All Outputs (20)

Future material demand and greenhouse gas emissions implications for electrification of the UK light-duty vehicle fleet (2024)
Journal Article
Davies, B., Llamas-Orozco, J. A., Meng, F., Posen, I. D., MacLean, H. L., Abdul-Manan, A. F. N., & McKechnie, J. (2024). Future material demand and greenhouse gas emissions implications for electrification of the UK light-duty vehicle fleet. RSC Sustainability, 2(8), 2275-2288. https://doi.org/10.1039/d4su00112e

The UK zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate aims for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) to account for 100% of new sales by 2035. This study presents a fleet-scale life cycle assessment model of UK light duty vehicles through 2050, integrating a dynami... Read More about Future material demand and greenhouse gas emissions implications for electrification of the UK light-duty vehicle fleet.

A review of techno-economic analyses and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of biomass-to-hydrocarbon “drop-in” fuels (2024)
Journal Article
Lilonfe, S., Davies, B., Abdul-Manan, A. F., Dimitriou, I., & McKechnie, J. (2024). A review of techno-economic analyses and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of biomass-to-hydrocarbon “drop-in” fuels. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 47, 425-444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2024.04.016

Synthetic “drop-in” fuels are compatible with existing fuel and vehicle infrastructures and, when produced sustainably, they could play an important role in mitigating the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from transportation, especially in the har... Read More about A review of techno-economic analyses and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of biomass-to-hydrocarbon “drop-in” fuels.

Attribution of Global Warming Potential impacts in a multifunctional metals industry system using different system expansion and allocation methodologies (2024)
Journal Article
Fernandez, M. C., Grund, S., Phillips, C., Fradet, J., Hage, J., Silk, N., …McKechnie, J. (2024). Attribution of Global Warming Potential impacts in a multifunctional metals industry system using different system expansion and allocation methodologies. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 29, 873–889. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-023-02274-7

Purpose: In order to reach a more circular economy, materials previously classified as waste can be upgraded and turned into valuable co-products, with associated environmental benefits. The generation of co-products raises many questions around the... Read More about Attribution of Global Warming Potential impacts in a multifunctional metals industry system using different system expansion and allocation methodologies.

Development of an open-source carbon footprint calculator of the UK craft brewing value chain (2023)
Journal Article
Bowler, A. L., Rodgers, S., Meng, F., McKechnie, J., Cook, D. J., & Watson, N. J. (2024). Development of an open-source carbon footprint calculator of the UK craft brewing value chain. Journal of Cleaner Production, 435, Article 140181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.140181

Craft breweries may fall behind large brewing companies in reducing the carbon footprints of their value chains due to limited resources, financial constraints, and a lack of technical knowledge to fully understand their emissions. However, by increa... Read More about Development of an open-source carbon footprint calculator of the UK craft brewing value chain.

Solutions for recycling emerging wind turbine blade waste in China are not yet effective (2023)
Journal Article
Yang, J., Meng, F., Zhang, L., McKechnie, J., Chang, Y., Ma, B., …Cullen, J. M. (2023). Solutions for recycling emerging wind turbine blade waste in China are not yet effective. Communications Earth & Environment, 4(1), Article 466. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01104-w

Wind power supply chains are evolving as markets expand to reach climate goals. With the largest installed wind power capacity globally, China must deal with increasing composite turbine waste and anticipate its associated costs. Here we predict the... Read More about Solutions for recycling emerging wind turbine blade waste in China are not yet effective.

Comparative techno-economic and life cycle analyses of synthetic “drop-in” fuel production from UK wet biomass (2023)
Journal Article
Lilonfe, S., Dimitriou, I., Davies, B., Abdul-Manan, A. F., & McKechnie, J. (2024). Comparative techno-economic and life cycle analyses of synthetic “drop-in” fuel production from UK wet biomass. Chemical Engineering Journal, 479, Article 147516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2023.147516

Renewable synthetic hydrocarbon “drop-in” fuels can help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from transport, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors like freight and aviation. However, no study has extensively addressed the concerns over biomass availabi... Read More about Comparative techno-economic and life cycle analyses of synthetic “drop-in” fuel production from UK wet biomass.

