Social Life Cycle Assessment of E-Fuels in the Hi-EFECTS Project
The Hi-EFECTS project studied the potential social impacts from renewable e-fuels production (ammonia, hydrogen and methanol) in a comparative Social Lifecycle Assessment (S-LCA) with heavy fuel oil (HFO). It was found that e-fuels can imply higher social risks, due to a higher number of working hours required for their production, compared with the production of HFO.
An important share of these additional working hours was linked to the supply of materials required for renewable energy and electrolysis technologies. At the same time, the production of e-fuels clearly offered more opportunities for economic development, than HFO. These results highlight the importance of ensuring socially-responsible working conditions in the supply chains for renewable energy and electrolysis technologies.