A Spatially Explicit Societal Life Cycle Cost Framework for Sustainable Biographite Production in the United States

Abstract Graphite demand is projected to double by 2040, yet the United States relies heavily on imports, motivating domestic biographite production from abundant lignocellulosic residues. However, large-scale biographite production is hindered by uncertain environmental and economic implications. We address the challenge by developing a spatially explicit societal life cycle cost (sLCC) framework that integrates regionalized techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA). We apply the method to assess U.S. biographite production across various process designs and location choices. TEA and LCA identify process pathway, electricity, catalysts, feedstocks, and byproduct upgrades as key factors influencing biographite’s sustainability performance. Biographite production in most states is cost-competitive ($4.1–5.4/kg), but its environmental advantages over market synthetic graphite vary by location and impact category. sLCC reveals that biographite production in the Eastern U.S. is ∼18% more preferable than market synthetic graphite, while benefits are limited in Pacific and Upper regions.