Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
In order to demonstrate the advantageous environmental footprint of BAYFLEX technology compared to alternatives, the consortium carries out a life cycle analysis (LCA). Initially developed in the early 1960s to understand the impact of energy consumption, LCA has grown into a recognized approach, and has spawned numerous assessment tools based on life cycle thinking. Foot printing, environmental product declarations, and product category rules are all based on similar approaches, and a suite of ISO standards guide LCA studies, (ISO 14040 series), foot printing standards for products (PEF, PAS 2050) and organizations (OEF, PAS 2060). LCA evaluates the environmental impact of a product or service throughout all stages of its life, from raw materials extraction to final disposal.
LCA Implementation
Our first workshop on sustainability was organized by Hans Kleemann and held at TUD in January 2024. We invited Stefano Cucurachi from Leiden University to animate our workshop. Our goal was to introduce LCA analysis to all the consortium whether or not they planned to directly use the methodology. He introduced the states of a LCA analysis according to the ISO standard and explained how LCA can be used for emerging technologies. To start our LCA analysis, we decided to use a cradle to gate scenario for single devices (year 1) and also for single circuits (year 2) analysis. For our full demo (end of project), we will use a cradle to grave analysis.
First results on OTFT & OECT technologies
TUD & CEA worked on the LCA to determine the sustainability of OTFT (Organic Thin Film Transistor) and OECT ( Organic Electro-Chimical Transistor) technologies. They first realized a process of record for the technologies as a starting point.
They chose to consider the Global Warming Potential (GWP), measured in kgCO2e/devices as an indicator. They used their fabrication protocols, data collected from the ecoinvent database and newly created entries for materials, flows and units that were not yet defined.
The analysis provides near 2 kgCO2e /device for OECTs and 26.1 kgCO2e /device for OTFTs as a result. While this GWP seems high, these results correspond to an entire substrate on which up to 3,600 OECTs or 11,250 OTFTs could be integrated. The GWP/cm2 is least an order of magnitude lower than that reported in the scientific literature for recent silicon technology nodes (ref).