Estimating the environmental impacts of global lithium-ion battery supply chain: A temporal, geographical, and technological perspective (2023)
Journal Article
Llamas-Orozco, J. A., Meng, F., Walker, G. S., Abdul-Manan, A. F. N., MacLean, H. L., Posen, I. D., & McKechnie, J. (2023). Estimating the environmental impacts of global lithium-ion battery supply chain: A temporal, geographical, and technological perspective. PNAS Nexus, 2(11), Article pgad361. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad361

A sustainable low-carbon transition via electric vehicles will require a comprehensive understanding of lithium-ion batteries’ global supply chain environmental impacts. Here, we analyze the cradle-to-gate energy use and greenhouse gas emissions of c... Read More about Estimating the environmental impacts of global lithium-ion battery supply chain: A temporal, geographical, and technological perspective.

A surrogate model for the economic evaluation of renewable hydrogen production from biomass feedstocks via supercritical water gasification (2023)
Journal Article
Rodgers, S., Bowler, A., Wells, L., Siah Lee, C., Hayes, M., Poulston, S., …Conradie, A. (2024). A surrogate model for the economic evaluation of renewable hydrogen production from biomass feedstocks via supercritical water gasification. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 49(A), 277-294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2023.08.016

Supercritical water gasification is a promising technology for renewable hydrogen production from high moisture content biomass. This work produces a machine learning surrogate model to predict the Levelised Cost of Hydrogen over a range of biomass c... Read More about A surrogate model for the economic evaluation of renewable hydrogen production from biomass feedstocks via supercritical water gasification.

Techno-economic and environmental analysis of community energy management for peak shaving (2021)
Journal Article
Cossutta, M., Pholboon, S., McKechnie, J., & Sumner, M. (2022). Techno-economic and environmental analysis of community energy management for peak shaving. Energy Conversion and Management, 251, Article 114900. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2021.114900

Energy storage (ES) is seen as the key to unlocking the true potential of renewable generation as it potentially supports their integration into the grid by providing capability for services such balancing and frequency regulation. It also has the po... Read More about Techno-economic and environmental analysis of community energy management for peak shaving.

Wind turbine blade wastes and the environmental impacts in Canada (2021)
Journal Article
Heng, H., Meng, F., & McKechnie, J. (2021). Wind turbine blade wastes and the environmental impacts in Canada. Waste Management, 133, 59-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2021.07.032

Electricity production by wind turbines is considered a clean energy technology, but the life cycle of wind turbines could introduce environmental risks due to waste generation, especially at the decommissioning process. This study predicts the futur... Read More about Wind turbine blade wastes and the environmental impacts in Canada.

Asymmetrically heated multi-stage travelling-wave thermoacoustic electricity generator (2021)
Journal Article
Kisha, W., Riley, P., McKechnie, J., & Hann, D. (2021). Asymmetrically heated multi-stage travelling-wave thermoacoustic electricity generator. Energy, 235, Article 121312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2021.121312

Recent developments of thermoacoustic engines have demonstrated that thermoacoustic technology is a viable option for waste heat recovery and low-cost electricity generation, Thermoacoustic technology is capable of converting low-grade heat to electr... Read More about Asymmetrically heated multi-stage travelling-wave thermoacoustic electricity generator.

From aviation to aviation: Environmental and financial viability of closed-loop recycling of carbon fibre composite (2020)
Journal Article
Meng, F., Cui, Y., Pickering, S., & McKechnie, J. (2020). From aviation to aviation: Environmental and financial viability of closed-loop recycling of carbon fibre composite. Composites Part B: Engineering, 200, Article 108362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2020.108362

© 2020 By 2050, the aviation sector is expected to generate about 500,000 tonnes of accumulated carbon fibre reinforced plastic waste from the production and end-of-life phase. In this study, aircraft interior applications of recycled carbon fibre (r... Read More about From aviation to aviation: Environmental and financial viability of closed-loop recycling of carbon fibre composite.

Sustainability assessment of continuous-flow hydrothermal synthesis of nanomaterials in the context of other production technologies (2019)
Journal Article
Stieberova, B., Zilka, M., Ticha, M., Freiberg, F., Caramazana-González, P., McKechnie, J., & Lester, E. (2019). Sustainability assessment of continuous-flow hydrothermal synthesis of nanomaterials in the context of other production technologies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 241, Article 118325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118325

In this paper, we provide a comprehensive techno-economic and life cycle environmental evaluation of the continuous-flow hydrothermal synthesis (CFHS) of nanoparticles in the context of current production technologies. This method is compared with a... Read More about Sustainability assessment of continuous-flow hydrothermal synthesis of nanomaterials in the context of other production technologies.

