Int. J. Global Energy Issues, Vol. 27, No.

4, 2007 425

Renewable energy systems: the environmental

impact approach

Christopher J. Koroneos* and Yanni Koroneos

Laboratory of Heat Transfer and Environmental Engineering,
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
P.O. Box 483, GR. 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece
E-mail: koroneos@aix.meng.auth.gr
*Corresponding author

Abstract: High energy consumption and the world population increase

will lead to shrinking reserves of fossil fuels. Concern about carbon dioxide
emissions may discourage widespread dependence on fossil fuels and
encourage the development and use of renewable energy systems employing
a variety of technologies Renewable energy systems have themselves an
environmental impact. Land use and material employed are two areas that may
have an adverse impact on the positive environmental picture of the renewable
energy systems. The objective of this paper is to analyse these impacts with the
use of a very powerful tool, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

Keywords: carbon dioxide; renewable energy systems; global warming;

environmental impact; life cycle assessment; LCA.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Koroneos, C.J. and

Koroneos, Y. (2007) ‘Renewable energy systems: the environmental impact
approach’, Int. J. Global Energy Issues, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp.425–441.

Biographical notes: Christopher J. Koroneos is Associate Professor at the

Department of Management of Energy Resources at the Aristotle University
of Thessaloniki and Special Scientist at the Laboratory of Heat Transfer and
Environmental Engineering of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in
Greece. He was previously teaching at Columbia University in New York,
where he also received his BS, MS and PhD in Chemical Engineering.

Yanni Koroneos is a student at the Manhasset High School in Manhasset

New York. He is involved in a project with renewable energy sources.

1 Introduction

The oil crisis in the past years, made more obvious the dependency of the economy
on fossil fuels. As a consequence, the need for new energy sources became more
urgent. Renewable energy sources (RES) could provide a solution to the problem as they
are inexhaustible and have less reverse impacts on the environment than fossil fuels. Yet,
the renewable energy sources technology has not reached a high standard, at which they
can be considered competitive to that of fossil fuels. The present study deals with the
environmental impact approach of solar energy, wind power and geothermal energy.
It is analysed how the actual use of the existing available energy of the renewable energy

Copyright © 2007 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

426 C.J. Koroneos and Y. Koroneos

sources could be compared to the non-renewable energy sources, mainly on the basis of
efficiency.

2 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

LCA is a tool for assessing the environmental aspects and the potential impacts
associated with a product from the cradle to the grave (SETAC, 1993). The LCA method
provides the means in the accounting of the flow of material and energy used in the
construction, operation and finally the decommission of RES electricity production
systems. It also includes the manufacturing of its components, the possible extraction and
supply of fuels as well as waste generated in these processes.
In order to be able to compare the environmental performance of two or more
electricity production systems, in this case the RES systems, all of the impacts and the
total use of resources for each technology over its entire lifetime have to be taken into
consideration. The importance of LCA lies mainly in its ability to help decision-makers
in identifying ways to reduce environmental impact. LCA is particularly useful when
applied to the production of consumer goods where it can assist in identifying the
particular steps in the process that contribute a strong burden on resource use or the
environment. However, LCA is also useful for evaluating the environmental impact
technologies and services such as power generation and transportation systems. RES
electricity production units and their support systems are made up of many discrete parts
and it is necessary to account these parts in order to understand where the greatest
impacts lie in the overall life cycle of the unit. LCA is defined by the international
standard, ISO 14040 (1997), that describes the principles for conducting and reporting
LCA studies (SETAC, 1996). The ISO 14040 LCA framework requires that the goal and
scope of the LCA are clearly defined. It also requires that a Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) is
performed, that includes data collection for the incoming and outgoing streams and
calculations to generate results that relate to the defined functional unit and the allocation
of flows and releases. The steps (Figure 1) that constitute LCA are four:
1 goal definition and scoping
2 inventory analysis
3 impact assessment
4 improvement assessment.
LCA contributes in the promotion of new environmentally improved energy
technologies.
The present study examines the environmental impacts during the manufacturing and
the use of a solar and wind energy and a geothermal system. The impact assessment step
includes:
• determination of impact categories
• categorisation
• characterisation
• normalisation
• evaluation.
 Renewable energy systems: the environmental impact approach 427

Figure 1 The four levels of Life Cycle Analysis

Source: SETAC (1993)

Categorisation examines which pollutants contribute in each impact category. If any of

the pollutants contributes in more than one category, it is recorded more than once.
In characterisation, the quantification and aggregation of emissions in every effect
category takes place. This results in impact scores of the impact score profile.
Normalisation relates all impact scores of a functional unit in the impact score profile to a
reference situation. Evaluation is the last element within impact assessment. In this part,
the results of characterisation/normalisation are compared quantitatively and/or
qualitatively in order to make the results of the categories more decision-friendly
(Koroneos et al., 2005).

