Life Cycle Assessment of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle. ENDURUNS Project Case

Abstract

The use of the autonomous vehicles for marine and submarine works has evolved considerably in the last decade. The appearance of new imaging, navigation and communications technologies allow large operability possibilities. The Autonomous Underwater Vehicles are used currently for several offshore missions and applications. There exists some innovative purposes in the line of the sustainable development and green energy mobility. ENDURUNS project is an European research initiative in the framework of “Horizon 2030” with the aim of seabed survey. The novelty of this project is the use and implementation of renewable energy (Hydrogen Fuel Cell) for the underwater vehicle developed, achieving the zero emissions objective. This paper analysed the product environmental management using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology, ISO 14040. This analysis reports different values of Damage and Environmental Impact. The Eco-Indicator 99 method is employed with the SimaPro software. The results obtained from the analysis are used to evaluate the Life Cycle environmental impact.