GHG Emission and Cost Performance of Life Cycle Energy on Agricultural Land Used for Photovoltaic Power Plant

• Main Authors: Prapita Thanarak, Teerarat Chiramakara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: EconJournals 2019-02-01
• Series: International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy
• Online Access: https://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijeep/article/view/7394
• ISSN: 2146-4553

<p class="Els-Abstract-text"><span>The research aims to analyze land use from agricultural land for photovoltaic power plant construction and electricity generation. Geographic information system technology was used to analyze and decide the suitability of the land for a photovoltaic power plant. GHG assessment and life cycle cost were applied in this study which covered 4 processes: land preparation, logistics, construction and system installment, and electrical generation. The research found that the maps showed the area to be moderately<span> abundant</span> clay, outside the irrigated area, the average rainfall was 1,100 mm./year and agriculture is only possible four months per year. The average solar irradiance was 17.6 W/m^{<span lang="AR-SA" dir="RTL">2</span>}<span lang="AR-SA" dir="RTL">.</span>d for this area which is suitable for building a photovoltaic power plant. CO₂ emissions for land preparation, transportation, construction and electrical generation were 0.148tCO_{<span lang="AR-SA" dir="RTL">2</span>}eq/kWh, 0.196 tCO_{<span lang="AR-SA" dir="RTL">2</span>}eq/kWh, 0.418 tCO_{<span lang="AR-SA" dir="RTL">2</span>}eq/kWh and 6.932tCO_{<span lang="AR-SA" dir="RTL">2</span>}eq/kWh, respectively and the net CO₂ emission was -0.549 kgCO_{<span lang="AR-SA" dir="RTL">2</span>}eq/kWh. Life cycle cost for 25years is 169.79million baht and the cost of energy is 4.12 baht/kWh. The empirical results show that land use assessment of agriculture for the photovoltaic power plant was appropriate and worth wile without affecting the environment and economy.</span></p><p class="IndexTerms" align="left"><strong>Keywords:</strong> Greenhouse gas, geographic information system, land use, life cycle cost, photovoltaic power plant.</p><p><strong>JEL Classifications</strong>: C8, G0, M2</p><p>DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.7394">https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.7394</a></p><p class="Els-Abstract-text"><span><br /></span></p>