Application of Life Cycle Assessment to Policy Environmental Impact Assessment—A Clean Energy Action Plan Case Study in Qinghai Region

Due to significant political and environmental decisions regarding clean energy, rapid adoption of solar photovoltaic (PV), wind power, and hydropower is taking place. In China, policy environmental impact assessment (EIA) plays an important role in pollution prevention, while its practice is relatively limited due to insufficient methodologies and weak legislative enforcement. Taking the clean energy action plan (CEAP) in the Qinghai region as a case study, this study explored the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the potential environmental impacts imposed by the installment capability of 70,000 MW solar PV in pristine areas. It was found that the CO2 emissions of solar PV are less than 3% of that of clean coal-fired power, while the emissions of pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter only account for about 18~27% of coal-fired power. Meanwhile, from the full life cycle perspective, 4.61 million tons of solar PV panel waste will be generated, and 4172 square kilometers of land surface area will be occupied. Herein, implications for policy are proposed, including (1) advance planning of local waste disposal capacity and processing facilities, (2) the integration of clean energy planning with legal ecological environment protection schemes, and (3) rational planning of upstream and downstream solar PV industries.