Potential Roles of Artificial Intelligence in the LCI of Renewable Energy Systems

Energy revolution from the conventional fossil fuels to clean energy is fast gaining traction with renewable and clean energy sources blazing the trail on the global scale. This has consequentially reduced electricity prices in certain countries and reduced carbon footprints in both manufacturing and service industries. Asides the advantages of these clean energy technologies, the assessment of their life cycle has recently gained more attention with life cycle inventory playing a major role. Life cycle inventory is a critical component in life cycle assessment. However, a life cycle inventory study is as accurate as the data used. This study presents a roadmap to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques in life cycle inventory (LCI). The data chain for efficient local resident data availability for LCA studies was considered with a focus on AI integration. In addition, a framework for the use of AI in LCI was developed. The study concluded that it was possible to proffer solution to LCI data unavailability problem using AI with the joint support of public and private partners.