbine for alternative materials.

162

Md.S. Uddin, S. Kumar / Journal of Cleaner Production 69 (2014) 153e164

Table 9
Emissions and environmental impact of wind turbine for reuse scenario.
Emissions/impacts

CO2 (kg)
SO4 (kg)
GWP, 100a (kg CO2 eq)

% Reduction (for 100% reuse)

% Reduction (for 90% reuse)

% Reduction (for 80% reuse)

Vertical

Horizontal

Vertical

Horizontal

Vertical

Horizontal

64
9
68

61
13
63

58
8
62

56
12
59

52
7
56

50
11
55

thermoplastic is 40% and for berglass plastic is 50% could be

possible.
3.4.2. CO2 emission intensity
The CO2 emission intensity of vertical axis and horizontal axis
wind turbine for alternative materials is shown in Fig. 13. The intensity for vertical axis wind turbine is more than 60% higher in
magnitude compared to horizontal axis wind turbine for base case
system. This is due to per year electricity generation for vertical axis
wind turbine is lower than that of horizontal axis wind turbine. The
intensity of vertical axis wind turbine is reduced by using the
alternative materials. The reductions are 12% for thermoplastic and
16% for berglass plastic materials as a replacement of aluminum
turbine.
3.4.3. Energy payback time
The number of years or months required to recover the
embodied energy over the entire life cycle (extraction, manufacture, transportation, installation, operation and disposal) of wind
turbine is called energy payback time. It is denoted by EPBT
(Tremeac and Meunier, 2009).

EPBT

 LCA study was undertaken for different wind speed and in

different location of the world
 Countries energy mix are different
 The energy and emission assessment methods are different
 Countries industrial performance, policies and management are
different
It is seen that the energy intensity and emission intensity for
Thailand manufactured unit is lower for the same life time
compared to other systems presented for different location. The
energy and emission intensity is higher for New Zealand manufactured unit (Mithraratne, 2009). The embodied energy consumption per kWh/year for Thailand manufactured unit is lower
than that of other studies. This is due to the application was
considered at higher wind speed and delivered higher wind energy
per year. The vertical axis wind turbine is energy and emission
intensive compared to horizontal axis wind turbine manufactured
in Thailand. The energy payback time is lower for Thailand manufactured unit compared to other studies presented for different

Embodied energy during life cycle

Energy generation per year by the wind turbine
(3)

The life cycle total embodied energy for grid connected vertical
axis wind turbine is 532 MJeq. The annual total energy delivered by
the vertical axis wind turbine is 1940 MJeq at Chiangmai. The capacity factor was considered 0.35 (Oebels and Pacca, 2013;
Crawford, 2009). Hence, the energy payback time is 3 month.
The life cycle total embodied energy for grid connected horizontal axis wind turbine is 590 MJeq. The annual total energy
delivered by the horizontal axis wind turbine is 6415 MJeq at
Chiangmai. Hence, the energy payback time is 1.10 month.
3.5. Comparative analysis
Fig. 12. Energy intensity of wind turbines for base case and for alternative materials.

The life cycle embodied energy and emission comparison of

some grid connected wind turbine considering few major parameters are presented in Table 11. It should be noted that,
 The wind turbines are in different capacity and conguration
 The electricity generation was estimated for different capacity
factors
 The installation height and tower materials are different
Table 10
Emissions and environmental impact of vertical axis wind turbine for alternative
materials.

CO2 (kg)
SO4 (gm)
GWP, 100a (kg CO2 eq)

Aluminum fan
(Base case)

Thermoplastic
fan

Fiberglass
plastic fan

0.24
9.5
0.27

0.20
10
0.22

0.20
9.5
0.21

Fig. 13. CO2 emission intensity of wind turbines for base case and alternative
materials.

