Life cycle exergy analysis on wind farm in Ethiopia

Aim of the study is Life Cycle Exergy Analysis (LCExA) is as indicator of sustainability measure for wind farm found in Ethiopia. The method employed contains three phases: Identification of goal and scope of the study, life cycle inventory of the system and calculation of Exergy of in and out of the materials and energy flow into the system.  ExROI of the wind farm varies between 18 and 22 depending on the different scenarios taken in the system. The material Exergy of the wind farm contributes 22% from total Exergy of the system which has no share in ordinary life cycle analysis.  Disposal contributes 13% of the total system considering recycling of materials, which has no share in ordinary life cycle analysis. Emissions and Waste (37%) have contribution to the total input Exergy.  Most of the input Exergy goes to manufacturing of wind turbine (72%) and the rest takes 28% from the total input Exergy of the system. Special contribution of this study is analyzing the impact of waste and emission on the total Exergy flow of the system. In the study, recycling of materials is considered as output Exergy of the system. Exergetic method can reveal the sustainability of wind farm that appears to be sustainable in the way that it gives back many times more energy than it uses during the life cycle of the farm.