Environmental Impact of an Electric Motor and Drive : Life Cycle Assessment and a study of a Circular Business Model

Abstract: Electric motors are one of the biggest consumers of electricity in the world with a consumption of almost 45 % and it is predicted to increase. Since electric motors play an important role today and in the future, it is important that businesses take their responsibility to make them as sustainable as they can possibly be. Today’s product development models are often based on the idea that the customer buys the product and is responsible for the products use phase. This results in the manufacturer focusing on getting a competitive price for the customer by reducing the cost for manufacturing and delivery, which often is negative for the customer. The latter phases, use and end-of-life, are often the greatest contributors of costs and environmental impact. One way for businesses to take their responsibility is to have an environmental focus throughout their products life cycles, i.e., to apply a circular business model. This primarily means to focus on the main principles of circular economy: to reduce, reuse and recycle. ABB is a company in the electric motor and drive industry with ambitious commitments for 2030 which includes to have at least 80 % of their products and solutions covered by a circularity approach and achieve carbon neutrality across their own operations. This Master thesis studies the environmental impact of an ABB synchronous medium voltage motor and drive during their life cycle. This thesis also studies how a circular business model can affect the environmental impact the motor contribute with today. Assessing the environmental impact was done with a life cycle perspective in accordance to ISO 14044, using the world’s most used tool for these kinds of analyses, SimaPro. The results of the assessment showed that the total climate impact during the whole life cycle of the motor and drive is 4.38•106 kg CO2 eq. The use phase of the motor and drive was the biggest contributor, with almost 99 % of total climate impact. The electricity used in this phase and the long lifetime of these machines, in this case 20 years, contributes to the great impact. Important environmental impact categories identified from studying the motor and drive during their lifecycles are ionizing radiation, human toxicity (both non-cancer effects and cancer effects) and freshwater ecotoxicity. The results also showed that by only looking at the contribution of the components of the motor, the climate impact is 7.35•104 kg CO2 eq. A total of 43 % of the emissions comes from the stator and 30 % from the rotor. For the drive the total impact is in total 6.83•104 kg CO2 eq. The biggest contributor is the semiconductor, with 50 % of the total impact of the machine followed by the housing with 21 %. Answering research question two, regarding the circular business model, was done by interviewing key players at ABB and people with knowledge in the area as well by studying literature. Potential measures for a circular business model were for example increasing the efficiency of the motor, designing for refurbishment and recycling, partnerships and changing the motor application after use. Increased efficiency of the motor was identified as a very impactful measure since it can affect the use phase, which is the biggest contributor of climate impact. The identified measures impact the material and energy flows in different ways, most of them prevent extraction of new raw material. This study can be used for an indication of where the environmental hotspots are for a MV electric motor and drive. It can be concluded that a circular business model could bring benefits on material and energy flows such as reduced energy use in the use phase, decreased use of raw material in production and reduced use of fuel for transportation.