Life cycle assessment of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell system for passenger vehicles

In moving towards a more sustainable society, hydrogen fueled polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology is seen as a great opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of the transport sector. However, decision makers have the challenge of understanding the real environmental consequences of producing fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) compared to alternative green cars, such as battery electric vehicles (BEVs). and more conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). In this work, we presented a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) of a FCV focused on its manufacturing phase and compared with the production of a BEV and an ICEV. For the manufacturing phase, the FCV inventories started from the catalyst layer to the glider, including the hydrogen tank. A sensitivity analysis on some of the key components of the fuel cell stack and the FC system (such as balance-of-plant and hydrogen tank) was carried out to account for different assumptions on materials and inventory models. The production process of the fuel cell vehicle showed a higher environmental impact compared to the production of the other two vehicles power sources. This is mainly due to the hydrogen tank and the fuel cell stack. However, by combining the results of the sensitivity analysis for each component - a best-case scenario showed that there is the potential for a 25% reduction in the climate change impact category for the FCV compared to a baseline FCV scenario. Reducing the environmental impact associated with the manufacture of fuel cell vehicles represents an important challenge. The entire life cycle has also been considered and the manufacturing, use and disposal of FCV, electric vehicle and conventional diesel vehicle were compared. Overall, the ICEV showed the highest GWP and this was mainly due to the use phase and the fossil carbon emissions associated to the use of diesel.

[1]  S. Maithel.  Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy , 2008 .

[2]  Björn A. Sandén,et al.  Time and Scale Aspects in Life Cycle Assessment of Emerging Technologies: Case Study on Alternative Transport Fuels , 2004 .

[3]  T. Nemecek,et al.  Overview and methodology: Data quality guideline for the ecoinvent database version 3 , 2013 .

[4]  Paul R. Shearing,et al.  Mechanisms and effects of mechanical compression and dimensional change in polymer electrolyte fuel cells – A review , 2015 .

[5]  Dawei Wang,et al.  Life cycle analysis of internal combustion engine, electric and fuel cell vehicles for China , 2013 .

[6]  W. Haije,et al.  COMPARATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS , 1997 .

[7]  R. Frischknecht,et al.  Introduction The ecoinvent Database: Overview and Methodological Framework , 2004 .

[8]  Mark A. J. Huijbregts,et al.  USEtox—the UNEP-SETAC toxicity model: recommended characterisation factors for human toxicity and freshwater ecotoxicity in life cycle impact assessment , 2008 .

[9]  Sujit Das.  Life cycle assessment of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites , 2011 .

[10]  M. Hauschild,et al.  Environmental assessment of products , 1997 .

[11]  Lars Ole Valøen,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment of a Lithium‐Ion Battery Vehicle Pack , 2014 .

[12]  Nigel P. Brandon,et al.  The environmental impact of manufacturing planar and tubular solid oxide fuel cells , 2001 .

[13]  Ulrich Eberle,et al.  Chemical and physical solutions for hydrogen storage. , 2009, Angewandte Chemie.

[14]  S. Srinivasan,et al.  Fuel Cells: From Fundamentals to Applications , 2006 .

[15]  M. Pehnt.  Life-cycle assessment of fuel cell stacks , 2001 .

[16]  Xianguo Li,et al.  Life cycle analysis of vehicles powered by a fuel cell and by internal combustion engine for Canada , 2006 .

[17]  Qiang Dai,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment of Natural Gas-Powered Personal Mobility Options , 2014 .

[18]  John A. Turner,et al.  Reviewing Metallic PEMFC Bipolar Plates , 2010 .

[19]  Yong Wang,et al.  Novel catalyst support materials for PEM fuel cells : current status and future prospects , 2009 .

[20]  Rajesh K. Ahluwalia,et al.  Technical assessment of compressed hydrogen storage tank systems for automotive applications , 2010 .

[21]  Dominic A Notter,et al.  Life cycle impact assessment modeling for particulate matter: A new approach based on physico-chemical particle properties. , 2015, Environment international.

[22]  H. L. Miller,et al.  Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis , 2007 .

[23]  Oliver T. Holton,et al.  The Role of Platinum in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells , 2013 .

[24]  Nicholas J.E. Adkins,et al.  Life cycle assessment of gas atomised sponge nickel for use in alkaline hydrogen fuel cell applications , 2013 .

