Using life cycle assessment to evaluate the environmental impact of the thermal power industry

As an industry with high air pollutants and carbon dioxide emissions, it is necessary to promote air pollutants and carbon reduction in the thermal power industry. Currently, most research is focused on the environmental impact of different energy sources of electricity, with little attention paid to the environmental consequences of the structural emission reduction measures that will be implemented in the short term in the thermal power industry. This study conducted carbon emission accounting and a life cycle assessment on the thermal power industry in Shanghai, and it evaluated the impact of structural emission reduction on the environment through a scenario analysis. This study established in-plant photovoltaic scenario and equal capacity replacement scenario. It compared them with the current scenario and calculate the cross-elasticity coefficient of the environmental impact. In the current situation, the characteristic environmental impact of global warming is 940 g-CO2/kWh, that of ozone formation (human health) is 2.06 g-NOx/kWh, that of ozone formation (terrestrial ecosystems) is 1.92 g-NOx/kWh, that of fine particulate matter formation is 1.14 g-PM2.5/kWh, and that of terrestrial acidification is 2.32 g-SO2/kWh. The total environmental impact of the equal capacity replacement scenario decreased by 19.6%, and the total environmental impact of the in-plant photovoltaic scenario decreased by 2.5%. These two structural emission reduction plans achieved synergistic efficiency in reducing pollution and carbon emissions and promoted the sustainable development of the thermal power industry.