Title
Anticipatory Life Cycle Assessment of sol-gel derived anti-reflective coating for greenhouse glass
Author
Tsoy, N.
Prado, V.
Wypkema, A.W.
Quist, J.
Mourad, M.
Publication year
2019
Abstract
Environmental analysis should be performed early in the Research and Development (R&D) phases of new technologies to timely determine potential impact and, thereby, include prevention and minimization of unfavorable ecological impact into the innovation process. Here, we demonstrate the application of anticipatory Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) on novel anti-reflective coatings used for greenhouses in the Netherlands. Currently, these coating technologies are developed at the laboratory scale (lab-scale), but they have the potential to be transferred to commercial scale on the short term. What-if scenarios have been used to scale-up the coating production process to pilot and industrial scales. The scenarios were developed by optimizing the laboratory scale coating production parameters. A cradle-to-grave LCA has been done to compare novel coatings with conventional coatings. The functional unit has been defined as the production of 1692.30 kg of tomatoes in greenhouses during 30 years. Results indicate that the novel coating manufactured at industrial scale can compete with conventional coatings in terms of the environmental performance. Furthermore, LCA shows that the novel coating assessed does not bring environmental benefits as compared to employing uncoated glass. However, the use of the glass coating in the greenhouse may bring economic benefits during functional lifetime by means of increased yield of crop (e.g. tomatoes). Different pathways of the technological development of the novel coating have been considered in the sensitivity analysis. The option that includes glass manufacturing in the Netherlands rather than China has led to the best environmental impact results. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd
Subject
Anti-reflective coating
Anticipatory LCA
Dip coating
Greenhouse glass
Scale-up
Scenarios
Antireflection coatings
Environmental management
Environmental technology
Fruits
Glass
Greenhouses
Life cycle
Reflective coatings
Sensitivity analysis
Sol-gels
Environmental impact
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http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f7d85c1d-c183-4c61-afdf-6239dd72cbc5
TNO identifier
865902
Publisher
Elsevier Ltd
ISSN
0959-6526
Source
Journal of Cleaner Production, 221, 365-376
Document type
article