Scott Blazer’s paper A Systematic Life Cycle Assessment of the Electroconversion of Carbon Dioxide was published in the Journal of Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments.
Abstract
In this study, we report a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of assembling and operating an electrochemical cell for conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to formic acid. This process is followed by product separation via liquid–liquid extraction. The results suggest that cell operation yields the highest environmental impact cf. other processes. Parametric studies were performed to identify conditions that minimize the environmental impact.