3 Solar systems

The exploitation of the solar energy has been done from various systems, depending on
the end use, like heating or electricity. Photovoltaic systems (PV) are used for the
electricity production. The present study is dealing with the LCA of the R57 type in that
the aluminium emanates at 50% from recycling. The characteristics of activities that are
used for the production the photovoltaics are presented in Table 1.

Table 1 The most important tasks for module fabrication and assumptions made for the cases
regarding Si feedstock, wafer production, cell processing and module characteristics

Process step Parameter Base case Improved case Forward case KC-60 case
Silica reduction Process Arc furnace Arc furnace – Arc furnace
Process yield 80% 85% – 80%
High purity Si Process UCC UCC H-p Si reduction UCC
production with h-p carbon
Process yield 96% 98% 80% 96%
Casting/portioning Casting method Conventional Improved Electromagnetic Conventional
casting convent.casting casting casting
Contouring 14% 11% 6% 14%
losses
428 C.J. Koroneos and Y. Koroneos

Table 1 The most important tasks for module fabrication and assumptions made for the cases
regarding Si feedstock, wafer production, cell processing and module characteristics
(continued)

Process step Parameter Base case Improved case Forward case KC-60 case
Wafering Wafer size 10 × 10 cm2 12.5 × 12.5 cm2 15 × 15 cm2 10.2 × 10.05 cm2
Wafer thickness 300 µm 200 µm 150 µm 300 µm
Wafering loss 300 µm 200 µm 150 µm 300 µm
Etching/texturing Sawing damage NaOH KOH NaOH NaOH
etchant
Texturing NaOH
Emitter formation Doping POCl3 in POCl3 in Screenprinted POCl3 in
diffusion oven diffusion oven P in IR oven diffusion oven
Emitter back etch – HF/ HNO3 – –
Edge preparation CF4 plasma CF4 plasma Polishing CF4 plasma
Metallisation Back contact layer Screenprinted Screenprinted Screenprinted Screenprinted
Al/Ag Al/Ag Al Al/Ag
Back contact layer 15 µm 10 µm 20 µm 15 µm
thickness
Back side coverage 100% 100% 10% 100%
factor
Front side contact Screenprinted Screenprinted Screenprinted Screenprinted Ag
Ag Ag Ag
Front contact line 120 µm 90 µm 50 µm 120 µm
width
Front contact 15 µm 10 µm 20 µm 15 µm
thickness
Front side metal 10% 7% 6% 10%
coverage
Passivation Bulk passivation/ PECVD of PECVD of Si3N4 – PECVD of Si3N4
surface passivation Si3N4
Antireflective coating – In passivation In passivation CVD of TiO2 In passivation
process process process
Electr. Testing Yield 95% 95% 95% 95%
Module production Cells/module 36 36 40 36
Glass sheet thickness 3 mm 3 mm 3 mm 3 mm
EVA foil thickness 2 × 0.5 mm 2 × 0.5 mm 2 × 0.25 mm 2 × 0.5 mm
Tedlar/Al/Tedlar 125 µm 125 µm 125 µm 125 µm
thickness
Total module size 0.44 m2 0.65 m2 1 m2 0.489 m2
Module testing Yield 99% 99% 99% 99%
Encapsulated cell efficiency 13% 16% 18% 12.2%
Module life time 30 yr 40 yr 50 yr 30 yr
UCC process: a solar-grade silicon purification process based on fluidised-bed
technology, developed by the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC).
IR oven: Infrared oven.
PECVD: Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition.
CVD: Chemical Vapour Deposition.
Source: Phylipsen and Alsema (1995)
 Renewable energy systems: the environmental impact approach 429

