2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Early-Stage Sustainability Assessment of Carbon-Nanotubes-Enabled Renewable Energy Technologies using Ex-Ante LCA and Sound Material-Cycle Index

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	20K20023
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Review Section	Basic Section 64060:Environmental policy and social systems-related
Research Institution	The University of Tokyo (2023) Waseda University (2020-2022)
Principal Investigator	TEAH Heng Yi 東京大学, 大学院工学系研究科(工学部), 特任講師 (70822485)
Project Period (FY)	2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
Keywords	lithium-sulfur batteries / thin-film si solar cells / carbon nanotubes / ex-ante LCA / sustainability
Outline of Final Research Achievements	This project proposed a framework to support laboratory experiments to innovate towards environmental sustainability. We applied LCA evaluation method in an iterative manner, to inform potential environmental consequences of an experimental decision. Therefore, the experimentalists could evaluate the technological improvements along with the environmental performances. Two case studies were investigated, thin-film silicon solar cells and lithium-sulfur batteries enabled by the carbon nanotubes technology. Apart from mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, these technologies have a broader social implication, (a) upcycling to-be-expected solar panel wastes, (b) reduce dependency on critical battery cathode materials. The outcomes of the project were presented in several international conferences, invited lectures, conference proceedings etc. Currently, two peer-reviewed papers are under revision; two are in the process of submission.
Free Research Field	Environmental science
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	1. Scientific. The project demonstrated a "concurrent technology development and assessment" concept to ensure an innovation is environmentally sustainable. 2. Social. We showed that thin-film Si solar cells and Li-S batteries can give Japanese renewable energy industry a competitive advantage.