Open AccessLife cycle assessment of carbon concrete composites: a circular economy path beyond climate mitigation?
Author(s) -
Christoph Scope,
Edeltraud Guenther,
Torsten Mielecke,
Julia Schuetz,
Eric Muendecke,
Konstantin Schultze
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
acta polytechnica ctu proceedings
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2336-5382
DOI - 10.14311/app.2022.33.0518
Subject(s) - demolition , circular economy , life cycle assessment , reuse , embodied energy , greenhouse gas , environmental science , carbon footprint , global warming , carbon fibers , sustainability , raw material , demolition waste , pyrolysis , civil engineering , waste management , climate change , engineering , materials science , production (economics) , composite material , ecology , biology , macroeconomics , composite number , economics
Sustainable construction and materials play an ever-important role to stay within our planetary boundaries. In support, innovative carbon concrete composites (CCC) promise significant raw material savings by integral design. We aim to illustrate current environmental hotspots and a feasible recycling scenario of CCC that meets circularity requirements. We modelled a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment for two potential building structural applications (sandwich wall, ceiling reinforcement) made of CCC. We based our recycling scenario on previously conducted large-scale experiments. Results show a relative larger energy intensity and abiotic depletion of fossil fuels for variants of CCC but lower global warming. Yet, recycling is, second to embodied emissions of basic materials, the driving force of total environmental impacts. The presented recycling path (demolition, pyrolysis for carbon fabric, reuse in fiber fleece) offers less "green credentials" than steel.