Basis for Life Cycle Analysis.docx

Basis for Life Cycle Analysis

The LCA shall follow the analysis documented in the NETL report “Carbon Dioxide Utilization Life Cycle Analysis Guidance for the U.S. DOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management,”[footnoteRef:2] known as the CO2U LCA Guidance Document, or simply, the guidance document. The guidance document is part of the NETL LCA CO2U Guidance Toolkit, which provides additional support for the creation of the required LCA. The guidance document outlines the analysis requirements and how to use the supporting data and tools. [2: T. J. Skone, M. Mutchek, M. Krynock, S. Moni, S. Rai, J. Chou, D. Carlson, M. Jamieson, E. Dale, G. Cooney, and A. Kumar, “Carbon Dioxide Utilization Life Cycle Analysis Guidance for the U.S. DOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Version 2.0” National Energy Technology Laboratory, Pittsburgh, January 2022. (https://netl.doe.gov/energy-analysis/details?id=30f43c4f-2e95-4afa-8a0e-e49168ada191) ]

As outlined in the guidance document, the goal of the LCA is to compare the life cycle GHG impact of the project, as part of a Proposed Product System, to a Comparison Product System to understand how the environmental impact of the technology life cycle compares to the life cycle of a system that produces the same products. The scope of environmental impacts should include all additional impact categories listed in Section 2.1.8.2 of the guidance document. To accomplish this, the environmental inventory will need to include data beyond greenhouse gas emissions, as discussed in Section 2.2.2.2 of the guidance document. The LCAs should also specify the version of the CO2U toolkit used for the analysis. To complete this comparison, the LCA may be modeled in one of three ways:

Option 1: open LCA (strongly recommended)

a. Modified NETL CO2U openLCA LCI Database with project LCA and sensitivity/uncertainty analysis

b. Completed NETL CO2U openLCA Results Contribution Tool

c. Completed NETL CO2U LCA Report Template

Option 2: PI spreadsheet model

a. Completed NETL CO2U LCA Documentation Spreadsheet and supporting materials used outside of the software (e.g., results interpretation spreadsheets)

b. Completed NETL CO2U LCA Report Template

Option 3: Third-party LCA software (not openLCA)

a. Submit LCA data via one of the two methods:

I. Provide final LCA model database file and supporting materials used outside of the spreadsheet model (e.g., results interpretation spreadsheets) with NETL II. If PIs do not want to provide the LCA model database for public release, submit completed NETL CO2U LCA Documentation Spreadsheet and supporting materials used outside of the software (e.g., results interpretation spreadsheets)

b. Completed NETL CO2U LCA Report Template

Support is provided for all three modeling options within the NETL CO2U Guidance Toolkit. All materials, including the guidance document can be accessed at www.netl.doe.gov/LCA/CO2U.

Questions about this NOFO? Email DE-FOA-0003495@netl.doe.gov.