LCA and LCC of Emerging and Incumbent Technologies on Energy Harvesters

Abstract

In this study, life cycle assessment and life cycle costing results about piezoelectric and thermoelectric materials for energy harvesters (EHs) are extracted from the literature and evaluated. This study serves as a basis for comparing current EHs with innovative EHs that will be developed within the Horizon 2020 FAST SMART project. FAST—SMART aims at increasing the performance of current EHs while reducing at the same time: The use of rare elements and toxic substances; resources and energy consumption; environmental impact and costs; paving the way for the adoption of new and more environmental-friendly systems for energy harvesting.

Keywords

• life cycle assessment
• life cycle costing
• piezoelectric materials
• thermoelectric materials
• energy harvesters