Life cycle assessment and environmental impact reduction strategies of an electronic control unit
Publicerad
Författare
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Master's Thesis
Master's Thesis
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
The electronics industry faces many challenges when it comes to sustainability. This study is therefore
aimed at identifying the environmental hotspots in the cradle-to-gate life cycle of one of CPAC
system’s (CPAC) electronic control units (ECUs), the Hydra. The life cycle assessment (LCA) conducted
on the Hydra showed that the main environmental impact of the product is related to the
aluminium housing covering the assembled printed circuit board (PCBA), as well as the main PCBA
itself. This is due to the energy intensive aluminium production and the amount of geochemically
rare minerals, such as gold, used in the components on the PCBA. To help CPAC make informed
decisions about possible emission reductions of the Hydra, a scenario analysis aiming at lowering
the environmental impact of the product was conducted. Three scenarios were included in the analysis,
which all focused on the aluminium housing, as it was an environmental hotspot as well as a
component possible to change. First, the electricity mix for the aluminium production was changed
from Chinese to Norwegian. Second, the primary aluminium ingots were entirely replaced by recycled
aluminium scrap. Third, the material of the housing was changed to glass fibre reinforced
plastic. All three scenarios resulted in impact reductions and provided knowledge that enabled the
formulation of emission reduction strategies to minimize the overall environmental impact related
to the Hydra. The following strategies can be of use for reducing the environmental impact of the
Hydra: either a combination of increasing the share of renewable energy in the electricity mix for
aluminium production and using recycled aluminium in the housing of the Hydra, or changing the
material of the housing from aluminium to glass fibre reinforced plastic.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Electronic Control Unit (ECU), Printed circuit board (PCB), Global warming, Mineral resource scarcity