Photovoltaic (PV) systems convert light energy directly into electricity. The term ‘photo’
stems from the Greek ‘phos’, which means, ‘light’. ‘Volt’ is named after Alessandro
Volta (1745–1827), a pioneer in the study of electricity. ‘Photovoltaics’ could literally
mean ‘light-electricity’ (US Department of Energy, 1983). Most commonly known as
solar cells, PV systems have become very important. ‘Solar power’ is used as the means
of energy for the small calculators and wrist watches. More complicated PV systems
provide electricity for pumping water, powering communications equipment, lighting
homes and running appliances. In an extensive use of this technology, it is possible to
produce a great amount of electricity through large-scale PV systems.
A grid-connected large-scale PV system consists of the photovoltaic modules, the
inverters (with all the necessary electronic components), the batteries for the autonomy of
the system, and other components such as cables, support structure and foundations.
The photovoltaic modules consist of a number of solar cells relevant to the module area.
The most important part of a solar cell is the semiconducting layers, where the electron
current is created. There are a number of different materials suitable for making these
semi-conducting layers, and each has benefits and drawbacks. There is not an ideal
material for all types of cells and applications. The main types of solar cells are:
• Multicrystalline silicon cells (mc-Si, also called semi- or polycrystalline silicon)
• Amorphous silicon cells (a-Si)
• Cadmium Telluride cells (CdTe)
• Copper Indium Selenide cells (CuInSe2; also shortened to CIS).
In this study, the life cycle of multicrystalline silicon solar cell modules are analysed,
owing to the advantages they present. The most important advantage is that silicon is so
readily abundant (it is actually the second most abundant element in the Earth’s
crust-second only to oxygen). Many PV manufacturers have an extensive research
programme in the area of multi crystalline silicon solar cells. The objective is to make
this kind of cells a beneficial solution for producing electricity.
The LCA of a multi crystalline silicon PV module starts with the mining and refining
of silica (quartz) (Phylipsen and Alsema, 1995). Silica is reduced with the use of carbon
and the reduction step is either followed or preceded by a purification step. The resulting
high purity silicon is melted and cast into blocks of multi crystalline silicon. The blocks
are portioned into ingots (lump of metal, cast in a mould), which are subsequently sliced
into wafers. The wafers are processed into solar cells by etching, texture, formation
of the emitter layer, application of back surface layer and contacts, passiveness and
antireflective coating. The solar cells are tested, interconnected and subsequently
encapsulated and framed into modules. All these procedures take place for the
manufacture of multi crystalline silicon solar cells (Koroneos et al., 2006a).
The PV frames constitute the basic parts of a PV installation. In Figure 2 are shown
the basic raw materials and the energy used for the manufacturing of the frames
(SAEFL, 1998). The values of raw materials are expressed in kg of substance
per produced kWh, while the energy requirements for the manufacturing of the elements
are expressed in kJ per produced kWh. The primary energy resources for the
manufacturing of frames are: 7833.797 kJ/kWh for the production of solar cells,
2282.878 kJ/kWh for the aluminium production, 701.915 kJ/kWh for the glass
production, 440.1766 kJ/kWh for the EVA production and 82.8945 kJ/kWh for the
430 C.J. Koroneos and Y. Koroneos

production of Tedlar (Koroneos et al., 2006a). Figure 2 shows the system boundaries of
energy, material and pollutants flows, without any distinction.

Figure 2 The system boundaries of energy, material and pollutants flows, without any distinction

Source: Koroneos et al. (2006a)

The impact categories and the categorisation of results (Table 2) lead to Figure 3
where their plots are shown. The normalisation step leads to Table 3 and the graph
representation is shown in Figure 4. It becomes apparent that the heavy metals constitute
the most important category that attention must be paid to.
From the graphic representation of Table 3 results (Figure 4), it is obvious that the
heavy metals constitute the basic category in which it should be given attention.
Using the results of Table 2, we can do the assessment of categories of environmental
repercussions (Table 4).
From the graphic representation of results of Table 4 (Figure 5), it is shown once
again that the category of heavy metals is the one with the highest value.
 Renewable energy systems: the environmental impact approach 431

Table 2 Produced emissions in the various stages of PV life cycle analysis categorisation

