Life cycle assessment of fuel cell vehicles a methodology example of input data treatment for future technologies

Contadini, J. Fernando; Moore, Robert M.; Mokhtarian, Patricia L.

doi:10.1007/bf02978850

Cited by 27 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…A range of available approaches for uncertainty analysis in the LCIA phase were reviewed by Björklund (2002); amongst them, Monte Carlo simulation was the most commonly recommended, and specific methodologies have been developed (Contadini et al, 2002, Ciroth et al, 2004, Hung and Ma, 2009). Moreover, Monte Carlo simulation has been built into some commercial LCA software such as SimaPro (PRéConsultants, 2004b) and applied in LCAs (Miller et al, 2006, Basset-Mens et al, 2009, Spatari et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introduction 84mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on the LCI uncertainty information, a range of uncertainty analysis methods can also be applied at the LCIA phase (Björklund, 2002). As one of the most commonly recommended methods, Monte Carlo simulation has been applied in previous LCAs both in methodology development and in case studies (Contadini et al, 2002, Ciroth et al, 2004, Hung and Ma, 2009, Spatari et al, 2010.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Light-Weight Eco-composites

Guo¹

2012

Springer Theses

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LCA of Light-weight Eco-composites Statement of originality 2 Statement of originalityI hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person.Contributions made to the research of this thesis by others, with whom I have worked with are explicitly acknowledged. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others with data collection and modification of process-oriented model DNDC is acknowledged. Miao GuoSep 2010 LCA of Light-weight Eco-compositesAbstract 3 AbstractThe environmental profiles of novel wheat based foam materials were investigated in this thesis using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods. The LCAs were developed using primary data collected from industrial sources combined with new laboratory experiments supplemented with secondary data from publicly available sources.Laboratory research was conducted to obtain important missing data on WBFs for the LCA modelling, including physico-chemical parameters, biodegradability and energy recovery under anaerobic digestion conditions.Contribution analysis suggested that the emissions evolved from the wheat agroecosystem and PVOH production, together with the energy and infrastructure involved in WBF production were the major contributors to the environmental burdens of the WBF life cycle in most impact categories. The atmospheric emissions resulting from WBF degradation at the end-of-life also emerged as another important contributor to environmental impact. Amongst the diverse ‗end-of-life' scenarios examined, AD and home composting were suggested to be the optimum choices for WBF waste treatment. This research discusses two N 2 O modelling approaches and presents a method to expand the system boundary by integrating the process-oriented model DNDC for field emissions into the LCA. Sensitivity analysis suggests that the environmental profiles of agricultural products are influenced substantially by the system boundary definition. LCA of Light-weight Eco-compositesAbstract 4 Furthermore, it suggests that the ‗general rule' in LCA practice by applying an empirical model or a default emission factor (EF) could deliver unreliable LCA findings.This study also evaluated the sensitivity of the LCA results to methodology and data variations and quantified the uncertainties in the LCA outcomes arising from uncertainty in the inventory and data variability. This has led to an increase in confidence in the LCA findings. At the same time it indicates the areas where improvements in data or methods are needed in order for robust conclusions to be drawn and unbiased information to be delivered e.g. the methodological rigidity of characterization models, the IPCC Tier 1 EF uncertainty range. LCA of Light-weight Eco-compositesAcknowledgements 5

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Section: Introduction 84mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Light-Weight Eco-composites

Guo¹

2012

Springer Theses

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“…Traditionally, the main focus of uncertainty research in LCA was on technical uncertainties, often referred to as data quality uncertainties. Probability-based tools have been utilised Int J LCA 10 10 10 10 10 (5) 2005 by many authors to assess this type of uncertainty (Kennedy et al 1996, Weidema and Suhr-Wesnaes 1996, Coulon et al 1997, Finnveden and Lindfors 1998, Huijbregts 1998b, Contadini et al 2002, Huijbregts et al 2003. In the Swiss Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) database, 'ecoinvent 2000', the input data are prepared to allow for the application of Monte Carlo simulation (Frischknecht et al 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scenario Modelling in Prospective LCA of Transport Systems. Application of Formative Scenario Analysis (11 pp)

