Life Cycle Assessment of Particle Based and Monolithic Redox Reactors using Concentrated Solar Power for Hydrogen Production

Abstract

As global warming and human intervention into ecological systems continue, the need of sustainable hydrogen production pathways is growing as well. This study addresses a framework for evaluating the environmental impact of two innovative production technologies based on thermochemical redox cycles. This is done by performing a life cycle assessment (LCA) based on international standardizations. As both analyzed concepts have not been realized in a large scale yet, a methodology is developed for approximating the component dimensions and material flows to gather inventory data. This methodology is implemented in Brightway2 / Activity Browser and parametrized for flexibility. Most important components are worked out in terms of their environmental impact as well as the sensitivity of certain parameters on the results. Given that, advices for the focus of further research can be provided to assess the technologies in more detail