Category Units Values

Greenhouse effect (A) kg CO2-eq/kWh 5.168E-02
Ozone depletion (Ǻ) kg CFC-11-eq/kWh 2.107E-08
Winter smog (C) kg SO2-eq/kWh 8.311E-04
Summer smog (D) kg C2H4-eq/kWh 4.778E-05
Acidification (Ǽ) kg SOx-eq/kWh 9.329E-04
Eutrophication kg PO43–-eq/kWh
(gas emissions) (F) 3.291E-05
(liquid emissions) (G) 2.504E-06
Heavy Metals kg Pb-eq/kWh
(Gases) (H) 2.925E-06
(Liquids) (ǿ) 7.658E-07
Carcinogenesis (J) kg PAH-eq/kWh 3.514E-08
Ecotoxicity (K) kg H2SO4-eq/kWh 2.125E-05
Radioactive emissions KBq/kWh
(Gases) (L) 6.44E+01
(Liquids) (M) 2.70E-01

Figure 3 Logarithmical representation of categorisation results

Source: Koroneos et al. (2006b)

Table 3 Normalisation of various emissions categories

Category Coefficients Normalisation prices*

Greenhouse effect 0.0000765 3.95352E-06
Ozone depletion 1.08 2.27556E-08
Acidification 0.00888 8.28415E-06
Eutrophication 0.0262 9.27847E-07
Heavy metals 18.4 6.79107E-05
Carcinogenesis 92 3.23288E-06
Winter smog 0.0106 8.80966E-06
Summer smog 0.0558 2.66612E-06
*This column results from the product of the second column with the third column of
Table 2.
Source: Sima Pro (1995)
432 C.J. Koroneos and Y. Koroneos

Figure 4 Graphic representation of normalisation results

Source: Koroneos et al. (2006a)

Table 4 Assessment of categories of environmental repercussions

Category Category importance Assessment values*

Greenhouse effect 2.5 9.884E-06
Ozone depletion 100 2.276E-06
Acidification 10 8.284E-05
Eutrophication 5 4.639E-06
Heavy Metals 5 3.396E-04
Carcinogenesis 10 3.233E-05
Winter smog 5 4.405E-05
Summer smog 2.5 6.665E-06
*This column results from the product of the second column of Table 4 with the third
column of Table 3.
Source: Sima Pro (1995)

Figure 5 Graphic representation of the results taking into consideration the category importance
 Renewable energy systems: the environmental impact approach 433

4 Wind power systems

The efficiency of a wind turbine depends on its type, that is, if it is of horizontal or
vertical axis on the rotor diameter and on the wind speed. The wind turbines are
classified according to their nominal power. The ratio of the change of the produced
power to the initial power, does not depend only on the nominal power of the turbine, but
also on the wind speed change. The increase of the nominal power of the turbine does not
necessarily entail an increase of the mentioned ratio. This does not mean that the turbine
had better work at low wind speeds, because at low speeds the produced power is quite
lower than that produced at higher wind speeds.
Taking into consideration the area covered by the rotor of the turbine, which is the
surface ʌR2, where R is the radius of the rotor, the change of the ratio in relation to the
change of the wind speed is better for the wind turbine of 600 kW than for the turbine of
1 MW.
The change of the ratio of the produced power to the initial power in relation to the
wind speed change depends on the type of the turbine and the wind speed range in which
the turbine works. But if the surface of the rotor is taken into account, the results are
modified in that the turbine with a larger rotor diameter show a worse behaviour at the
wind speed changes.
The utilisation of wind’s potential (the ratio of the produced power of the wind
turbine per square meter of rotor, to the energy density of the wind per square meter) in
relation to the wind speed increases at low wind speed values and is almost stabilised at
wind speeds greater than 7 m/s. The energy density of the wind is given by the product
1/2 ρv3, where ȡ is the density of the wind which is taken equal to 1,225 kg/m3, and v is
the wind speed.
It is understandable that wind turbines cannot take advantage of the total power of the
wind. According to the Betz’s law wind turbine can take advantage of up to 60% of the
power of the wind. Nevertheless, in practice their efficiency is about 40% for quite high
wind speeds. The rest of the energy density of the wind not obtainable is exergy loss.
This loss appears mainly as heat. It is attributed: To the friction between the rotor shaft
and the bearings, to the heat that the cooling fluid abducts from the gearbox, to the heat
that the cooling fluid of the generator abducts from it and to the thyristors, which assist to
the smooth start of the turbine and lose 1–2% of the energy that passes through them.
In the present study is examined a wind turbine of nominal force 500 kW with a
height of 41.5 m. For the production of this wind generator (Figure 6) there are used
materials shown in Table 5 with basic the steel while for the installation great quantity of
concrete is needed (Koroneos et al., 2003).
In the stage of wind generator manufacturing are emitted pollutants which come from
the electric energy and heat consumption as well as from the material transport.
The emissions of CO2 (Table 6) constitute the bigger part of direct pollutants.
The emissions of NO2, CH4 and CO have been included in the emissions of CO2. For the
estimation of these quantities of emissions in equivalent quantities of CO2 are multiplied
with factors 270, 24.5 and 1.4 equivalents (Schleisner, 1999).
434 C.J. Koroneos and Y. Koroneos

