Prospective life cycle assessment of proton exchange membrane fuel cell. Comparing data from patents and papers

The energy provided by proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) is considered an alternative solution to fossil fuels in transportation and power generation in the future. However, to date, in life cycle assessments (LCA), PEMFCs have been modelled in reference to models already available on the market or to future development targets envisaged by government bodies. This study models PEMFCs with data extracted from patent literature and carries out the prospective LCA, comparing the resulting environmental impacts with those of studies in the literature relating to current and future PEMFCs. The result is that all the data necessary to build an inventory relating to the materials and processes constituting the membrane-electrode assembly of PEMFCs can be extracted from the patents. The impacts of the patented PEMFC are lower than those of the current PEMFC and higher than those of the future PEMFC disclosed in the literature. The variability of data in PEMFC patents is less than that of scientific papers published in international per-review journals. The same applies to the variability of the resulting impacts. Patented PEMFCs have a technology readiness level (TRL) lower than current PEMFCs and higher than future PEMFCs. In conclusion, the prospective LCA carried out on patented PEMFCs, with data extracted from the patents, can be used to analyze the environmental sustainability of prototype PEMFCs currently under development in the industry, with data deriving from experimental results.