(99c) Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCA) of Nature-Inspired Bio-Syngas Technologies for Olefin Synthesis

Olefins serve as fundamental building blocks for numerous chemicals and materials. However, conventional methods of olefin production rely heavily on fossil fuels, thus raising significant environmental concerns. Nature-inspired bio-syngas technologies present a promising sustainable alternative by harnessing renewable biomass to generate syngas, which can then be converted into olefins.

This study constitutes a follow-up investigation into the life cycle environmental and cost assessment presented in "Techno-environmental analysis of olefins production from syngas via sorption-enhanced synthesis" by Cavaliere et al. in 2024. Our approach employs a dynamic Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental impact of these bio-syngas technologies, which involve the integration of methanol synthesis and methanol-to-olefin generation within the same reactor, alongside traditional syngas-to-olefins processes throughout their cradle-to-grave life cycle.

The results of our analysis predict the climate change impacts over a standard 100-year time frame, considering factors such as the average shelf-life and end-of-life treatment of the final olefin-based product. Furthermore, we assess other environmental impacts, including resource consumption, acidification, land use, and toxicity. In addition to environmental considerations, our study conducts a life cycle cost (LCC) analysis from cradle to gate, identifying hotspots in the overall production cost. We then perform a comparative analysis to investigate the economic competitiveness of the proposed process. To enhance efficiency and both economic and environmental performance, we incorporate exergy analysis as a complementary tool.

Our findings shed light on key environmental and economic aspects associated with various stages of the technology, spanning from biomass feedstock acquisition to olefin production. Ultimately, the study concludes that bio-syngas technologies hold the potential to offer a more sustainable route for olefin synthesis compared to traditional methods.