Energy cost and greenhouse gas emissions of a Chinese solar tower power plant

It is commonly assumed that the application of solar power system can save energy and relief global climate change. Presented in this study is the account of energy performance and greenhouse gas emissions of a planned solar tower power plant in China based on the life cycle analysis method. The conservative estimation of energy cost for the concerned plant is 1.21 times of the electricity output, which is a relatively decent performance amongst power generation technologies. In order to analyze the greenhouse gas performance, a comparison is carried out between the solar tower power plant and conventional coal-fired power plant in China. Results show the application of this solar system obtains a net greenhouse gas emission reduction of 0.31E+06 ton CO2 equivalent, during its operating period of twenty years. It is believed that this successful example can lend solid support to a future wide use of solar power in China.