A review of the environmental impact of nanomaterial synthesis using continuous flow hydrothermal synthesis (2018)
Journal Article
Caramazana, P., Dunne, P., Gimeno-Fabra, M., McKechnie, J., & Lester, E. (2018). A review of the environmental impact of nanomaterial synthesis using continuous flow hydrothermal synthesis. Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, 12, 57-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsc.2018.06.016

Continuous flow hydrothermal synthesis (CFHS) is an emerging process technology for the manufacture of nanomaterials. Recent work has been undertaken to establish the green ‘credentials’ of CFHS amongst alternative techniques for nanosynthesis. In th... Read More about A review of the environmental impact of nanomaterial synthesis using continuous flow hydrothermal synthesis.

Assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of titania nanoparticle production by continuous flow solvo/hydrothermal synthesis (2017)
Journal Article
Caramazana-Gonzalez, P., Dunne, P. W., Gimeno-Fabra, M., Zilka, M., Ticha, M., Stieberova, B., Freiberg, F., McKechnie, J., & Lester, E. (in press). Assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of titania nanoparticle production by continuous flow solvo/hydrothermal synthesis. Green Chemistry, 19, https://doi.org/10.1039/C6GC03357A

Continuous-flow hydrothermal and solvothermal syntheses offer substantial advantages over conventional processes, producing high quality materials from a wide range of precursors. In this study, we evaluate the “cradle-to-gate” life cycle environment... Read More about Assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of titania nanoparticle production by continuous flow solvo/hydrothermal synthesis.

Steam-treated wood pellets: Environmental and financial implications relative to fossil fuels and conventional pellets for electricity generation (2016)
Journal Article
McKechnie, J., Saville, B., & MacLean, H. L. (2016). Steam-treated wood pellets: Environmental and financial implications relative to fossil fuels and conventional pellets for electricity generation. Applied Energy, 180, 637-649. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.08.024

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd Steam-treated pellets can help to address technical barriers that limit the uptake of pellets as a fuel for electricity generation, but there is limited understanding of the cost and environmental impacts of their production and u... Read More about Steam-treated wood pellets: Environmental and financial implications relative to fossil fuels and conventional pellets for electricity generation.

Environmental and financial implications of ethanol as a bioethylene feedstock versus as a transportation fuel (2015)
Journal Article
McKechnie, J., Pourbafrani, M., Saville, B. A., & MacLean, H. L. (2015). Environmental and financial implications of ethanol as a bioethylene feedstock versus as a transportation fuel. Environmental Research Letters, 10(12), https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/12/124018

Bulk chemicals production from biomass may compete with biofuels for low-cost and sustainable biomass sources. Understanding how alternative uses of biomass compare in terms of financial and environmental parameters is therefore necessary to help ens... Read More about Environmental and financial implications of ethanol as a bioethylene feedstock versus as a transportation fuel.

Exploring impacts of process technology development and regional factors on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of corn stover ethanol (2014)
Journal Article
McKechnie, J., Pourbafrani, M., Saville, B. A., & MacLean, H. L. (2015). Exploring impacts of process technology development and regional factors on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of corn stover ethanol. Renewable Energy, 76, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2014.11.088

This paper examines impacts of regional factors affecting biomass and process input supply chains and ongoing technology development on the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of ethanol production from corn stover in the U.S. Corn stover suppl... Read More about Exploring impacts of process technology development and regional factors on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of corn stover ethanol.

Forest carbon accounting methods and the consequences of forest bioenergy for national greenhouse gas emissions inventories (2014)
Journal Article
McKechnie, J., Colombo, S., & MacLean, H. L. (2014). Forest carbon accounting methods and the consequences of forest bioenergy for national greenhouse gas emissions inventories. Environmental Science and Policy, 44, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2014.07.006

While bioenergy plays a key role in strategies for increasing renewable energy deployment, studies assessing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from forest bioenergy systems have identified a potential trade-off of the system with forest carbon stocks. O... Read More about Forest carbon accounting methods and the consequences of forest bioenergy for national greenhouse gas emissions inventories.

Impacts of pre-treatment technologies and co-products on greenhouse gas emissions and energy use of lignocellulosic ethanol production (2014)
Journal Article
Pourbafrani, M., McKechnie, J., Shen, T., Saville, B. A., & MacLean, H. L. (2014). Impacts of pre-treatment technologies and co-products on greenhouse gas emissions and energy use of lignocellulosic ethanol production. Journal of Cleaner Production, 78, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.04.050

Life cycle environmental performance of lignocellulosic ethanol produced through different production pathways and having different co-products has rarely been reported in the literature, with most studies focusing on a single pre-treatment and singl... Read More about Impacts of pre-treatment technologies and co-products on greenhouse gas emissions and energy use of lignocellulosic ethanol production.