Figure 6 Wind generator intersection

Table 5 Materials used for the wind generator construction

Materials kg
Turbine
Steel 948600
Aluminum 25200
Coper 6300
Sand 37800
Glass 19800
Plastics 36000
Oil products 1800
Others 12600
Foundation
Ruggedised iron 216000
Concrete 5085000
Source: Schleisner and Nielsen (1997)

Table 6 Pollutants that are emitted for the manufacturing of a wind generator of 500 kW

Emissions Emission values (g/kWh)

CO2 9.7
SO2 0.02
NOx 0.03
Source: Schleisner (1999)

The steps following the manufacture of a wind generator to the disposal of its parts is
shown in Figure 7. The energy needed for the production of the wind generator parts is
shown in Table 7. Figure 8 is a representation of the tones of materials used for the
manufacturing of a wind generator.
 Renewable energy systems: the environmental impact approach 435

Figure 7 Wind generator steps in a lifetime

Table 7 Energy needed for the wind generator construction

Material MJ/wind generator MJ/kWh

Steel 19514625 4,928E-02
Bars 6170775 1,558E-02
Aluminum 876525 2,213E-03
Copper 464100 1,172E-03
Plastic 203775 5,146E-04
Glass 181350 4,580E-04
Concrete and sand 18180825 4,591E-02
Total 45591975 1,151E-01
Source: Koroneos et al. (2003)

Figure 8 Materials used for the manufacturing of a wind generator

Source: Koroneos et al. (2003)

436 C.J. Koroneos and Y. Koroneos

5 Geothermal power systems

The geothermal steam can be used for electricity production (Figure 9). The geothermal
fluid (point 1) expands directly in the turbine T, producing work that is partially needed
for the movement of the two compressors of non-condensed steam. Point 2 is the end of
the expansion and it is determined by the conditions imposed in the first mixing
condenser M1. Its working pressure is much lower than the atmospheric in order to
maximise the produced work. A saturated mixture of CO2-steam exits from the top of the
condenser (point 3), while the condensed steam exits from the bottom (point 2w) at the
same pressure. The mixture CO2-steam is compressed and then it is sent to another
mixing condenser M2 (point 4) which works at a higher pressure. The uncondensed
substances exit from the top of the second compressor (point 5) and are disposed to the
environment (point 6). The water leaving the second condenser (point 3w) is mixed with
the water coming from the first condenser and the mixture is pumped to the cooling tower
(point 5w). The cooling water is then re-entered in the mixing condensers and the
redundant water is disposed in the reservoir (Koroneos et al., 2003).

Figure 9 Electricity production from geothermal steam

In most geothermal systems, non-condensible gases make up less than 5% by weight of

the steam phase. Thus, for the same output of electricity, carbon dioxide emissions
from geothermal flashed-steam power plants are only a small fraction of emissions
from power plants that burn hydrocarbons. Binary geothermal power plants do not
allow a steam phase to separate, so carbon dioxide and the other gases remain in solution
and are reinjected into the reservoir, resulting in no atmospheric emissions. For each
megawatt-hour of electricity produced in 1991, the average emission of carbon dioxide
by plant type in the USA was: 990 kg from coal, 839 kg from petroleum, 540 kg from
natural gas, and 0.48 kg from geothermal flashed-steam. Also, for each megawatt-hour of
electricity produced in 1991, the average emission of SO, by plant type in the USA was:
 Renewable energy systems: the environmental impact approach 437

9.23 kg from coal, 4.95 kg from petroleum, and 0.03 kg from geothermal flashed-steam
and for each megawatt-hour of electricity produced in 1991, the average emission of
nitrogen oxides by plant type in the USA was: 3.66 kg from coal, 1.75 kg from
petroleum, 1.93 kg from natural gas, and zero from geothermal. These numbers are
shown in Table 8 and the graphical representation in Figure 10 (Sterret, 1995).