Md.S. Uddin, S. Kumar / Journal of Cleaner Production 69 (2014) 153e164

4. Conclusions

Table 11
Life cycle energy and emission comparison of some wind turbines.
g CO2-eq/KWh MJeq/KWh MJeq/KWh/yr EPBT
(years)
179
(Mithraratne, 2009)
Location: New Zealand
Wind speed: >5.5 m/s
Capacity: 1.5 kW
Type: Horizontal axis
Life time: 20 years
11
(Crawford, 2009)
Location: Australia
Wind speed: 7.75 m/s
Capacity: 850 kW
Type: Horizontal axis
Life time: 20 years
46
(Tremeac and Meunier,
2009)
Location: France
Capacity: 250 W
Type: Vertical axis
Life time: 20 years
16
(Tremeac and Meunier,
2009)
Location: France
Capacity: 4.5 MW
Type: Horizontal axis
Life time: 20 years
9
(Guezuraga et al., 2012)
Location: Austria
Wind speed: 6 m/s
Capacity: 1.8 MW
Type: Horizontal
axis gearless
Life time: 20 years
12
(Present study)
Location: Thailand
Wind speed: 7e12 m/s
Capacity: 300 W
Type: Vertical axis
Life time: 20 years
5
(Present study)
Location: Thailand
Wind speed: 7e12 m/s
Capacity: 500 W
Type: Horizontal axis
Life time: 20 years

1.5

0.18

30

3.6

1.2

23

6.5

0.3

1.7

0.11

2.3

0.6

0.05

0.98

163

0.25

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the life cycle embodied
energy, emissions (air, water), environmental impacts, energy
payback time and performance indexes of vertical axis and horizontal axis grid connected wind turbine using life cycle assessment
technique. The applications were considered at three potential locations (Phuket Island, Surat Thani Island and Chiangmai) in
Thailand. The base case and alternative improvement cases were
studied. The result showed that the wind turbine installation at
Chiangmai is reliable to deliver wind energy satisfactorily over the
year than that of Phuket Island and Surat Thani Island in Thailand.
The vertical axis wind turbine is energy and emission intensive
compared to horizontal axis wind turbine for base case system. The
reductions of embodied energy and environmental impacts are
more than 60% and 50% respectively for reuse of materials scenarios. The embodied energy of vertical axis wind turbine could be
reduced to 36% with thermoplastic turbine and 40% with berglass
turbine, while the environmental impacts reduced to more than
15% average. The energy intensity, CO2 emission intensity and energy payback time found to be lower when compared with
literature.
Acknowledgment
Uddin would like to thank the Asian Development Bank-Japan
Scholarship Program (ADB-JSP) for nancial support of this study.
Thanks to the Asian Institute of Technology provided the platform
and technical support of this research work. Thanks to the industries in Thailand, where the primary data were collected to
carried out this work.
References

0.01

0.3

0.08

location. This is due to the system considered for Thailand is

smaller than that of other studies and the operation was considered
at higher wind speed (7e12 m/s) for the selected location
(Chaichana and Chaitep, 2010) over the year. The energy payback
time for the horizontal axis wind turbine is lower than that of
vertical axis wind turbine.
The rooftop installation was considered for Thailand manufactured unit and the capacity factor was assumed to be 35%
(Crawford, 2009), where the results were estimated with
different capacity factor for other studies. The rooftop installation
tower made of galvanized steel 6 m height and 25 cm outside
diameter was considered for this study, where the towers of
other studies are bigger in size and made of concrete. Concrete is
energy and emission intensive compared to galvanized steel.
Hence, the effect of tower for those studies on overall result is
signicant. Moreover, the sizes of other studies are larger than
that of the unit considered for Thailand. In addition, the industries related to wind turbine in Thailand are recycle industry,
consumes less energy and produce less emission. The wind turbine application was considered in Thailand at higher wind speed
compared to other studies. So, the performance of wind turbine
manufactured in Thailand is found to be attractive compared to
other studies.

