Life cycle sustainability assessment of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell technology for ecodesign purposes

Mori, Mitja (author), Iribarren, Diego (author), Cren, Julie (author), Cor, Emmanuelle (author), Lotrič, Andrej (author), Gramc, Jure (author), Drobnič, Boštjan (author), Rey, Laurent (author), Campos Carriedo, Felipe (author), Puig-Samper, Gonzalo (author), Bargiacchi, Eleonora (author), Dufour, Javier (author), Stropnik, Rok (author)

The EU-funded project eGHOST supports the fuel cells and hydrogen (FCH) industry in shaping the eco (re)design of hydrogen-related products such as proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stacks. Within this framework, a life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) of a PEMFC stack was conducted to evaluate its potential environmental, economic, and social impacts. The climate change indicator for one 48 kW$_{el}$ PEMFC stack is 1160 kg CO$_2$ eq., with platinum accounting for 63.5% of the total value. The cost depends mainly on the production rate, and it is 2233 €/stack for an annual production of 50,000 stacks. Social hotspots are mainly associated with platinum production in South Africa. Illustrative ecodesign actions allow a reduction in climate change of 31% and 46% in the realistic (short-term) and optimistic (long-term) concept, respectively. A further reduction in climate change (54% in the optimistic concept) is achieved if 95% recycled Pt is used.

• Language: English
• Keywords: sustainability, environmental life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, social life cycle assessment, ecodesign, PEMFC, proton exchange membrane fuel cell, hydrogen technologies
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FS - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2023
• Number of pages: Str. 39673-39689
• Numbering: Vol. 48, iss. 99
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-152816
• UDC: 502.1
• ISSN on article: 1879-3487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2023.05.255
• COBISS.SI-ID: 156527875
• Publication date in RUL: 07.12.2023

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: International journal of hydrogen energy
• Publisher: Elsevier, Hydrogen Energy Publications
• ISSN: 1879-3487
• COBISS.SI-ID: 23007749

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: trajnostni razvoj, življenjski cikel, okoljski vpliv, stroški, socialni vpliv, ekosnovanje, PEMGC, vodikove tehnologije