Life cycle assessment of sugarcane bagasse based natural composites prepared via vacuum bagging technique
Karthikeyan Ramachandran, Constance L. Gnanasagaran
Abstract
The demand for lightweight materials has been constantly mounting in aerospace and other structural applications with focus towards sustainable and green engineering. In aerospace applications, various industrial regulations have stepped towards carbon composite replacement owing to its inability to repair and recycle which has envisaged to bio-based composites depending on the manufacturing processes. This paper focuses on life cycle analysis of bagasse based biocomposites which are predominant by-product from sugarcanes. The sugarcane bagasse biocomposites were prepared through vacuum bagging technique and their emission and energy consumptions were analyzed. The sugarcane bagasse biocomposites showcased overall energy consumption of ~178 MJ and ~30 kgCO2Eq. global warming potential (GWP) with chemical treatment, pesticides, and vacuum bagging as major processes. The energy consumption of biocomposites was ~5 times less than carbon composites procured via same route illustrating sugarcane bagasse as more environmentally friendly but requiring additional research to understand the transition towards bio-based materials.