Conventional and Floating Photovoltaic Generation from a Life Cycle Perspective – Carbon and Water Footprint

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is essential to ensure that renewable electricity generation projects effectively contribute to a sustainable energy transition. Although photovoltaic (PV) systems significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to fossil-based generation, they also cause environmental impacts throughout their life cycle. Assessing these impacts is necessary to identify environmental hot spots, evaluate trade-offs, and support decisionmaking. This study applies LCA to evaluate the carbon and water footprints of conventional and floating photovoltaic (FPV) power plants through two case studies located in Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil. The assessment was based primarily on primary data, complemented by secondary data from the Ecoinvent 3.8 database, with impact…