Economic and social assessment of ecodesign measures for proton-exchange membrane fuel cell stacks

Gramc, Jure (avtor), Mizuno, Yuji (avtor), Iribarren, Diego (avtor), Dufour, Javier (avtor), Mori, Mitja (avtor)

A holistic sustainability assessment is needed for any new product, even more so for fuel cell and hydrogen technologies, which EU is relying on for energy transition. Moreover, the ecodesign methodology provides a framework to minimise environmental impacts, which is extended to economic and social impacts to support the development of sustainable-by-design solutions. Within the EU-funded eGHOST project, four future product concepts of proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack were defined based on the implementation of ecodesign measures. Each concept was evaluated through a combined environmental, economic and social life cycle assessment methodology. In particular, the evaluation of the economic and social dimensions is presented in this study, thus extending previous work limited to the environmental dimension. The results were compared with a PEMFC reference stack representing the current status. The scope of the study includes the manufacturing and end-of-life phases. The results of the economic evaluation show the importance of the manufacturing processes due to the relatively low production rate (1000 stacks per year). Platinum was identified as the most expensive material in the PEMFC stack. Platinum also arose as a key hotspot in the social assessment, due to the high impact of mining in South Africa across different social indicators, although it was not found to be the main contributor in every social indicator as different sectors from different countries are involved in the value chain. The implementation of ecodesign measures led to an enhanced economic and social performance of the PEMFC technology under study.

• Jezik: Angleški jezik
• Ključne besede: proton-exchange membrane fuel cell, social life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, ecodesign, platinum
• Vrsta gradiva: Članek v reviji
• Tipologija: 1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
• Organizacija: FS - Fakulteta za strojništvo
• Status publikacije: Objavljeno
• Različica publikacije: Objavljena publikacija
• Leto izida: 2026
• Št. strani: 14 str.
• Številčenje: Vol. 22, art. 100476
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-185115
• UDK: 621.352.6:621.354.34
• ISSN pri članku: 2666-7894
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cesys.2026.100476
• COBISS.SI-ID: 285811459
• Datum objave v RUL: 23.07.2026

Gradivo je del revije

• Naslov: Cleaner environmental systems
• Založnik: Elsevier Ltd.
• ISSN: 2666-7894
• COBISS.SI-ID: 68337411

Licence

• Licenca: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Priznanje avtorstva-Nekomercialno-Brez predelav 4.0 Mednarodna
• Povezava: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.sl
• Opis: Najbolj omejujoča licenca Creative Commons. Uporabniki lahko prenesejo in delijo delo v nekomercialne namene in ga ne smejo uporabiti za nobene druge namene.

Sekundarni jezik

• Jezik: Slovenski jezik
• Ključne besede: gorivne celice, protonska izmenjevalna membrana, družbena analiza življenjskih ciklov, stroškovna analiza, ekodizajn, platina