Environmental Impacts Analysis of Stationary Fuel Cell Combined Heat and Power Generation Systems

The use of stationary fuel cell power systems for residential applications has been expanding owing to the characteristics of energy saving and environmental friendliness. Technical Committee 105 Working Group 14 (TC105 WG14) in the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) proposed assessment procedures for environmental impacts of stationary fuel cell systems using the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. In this study, the impact of the 700 W scale of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell combined heat and power generation system (PEFC-CGS) was tested based on the proposal document of the IEC TC105 WG14. In the estimation, the aurum (Au) in the circuit board, which is a precious metal, as well as platinum (Pt) contained in the cell stack, and differences in the hydrogen fuel production paths were considered. According to our results, the factors that contributed to the environmental impact were revealed. Therefore, to improve these factors for product differentiation from environmental aspects, differences in cell performance due to the cell manufacturing method were investigated. Then, it was confirmed that the multilayer electrode reduced the abiotic depletion potential (ADP) at manufacturing by 6 or 12%, and differentiation between products could be achieved by manufacturing the catalyst layers.