Carbon accounting in the context of multi-criteria assessment for SLES: challenges and opportunities

In the UK, national carbon emission reduction targets aim to reach Net Zero by 2050, with a fully decarbonised electricity system by 2035. Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES) are being deployed to combine and intelligently control complementary low and zero carbon technologies within micro-gridsto amplify their impacts and accelerate this ambitious transition towards a decarbonized energy system and low-carbon society. Today, national and local governments monitor the potential carbon reduction of energy system retrofitting and policy implementation through simplified carbon accounting methods, which allow for calculation of the accumulated carbon emissions. This focus on carbon may, however, neglect broader socioeconomic impacts and benefits of these actions. This paper describes the how the application of a multi-criteria assessment tool focusing on SLES can be used to evaluate (i) the carbon emissions from an energy system and (ii) the carbon reduction potential of renewable and smart energy technology implementation. Alongside the carbon accounting this MCA-SLES tool provides assessment and insights into the local socioeconomic and environmental benefits and impacts of the SLES development. The application of such a complex assessment tool has challenges in application, such as data collection, the intensity of the stakeholder approach, and the large volume of information for user dissemination. This paper illustrates how the developed assessment tool mitigates for these challenges and highlights the opportunity for small-scale energy development projects to employ it to assess project feasibility and progress towards economic, social, and environmental co-benefits.