Life Cycle Assessment Harmonization

NLR maintains reviews and harmonization of life cycle assessments (LCAs) of electricity generation technologies to reduce uncertainty around estimates for environmental impacts and increase the value of these assessments to the policymaking and research communities.

Hundreds of life cycle assessments have been published, with considerable variability in results. These variations in approach hampered comparison across studies and the pooling of published results. NLR harmonizes these data to:

  • Understand the range of published results of LCAs of electricity generation technologies
  • Reduce the variability in published results
  • Clarify the central tendency of published estimates.
Smoke stacks at sunset.

Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Electricity Generation: Update

NLR updated prior harmonization of ~3,000 life cycle assessments for utility-scale electricity generation, including storage technologies.

Harmonized Results

The harmonization process adjusts prior published estimates of life cycle GHG emissions using a consistent set of methods and assumptions specific to each technology.

ALL TECHNOLOGIES

Diagram showing all technologies starting upstream and going downstream.

COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGIES

Diagram showing combustion technologies starting upstream and going downstream.

Publications

Charting the Course: Reducing GHG Emissions From the U.S. Natural Gas Supply Chain, National Petroleum Council Technical Report (2024)

An Updated Life Cycle Assessment of Utility-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Systems Installed in the United States, NLR Technical Report (2024)

Energy and Carbon Payback Times for Modern U.S. Utility Photovoltaic Systems, NLR Fact Sheet (2024)

Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Electricity Generation: Update, NLR Fact Sheet (2021)

Meta-Analysis of Life Cycle Assessments, Journal of Industrial Ecology (2012)

Contact

Garvin Heath

Distinguished Member of the Research Staff

[email protected]

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Last Updated April 20, 2026