Electric mobility is playing an important and growing role in the context of sustainable transport sector development. This study presents the life cycle assessment of an electric car based on the technology of Lithium-ion battery (BEV) for Europe and compares it to an internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV). According to a cradle-to-grave approach, manufacturing, use and disposal phases of both vehicles have been included in the assessment in order to identify the hot spots of the entire life cycles. For electric vehicles two manufacturing inventories have been analysed and different vehicle disposal pathways have also been considered. Furthermore, the environmental performances of hybrid vehicles have been analysed based on the life cycle models of the BEV and ICEV. The results of the hot spot analysis showed that the BEV manufacturing phase determined the highest environmental burdens mainly in the toxicity categories as a result of the use of metals in the battery pack. However, the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the BEV use phase were shown to be half than those recorded for the ICEV use phase. The trend of the results has also been investigated for future energy mixes: the electricity and diesel mixes for the year 2050 have been considered for the modelling of the use phase of BEV and ICEV

Within the field of industrial ecology, Industrial Symbiosis (IS) has emerged as a body of exchange structures to progress to a more eco-efficient industrial system. By establishing a collaborative web of knowledge, material and energy exchanges among different organisational units, IS networks aim to reduce the intake of virgin materials and lower the production of waste by the industrial sector. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the operation of IS networks by focussing on the structure and morphology of IS networks and their patterns of interaction and how this influences the outcomes of the collaboration, both in economic and environmental terms. Social Network Analysis (SNA) has been adopted here as the main methodological framework and has been applied to the IS network in Kalundborg (Denmark), proving useful in the analysis of the structural characteristics of the network and the understanding of the role that different actors play. The paper concludes that SNA provides a comprehensive methodological and analytical framework to understand the structural elements of IS networks