PASSENGER D4.5 - Techno-economic assessment of the PASSENGER value chain-R1
Creators: name: Frengkou, Anna
name: Spathariotis, Stylianos
name: Sakkas, Konstantinos
name: Yakoumis, Iakovos
name: Montes, Myriam
name: Sokolova, Irina
name: Torres, Ignacio
name: Bollero, Alberto
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023

description: This document contains the main results from task 4.2 of PASSENGER project. The document reports about the techno-economic assessment of the PASSENGER value chain-R1. The purpose of the current report is to present the work that has been done in the first 24 months of the techno-economic assessment of the PASSENGER value chain processes that are being developed inside PASSENGER project. D4.5 is the first deliverable of WP4 related to technoeconomic assessment. The objective of this report is to present the work that has been done in the framework of the Techno-Economic Assessment (TEA) performed under Task 4.1 entitled “Framework of the techno-economic, safety and environmental assessment”, Task 4.4 entitled “Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Cost” and Task 4.8 entitled “Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) of the new permanent magnets with substitution of CRMs”. The objective of Task 4.1 that has already been completed was to define the framework of the techno-economic and environmental assessments and to ensure: a common understanding from all the partners of the work to be performed throughout WP4 and a common basis for the assessment of the PASSENGER value chain. Task 4.1 comprised the goal and scope definition of the techno- economic, safety and environmental life cycle assessments, as well as the data collection management plan.

Management of data (including coordination among partners, preparation of data collection templates, overall time plan, etc.) will be part of this task. All partners had to be trained and committed to the process of data collection according to WP4 needs. Partners which are not in charge of the WP4 needed a good understanding of the objectives of the WP and how they can benefit from the results of the techno-economic, safety and environmental assessments. ICAMCYL ensured an interactive dialogue throughout the project, by means of regular actions and interventions during meetings. The latter guaranteed a good and efficient flow of information between the partners who need the data and those who will provide the data, and will reduce the risk associated with the data collection process. The management of the data collection (including coordination among partners, preparation of data collection templates, overall time plan, etc.) is addressed as part of the framework definition. Data collection isindeed a crucial part of the techno-economic and environmental assessment.

The main part of Task 4.4 is focused on performing several LCAs and LCCs in order to incorporate the environmental results in the technologies and products. A benchmark LCA of the conventional technologies will be performed as a baseline LCA for the existing current technology and value chain for comparison purposes. The main part of this task is focused on LCA, LCC of the upscaled technologies from the lab till the pilot scale phase. That approach will allow early quantification of the eventual large-scale environmental impacts of upscaled technologies, which allows the use of them to make comparisons between benchmark solutions and circular economy solutions of the project. The several LCAs of this task are included in the Deliverable 4.2 entitled “Report on Life Cycle Assessment and Material Flow analysis” In this deliverable will be included the part related to Life Cycle Cost. 

Furthermore, the work that has been done regarding the Task 4.8 will be also included. The main aim of this task is to quantify the overall net benefits, i.e., the additional health and environmental benefits of substituting rare-earth elements and cobalt in PASSENGER PMs. The CBA was carried out at EU market level and be based on materials and chemicals flow analyses and specific risk assessment involved in the different current and new PMs value chains representing an effective substitution, on the LCA results and on the cost, assessments carried out in task 4.4 Methodological steps of a CBA are the following: 

Definition, in collaboration with partners, of the aims and scope of the CBA, in terms of one or two EU market deployment scenarios corresponding to the overall PASSENGER commercial validation value chains. The definition of a business as usual (BAU, or “no change”) scenario as a counter factual to which to compare advantages and disadvantages of the PASSENGER new magnets innovation. Identification and assessment of the environmental and health impacts of the scenarios, i.e. of the positive and negative market-scale impacts, here after referred to as “benefits” and “costs”. PASSENGER benefits for society will include reduced GHG emissions and other positive environmental impacts from avoided energy and resource use. However, implementation and deployment of the PASSENGER value chains require consumption of financial resources (opportunity costs) and may involve potential health and environmental problems in case of risk associated with the technology deployment (e.g. risks for workers, re-looping of hazardous chemicals). Valuation of alternatives in view of decision-support. The aim is to monetize the identified sustainability indicators of the PASSENGER technology vs. a BAU scenario and to assess their significance. Since environmental and health impacts cannot always be assessed with certainty, uncertainties or unknowns of the assessment also need to be addressed carefully.
description: This deliverable is currently under review by the European Commission.