View article

This paper examines the environmental impact of manufacturing two types of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system. The tubular SOFC (based on a 100kW Siemens–Westinghouse design), and the planar SOFC (based on a 1kW Sulzer design). Using different levels of detail, the environmental impact of the manufacture of the PEN and interconnect, the balance of plant and the production of precursor materials has been assessed for both systems. The results demonstrate that the production and supply of materials for the manufacture of both the balance of plant and the fuel cell are responsible for a significant share of the overall environmental burden associated with each of the fuel cell systems studied. Nonetheless, the total emissions associated with the manufacturing stage still only contribute an additional 1% to lifetime CO₂ emissions for both fuel cell types. The relative contribution arising from the manufacturing …