Life Cycle Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Supply Chains: State of the Art and Methodology Description

Abstract

Due to the increase of carbon dioxide emissions, a target for their reduction has been defined in the Paris Agreement for 2030. This topic is extremely important, and urgent actions are required so that the attention of the scientific community is mainly focused on emission reduction. In this context, carbon supply chains have an important role because they can help in carbon dioxide mitigation. In fact, in these systems, carbon dioxide is captured to be stored or used to produce valuable products. However, carbon supply chains involve many energy consumptions during the operation (causing carbon dioxide emissions and resource depletion), and an analysis of the environmental impact of the system is required. Different green metrics exist but the most effective is the life cycle assessment. The methodology of the life cycle assessment is presented in this work, with particular considerations for its application to carbon supply chains. An overview of the research presented in the literature is also considered here, with suggestions for future analyses.