Application of Life-Cycle Assessment to Evaluate the Carbon and Water Footprints of a Wind Farm in Villonaco, Loja, Ecuador

The development of cleaner and efficient energy technologies and the use of new renewable energy sources will play an important role in the sustainable development of a future energy strategy. Wind technology is considered to be among the most promising types of renewable energy sources, and due to high oil prices and growing concerns about climate change and energy security, it has been the subject of extensive considerations in recent years, including questions related to the relative sustainability of electricity production when the manufacturing, assembly, transportation and dismantling processes of these facilities are taken into account. The capacity of new wind power installations worldwide increased by a value of 93 GW, representing a growth of 53% compared to 2019. The present article evaluates the environmental impacts, carbon emissions and water consumption, derived from the production of electric energy from the Villonaco wind farm, located in Loja, Ecuador, during its entire life cycle, using the Life Cycle Analysis for this purpose. Finally, it is concluded that wind energy has greater environmental advantages since it has lower values of carbon and water footprints than other energy sources. Additionally, with the techniques of Cumulative Energy Demand and Energy Return on Investment, sustainability in the production of electricity from wind power in Ecuador is demonstrated; and, that due to issues of vulnerability to climate change, the diversification of its energy mix is essential considering the inclusion of non-conventional renewable sources such as solar or wind, this being the only way to reduce both the carbon footprint and the water from the energy supply.