Bringing Light into the Dark—Overview of Environmental Impacts of Carbon Fiber Production and Potential Levers for Reduction
Author:
Prenzel Tobias Manuel1ORCID, Hohmann Andrea2ORCID, Prescher Tim3, Angerer Kerstin2ORCID, Wehner Daniel1, Ilg Robert1, von Reden Tjark4, Drechsler Klaus25, Albrecht Stefan1ORCID
Affiliation:
1. Department Life Cycle Engineering GaBi, Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP, Nobelstrasse 12, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany 2. Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Technology IGCV, Am Technologiezentrum 2, 86159 Augsburg, Germany 3. Institute for Acoustics and Building Physics IABP, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 7, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany 4. Composites United e.V., Oranienburger Str. 45, 10117 Berlin, Germany 5. Chair of Carbon Composites, TUM School of Engineering and Design, Technical University of Munich, Boltzmannstr. 15, 85748 Garching, Germany
Abstract
Carbon fibers (CFs) are a crucial material for lightweight structures with advanced mechanical performance. However, there is still a paucity of detailed understanding regarding the environmental impacts of production. Previously, mostly singled-out scenarios for CF production have been assessed, often based on scarce transparent inventory data. To expand the current knowledge and create a robust database for future evaluation, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out. To this end, a detailed industry-approved LCI is published, which also proved plausible against the literature. Subsequently, based on a global scenario representing the market averages for precursor and CF production, the most relevant contributors to climate change (EF3.1 climate change, total) and the depletion of fossil energy carriers (EF3.1 resource use, fossil) were identified. The energy consumption in CF manufacturing was found to be responsible for 59% of the climate change and 48% of the fossil resource use. To enable a differentiated discussion of manufacturing locations and process energy consumption, 24 distinct scenarios were assessed. The findings demonstrate the significant dependence of the results on the scenarios’ boundary conditions: climate change ranges from 13.0 to 34.1 kg CO2 eq./kg CF and resource use from 262.3 to 497.9 MJ/kg CF. Through the investigated scenarios, the relevant reduction potentials were identified. The presented results help close an existing data gap for high-quality, regionalized, and technology-specific LCA results for the production of CF.
Funder
German Federal Ministry for Education and Research
Subject
Polymers and Plastics,General Chemistry
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