Integrated Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: A Necessary Nexus for Implementing Circular Economy Principles and Accomplishing Sustainable Development Goals

In the face of escalating levels of global carbon emissions and the looming threat of an energy crisis, the complexities of addressing climate change are compounded by challenges such as pandemics like COVID-19 and ongoing conflicts. To secure energy independence and stability, it becomes crucial to allocate resources toward developing a circular green hydrogen economy. This strategic investment not only combats climate change but also promotes sustainable development by reducing waste generation across all stages of production and consumption. With this aim this work performs an integrated life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) of green hydrogen production. A techno-economic analysis (TEA) was performed for evaluation of economic metrics, whereas environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) and social LCA were performed to highlight the ecological and social hotspots. According to the LCSA findings, the most significant hotspots for the economic, environmental, and social aspects of the solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power industry are related to the manufacture of solar panels and wind turbines. The LCSA framework was then integrated with guiding principles to implement circular economy (CE) principles provided by BS 8001:2017 in order to develop a framework for a circular green hydrogen economy. The developed framework has demonstrated how LCSA can be used a tool to develop a circular green hydrogen accomplishing the sustainable development goals (SDGs).