Routes to green energy society: life cycle sustainability and planetary
PIs: X Wang
Co-PIs: J Pérez-Ramírez, I A Karimi, S Farooq, N Yan
RF/PhD: Lan Song, Li Yinan, Zhuang Rui, Wang Shukun
Project ID: FY19-2
To develop a sustainability assessment (life- cycle analysis) of a circular hydrogen- carbon-alcohol economy, to evaluate the impact/footprint of planetary boundary transgressions.
The green energy society with methanol as a platform chemical and fuel from renewable H2 and CO2 has garnered substantial interest. However, there are many concerns such as the system scalability, economic feasibility, and environmental footprint. To bring the promising green energy technologies into grand-scale applications, life cycle analysis over the whole system plays an important role to provide a comprehensive understanding of the developed solutions and drive long- term sustainability. We will evaluate the various pathways and identify essential planetary boundaries transgression, along the cradle-to-gate/grave life cycle to realize a low-carbon economy. Several tailored scenarios will be further investigated for decision-making and assessment.
