Characterization Of Energy And Environmental Performance Of Materials

China-US Workshop’ 2009, October 15-19, Changzhou Nanostructured Materials for Global Energy and Environmental Challenges

Characterization of Energy and Environmental Performance of Materials Hongtao WANG1,2 , Duan WENG1, Sangwon SUH3 1 Department of Material Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University 2 College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University 3 Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems, Minnesota University

Content 

Relationship between materials and the environment



How to measure energy and environmental performance of materials?



Conclusions

Tsinghua University

Sichuan University

Minnesota

MSE and the Environment Link MSE has been shaping industrial systems. Material Sci. & Eng. (MSE)

Materials deliver functions/services during use phase, Industrial Systems & Society

but also cause energy /environmental impacts along production and use phases.

Environment & Natural Resource

Two sides of the link: while MSE is needed to deal with energy and environmental challenges, MSE is also held responsible for them. 



Ecomaterials = Environmentally Conscious Material 

proposed in early 1990’s by Japanese material scientists.



since then, many research, publications, conferences, educational programs, societies started …

How to measure energy and environmental performance of materials? Tsinghua University

Sichuan University

Minnesota

Pb-free “ecomaterials” with Bi inside Bi: a less hazardous “neighbour”  

Being widely tested in the name of “ecomaterials” or similar thoughts 



solder, electric ceramics, paints, dye, glass, water pipe, battery, bullets, …

Hidden environmental problems   

many of Bi co-exists with Pb depleted resources: Pb ~25 yr, Bi ~30 yr global yields: Bi ~5000 t/yr, Pb ~6 million t/yr, 1200 times!

Risks to the environment & Risks to material scientists ! A merit may not justify an ecomaterial. 



(T.Graedel, B.Allenby, “Industrial Ecology”)

Tsinghua University

Sichuan University

Minnesota

TiO2 as a photocatalyst for waste water treatment  Production of TiO (per 1kg) 2

Fresh water

104kg

V-Ti magnetite

5.58kg

Energy

63.86MJ

Waste acid

6.4kg

Waste water

70kg

CO2

7.87kg

FeSO4·7H2O

3.5kg

Waste solid

10.5kg

Dust

0.3kg

Thin film: less environmental impact

Powder: hard to image…

Environmental information may support or change experiment design in material research. Tsinghua University

http://netserv.ipc.uni-linz.ac.at Sichuan University

Minnesota

Lessons learned from those  Environmental risks lie in “ecomaterials” 

Sometimes desirable functions or merits won’t justify an “ecomaterial”, and even misleading, because 

complicated energy and environmental performance, due to   



Risks calls for 



along life cycle of materials (i.e. production, use, end-of-use) quantification needed trade-off between different energy and environmental aspects

characterization of energy and environment performance of materials, still missing in MSE.

Solution might be 

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA, i.e. ISO14040s) 

A scientific and standardized method, which provides the best framework for assessing the potential environmental impacts of products… (EC Integrated Product Policy, 2003) Tsinghua University

Sichuan University

Minnesota

Data collection and calculation in LCA Life Cycle Inventory analysis ） Inventory Table

Data collection Life Cycle of Product

Per prod.

Extract Input s Res our

Prod. & Transp.

ce

Ener gy

. Raw Materi al

Use & Maintai n. Dispos al/’Rec ycle

System boundary

Pb

Output s Gas

Hg Cd Oil

Was te wat er Was

N.Gas CO2 CFC CH4 SO2

te soli d

NOx NH4+ PO3…

aggregated

Life Cycle Impact Assessment Impact Mid-point Resource depletion

End-point

Energy depletion

Resources depletion

Human toxicity Global warming Acidifica -tion Eutrophica -tion

Human Health

Overall indicator

Ecosystem Quality

Ozone depletion ……

Characterizati on factor

Tsinghua University

Damage

Characterizati on factor

Sichuan University

Weighting factor

Minnesota

7

LCA: complicated but mature LCA of silicon photovoltaic method Niels Jungbluth etal., Int J LCA 10 (1), 2005

Tsinghua University

Sichuan University

Minnesota

EC LCA requirements

From Raffaella Bersani, 2006

To ensure environmental consideration embedded in research and delivery of environmentally sound technologies Tsinghua University

Sichuan University

Minnesota

    

Area 1: Transportation & Refuelling Infrastructure Area 2: Hydrogen Production & Distribution Area 3: Stationary Power Generation & CHP Area 4: Early Markets Area 5: Cross-cutting Issues 

SP1-JTI-FCH.2009.5.5 Development of a framework for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Tsinghua University

Sichuan University

Minnesota

Similar requirements emerging in U.S. For the last a few years, LCA has been absorbed by federal as well as state-level rule-making proceedings and policy initiatives. 

Low-Carbon Fuel Standards (LCFSs) and Renewable Energy Standard (RES) set out minimum requirements of biofuels, which include quantitative thresholds of life-cycle Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission from biofuels relative to that from equivalent amount of fossil fuels. Sangwon Suh, University of Minnesota, CLCM2009

Tsinghua University

Sichuan University

Minnesota

Conclusions 

Definition of material is changing 

New criterion: acceptable environmental performance 



RoHS: environmental performance overrides properties

Characterization of energy and environment performance of materials is still missing in MSE. Conventional framework in MSE Performance

Synthesis /Processing

Environmental performance

Properties Composition /Structure



LCA provides the best evaluation framework so far. Tsinghua University

Sichuan University

Minnesota

Thanks for your attention

Tsinghua University

Sichuan University

Minnesota