Hydrogen-based fuels for European aviation: A prospective life cycle assessment applying scenario analysis

Through exploratory scenario development, this study delves into the environmental impacts of European commercial aviation. Climate targets and the adoption of alternative aviation fuels (AAF) following ReFuelEU Aviation are assessed, considering e-fuel produced from direct air capture (DAC) and hydrogen aircraft. A novel method is applied,...

Consensus-based single-score life cycle assessment for space missions

With a continuously growing number of satellites in orbit, it becomes increasingly important to assess their impacts on the Earth's environment in a standardised manner. While interest in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for space missions has gained in strength in the past few years – particularly in Europe – no consensus has yet been reached on a...

Environmental trade-offs of aerostructures: A prospective lifecycle assessment of wing ribs

Emerging in the domain of composite manufacturing, thermoplastic polymers can enable the reduction of process times, costs, and waste. In this study, lifecycle assessment (LCA) is used to evaluate a design for a carbon fibre-reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) wing rib, made from carbon fibre and polyetherketoneketone (CF/PEKK). The CF/PEKK rib is...

Measuring the environmental impact of a livestock feeding robot life cycle

The pursuit of sustainability is at the forefront of international conversation in an era marked by urgent environmental challenges. This research aims to shed a light on tools, indicators, and methodologies used to assess sustainability, paving the way for informed decisions, actionable insights, and a brighter tomorrow. <br/><br/>The Paris...

Life Cycle Assessment of Offshore Low Head Pumped Hydro Storage

Aiming to comply with the Paris Agreement, the reduction of Europe’s GHG emissions in the energy sector is a must. Due to the intermittency of renewable sources, energy storage technologies are essential to this plan. Offshore Low Head Pumped Hydro Storage (LH PHS) is presented as an alternative to partly solve this problem. Considering that its...

A review of Absolute Life Cycle Assessment methods and applications: And their potential for benchmarking absolute product-level contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals

As of 2016, governments globally adopted the task to achieve social, economic and environmental sustainability by committing to the targets from the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs incorporate a set of 17 goals and 169 targets accompanied with more than 200 indicators that can guide towards achieving sustainable development by...

Life Cycle Analysis of EXASUN Module

This thesis deals with the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the manufacture of an EXASUN X-Glass photovoltaic (PV) module to understand its true environmental impact. The methodology and general guidelines for conducting an LCA on a Photovoltaic (PV) system are developed, within the scope of this thesis. The LCA follows a standard framework,...

Conceptual design of the Valmeer's pump storage station of the DELTA21 plan

It is widely known that climate change will cause sea level rise and larger river discharges in the close future (because more precipitation during a shorter amount of time will happen). In the Netherlands, the delta works were developed to protect the hinterland from sea-water during storm surge situations. The storm surge...

The environmetal impact of a solar powered CO2 to methanol farm

Zero Emission Fuel (ZEF) has the goal to create affordable high-grade methanol, produced from absorbed carbon dioxide and water from the air. The methanol is produced in a solar methanol (MeOH) farm, consisting of 13225 micro-plants which are powered by PhotoVoltaicsolar panels (PV panels). The solar capacity of the solar MeOH farm is 12 MW and...

Compost, biogas and biochar in Northern Ghana: Climate impact and economic feasibility in the context of voluntary carbon markets

The Master’s programme Industrial Ecology is jointly organised by Leiden University and Delft University of Technology. In some areas of Sub-Saharan Africa appropriate organic waste management technology could address development issues such as soil degradation, unemployment and energy scarcity, while at the same time providing climate benefits....