Life Cycle Assessment of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells and Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells: A Review

An analysis of the LCA studies applied to SOFC and PEFC has been carried out. The literature review showed a low availability of LCA studies applied to SOFCs and PEMFCs, especially with reference to the second technology. The review allowed identifying the life-cycle steps and the FC components that are responsible of the higher impacts, both for SOFCs and PEMFC. In addition, it revealed that some of the key element that influences the environmental impacts of FCs are the efficiency of the system, the type of fuel used, the electricity mix used during the manufacturing step, the end-of-life of the FCs (e.g., recycling).