Although external costs of atmospheric emissions are site-specific, traditional LCA studies do not characterize environmental flows at a geographic level. Therefore, we adapt the LCA model of electricity consumption mix to include site-specific information. Geographic characterization of LCA atmospheric emissions and benefit transfer techniques are used to calculate the indicator, which can be computed for various countries, economic aggregates, and reference years, including future projections.

In this work, we apply the proposed methodology to two energy scenarios for Italy: one for 2019 and one for 2030. The former is based on the latest available data, while the latter on assumptions regarding the implementation of the European Union’s Green New Deal. The average external cost of the electricity consumption mix is €0.0572019/kWh in the 2019 scenario and only €0.0192019/kWh for the 2030 scenario. Furthermore, we find that although emissions related to electricity production occur in many countries worldwide, most externalities happen within national borders and are linked to direct emissions from thermal power plants.