Estimation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Reductions of Hydropower Plants for Electricity Production in Iran

Energy consumption in Iran has risen due to the increasing population and economic growth in the last decades. Iran is heavily dependent on fossil fuels and has a large potential of renewable energy sources and hydropower. In this paper we calculate the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and reductions of hydropower plants in Iran for the year 2015. To calculate the emissions we review the studies in the field and apply the results of World Nuclear Association (WNA) report. To calculate the GHG reduction we use RETScreen software developed by Natural Resources of Canada (NCR). The results indicate that hydropower plants of Iran caused 9977111 tons of equivalent CO2 reduction in 2015. This shows that hydropower plants have important role in reducing air pollution and preventing global warming and should be exploited to its potential capacity

Keywords:

Hydropower plants , Greenhouse Gas , Life Cycle Assessment , Renewable Energy