Embodied energy and emergy analyses of a concentrating solar power (CSP) system

Although concentrating solar power (CSP) technology has been projected as one of the most promising candidates to replace conventional power plants burning fossil fuels, the potential advantages and disadvantages of the CSP technology have not been thoroughly evaluated. To better understand the performance of the CSP technology, this paper presents an ecological accounting framework based on embodied energy and emergy analyses methods. The analyses are performed for the 1.5 MW Dahan solar tower power plant in Beijing, China and different evaluation indices used in the embodied energy and emergy analyses are employed to evaluate the plant performance. Our analysis of the CSP plant are compared with six Italian power plants with different energy sources and an American PV plant, which demonstrates the CSP is the superior technology.

► Embodied energy and emergy analyses are employed to evaluate the first solar tower power plant in China.
► Different evaluation indices are quantitatively analyzed to show the advantages of CSP technology.
► This analysis provides insights for making energy policy and investment decisions about CSP technology.