Using life cycle assessment to inform technology development: a case study of the life cycle impacts of acetone production from captured CO2

Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2026

Introduction: 

This research investigates how life cycle assessment (LCA) can support technology development by assessing the decarbonization potential of PYROCO2, a fermentation process that converts captured carbon dioxide and hydrogen into acetone. The aim with this research is to analyze how well an LCA study provides environmental insights to the technology development process. For this, an LCA study for the PYROCO2 consortium is presented and the analysis of it is presented in this article. The conducted LCA study identified three types of goals, defined to accommodate different actors' interests in the PYROCO2 project.

Methods: 

The assessment followed standard steps: goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation. To inform technology developers, the LCA study identified environmental hotspots, explored scenario-based impacts and compared the results against conventional acetone production. The LCA study results were further analyzed to identify how the goals of the LCA study were addressed through methodological choices and how this supports the technology development process.

Results: 

Results show that CO2 production and electricity consumption are key environmental hotspots, with impacts sensitive to CO2 source and electricity mix. Compared to conventional acetone production, PYROCO2 demonstrates potential to reduce climate change and resource depletion impacts, though trade-offs occur in ecotoxicity and human toxicity. Uncertainty remains due to the low technology readiness level (TRL 4-5).

Discussion: 

Moreover, while the LCA study informed technology development, its ability to fully address its goals was constrained by a mismatch between when the assessment would suit best and the technology's current readiness level. Multiple LCA studies across development stages would be needed to fully support technology advancement. Overall, the study highlights that the value of LCA in technology development lies not only in its results but in how the study is designed, with goal and scope definition playing a central role in its relevance and usefulness. It further shows that LCA can support the development of emerging carbon capture technologies by identifying decarbonization potential and trade-offs, provided that the study design is aligned with the needs of technology developers.