Table 8 Average emissions per MWh

kg/MWh Coal Petroleum Natural gas Geothermal

CO2 990 839 540 0.48
SO2 9.23 4.95 – 0.03
NOx 3.66 1.75 1.93 0
Source: Sterret (1995)

Figure 10 Graphical representation of emissions per produced MWh

Renewable energy systems may have greater or lower net converted energy in relation to
the energy invested for the construction of the plant, depending on the use of the
produced energy. For example, systems producing thermal energy from solar energy,
have more net converted energy in relation to the energy invested for the construction of
the plant, than these using natural gas or oil. The same does not happen with systems that
convert solar energy into electricity. What should be mentioned, is that the plants shown
in Table 9 have the same life period. In fact, life period of systems using RES is greater
than that of fossil fuels. The basic way used for the comparison of these systems is in
price per produced energy unit in useful form. With this calculation system, the future
value of non- renewable energy sources is reduced.
Energy that comes from a system in relation to the invested energy and energy in
relation with the energy that enters the system for various energy sources is presented in
Figures 11 and 12. Logarithmic graphic representation of the results of Table 10 appears
in Figure 13.
438 C.J. Koroneos and Y. Koroneos

Table 9 Net energy converted in relation to the energy invested on main energy systems

Efficiency 1a (%) Efficiency 2b (%)

Solar thermal 25 52
Natural gas and oil 20 48
Lignite – 34
Nuclear cracking 10 –
Solar electric 3 12,75
Wind electric – 39
Geothermal – 35,6
a
Efficiency 1 = (Net produced energy/Energy invested) × 100%.
b
Efficiency 2 = (Output energy/Input energy) × 100%.
Source: Slesser and Hounam (1976), Koening (1980),
Koroneos et al. (2006b), Sima Pro (1995) and
Technical Specifications (2006)

Figure 11 Energy that comes from a system in relation to the invested energy for various energy
sources

Source: Koroneos et al. (2003)

Figure 12 Energy that comes from a system in relation to the energy that enters in the system
for various energy sources

Source: Koroneos et al. (2003)

 Renewable energy systems: the environmental impact approach 439

Table 10 Daily atmosphere load from various types of energy (tones/installed MWe)

Traces of
CO2 SOx NOx H2S PM NH3 metals
Coal 22 0.56 0.08 0 0.7 0 40E-05
Oil 18 0.28 0.08 0 0.02 0 7E-05
Natural gas 12.2 4E-05 0.07 0 0 0 0
Photovoltaics 1.37E-01 2.24E-03 7.13E-04 1.73E-07 2.03E-04 149E-05 0
Wind generators 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Geothermal 4.98E-01 0 0 5.48E-04 3.99E-04 4.83E-03 0
energy
Source: Koroneos et al. (2006b), Schleisner (1999) and US Department of
Energy (1983)

Figure 13 Logarithmic graphic representation of atmospheric loads from different energy

sources

6 Conclusions

This study deals with three different kinds of systems which use renewable energy
sources as inputs. Specifically, it deals with systems that use solar energy, wind power
and geothermal energy. From the results it can be seen that some of the systems appear to
have sufficient efficiencies, and in some cases they are greater than the efficiency of
systems using non-renewable energy sources. In other cases, like the conversion of solar
energy to electric, the efficiencies are lower. So, a big area would be needed for the
installation of a renewable energy system in order to meet the electric needs of a
residential area.
A significant advantage from the usage of renewable energy systems, is that they are
environmental friendly, because they emit very few dangerous pollutants. On the other
hand, their main disadvantage lies in their incapability to take advantage of a big part of
the available energy. This is balanced by the fact that RES are inexhaustible.
440 C.J. Koroneos and Y. Koroneos

Greece is a country which has sunny weather for the most part of the year.
Moreover, its islands, as well as its coasts, sustain the installation of wind turbines, for
the exploitation of the high wind capacity existing in these areas. Finally, there are some
geothermal fields, which unfortunately remain unexploited. From the usage of these
energy sources, Greece could meet a great part of its energy needs, making its
dependence on fossil fuels significantly smaller.

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 Renewable energy systems: the environmental impact approach 441

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