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Selecting a Sound Life Cycle Assessment for Natural Gas and Hydrogen Systems

Undergraduate #151
Discipline: Technology and Engineering
Subcategory: Environmental Engineering
Session: 4
Room: Exhibit Hall

Josephine Poler - Arizona State University
Co-Author(s): Santiago D. Salas, and Jennifer B. Dunn, Northwestern UniversityCecilia Leoni, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Colorado Boulder



Energy demand is increasing as the world population continues to rise. As a result, a surge in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is expected. To mitigate this rise in GHG emissions, the sources of energy need to be clean and sustainable. A large portion of GHG emissions comes from transportation, so implementing alternative transportation fuels is mandatory. In this study, natural gas (NG) and hydrogen systems are considered sources of transportation fuels capable of meeting rising energy demand while contributing to net zero targets. To assess the environmental impacts of these considerations, an appropriate life cycle assessment (LCA) is needed. Research on state-of-the art literature was conducted to first gain information on general LCAs. Moreover, information on upstream NG systems and hydrogen, as an energy carrier, permitted to assess the characteristics of the explored LCAs. Various LCA methods and supporting models were compared to determine which was most appropriate for such systems. Due to uncertainties and limits with most LCAs, coupling a LCA with a complementary model compensates this issue. A consequential life cycle assessment (CLCA) paired with technology choice models (TCM) would assess environmental and economic consequences at a high level of detail while taking into account CLCA’s uncertainties. The findings of this study permit to fill the gaps in the understanding of implementing new alternative transportation fuels. It also sparks interest in future research on the bridge between NG and hydrogen systems.

Funder Acknowledgement(s): CISTAR (Purdue University) - Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources

Faculty Advisor: Santiago D. Salas, santiago.salas@northwestern.edu

Role: I completed all of the research alongside my research partner. Everything we did was based on researching literature that already existed and from what our mentor taught us about life cycle assessments. No physical labs were conducted.

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. DUE-1930047. Any opinions, findings, interpretations, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of its authors and do not represent the views of the AAAS Board of Directors, the Council of AAAS, AAAS’ membership or the National Science Foundation.

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