Lithium is a significant material of the energy transition, powering electric vehicles and grid storage, and surging demand is expanding extraction, yet lithium mining is energy intensive and can impose significant environmental burdens. This thesis evaluates whether on-site renewables plus battery energy storage systems (BESS) can provide reliable, cost-competitive, lower-carbon electricity for 39 lithium mines across 10 countries. I compare solar, wind, and hybrid systems paired with either about 3 hours (near autonomous) or about 12 hours (fully autonomous) of storage. The calculated levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) spans from USD 0.07 to 0.17 per kWh, consistently below diesel generation costs (0.24–0.38 $/kWh) and broadly competitive with grid tariffs (0.06–0.15 $/kWh) across the countries studied. Internal rates of return (IRR) range from −4 percent to +48 percent, and paybacks from 0.4 to 10 years under a 20-year baseline life. Life-cycle assessment indicates more than 90 percent CO₂ reductions versus diesel or carbon-intensive grids. A clear autonomy-versus-cost trade-off emerges: moving from about 98 percent renewable power supply with 3 hours of storage to 100 percent supply with 12 hours raises capital intensity, lifting LCOE and lowering IRR and net present value (NPV), while adding only modest extra emissions abatement. Technology choice is second order but directional: where wind resources are strong it tends to deliver the lowest LCOE and highest returns, while hybrids reduce resource mismatch risk and often beat baseline tariffs. Sensitivity and robustness tests show IRR and NPV are driven mainly by avoided-cost factors such as diesel and grid prices, and economics weaken at grid-supplied sites and in short-life mines of 10 to 5 years. Beyond economics, the study shows that all-renewable systems reduce emissions but shift the environmental burden onto land and raw materials. Photovoltaic (PV) systems occupy more land than wind, while longer storage multiplies demand for critical raw materials and adds pressure to their supply chains. Overall, renewable energy systems with BESS can decarbonize lithium extraction at competitive cost where resources and lifetimes are favourable and conventional energy is expensive, though they also introduce new land and material pressures that must be managed.

The Netherlands faces the dual challenge of addressing a severe housing shortage while reducing the environmental burden of construction. It is therefore vital to identify building materials with the lowest life cycle impacts while remaining economically viable. Although timber products like cross laminated timber (CLT) have been compared as alternatives to traditional concrete, few studies have jointly assessed their environmental and economic performance or compared them directly with geopolymer concrete (GPC). This study presents a cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and cost analysis for two common Dutch housing types: row houses and mid-rise apartment buildings. Each typology was evaluated with three structural materials: ordinary Portland cement concrete (OPC), GPC, and CLT.
The CLT designs showed the best environmental performance in 12 (row house) and 13 (apartment) out of 16 impact categories, including climate change and all eutrophication- and toxicity- related categories. However, CLT material costs were 7% higher for row houses and 90% higher for apartments compared to OPC. GPC performed worse than OPC in most categories due to the impacts of conventional alkali activators, but using silica fume instead of sodium silicate could reduce GPC impacts, excluding use phase, by up to 38%. Design optimization and end-of-life reuse of CLT and concrete also substantially lowered impacts across all cases. Moreover, sand-limestone was identified as driver of environmental impacts and economic costs in all concrete building designs.
Further research is needed into alternative activators for GPC and the environmental impacts of sand-lime stone, a widely used Dutch building material. Policies such as life cycle impact standards for new housing, environmental taxes on building materials, and stricter operational energy regulations are crucial to support a transition to low-impact housing construction in the Netherlands.

The global push to mitigate climate change has accelerated the transition to renewable energy, with offshore technologies emerging as a promising solution to meet rising energy demands while reducing land use. Among these, offshore solar, an innovative approach leveraging the ocean’s abundant solar radiation, offers significant potential. However, harsh marine conditions pose challenges, particularly in terms of material degradation and end-of-life management. This study evaluates the environmental impacts of offshore solar systems across their life cycles, focusing on degradation under prolonged marine exposure and the implications of various end-of-life strategies for key components such as photovoltaic panels, floating structures, and mooring systems.

Using a prospective cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Assessment, three degradation scenarios, low, medium, and high, were developed based on observed degradation mechanisms from offshore structures and terrestrial PV systems. Each scenario is linked to a distinct end-of-life strategy. Results show that environmental impacts are significantly influenced by material recovery rates rather than performance losses, with the reuse of PV modules in the low degradation scenario yielding the lowest environmental footprint. A backcasting analysis positions this low degradation scenario as a desirable future vision, emphasizing design for longevity, reuse, and circularity.

Key strategies identified include the use of advanced encapsulants, durable backsheets, anti-corrosion coatings, and marine-adapted cleaning technologies. This research underscores the importance of early-stage assessments to embed circular economy principles in offshore solar design, highlighting material innovation and sustainable end-of-life planning as critical to the long-term success of this emerging renewable technology.