What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to quantify the embodied energy of materials used in energy facilities to evaluate their energy needs.

June 1, 2026Procedia CIRP0 citationsOpen Access

Assessing the embodied energy of energy facilities: a life cycle approach for the key construction materials required in transition scenarios

ECElsa CohenCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique SBS. BouneauCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique MEMarc ErnoultCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Key Points

The aim is to quantify the embodied energy of materials used in energy facilities to evaluate their energy needs.
Employs a life cycle assessment-type approach using the ecoinvent database.
Identifies steps from ore mining to final shaping for key materials.
Calculates embodied energy using an inventory of 30 critical construction materials.
Embodied energy quantification highlights the significant energy requirements for materials like steel and concrete.
Methodology applied to quantify energy for constructing an offshore wind power plant.
Demonstrates reliance on energy-intensive materials increases challenges in meeting energy demands.

Abstract

Over the coming decades, many scenarios rely on a massive deployment of renewable and low-carbon energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while producing different energy carriers, such as heat, electricity, and fuels, to meet the energy needs of economic sectors. Regarding the global energy sector, its energy needs could increase significantly due to the energy-intensive production of materials used to construct new energy facilities and resource scarcity, thereby reducing the energy available to meet other sectors’ demands. This study aims to quantify the embodied energy associated with the construction of energy facilities based on the energy intensity of their main materials, i.e., the energy actually consumed for their manufacture in the form of energy carriers, in order to ultimately assess the energy sector’s energy needs. The energy intensity of a material relies only on its manufacturing energy requirements, regardless of how they are generated upstream. Thus, this approach differs from conventional LCA which considers the energy mix to count the energy consumed in its primary form. To calculate the energy intensity of materials, the proposed methodology relies on an LCA-type approach using the ecoinvent database to consider all processes, from ore mining to final shaping. It first identifies each step of the material’s manufacturing chain and its associated processes, such as melting or electrolysis, which require specific energy forms. Then, the embodied energy associated with the facility’s construction is obtained from its materials inventory. This study covers 30 key materials - including steel, concrete, lithium and silicon - selected for their critical role in the construction of energy facilities such as solar panels, wind turbines, power plants, or storage systems. The methodology, its application to the case of steel production, and its use to quantify the embodied energy of an offshore wind power plant are presented.

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