Carbon fibre composites are strong and lightweight materials, which can, for example, reduce fuel consumption if replacing heavier materials in vehicles. It is however extremely energy intensive to produce. In her doctoral thesis, Frida Hermansson has used and developed life cycle assessment to study the environmental impacts from future production as well as recycling of carbon fibre composites.
Carbon fibre composites are strong and lightweight materials. When replacing heavier materials such as steel and aluminium in vehicles, the fuel consumption can significantly be reduced. The material is however extremely energy intensive to produce, which means that it implementing it in vehicles in fact can increase the life cycle environmental impact. This means that the material developers face the challenge of decreasing the environmental impacts of carbon fibre composites so that we fully benefit from the reduced fuel consumption. This includes different plausible developments of the production process, or the recycling of composites and recovery of fibres to be used in other applications.
In her thesis, Frida Hermansson has applied and developed life cycle assessment to quantify the environmental impacts from future production as well as recycling of carbon fibre composites. This includes the assessment of different plausible technology development routes to identify the route most promising to decrease the environmental impacts. It also includes the development of prospective (future oriented) life cycle assessment as a decision tool.
What challenges do you focus on in your research?
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to prospective life cycle assessments is data availability. Without access to good manufacturing data, it is challenging to provide good advice. A part of my research has been aimed at overcoming this.
I have also been focusing a lot on allocation in prospective studies. Allocation is the distribution of impacts between co-products (if a process generates more than one product) or life cycles (for recycling processes). The challenge is that many allocation approaches are dependent on input from future markets, such as cost and demand balances or market saturation. This is difficult to foresee and means that many allocation approaches are connected to large uncertainties- The challenge is firstly to identify the appropriate allocation approach for your specific research question, and secondly to assess its sensitivity to changes in the surrounding system and how this can influence the results.
How do you address the problem with your research?
By quantifying the environmental impact of carbon fibre composites produced today and the impact when implementing different technology development routes, technology developers can get support in identifying the most promising route for decreasing the overall environmental impacts.
What are the main findings?
I have developed allocation approaches for composites recycling, that captures composites inherent properties. Composites consists of fibres in a polymer matric, and in an effective recycling process these are separated from each other. This is something that conventional allocation approaches not captures. This can mean that important aspects such as differences in quality degradation and different fates for the components are not captures, which can result in skewed results.
What do you hope your research will lead to?
I hope that my research can aid material developers to see the benefits of including life cycle assessment early in their development work, as measures taken in the design phase often are easier to make, but also can have a greater impact than if measures are taken later. I also hope that my research leads to those working with prospective life cycle will get guiding on how the choice of allocation approach influences the results. In the end, this would lead to more robust and correct support to the decision makers.
Read the thesis: Advancing prospective life cycle assessment - Experiences from guiding carbon fibre composite development
Public defence: 31 January 2024 at 13.15, see link above.
- Full Professor, Environmental Systems Analysis, Technology Management and Economics