Abstract
Studies seeking to thoroughly couple the environmental and economic performances of a process or product are becoming more prominent as the needs for decarbonisation grow. This study explores the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) in the alumina extraction industry. Models for various thermal energy supply methods and CO2 mitigation strategies were developed to obtain an inventory for analysis and the environmental impacts and life-cycle costs of the supply chain were evaluated. Finally, economic and ecological results were integrated using eco-efficiency indices and a sensitivity analysis of the most significant variables detected was conducted. The research indicated that the integration of a calcium-looping plant to capture post-combusted CO2 could reduce 55.5% of the CO2 equivalent emissions, while also obtaining a better economic performance due to the CO2 avoided taxes. However, other environmental indicators had slightly more significant impacts because of the additional use of natural gas. The potential use of green hydrogen instead of natural gas could enable a 70.0% reduction in CO2 equivalent emissions, as well as a reduction in all other environmental indicators studied, except for water consumption. However, transitioning to green hydrogen production could incur higher costs. This study introduced an eco-efficiency ratio index, indicating that CO2 capture and storage proved to be the most eco-efficient scenario, regardless of economic fluctuations in CO2 emission taxes. The substitution of natural gas with green hydrogen also emerged as a viable eco-efficient solution, provided electricity prices remain below 0.045€/kWh.
Published Version
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