[25]  V. Karakousis,et al.  The environmental impact of manufacturing planar and tubular solid oxide fuel cells , 2002 .

[26]  Hans-Jörg Althaus,et al.  The ecoinvent Database: Overview and Methodological Framework (7 pp) , 2005 .

[27]  Anders Hammer Strømman,et al.  Life cycle environmental assessment of lithium-ion and nickel metal hydride batteries for plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles. , 2011, Environmental science & technology.

[28]  Dominic A. Notter,et al.  Contribution of Li-ion batteries to the environmental impact of electric vehicles. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[29]  Martin Pehnt.  Assessing future energy and transport systems: the case of fuel cells , 2003 .

[30]  Daniel Garraín,et al.  Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) in Automotive Applications: Environmental Relevance of the Manufacturing Stage , 2011 .

[31]  Ay Su,et al.  Effect of graphite sizes and carbon nanotubes content on flowability of bulk-molding compound and formability of the composite bipolar plate for fuel cell , 2010 .

[32]  S. Litster,et al.  PEM fuel cell electrodes , 2004 .

[33]  Jenn-Jiang Hwang,et al.  Lifecycle performance assessment of fuel cell/battery electric vehicles , 2013 .

[34]  D. A. Masten,et al.  System design for vehicle applications: GM/opel , 2010 .

[35]  M. Hauschild,et al.  Environmental Assessment of Products: Volume 2: Scientific Background , 1997 .

[36]  Raffaella Gerboni,et al.  LCA of a Carbon Fiber Wrapped Pressure Vessel for Automotive Applications , 2004 .

[37]  Gjalt Huppes,et al.  Environmental assessment of products , 1999 .

[38]  C. Kroeze.  N2O from animal waste. Methodology according to IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. , 1997 .

[39]  Garry D. Hayman,et al.  Photochemical ozone creation potentials for oxygenated volatile organic compounds: sensitivity to variations in kinetic and mechanistic parameters , 1999 .

[40]  Viral S. Mehta,et al.  Review and analysis of PEM fuel cell design and manufacturing , 2003 .

[41]  Bruno G. Pollet,et al.  Ex-situ characterisation of gas diffusion layers for proton exchange membrane fuel cells , 2012 .

[42]  Rana Pant,et al.  Improving the environmental performance of bio-waste management with life cycle thinking (LCT) and life cycle assessment (LCA) , 2012, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[43]  Lin Gao,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment of Environmental and Economic Impacts of Advanced Vehicles , 2012 .

[44]  Roland Clift,et al.  The application of Life Cycle Assessment to Integrated Solid Waste Management - Part 1 - Methodology , 2000 .

[45]  Christian Bauer,et al.  A life-cycle perspective on automotive fuel cells , 2015 .

[46]  C. E. Thomas,et al.  Fuel cell and battery electric vehicles compared , 2009 .

[47]  Roland Clift,et al.  Sustainable development and its implications for chemical engineering , 2006 .

[48]  M. Hickner,et al.  Alternative polymer systems for proton exchange membranes (PEMs). , 2004, Chemical reviews.

[49]  Giovanni Dotelli,et al.  Surface treatments with perfluoropolyether derivatives for the hydrophobization of gas diffusion lay , 2011 .

[50]  Life-cycle Inventory , 2022 .

[51]  David L. Greene,et al.  Status and Prospects of the Global Automotive Fuel Cell Industry and Plans for Deployment of Fuel Cell Vehicles and Hydrogen Refueling Infrastructure , 2013 .

[52]  Martin Pehnt,et al.  Assessing future energy and transport systems: the case of fuel cells , 2003 .

[53]  Nara Tudela Haberland,et al.  Life cycle assessment of PEM FC applications: electric mobility and μ-CHP , 2015 .

[54]  Nigel P. Brandon,et al.  Review of Materials and Characterization Methods for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Flow-Field Plates , 2007 .

[55]  Great Britain. Office for Standards in Education,et al.  Transport statistics, Great Britain , 1976 .

[56]  E. Bekyarova,et al.  Functionalized Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube-Based Fuel Cell Benchmarked Against US DOE 2017 Technical Targets , 2013, Scientific Reports.

[57]  Ibrahim Dincer,et al.  A preliminary life cycle assessment of PEM fuel cell powered automobiles , 2007 .

[58]  Paul Ekins,et al.  Life cycle assessment of future electric and hybrid vehicles: A cradle-to-grave systems engineering approach , 2016 .