Life Cycle and Techno-Economic Assessment Templates for Emerging Carbon Management Technologies

Abstract

Technologies that valorize carbon dioxide are becoming an increasingly relevant component of the portfolio of solutions necessary to mitigate and reverse climate change. Assessing the environmental and economic characteristics of these technologies early in their developmental trajectories can help technologists either efficiently accelerate emissions reductions and commercialization or realize potential infeasibility and direct resources toward better opportunities. To aid in such assessments, this article constructs a typology of carbon removal and utilization technologies and identifies specific pathways in need of early-stage life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic assessment (TEA) templates. Based on published literature and project experience, example LCA and TEA templates are developed for high-priority pathways with relatively low technology readiness levels including direct air capture, chemical synthesis, algae products, carbonated concrete, and carbonated aggregates. The templates attempt to capture the most important elements of early-stage LCA and TEA in an easily understandable and usable manner that still allows for reliable, order-of-magnitude estimations and hotspot analysis. Opportunities for other practitioners to use and build upon the templates are also discussed.

Risk-based uncertainty assessment to identify key sustainability hurdles for emerging CO2 utilization technologies

“…On the other hand, MSP and NVP are profitability measures which require additional data such as market size and selling price and are estimated with discounted cash flow analyses. 52 Without adequate prerequisite data, the incorporation of the latter indicators may introduce unnecessary, difficult-to-quantify risk-based uncertainties.…”

Why Not Use the Sea? A Shared Value Approach to Sustainable Value Creation When Using Carbon Dioxide as a Valuable Resource in Manufacturing

“…This project involves the mass cultivation of microalgae in tanks using Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) technology. CCU entails capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or point source emissions and using it as raw material in a value chain (Faber et al, 2021). It represents one of two promising strategies to tackle the impact of industry on climate and the environment, the other strategy being Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) (Acatech, 2019).…”

Translating advances in microbial bioproduction to sustainable biotechnology

“…As energy systems continue to decarbonize, these platforms may adapt through cross-platform consortia that pair electrochemical processes like carbon capture and storage (CSS) and CO 2 hydrogenation with microbial fermentation ( Bui et al, 2018 ). Of special interest are combinatorial approaches using CSS technologies to convert sequestered carbon into bioproducts ( Faber et al, 2021 ) in “bioenergy CSS” platforms ( Hanssen et al, 2020 ). Many proof of concept studies have already been established, including electrochemical conversion of CO 2 to formic acid for bioproduction in C. necator ( Li et al, 2012 ).…”