City Research Online

Abstract

The expansion of offshore wind energy in the UK is essential for achieving net-zero emissions. However, this transition also necessitates a thorough examination of its potential environmental drawbacks. A key area of concern is the use of critical materials and rare earth elements. This paper presents a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluating the environmental impacts associated with the use of three metals—copper, zinc, and lead—across three offshore wind turbine technologies; Direct Drive Synchronous Generator (DDSG), Direct Drive Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (DDPMSG), and Doubly-Fed Induction Generator (DFIG). The study quantifies the environmental burdens linked to each metal’s deployment, presents sensitivity analyses based on variations in manufacturing efficiency, and assesses the environmental trade-offs of fossil fuel displacement under three boundary displacement strategies. Results indicate that copper imposes the highest environmental burden, with terrestrial ecotoxicity approximately 1900% greater than that of zinc, while lead exhibits the lowest impacts across all categories. Sensitivity analysis reveals that a 10% improvement in manufacturing efficiency could lead to a corresponding 10% reduction in the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of copper by 2050. Additionally, fossil fuel displacement analysis shows substantial GWP reductions when offshore wind energy replaces natural gas—up to a 2049% decrease under a 100% displacement scenario.

Publication Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Additional Information:	© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2025. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Subjects:	T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Departments:	School of Science & Technology School of Science & Technology > Department of Engineering
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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