Life Cycle Primary Energy Demand and Greenhouse Gas Emission benefits of vehicle lightweighting with recycled carbon fibre

Recycled carbon fibre (rCF) is a potential material for sustainable vehicle lightweighting but its realistic environmental impacts are still unclear. In this study, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) investigates the primary energy demand (PED) and global warming potential (GWP) of using rCF reinforced P...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Procedia CIRP 2021, Vol.98, p.43-48
Main Authors: He, Di, Soo, Vi Kie, Kim, Hyung Chul, Doolan, Matthew
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
global warming potential
greenhouse gas emission
primary energy demand
Recycled carbon fibre
vehicle lightweighting
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Summary:Recycled carbon fibre (rCF) is a potential material for sustainable vehicle lightweighting but its realistic environmental impacts are still unclear. In this study, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) investigates the primary energy demand (PED) and global warming potential (GWP) of using rCF reinforced Polyamide 66 (PA66) for a side-view mirror bracket, in comparison with its conventional cast aluminium counterpart. Results indicate that using rCF+PA66 with 40wt% rCF in the US can achieve around 13% and 34% reduction in the PED/GWP of the cradle-to-gate phases and the use phase, respectively. Scenario analysis is also carried out to understand the impact of geographical setting and fibre content in rCF+PA66. It shows that replacing aluminium with 40wt% rCF+PA66 in the EU saves 31.5% and 29.7% more cradle-to-gate PED and GWP, respectively, than in the US. A higher reduction of 43.4% and 41.2% in the cradle-to-grave PED and GWP compared to aluminium can be achieved by increasing fibre mass fraction.
ISSN:2212-8271
2212-8271
DOI:10.1016/j.procir.2021.01.003