Preliminary Life Cycle Assessment of an innovative wave energy converter

The University of Palermo is currently investigating the possibility of sea wave energy harvesting in the Mediterranean Sea, since this energy sources could have important applications, especially in small islands. With this purpose, the paper propones an innovative technology for the sea wave exploitation in onshore areas. A prototypical device is firstly described. Some improvements are introduced in comparison with a previous version of the device. In this manuscript the Life Cycle Assessment is performed to evaluate the environmental impacts of this technology.