Utilization efficiency of electrical equipment within life cycle assessment: Indexes, analysis and a case

• The concept of electrical equipment utilization efficiency within LCA is proposed.
• The main factors that influence utilization efficiency are presented.
• The utilization efficiency of electrical equipment in Shaoguan is evaluated.
• A huge potential for improving the utilization efficiency is discovered.

As power system requires huge assets investment and consumes massive fossil fuels, evaluating and increasing utilization efficiency of electrical equipment helps to improve the economy of power system, save energy, and reduce pollutant emissions. In this paper, the concept of electrical equipment utilization efficiency within LCA (life cycle assessment), which combines both supply-side and demand-side, is proposed to fully reflect actual utilization of electrical equipment. Based on this concept, the indexes for calculating electrical equipment utilization efficiency within LCA are proposed. The main factors that influence utilization efficiency are presented, and then the contributions of these influence factors to electrical equipment utilization efficiency within LCA are also analyzed. Furthermore, the electrical equipment utilization efficiency within LCA of the distribution network in Shaoguan, which is a typical case in China, is investigated. The results show that the electrical equipment utilization efficiency within LCA is mostly below 20%, indicating that there is a huge potential for improvement.