Spielmann¹,

Scholz

Tietje³

et al. 2004

Int J Life Cycle Assessment

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depth analysis of the future development of each single unit process, while still accounting for the requirements of the final scenario integration. Due to its high transparency, the procedure supports the validation of LCI results. Furthermore, it is wellsuited for incorporation into participatory methods so as to increase their credibility. Outlook and Future Work. Thus far, the proposed approach is only applied on a vehicle level not taking into account alterations in demand and use of different transport modes. Future projects will enhance the approach by tackling uncertainties in technology assessment of future transport systems. For instance, environmental interventions involving future maglev technology will be assessed so as to account for induced traffic generated by the introduction of a new transport system.

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“…These assessments have embraced a wide range of aspects including the systematic development of the necessary tools for life cycle assessment of fuel cell powered vehicles as demonstrated by Contadini et al. [5] who combined the Fuel Upstream Energy and Emission Model (FUEEM) with academic/manufacturer literature and the work of Pehnt [6,7], which addressed both methodological and environmental aspects with regard to Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC). In addition, such investigations have also concerned themselves with the fundamental question of fuel sources for the next generation of automotive propulsion [8,9] including various biofuels [10] as part of this holistic approach towards the environmental impact of fuel cell technologies.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Alkaline Fuel Cell (AFC) type fuel cells have themselves been the subject of a comprehensive LCA by Staffell and Ingram [16] who assessed the impact of including an AFC fuel cell as part of a domestic combined heat and power (CHP) system. Their results showed that production of the AFC stack is relatively insignificant when compared to the other components of the CHP system, but that the biggest environmental impact was from the sulphur dioxide (and other generated respiratory M A N U S C R I P T A C C E P T E D 5 Overall, it was concluded that improvements to the nickel catalysts used -in terms of increased activity and longevity -and better design to ease of disassembly and recycling are key to improving environmental performance of AFC and fuel cells in general.…”

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confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment of gas atomised sponge nickel for use in alkaline hydrogen fuel cell applications

Wilson

Lavery

Jarvis

et al. 2013

Journal of Power Sources

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N. (2013). Life cycle assessment of gas atomised sponge nickel for use in alkaline hydrogen fuel cell applications. Journal of Power Sources, 243, 242-252.http://dx.This paper presents a cradle-to-grave comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of new gas atomized (GA) sponge nickel catalysts and evaluates their performance against the both cast and crush (CC) sponge nickel and platinum standards currently used in commercial alkaline fuel cells (AFC). The LCA takes into account the energy used and emissions throughout the entire life cycle of sponge nickel catalysts -ranging from the upstream production of materials (mainly aluminium and nickel), to the manufacturing, to the operation and finally to the recycling and disposal. Through this assessment it was found that the energy and emissions during the operational phase associated with a given catalyst considerably outweigh the primary production, manufacturing and recycling. Primary production of the nickel (and to a lesser extent dopant materials) also has a significant environmental impact but this is offset by operational energy savings over the electrode's estimated lifetime and end of life recyclability. From the results it can be concluded that higher activity spongy nickel catalysts produced by gas atomization could have a significantly lower environmental impact than either CC nickel or platinum. Doped GA sponge nickel in particular showed comparable performance to that of the standard platinum electrode used in AFCs.

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Life cycle assessment of fuel cell vehicles a methodology example of input data treatment for future technologies

Cited by 27 publications

References 19 publications

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Light-Weight Eco-composites

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Light-Weight Eco-composites

Scenario Modelling in Prospective LCA of Transport Systems. Application of Formative Scenario Analysis (11 pp)

Life cycle assessment of gas atomised sponge nickel for use in alkaline hydrogen fuel cell applications

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