Akashi, O., Hijioka, Y., Masui, T., Hanaoka, T., Kainuma, M., 2012. GHG emission
scenarios in Asia and the world: the key technologies for signicant reduction.
Energy Econ. 34, S346eS358.
Ancona, D., Veigh, J.M., 2001. Wind Turbine e Materials and Manufacturing Fact
Sheet. Princeton Energy Resources International for the Ofce of Industrial
Technologies, US Department of Energy.
Ardente, F., Beccali, M., Cellura, M., Brano, V.L., 2008. Energy performances and life
cycle assessment of an Italian wind farm. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 12, 200e
217.
BP Statistical Review of World Energy, 2012. Statistical Review by Energy Type.
Chaichana, T., Chaitep, S., 2010. Wind power potential and characteristics analysis of
Chiangmai, Thailand. J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 24 (7), 1475e1479.
Cheokul, R., 2012. The Renewable and Alternative Energy Development Plan for 25
Percent in 10 Years (AEDP 2012e2021). Ministry of Energy, Thailand.
Clean eld Energy Company Limited, 2012. Key Benets of Vertical Axis Wind
Turbine. Canada. www.cleaneldenergy.com.
Crawford, R.H., 2009. Life cycle energy and greenhouse emissions analysis of wind
turbines and the effect of size on energy yield. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 13,
2653e2660.
Dudley, B., 2012. Energy in 2011-disruptions and continuity, Group chief executive
introduction. BP Stat. Rev. World Energy, 1e48.
Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand (EGAT), 2006.
Goedkoop, 2012. Introduction to LCA with SimaPro 7. Product Ecology Consultant
(PRe).
Guezuraga, B., Zauner, R., Plz, W., 2012. Life cycle assessment of two different 2
MW class wind turbines. Renew. Energy 37, 37e44.
International Energy Agency (IEA), 2012. Wind Power.
KME Germany AG & Co., 2011. Environmental Product Declaration. EPD-KME2011313-E.
KPMG International Cooperative, 2011. Taxes and Incentives for Renewable Energy.
Lenzen, M., Munksgaard, J., 2002. Energy and CO2 life cycle analysis of wind
turbines  review and applications. Renew. Energy 26, 339e362.
Martnez, E., Sanz, F., Pellegrini, S., Jimenez, E., Blanco, J., 2009. Life cycle assessment
of a multi-megawatt wind turbine. Renew. Energy 34, 667e673.
Meindertsma, W., Blok, K., 2012. Effects of New Fossil Fuel Developments on the
Possibilities of Meeting 2 C Scenarios. Report. Netherland, No. FOSNL12865.
Michigan Techs Open Sustainability Technology Research Group, 2011.
Ministry of Energy, 2012. Power Development Plan (PDP), Thailand.
Mithraratne, N., 2009. Roof-top wind turbines for micro generation in urban houses
in New Zealand. Energy Build. 41, 1013e1018.

164

Md.S. Uddin, S. Kumar / Journal of Cleaner Production 69 (2014) 153e164

Oebels, K.B., Pacca, S., 2013. Life cycle assessment of an onshore wind farm located
at the northeastern coast of Brazil. Renew. Energy 53, 60e70.
Parry, W., 2012. Finds Climate Change Goals Growing More Elusive. Green House
Gas Emission Report. United Nation Environment Program (UNEP).
Parsons, D., Chatterton, J., 2011. Carbon Brainprint Case Study Novel Offshore Vertical Axis Wind Turbines. School of Applied Sciences, Craneld University.
Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), 2010. The First Medium Wind/Diesel Pilot
Project in Thailand.
Pehnt, M., 2006. Dynamic life cycle assessment of renewable energy technologies.
Renew. Energy 31, 55e71.
PRe sustainability, 2012. SimaPro 7.3.3 LCA Software (Europe).

Rankin, J., 2012. Energy use in Metal Production. Swinburne University of Technology, Australia.
RWE Npower Renewable. Wind Turbine Power Calculation. The Royal Academy of
Engineering, UK.
Sher, H.A., Addoweesh, K.E., 2012. Micro-inverters e Promising solutions in solar
photovoltaics. Energy Sustain. Dev. 16, 389e400.
Tremeac, B., Meunier, F., 2009. Life cycle analysis of 4.5 MW and 250 W wind turbines. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 13, 2104e2110.
World Nuclear Association (WNA), 2012. Primary Energy and Electricity Outlook (UK).
World energy outlook, 2012. Renewables Take Their Place in the Sun. International
Energy Agency (IEA).