Energy and CO2 life cycle inventory issues for aluminum based components: The case study of a high speed train window panel

As materials production and transport are two relevant sectors in terms of global environmental impact, over the last years environmental impact analyses (mainly life cycle based analyses) of material replacing strategies in means of transportation were developed. Life cycle approach allows to consider the light-weighing benefit without neglecting the environmental impact of material production. In the present research energy and CO2 emissions life cycle analysis of a real case study is presented. Industrial data, experimental measurements and literature analysis were used to develop the life cycle analysis of an aluminum window panel to be assembled on an Italian high speed train. The paper, taking advantage of an industrial case study, aims at improving the awareness for dealing with the material related (with a specific focus on innovative recycling strategy) and manufacturing inventory issues. The present research reports the energy and CO2 emissions modeling effort for quantifying the impact of innovative solid state recycling strategy for aluminum alloys. Besides the recycling strategy influence itself, the relevance of the method for accounting for recycling is also analyzed. Moreover, the paper includes a digression on manufacturing step modeling; differences in energy and CO2 emissions between experimental measurements and processes impact modeling by means data available in literature/databases are analyzed. Finally, advantages of using aluminum over GFRP (Glass-Fiber- Reinforced-Polymers) are highlighted by developing a comparative analysis.