Abstract
Climate change is increasingly becoming a significant issue globally and the use of solar thermal technology is one
approach in managing the world’s environment. There is now greater use of renewable energy sources in order to
minimize the depletion of energy resources while providing an environmentally-friendly energy source that has minimal
impact on the environment. It is thus important to be able to assess the environmental impact of different types of solar
thermal technologies in order to have an understanding of the actual impact of solar thermal on the environment. Most
solar thermal technologies need to use water in the production process to produce electricity. The most viable place to
produce solar energy is in extremely hot climates like deserts where there is not much water to choose from. Most of the
time water comes from sources that are far away and becomes expensive to transport the water to the solar plant sites.
There is one solar thermal technology that does not require water to produce electricity. It is called Solar Chimney or
Solar updraft tower. This paper will assess the environmental impact of Solar Chimneys across its life cycle using the
Life Cycle Assessment approach (LCA). The contribution of this paper is providing further understanding of the
environmental impact of solar chimneys across its life cycle particularly as new technologies in solar technology
continue to be developed.