Life Cycle Assessment of Thermoelectric Generators (TEGs) in an Automobile Application

Kotaro Kawajiri, Yusuke Kishita and Yoshikazu Shinohara
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Kotaro Kawajiri: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba 305-8569, Japan
Yusuke Kishita: School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
Yoshikazu Shinohara: Center for Green Research on Energy and Environmental Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba 305-0047, Japan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-13

Abstract: In this paper, a possibility to reduce the environmental burdens by employing thermoelectric generators (TEGs) was analyzed with a cradle-to-grave LCA approach. An upscaling technique was newly introduced to assess the environmental impacts of TEGs over its life cycle. In addition to CO 2 emissions, other environmental impacts as well as social impacts were assessed using the Life Cycle Impact Assessment Method based on Endpoint Modeling (LIME2). The analysis was conducted under two scenarios, a baseline scenario with a 7.2% conversion efficiency and a technology innovation scenario with that of 17.7% at different production scales. The results showed that while GHG emissions were positive over the life cycle under the baseline scenario, it became negative (−1.56 × 10 2 kg-CO 2 eq/kg) under the technology innovation scenario due to GHG credits in the use phase. An increase in the conversion efficiency of the TEG and a decrease in the amount of stainless steel used in TEG construction are both necessary in order to reduce the environmental impacts associated with TEG manufacture and use. In addition, to accurately assess the benefit of TEG deployment, the lifetime driving distance needs to be analyzed together with the conversion efficiency.

Keywords: emerging technology; life cycle assessment; scaling effect; thermoelectric generator (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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