Life cycle burden-shifting in energy systems designed to minimize greenhouse gas emissions: Novel analytical method and application to the United States

摘要: Abstract Energy systems are currently designed focusing only on minimizing their cost or, at most, including limits greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, electricity technologies performing well in global warming potential might not necessarily behave equally across other sustainability criteria. Hence, policies focused solely mitigating emissions could potentially resolve one problem (i.e., climate change) by creating another, thereby leading to burden-shifting. Here, the occurrence and severity of burden-shifting energy design both investigated through application a novel approach integrating multi-objective optimization, life cycle assessment multivariate regression based elasticities. Environmental impacts classified into three categories: no burden-shifting, total partial providing for latter two measure severity. Due inherent trade-offs performance technologies, discussed detail this work, Paris Agreement 2 °C targets would lead United States (total or partial) up eight environmental impacts. On hand, stringent carbon reductions line with 1.5 °C can Indeed, cases undesirable increases some damage categories 1.64% every percentage increase take place as result more compared least solution. Overall, work aims foster fruitful discussions how generate within Earth's ecological capacity expanding analysis beyond change.