Can carbon fiber composites have a lower environmental impact than fiberglass?

Abstract

Carbon fiber composites are increasingly used to decrease fuel consumption in the use phase of vehicles. However, due to the energy intensive production, the reduced fuel consumption may not lead to life cycle environmental savings as much as for other lightweighting materials, for example fiberglass. This study uses life cycle assessment methodology to assess how different future development routes including using bio-based raw materials, microwave technology, and recycling of composites with the recovery of fibers influence the environmental impact of both carbon fiber composites and fiberglass in vehicles. Results show that combining different development routes could lead to carbon fiber composites with a lower environmental impact than fiberglass composites in the future and that recycling of composites with recovery of fibers is the route that alone shows the greatest potential.