Table 5 Recommendations for improving ELCD electricity datasets by DQI

Electricity grid mix

TeR

• Inclusion of minority technologies could have an important share in the future (e.g. solar thermal technologies already present in the mix of countries like Spain, or ocean technologies or even carbon capture and storage –CCS- technologies).

C

• To fulfill the criterion in a 100% share, the following flows should be considered: Halon 1211 for ozone depletion, and indium for resource depletion impact category.

P

• Statistical information used to construct the electricity mixes of each country has been retrieved from the IEA (authoritative source). However, and due to the ELCD database has been developed by the EC in a European context, it seems adequate to use the data reported by each country to Eurostat.

M

• Inclusion of the EoL modelling of PV facilities.

General

• In order to have a more useful database in which users can update the EU27 electricity mix, datasets not only by country but also by technology should be available.

• Some analysed databases make use of energy models to derive future European electricity mixes, although this is not the scope of the ELCD.

Electricity from fossil fuels (hard coal, lignite and natural gas)

TeR

• CCS technologies can be included due to the importance in future environmental scenarios, as stated in several studies (Koornneef et al., 2008; Stanley and Dávila-Serrano., 2012).

• Several future clean coal, lignite and natural gas electricity scenarios can be developed and included in the ELCD datasets, as another database (GEMIS) includes.

C

• To fulfill the criterion in a 100% share, the following flows should be considered: Halon 1211 for ozone depletion, and indium for resource depletion impact category.

P

• The use of a database with well reported emissions based on data from a large power plant database in Europe, such as in Ecoinvent, could improve the results.

• Some Business Associations publications can be useful for compiling precise and updated inventories: European Association of Coal and Lignite (Euracoal, http://www.euracoal.be), the Union of Electricity Industry (Eurelectric, http://www.eurelectric.org) and the European Association of Gas Wholesale, Retail and Distribution Sectors (Eurogas, http://www.eurogas.be), the Gas Infrastructure Europe (http://www.gie.eu.com), the Transmission System Operators, Storage Systems Operator and Terminal Operators, and the Technical Association of the European Natural Gas Industry (MARCOGAZ, http://www.marcogaz.org).

Electricity from nuclear power (FR and DE)

GR

• It could be improved using data from Canadian mines and mills that can be obtained from CERI (2008) or UNSCEAR (1993, 2000). In case of the French dataset, conversion data in facilities are available in the ExternE study of the French nuclear fuel cycle (EC, 1995).

TiR

• In both German and French datasets, TiR is the worst scored category in the ELCD database. The reason lies on the use of several old references. However, no better references could be found in the other databases analysed in this study. Other datasets (e.g. Ecoinvent) perform better since the validity period of the dataset is closer to the oldest references.

P

• Concerning radioactive emissions data, uncertainty can be decreased by using data published by UNSCEAR (2000), considered as an authoritative source.

M

• It could be improved with the consideration of a final repository for spent fuel and high activity waste. Data source can be those included in NAGRA (2002a, 2002b).

Electricity from hydro power

TeR

• In a future scenario, Small Hydropower Plants (SHPP) should be included due to the potential importance in the mix. According to statistical data from Arcadis (2011), a considerably reduction of electricity from hydropower mix is expected and the large facilities might be the main affected. Then, the share of SHPP in electricity from hydropower mix might increase; although a reduction of their potential is foreseen.

• To get additional inventory data, ESHA (European Small Hydropower Association, http://www.esha.be) publishes EU data facts and statistics of hydropower generation.

P

• The inclusion of documentation related to the data collection process and additional references to identify the origin of the data values could be useful to achieve a better rating. On the other hand, the IHA (International Hydropower Association, http://www.hydropower.org/), might be a relevant information source for double checking (annual reports and GHG Risk Assessment Tool that provides estimation of the level of gross GHG emissions from freshwater reservoir).

C

• It can be fulfilled completely with the consideration of Halon 1211 for ozone depletion, and cadmium and indium for resource depletion impact category. It must be highlighted that ELCD includes the emissions due to biomass degradation, while other datasets do not consider them.

Electricity from wind power

TeR

• Capacity factors and average sizes described are in line with the statistics provided by authoritative sources, such as the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA). It would be recommended to include additional documentation, providing more detail concerning the different shares of onshore and offshore power as well as the contribution of each country to the total mix (e.g. the British Wind Energy Association). Additionally, it is recommended to review for future versions other wind options, such as the small and medium scale wind, which might increase in the future, and the re-powering, which substitutes old turbines, increasing the capacity.

GR

• ELCD dataset models a non-defined region in Europe. It must be highlighted that this energy source has a very site-specific resource and therefore, this technology applied in each European country and their contribution to the total electricity generation by wind in Europe might vary. However, ELCD takes into account this particularity by considering the full load hours for the actual region using statistical information.

C

• It could be 100% fulfilled with the inclusion of Halon 1211 and CFC-12 for ozone depletion and indium for resource depletion impact category.

P

• The Wind Power Net (http://www.thewindpower.net) gives access to a large database with the current commercial wind turbines and the installed wind farms in the world. It provides information about the location of the farm, technology use, type of turbine, capacities, etc. This database can be used for double check some data.

M

• If re-powering systems are to be included in future versions, other EoL scenarios should be reviewed and considered, if applicable.

Electricity from biomass (DE)

C

• In order to improve the criterion, Halon 1211 for ozone depletion, and cadmium and indium for resource depletion impact category, should be considered.

General

• If this German dataset is going to be used for other European conditions, the scores would be much lower. Results, especially from the forestry module, cannot be extrapolated to the European conditions since forestry management activities are very variable across Europe. The dataset should be split in several ones representing other forestry management practices and yields such us Nordic or Mediterranean countries forestry (nevertheless, updated versions of ELCD include dataset for different regions).

• It should be noted that no additional authoritative source has been found that could improve the ELCD dataset.

Electricity from photovoltaic

TeR

• It should be noted that this dataset has been modelled in a way that the European current technology is included. Among the other databases, the ELCD dataset contains the most updated information and provides deep details concerning the precision of the data used. To model this technology at least two relevant Authoritative Bodies have been used: the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform (EPTP) and the EurObserv’ER Barometer (http://www.eurobserv-er.org). The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (http://www.epia.org) provides detailed information related to the evolution of this sector yearly, and should be considered a relevant source for future versions.

C

• In order to improve the criterion, CFC-14 for climate change, Halon 1211 for ozone depletion, and indium for resource depletion impact category, should be also considered.

M

• ELCD should include also an EoL scenario in future versions (e.g from Lozanovski & Held, 2010). Moreover, it can be improved with the inclusion of a basic scenario of dismantling and waste treatment, considering main materials, such as steel or plastics, as Ecoinvent (2012).