Ecological assessment of fuel cell electric vehicles with special focus on type IV carbon fiber hydrogen tank

Fuel cell electric vehicles promise to be a viable technical option for using surplus energy produced by renewables, and in turn, help the transport sector to reduce environmental impacts. However, the technology is still under development and, for some components, the environmental performance is uncertain, e.g. the hydrogen storage tank. Manufacturers produce hydrogen tanks consisting of carbon composite materials because of their mechanical properties. Yet, the production of carbon fibers involves complex and energy-intensive processes. Therefore, this study addresses a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) and focuses on the manufacturing process of the hydrogen storage tank and carbon fibers needed for its production. This study suggests that the tank is important for climate change, ionizing radiation and fossil depletion, but less relevant for toxic-related environmental indicators. The evaluation of the future scenario suggested an improvement in the environmental performance of the tank, especially regarding climate change by 46%, namely 5.6 t CO2-Eq versus 3.0 t CO2-Eq, and human toxicity by 75%, namely 2.7 t 1, 4-DCB-Eq versus 0.7 t 1, 4-DCB-Eq per tank for current and future conditions, respectively. Finally, for a lifetime mileage of 150,000 km, the fuel cell electric vehicle is responsible for 15 kg CO2-Eq/10 0 km in the current scenario and 9 kg CO2-Eq/10 0 km in the future scenario, respectively. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Fuel cell electric vehicles offer a viable option to utilize surplus energy from renewables and reduce environmental impacts in the transport sector. However, the environmental performance of certain components, like hydrogen storage tanks made of carbon composite materials, remains uncertain. Ongoing studies suggest potential improvements in the environmental performance of the tanks, especially in terms of climate change and human toxicity.