Abstract
Fuel cells offer attractive possibilities for efficient electricity generation across many applications. Within the context of Extended Producer Responsibility legislation and increasing concerns regarding material scarcity and waste, it is important that preparation for end-of-life management of the technology is made, prior to mass commercialization. Using a case study approach, life cycle environmental impact assessment, cost analysis and evaluation of legislative requirements are shown to support strategic development of end-of-life strategies for fuel cells. The findings highlight how the early identification of priorities for recycling of high impact, high value materials may help to avoid future detrimental impacts at end-of-life.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
EG&G Technical Services Inc.: Fuel Cell Handbook, 7th edn. U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Morgantown, West Virginia (2004)
U.S. Department of Energy: Comparison of Fuel Cell Technologies (2011), http://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/fuelcells/pdfs/fc_comparison_chart.pdf
Acres, G.J.K.: Recent advances in fuel cell technology and its application. Journal of Power Sources 100, 60–66 (2001)
Hellman, H.L., van den Hoed, R.: Characterising fuel cell technology: Challenges of the commercialization stage. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 32, 305–351 (2007)
FuelCellToday: The Fuel Cell Today Industry Review 2011 (2011), http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/media/1351623/industry_review_2011.pdf
Bauen, A., Hart, D.: Assessment of the environmental benefits of transport and stationary fuel cells. Journal of Power Sources 86, 482–492 (2000)
Graedel, T.E., Allenby, B.R.: Industrial Ecology, 1st edn. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey (1995)
Maxwell, van der Vorst: Developing sustainable products and services. Journal of Cleaner Production 11(8), 883–895 (2003)
European Parliament and Council: Directive 2000/53/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 September 2000 on end-of life vehicles. Official Journal of the European Union L 269, 34–43 (2000)
European Parliament and Council: Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Official Journal of the European Union L 37, 24–39 (2003)
Harper, E., Graedel, T.E.: Industrial ecology: a teenager’s progress. Technology in Society 26(2-3), 433–445 (2004)
Wright, E.: End-of-life management of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. PhD Thesis, Loughborough University, UK (2011)
Van den Bossche, P., Vergels, F., Van Mierlo, J., Matheys, J., Van Autenboer, W.: SUBAT: An assessment of sustainable battery technology. Journal of Power Sources 162, 913–919 (2006)
Wright, E.I., Rahimifard, S., Clegg, A.J.: Impacts of environmental product legislation on solid oxide fuel cells. Journal of Power Sources 190(2), 362–371 (2009)
Lindhqvist, T.: Extended Producer Responsibility in Cleaner Production. Policy Principle to Promote Environmental Improvements of Product Systems. PhD Thesis, Lund University, The Netherlands (2000)
Handley, C., Brandon, N.P., van der Vorst, R.: Impact of the European Union waste directive on end-of-life options for polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Journal of Power Sources 106, 344–352 (2002)
Zhao, J., He, X., Tian, J., Wan, C., Jiang, C.: Reclaim/recycle of Pt/C catalysts for PEMFC. Energy Conversion and Management 48(2), 450–453 (2007)
Grot, S., Grot, W., Martin, K.E., Tyler, R., Benjamin, T.: Platinum recycling technology development. U.S. Department of Energy (2008), http://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/pdfs/progress08/v_f_2_grot.pdf
Xu, F., Mu, S., Pan, M.: Recycling of membrane electrode assembly of PEMFC by acid processing. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 35(7), 2976–2979 (2010)
Singhal, S.C.: Solid oxide fuel cells for stationary, mobile and military applications. Solid State Ionics 153, 405–410 (2002)
Karakoussis, V., Brandon, N.P., Leach, M., van der Vorst, R.: The environmental impact of manufacturing planar and tubular solid oxide fuel cells. Journal of Power Sources 101, 10–26 (2001)
Environment Agency: What is a Hazardous Waste? A guide to the Hazardous Waste Regulations and the List of Waste Regulations in England and Wales. Environment Agency, Bristol (2008)
Baumann, H., Tillman, A.-M.: The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to LCA. Studentlitteratur, Lund (2004)
ISO: ISO 14040:2006 Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Principles and framework, International Standards Organisation: Switzerland (2006)
PE International GmbH: GaBi 4: Software and data base for Life Cycle Engineering (2007)
Ecoinvent Centre: Ecoinvent data v2.0. Ecoinvent reports No.1-25, Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf (2007)
Guinée, J.B., Gorrée, M., Heijungs, R., et al.: Handbook on life cycle assessment. Operational guide to the ISO standards. Kluwer Ac. Publishers, Dordrecht (2002)
Thijssen, J.: Market Impacts of Rare Earth Element Use in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. National Energy Technology Laboratory. Contract number: DE-FE0004002 (2010)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Wright, E.I., Rahimifard, S. (2012). Strategic Decision Making for End-of-Life Management of Fuel Cells. In: Dornfeld, D., Linke, B. (eds) Leveraging Technology for a Sustainable World. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29069-5_32
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29069-5_32
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-29068-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-29069-5
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)