Life Cycle Energy Analysis and Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Carbon Nanofibers Production

Life cycle assessment of nanotechnology has been suggested to evaluate claims about the potential benefits of this emerging technology. This paper presents one of the first LCAs and life cycle energy analysis of vapor grown carbon nanofibers (CNF) synthesis. Life cycle inventory data is compiled with data reported in the open literature. CNFs are compared with traditional materials on an equal mass basis to quantify the life cycle energy intensity and environmental burden. The results of the study indicate significantly higher life cycle energy requirements and higher environmental impact of CNFs as compared to traditional materials like aluminum, steel and polypropylene. Savings in life cycle energy consumption and possibly a reduction in environmental burden are envisaged if higher process yields of these fibers can be achieved in continuous operations. Since the comparisons are performed on an equal mass basis, these results cannot be generalized for CNF based nanoproducts and quantity of their use may decide their cradle to grave impact. Specific CNF based applications need to be studied to evaluate their environmental performance and are the topics of future work.