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(T/MC250) Life Cycle Assesment for a PEM Fuel Cell. Hertwich, Edgar1, Stroemman, Anders1, Moeller-Holst, Steffen 2, Aaberg, Rolf Jarle2, 1 2 ABSTRACT- Fuel cells offer a more efficient conversion of a chemical energy carrier to electric and ultimately mechanical power. In the long run, fuel cellpowered cars may be important for reducing CO2 emissions. In the short run, it is policy addressing the conventional air pollution associated with cars and busses that creates the incentive for technology development and niche markets for its introduction. For Norway, fuel cells offer a way to meet its CO2 emissions targets under the Kyoto protocol because the cells' fuel, hydrogen, can be produced from nat-ural gas with CO2 capture or from renewable resources. Sound environmental policy needs to ensure that gadgets developed to address specific environmental problems do not create problems somewhere else, and the principal tool used for this purpose is life-cycle assess-ment (LCA). Here an LCA of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)is performed, where the fuel cell is seen as an element in (i) a Norwegian transportation project driven by hydrogen derived from natural-gas-based CO2 capture and (ii) a high-density metropolitan transport system without CO2 capture. A hybrid LCA approach that combines traditional process-chain LCA with economic input-output LCA is used. State-of-the-art impact assessment methods is applied to compare different environmental impacts. The flexible design of the project allows for the results to be used to develop and evaluate different scenarios and applications. As a novel aspect in LCA, we will conduct a thorough uncertainty analysis and evaluate the reliability of the recommendations given uncertainties about technologies, emissions inventories, and impact assessment methods. Key words: fuel cell, lca, uncertainty |
