Activities per year
Abstract / Description of output
Estimates of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions savings that arise from wind power replacing other types of generation are used to support wind farm developments and calculate carbon payback time. Currently these savings are approximated as the average emissions of electricity generation in the UK. However, this assumes that wind power replaces all different forms of generation equally, which is not the case. Instead, it mostly replaces electricity from coal and gas-fired stations; suggesting that actual emissions reductions are higher than current estimates. Conversely, any savings may be limited as a consequence of efficiency penalties at the power stations responding to the availability of wind power.
This poster presents an analysis of detailed operational data for the National Grid in 2012, identifying the half-hourly marginal changes in GHG emissions attributable to corresponding changes in wind output. The resulting emissions savings demonstrate that wind power is replacing coal and gas, but that efficiency penalties at these power stations reduce the emissions savings to a value close to the UK average grid emissions. This work is a significant step towards a robust and reliable figure for the historical offset of wind power generation and confirms that existing carbon payback estimates are valid.
This poster presents an analysis of detailed operational data for the National Grid in 2012, identifying the half-hourly marginal changes in GHG emissions attributable to corresponding changes in wind output. The resulting emissions savings demonstrate that wind power is replacing coal and gas, but that efficiency penalties at these power stations reduce the emissions savings to a value close to the UK average grid emissions. This work is a significant step towards a robust and reliable figure for the historical offset of wind power generation and confirms that existing carbon payback estimates are valid.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - 26 Jun 2013 |
Event | Global Energy Systems Conference - Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, United Kingdom Duration: 26 Jun 2013 → 28 Jun 2013 |
Conference
Conference | Global Energy Systems Conference |
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Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
City | Edinburgh |
Period | 26/06/13 → 28/06/13 |
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Greenhouse Gas Emissions Savings from Wind Power'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Datasets
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Power output, greenhouse gas emissions and associated marginal changes on the British grid 2009-2014
Thomson, C. (Creator), Edinburgh DataShare, 12 Dec 2016
DOI: 10.7488/ds/1585
Dataset
Activities
- 1 Participation in conference
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Global Energy Systems Conference
Camilla Thomson (Participant)
26 Jun 2014 → 28 Jun 2014Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference