Life cycle considerations of the flue gas desulphurization system at a lignite-fired power plant in Thailand

Goal, Scope and Background  The Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) system has been installed at the biggest lignite-fired power generation plant in Thailand to reduce the large amount of SO₂ emission. In order to understand the costs and benefits, both in ecological and economic terms, the lignite-fired plant was studied both before and after the installation of the FGD system. The focus of this study is to consider not only the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) outcome but also the Life Cycle Costing (LCC) factors. The results can provide valuable information when selecting appropriate technologies to minimize the negative impact that lignite-fired power plants have on the environment. Methods  The Life Cycle Assessment - Numerical Eco-load Total Standardization (LCA-NETS) system was used to evaluate the impact on the environment of both the lignite-fired plant and the FGD system. Life Cycle Costing (LCC) was used to provide a comparison between alternative before and after installation of FGD. LCC, a powerful analytical tool, examines the total cost, in net present value terms, of a FGD system over its entire service lifetime. Results and Discussion  The results of the study are shown in the eco-load values over the entire life cycle of the lignite-fired plant. Comparative models of the power plant, before and after the installation of the FGD system, are evaluated using the LCA-NETS system. The results indicate that the installation of the FGD system can reduce the acidification problem associated with lignite-fired plants by approximately 97%. The LCC estimation shows the major costs of the FGD system: capital investment, operating and maintenance, and miscellaneous costs. The LCC provides the decision-making information when considering the cost of the FGD system in terms of protecting the environment. Conclusion and Outlook  LCA is an important decision-making tool for environmental policies, especially with regard to the selection of pollution control equipment for lignite-fired plants. Green coal technologies and strategies to reduce the negative impact on the environment are essential to produce more environmentally-friendly power plants with a sustainable future.     

Life-Cycle based methods for sustainable product development

Sustainability-a term originating from silviculture, which was adopted by UNEP as the main political goal for the future development of humankind-is also the ultimate aim of product development. It comprises three components: environment, economy and social aspects which have to be properly assessed and balanced if a new product is to be designed or an existing one is to be improved. The responsibility of the researchers involved in the assessment is to provide appropriate and reliable instruments. For the environmental part there is already an internationally standardized tool: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Life Cycle Costing (LCC) is the logical counterpart of LCA for the economic assessment. LCC surpasses the purely economic cost calculation by taking into account hidden costs and potentially external costs over the life cycle of the product. It is a very important point that different life-cycle based methods (including Social Life Cycle Assessment) for sustainablity assessment use the same system boundaries.     

Application of Life Cycle Assessment for the Environmental Certificate of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class (7 pp)

Background, Aims and Scope Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used as a tool for design for environment (DfE) to improve the environmental performance of the Mercedes Car Group products. For the new S-Class model a brochure including an environmental certificate and comprehensive data for the product was published for the first time. The paper explains the use of LCA for these applications and presents exemplary results. Methods The environmental certificate brochure reports on processes, data and results based on the international standards for life cycle assessment (ISO 14040, ISO 14041, ISO 14042, ISO 14043), for environmental labels and declarations (ISO 14020, ISO 14021) and for the integration of environmental aspects into product design and development (ISO 14062), which are accepted by all stakeholders. Results and Discussion The compliance with these international standards and the correctness of the information contained in the certificate were reviewed and certified by independent experts. The global warming potential (GWP 100 years) of the new S-Class vehicle was reduced by 6%, the acidification potential by 2%, the eutrophication potential by 13% and the photochemical ozone creation potential by 9%. In addition, the use of parts made from renewable materials was increased by 73 percent to a total of 27 parts with a weight of about 43 kilograms. A total of 45 parts with a weight of 21.2 kilograms can be manufactured using a percentage of recycled plastics. Conclusion The application of LCA for DfE is fully integrated as a standard function in the vehicle development process. The DfE/LCA approach at the Mercedes Car Group was successful in improving the environmental performance of the new S-Class. It is shown that the objective of improving the environmental performance of the new S-Class model, compared to the previous one, was achieved. Recommendation and Outlook Vehicles are complex products with very complex interactions with the environment. Therefore, simple solutions, e.g. pure focus on fuel economy or light weighting or recycling or single material strategies, are bound to fail. It is a main task of DfE and LCA to take this fact into account and come up with more intelligent solutions. The application of LCAs for DfE and their integration as standard practice in the product development process is both the most demanding and the most rewarding. It requires a substantial effort to acquire the know-how, the data, the experience and the tools needed to generate meaningful results just in time. However, this is the way how LCA and DfE can add value – they have to be 'built' into the product.     

Eco-efficiency analysis by basf: the method

Intention, Goal, Scope, Background  BASF has developed the tool of eco-efficiency analysis to address not only strategic issues, but also issues posed by the marketplace, politics and research. It was a goal to develop a tool for decision-making processes which is useful for a lot of applications in chemistry and other industries. Objectives. The objectives were the development of a common tool, which is usable in a simple way by LCA-experts and understandable by a lot of people without any experience in this field. The results should be shown in such a way that complex studies are understandable in one view. Methods  The method belongs to the rules of ISO 14040 ff. Beyond these life cycle aspect costs, calculations are added and summarized together with the ecological results to establish an eco-efficiency portfolio. Results and Discussion  The results of the studies are shown in a simple way, the eco-efficiency portfolio. Therefore, ecological data are summarized in a special way as described in this paper. It could be shown that the weighting factors, which are used in our method, have a negligible impact on the results. In most cases, the input data have an important impact on the results of the study. Conclusions. It could be shown that the newly developed eco-efficiency analysis is a new tool, which is usable for a lot of problems in decision-making processes. It is a tool which compares different alternatives of a defined customer benefit over the whole life cycle. Recommendations and Outlook  This new method can be a helpful tool in different fields of the evaluation of product or process alternatives. It can be used in research and development as well as in the optimization of customer processes and products. It is an analytical tool for getting more sustainable processes and products in the future     

基于生命周期方法的生活垃圾资源化利用系统生态效率分析

我国生活垃圾产量大但处理能力不足,产生多种环境危害,对其资源化利用能够缓解环境压力并回收资源。为探讨生活垃圾资源化利用策略,综合生命周期评价与生命周期成本分析方法,建立生态效率模型。以天津市为例,分析和比较焚烧发电、卫生填埋-填埋气发电、与堆肥+卫生填埋3种典型生活垃圾资源化利用情景的生态效率。结果表明,堆肥+卫生填埋情景具有潜在最优生态效率;全球变暖对总环境影响贡献最大,而投资成本对经济影响贡献最大。考虑天津市生活垃圾管理现状,建议鼓励发展生活垃圾干湿组分分离及厨余垃圾堆肥的资源化利用策略。     

Functional priorities in LCA and design for environment

Aim, Scope and Background  The interest in environmental questions has increased enormously during the last decade. Environmental protection has become an issue of strategic importance within the manufacturing industry and many companies are now working in the field of Design for Environment (DFE). The main purpose of DFE is to create products and services for achieving a sustainable society. Designers are widely believed to have a key role in adapting products to a sustainable society and one of the major instruments in the context of Design for Environment is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). However, product development creates particular challenges for incorporating environmental issues that combine functional and environmental assessment. A natural and important part of product design is to define and analyse the functions of the product. Consequently, the functional unit in LCA is a core issue in DFE. Most recent research in DFE has focused on how to reduce the environmental impact of products throughout their life-cycle by addressing environmental aspects, while little attention has been given to the functionality of the product. Additionally, early product development phases, so called re-think phases, are considered to have the influence on major changes in products in general. These phases have thus the highest potential for changing products and product systems towards a sustainable development. Main Features  This paper discusses an extended functional representation in design for environment methods to evaluate sustainable design solutions, especially in early (re-think) phases of product design. Based on engineering-design science and several case studies, a concept has been developed describing how functional preferences can be visualised in design for environment and product development. In addition, the functional unit in LCA is discussed. The concept is called Functional Profile (FP) and is additionally exemplified in a case study on radio equipment. Discussion  The new functional characterisation concept helps identify functional priorities in design for environment. The Functional Profile is a structured, systematic and creative concept for identifying the necessary functions of a new product. The FP is envisioned to complement existing design for environment methods, not to replace them. Instead of being a product-development tool or method, the concept is an approach that increases understanding of inter-reactions between functional characteristics of products and their environmental characteristics, which furthermore facilitates trade-off decisions. One of the objectives behind the concept is to highlight the importance of balancing functional requirements and environmental impacts, presenting both the advantages and disadvantages of the product. Outlook  A second paper will be produced to complement the functional-environmental characterisation concept in early product development phase, presenting the environmental characterisation part and illustrating correlations between the functional and environmental sides.     

Life Cycle Approach in the Procurement Process: The Case of Defence Materiel (9 pp)

Goal, Scope and Background Procurement in public and non-public organisations has the potential to influence product development towards more environmentally friendly products. This article focuses on public procurement with procurement in Swedish defence as a special case. In 2003, public procurement in Sweden was 28% of the GDP. In the Swedish defence sector the amount was 2% of the GDP. The total emissions from the sector were of the same order of magnitude as from waste treatment (2% of Sweden's emissions). According to an appropriation letter from the Ministry of Defence in 1998, the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) and the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) are required to take environmental issues into consideration during the entire process of acquiring defence materiel. Environmental aspects are considered today, but without a life-cycle perspective. - The aims of this article are to recommend suitable tools for taking environmental concerns into account, considering a product's life-cycle, in the procurement process for defence materiel in Sweden; to make suggestions for how these tools could be used in the acquisition process; and to evaluate these suggestions through interviews with actors in the acquisition process. The procurement process does not include aspects specific to Swedish defence, and it is therefore likely to be comparable to processes in other countries. Methods The method involved a study of current literature and interviews with various actors in the acquisition process. The life cycle methods considered were quantitative Life Cycle Assessments, a simplified LCA-method called the MECO method and Life Cycle Costing (LCC). Results and Discussion Methodology recommendations for quantitative LCA and simplified LCA are presented in the article, as well as suggestions on how to integrate LCA methods in the acquisition process. We identified four areas for use for LCA in the acquisition process: to learn about environmental aspects of the product; to fulfil requirements from customers; to set environmental requirements and to choose between alternatives. Therefore, tools such as LCAs are useful in several steps in the acquisition process. Conclusion From the interviews, it became clear that the actors in the acquisition process think that environmental aspects should be included early in the process. The actors are interested in using LCA methods, but there is a need for an initiative from one or several of them if the method is to be used regularly in the process. Environmental and acquisition issues are handled with very little interaction in the controlling and ordering organisation. An integration of environmental and acquisition parts in these organisations is probably needed in order to integrate environmental aspects in general and life-cycle thinking in particular. Other difficulties identified are costs and time constraints. Recommendation and Perspective In order to include the most significant aspects when procuring materiel, it is important to consider the whole life-cycle of the products. Our major recommendation is that the defence sector should work systematically through different product groups. For each product group, quantitative, traditional LCAs or simplified LCAs (in this case modified MECOs) should be performed for reference products within each product group. The results should be an identification of critical aspects in the life-cycles of the products. The studies will also form a database that can be used when making new LCAs. This knowledge should then be used when writing specifications of what to procure and setting criteria for procurement. The reports should be publicly available to allow reviews and discussions of results. To make the work more cost-effective, international co-operation should be sought. In addition, LCAs can also be performed as an integrated part of the acquisition process in specific cases.     

Practitioners' use of life cycle costing with environmental costs—a Swedish study

Purpose  

The aim of this paper is to describe life cycle costing (LCC) practices in some Swedish organisations, investigate probable changes and determine whether and how environmental costs (internal and/or external) are considered in current LCC.     

Life Cycle assessment of bio-ethanol derived from cellulose

Objective, Scope, Background  A comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment was conducted on bio-ethanol produced using a new process that converts cellulosic biomass by enzymatic hydrolysis. Options for sourcing the feedstock either from agricultural and wood waste, or, if the demand for bio-ethanol is sufficient, from cultivation are examined. The main focus of the analysis was to determine its potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in a 10% blend of this bio-ethanol with gasoline (E10) as a transportation fuel. Methods  SimaPro 4.0 was used as the analysis tool, which allowed a range of other environmental impacts also to be examined to assess the overall relative performance to gasoline alone. All impacts were assigned to the fuel because of uncertainties in markets for the by-products. This LCA therefore represents a worst case scenario. Results, Conclusion  It is shown that E10 gives an improved environmental performance in some impact categories, including greenhouse gas emissions, but has inferior performances in others. Whether the potential benefits of the bio-ethanol blend to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will be realized is shown to be particularly sensitive to the source of energy used to produce the process steam required to break down the cellulose to produce sugars and to distil the final product. One key area where improvements in environmental performance might be derived is in enzyme production. Recommendations and Outlook  The LCA profile helps to highlight those areas where positive and negative environmental impacts can be expected. Technological innovation can be directed accordingly to preserve the benefits while minimizing the negative impacts as development progresses to commercial scales.     

Life Cycle Tools within Ford of Europe's Product Sustainability Index. Case Study Ford S-MAX & Ford Galaxy (8 pp)

Background, Aim and Scope Sustainability is a well recognised goal which is difficult to manage due to its complexity. As part of a series of sustainability management tools, a Product Sustainability Index (PSI) is translating the sustainability aspects to the organization of vehicle product development of Ford of Europe, thus allocating ownership and responsibility to that function. PSI is limiting the scope to those key environmental, social and economic characteristics of passenger vehicles that are controllable by the product development organisation. Materials and Methods: The PSI considers environmental, economic and social aspects based on externally reviewed life cycle environmental and cost aspects (Life Cycle Assessment, Cost of ownership / Life Cycle Costing), externally certified aspects (allergy-tested interior) and related aspects as sustainable materials, safety, mobility capability and noise. After the kick-off of their product development in 2002, the new Ford S-MAX and Ford Galaxy are serving as a pilot for this tool. These products are launched in Europe in 2006. The tracking of PSI performance has been done by engineers of the Vehicle Integration department within the product development organization. The method has been translated in an easy spreadsheet tool. Engineers have been trained within one hour trainings. The application of PSI by vehicle integration followed the principle to reduce the need for any incremental time or additional data to a minimum. PSI is adopted to the existing decision-making process. End of 2005, an internal expert conducted a Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) study for verification purposes using commercial software. This study and the PSI have been scrutinized by an external review panel according to ISO14040 and, by taking into consideration the on-going SETAC, work in the field of LCC. Results: The results of the Life Cycle based indicators of PSI as calculated by non-experts are fully in line with those of the more detailed expert study. The difference is below 2%. The new Ford Galaxy and Ford S-MAX shows significantly improved performance regarding the life cycle air quality, use of sustainable materials, restricted substances and safety compared to the previous model Galaxy. The affordability (Life Cycle Cost of Ownership) has also been improved when looking at the same engine types. Looking at gasoline versus diesel options, the detailed study shows under what conditions the diesel options are environmentally preferable and less costly (mileage, fuel prices, etc.). Discussion: The robustness of results has been verified in various ways. Based also on Sensitivity and Monte-Carlo Analysis, case study-specific requirements have been deduced defining criteria for a significant environmental improvement between the various vehicles. Only if the differences of LCIA results between two vehicles are larger than a certain threshold are the above-mentioned results robust. Conclusions: In general terms, an approach has been implemented and externally reviewed that allows non-experts to manage key environmental, social and economic aspects in the product development, also on a vehicle level. This allows mainstream functions to take ownership of sustainability and assigns accountability to those who can really decide on changes affecting the sustainability performance. In the case of Ford S-MAX and Galaxy, indicators from all three dimensions of sustainability (environment, social and economic) have been improved compared to the old Ford Galaxy. Recommendations and Perspectives: Based on this positive experience, it is recommended to make, in large or multinational organizations, the core business functions directly responsible and accountable for managing their own part of environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainability. Staff functions should be limited to starting the process with methodological and training support and making sure that the contributions of the different main functions fit together.     

Is LCC relevant in a sustainability assessment?

In a recent letter to the editor, Jørgensen et al. questioned that life cycle costing (LCC) is relevant in life cycle-based sustainability assessment (LCSA). They hold the opinion that environmental and social aspects are sufficient. We argue that sustainability has three dimensions: environment, economy, and social aspects in accordance with the well-accepted “three pillar interpretation” of sustainability, although this is not verbally stated in the Brundtland report (WCED 1987). An analysis of the historical development of the term “sustainability” shows that the economic and social component have been present from the beginning and conclude that LCSA of product systems can be approximated by LCSA = (environmental) LCA + (environmental) LCC + S-LCA where S-LCA stands for social LCA. The “environmental” LCC is fully compatible with life cycle assessment (LCA), the internationally standardized (ISO 14040 + 14044) method for environmental product assessment. For LCC, a SETAC “Code of Practice” is now available and guidelines for S-LCA have been published by UNEP/SETAC. First examples for the use of these guidelines have been published. An important practical argument for using LCC from the customers’ point of view is that environmentally preferable products often have higher purchasing costs, whereas the LCC may be much lower (examples: energy saving light bulbs, low energy houses, and cars). Also, since LCC allows an assessment for different actor perspectives, the producers may try to keep the total costs from their perspective below those of a conventional product: otherwise, it will not succeed at the market, unless highly subsidized. Those are practical aspects whichfinally decide about success or failure of “sustainable” products. Whether or not an analysis using all three aspects is necessary will depend on the exact question. However, if real money flows are important in sustainability analysis of product systems, inclusion of LCC is advisable.     

An integrated environmental and cost assessment method based on LCA and LCC for automobile interior and exterior trim design scheme optimization

Purpose

This paper provided an integrated method to evaluate environmental impact and life cycle cost (LCC) of various alternative design schemes in the early design and development stages of complex mechanical product; an optimization method of product design schemes based on life cycle assessment (LCA) and LCC is proposed as a supporting design tool to achieve optimal integration of environmental impact and cost of the design.

Methods

The applied research methods include product level deconstruction model, LCA/LCC integrated analysis model, and the product design scheme optimization method. In the life cycle environmental assessment, GaBi software and CML2001 evaluation method are used to evaluate product environmental impact. In terms of product design configuration scheme optimization, the TOPSIS method is used to optimize the design schemes generated. Taking the internal and external trim of automobile as an example, the specific implementation process of the method is illustrated.

Results and discussion

The case study indicates that, when comprehensively considering the environmental impact and cost, the composite indices of the optimal and worst schemes are 0.8667 and 0.3001, respectively; their costs are ¥164.87 and ¥179.68, respectively; and the eco points of environmental impact are 14.74 and 39.78, respectively. The cost of the two schemes are not much different, but the environmental impact of the optimal scheme is only 37.1% of the worst scheme’s; When cost is the only factor to be considered, the lowest cost design scheme is about 36.7% of the maximum scheme’s cost, and the environmental impact of the lowest cost design scheme is about 1.6 times of the maximum cost scheme’s. When environmental impact is the only factor to be considered, the least environmental impact of design scheme accounts about 31.7% of the largest; the cost of design scheme with the least environmental impact accounts for about 58.1% of the largest one’s. Integrating LCA and LCC, scientific suggestions can be provided from several perspectives.

Conclusions

By considering the environmental impact and LCC, this paper proposes a method of product design scheme optimization as a supporting design tool which could evaluate the design options of the product and identify the preferred option in the early stage of product design. It is helpful to realize the sustainability of the product. In order to improve the applicability of this method, the weighting factors of environmental impact and cost could be adjusted according to the requirements of energy saving and emission reduction of different enterprises.

     

Identifying Stakeholders’ Views on the Eco‐efficiency Assessment of a Municipal Solid Waste Management System

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is one of the most popular methods of technical‐environmental assessment for informing environmental policies, as, for instance, in municipal solid waste (MSW) management. Because MSW management involves many stakeholders with possibly conflicting interests, the implementation of an LCA‐based policy can, however, be blocked or delayed. A stakeholder assessment of future scenarios helps identify conflicting interests and anticipate barriers of sustainable MSW management systems. This article presents such an approach for Swiss waste glass‐packaging disposal, currently undergoing a policy review. In an online survey, stakeholders (N = 85) were asked to assess disposal scenarios showing different LCA‐based eco‐efficiencies with respect to their desirability and probability of occurrence. Scenarios with higher eco‐efficiency than the current system are more desirable and considered more probable than those with lower eco‐efficiency. A combination of inland recycling and downcycling to foam glass (insulation material) in Switzerland is desired by all stakeholders and is more eco‐efficient than the current system. In contrast, institutions of MSW management, such as national and regional environmental protection agencies, judge a scenario in which nearly all cullet would be recycled in the only Swiss glass‐packaging factory as more desirable than supply and demand stakeholders of waste glass‐packaging. Such a scenario involves a monopsony rejected by many municipalities and scrap traders. Such an assessment procedure can provide vital information guiding the formulation of environmental policies.     

Performance evaluation of an analytical laboratory the laboratory product model

Background, Intention, Goal and Scope  The analytical laboratory is traditionally considered to be a service provider. This has resulted in laboratory environmental management being considered mostly from a pollution prevention and waste minimization perspective. There is a recognized need to view environmental performance of a laboratory service provider from a broader perspective. This broader perspective is inclusive of sampling, analysis and the potential for impacts to arise from the use of output information products. A generic methodology for the measurement and benchmarking of the overall environmental performance of an analytical laboratory and its outputs using the Laboratory Product Model (LPM) is described. Environmental performance indicators, relating to inputs and processing are proposed. Objectives  The project seeks to broaden the focus of environmental performance away from the individual analytical unit processes to a more encompassing ‘cradle-to-grave’ approach incorporating sample collection and results reporting and use. To support this approach, a functional unit of output for a laboratory has to be defined. Methods  A life cycle assessment approach, incorporating life cycle inventory considerations, is applied within the LPM conceptual framework. Results and Discussion  This approach facilitates a shift in thinking from laboratory service to the life cycle of laboratory product inputs and outputs. It enables LCA methodologies to be applied to environmental performance through the application of the LPM. The definition of a laboratory product output facilitates benchmarking and comparison of laboratories. Conclusions  The LPM approach assigns a critical role to the laboratory for the sustainability of the laboratory operations from sample collection, through analysis to the use of its product outputs. Recommendations and Outlook  The application of the LPM offers a top down approach for the evaluation of the environmental performance of an analytical laboratory. It is expected to provide a useful tool for assessing and benchmarking the environmental performance of analytical laboratories.     

The Effect of Life Cycle Cost Information on Consumer Investment Decisions Regarding Eco-Innovation

Life cycle cost (LCC) computations are a well-established instrument for the evaluation of intertemporal choices in organizations, but they have not been widely adopted by private consumers yet. Consumer investment decisions for products and services with higher initial costs and lower operating costs are potentially subject to numerous cognitive biases, such as present-biased preferences or framing effects. This article suggests a classification for categorizing different cost profiles for eco-innovation and a conceptual model for the influence of LCC information on consumer decisions regarding eco-innovation. It derives hypotheses on the decision-making process for eco-innovation from a theoretical perspective. To verify the hypotheses, the publication reviews empirical studies evaluating the effects of LCC information on consumer investment decisions. It can be concluded that rather than finding ways to make customers pay more for environmentally sound products, the marketing challenge for eco-innovation should be reconceptualized as one of lowering customers' perceived initial cost and increasing awareness of LCC. Most existing studies report a positive effect of LCC information on the purchase likelihood of eco-innovations. Disclosing LCC information provides an important base for long-term thinking on the individual, corporate, and policy levels.     

Recycling of aluminum can in terms of Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)

Background, Aims and Scope  Life Cycle Assessment is a technique for evaluating the environmental performance of a given product by: identifying and quantifying the energy and raw materials used in its manufacturing process, as well as the emissions of pollutants to water, soil, and air inherent in this production, use and disposal, and evaluating the environmental impact associated with the use of energy and materials and the emissions of pollutants, thus identifying opportunities to improve the system in order to optimize the environmental performance of the product. CETEA (Packaging Technology Center) has conducted a Life Cycle Assessment — LCA study of aluminum can with emphasis in life cycle inventory, collecting data for the reference years 2000–2002. The goal of this paper is to present part of this complete study, focusing the influence of aluminium recycling rate on the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) of aluminum beverage cans in Brazil. Methods  The adopted methodology was based on the recommendations of SETAC — Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and the ISO 14040 Standard, approved by the Sub-Committee 05 of the Environmental Administration Technical Committee, TC-207, from ISO — INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION [1,2]. Data storage and modeling were performed by employing the PIRA Environmental Management System — PEMS [3]. Results  Taking into account the impact categories adopted in this study, it has been shown that recycling helps to improve the aluminium can environmental profile measured as LCI data. Discussion  For the transformed aluminium products, the recycling rate affects the values of the environmental parameters inventoried, but not in the same proportion, since the contribution of other stages of the product system life cycle and the recycling process remain unchanged, including the yield of this process. In general, the recycling balance is always positive due to the importance of the stages that precede the packaging production and the problem of increasing the municipal waste volume. Conclusions  The advantages of the recycling are obviously concentrated on the inventoried parameters related to the primary aluminum production and to the package disposal. The verified benefits of the recycling increase with the recycling rate enhancement. However, the effects on the inventory do not have the same magnitude of the recycling rate. This happens due to the relative contributions of the other life cycle stages, such as the transportation and sheet or can production. In agreement with the presented results, it is possible to conclude that the aluminum can recycling reduces part of the consumption of natural resources and the emissions associated to the stages previous to the production of the packaging. The parameters specifically related to the stage of aluminum production suffer reduction directly proportional to the increase of the recycling rate. In this way, all of the efforts made to increase the recycling rate will have a positive contribution to the LCI of the aluminum can. Recommendations  It is worth pointing out that LCA studies are iterative and dynamic. The data can always be refined, substituted or complemented with updated information in order to improve the representativeness of the analyzed sector. Perspectives  From this study, the aluminum sector in Brazil is able to quantify the benefits of future actions for environmental improvement of the Brazilian aluminum industry, as well as to contribute technically to Environmental Labeling initiatives regarding aluminum products. ESS-Submission Editor: Alain Dubreuil (dubreuil@nrcan.gc.ca)     

Hybrid LCC of Appliances with Different Energy Efficiency (10 pp)

Goal, Scope and Background This paper is concerned with a life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) by the use of the waste input-output (WIO) quantity- and price model of air conditioners with different energy efficiency at the use phase (high-end, low-end and average models) that were available in Japan as of winter 2002. The functional unit is an air conditioner of the 2.5kW type that is used for 10 years, and then subjected to an end-of-life (EoL) process that is consistent with the Japanese law on the recycling of appliances. Methods This is the first simultaneous application of the WIO methodology to an LCA and LCC over the entire life-cycle of a product including the use phase, and represents a methodological extension (in the sense of considering the use phase) and integration (in the sense of a simultaneous application) of previous studies by us (Kondo and Nakamura, Int. J. LCA, 2004, Nakamura and Kondo, Ecol. Econ., 2005, in press). The main body of data is provided by the WIO table for the year 2000, an update of the previous table for 1995 that was used in the above WIO studies. Compared with the WIO table for 1995 that consisted of only about 80 industry sectors, the current one consists of about 400 industry sectors, and includes air conditioner as a separate sector. The data on the purchase price and efficiency of air conditioners indicate wide variations: the cheapest one (the low-end model) costs half of the most expensive one (the high-end model), but its efficiency is about half of the latter. Results and Discussion When the cost in the use and EoL phases is included, the low-end model becomes the most expensive one, and the high-end model with the highest purchase cost the least expensive. This reversal of the relative cost levels is attributed to the difference in the efficiency in the use phase. A sensitivity analysis indicates that a reduction of the electricity price in the use phase by about 40% does not alter the significant superiority of the high-end model over the low-end model. In spite of the largest amount of input in the production phase, the high-end model performs the best in terms of both global warming potential (GWP) and landfill, while the low-end model performs the worst. The use phase generates the largest amount of waste for landfill across the three models, the largest component of which is flyash generated from coal firing power plants. A possible internalization of externality in the form of carbon tax was found to work in favor of the high-end model. The cost advantage of the high-end model, however, is sensitive to the rate of discounting of future costs: discounting at 15% diminishes its advantage over the low-end model. Recommendation and Perspective The results indicate the effectiveness of the pricing based on the life cycle cost for achieving sustainability, that is, for promoting the shift of the demand away from appliances with low environmental performance to the one with higher environmental performance. Acceptance by society of pricing based on life cycle costing would require, among other things, an economy-wide standardization of the LCC concept (in a manner analogous to ISO-LCA) that can be used complementary to ISO-LCA.     

Decreasing deposition will reduce costs for nature management

In this paper, we present a method to estimate the additional costs made by nature reserve managers to mitigate the effects of atmospheric deposition. Theoretically, these extra costs may be saved when deposition levels drop. The costs were calculated per Nature Target Type (NTT) and management intensity for both the current (high) and reduced deposition levels. The resulting ecological quality was estimated in both cases. We calculated the difference in costs based on the management intensities required to maintain ecological quality at the current and reduced nitrogen deposition levels. For the NTTs within the clusters grassland, reed and rough land, and heathland we used dynamic simulation models. For forests and moorland pools we used expert knowledge to estimate the reduction in management costs due to a decrease in deposition. The total amount of money that may be saved because of the reduction of deposition rates is estimated at 42 million euro per year for the period from 2000 to 2020 for the assessed NTTs. The highest savings can be made in grasslands; 28 million euro. On average the savings were 80 €/ha/yr, which ranged from 5 €/ha/yr for forest to 299 €/ha/yr for reed and rough land.     

Efficient information visualization in LCA: approach and examples

Aim, Scope and Background  The data-intensive nature of life cycle assessment (LCA), even for non-complex products, quickly leads to the utilization of various methods of representing the data in forms other than written characters. Up until now, traditional representations of life cycle inventory (LCI) data and environmental impact analysis (EIA) results have usually been based on 2D and 3D variants of simple tables, bar charts, pie charts and x/y graphs. However, these representation methods do not sufficiently address aspects such as representation of life cycle inventory information at a glance, filtering out data while summarizing the filtered data (so as to reduce the information load), and representation of data errors and uncertainty. Main Features  This new information representation approach with its glyph-based visualization method addresses the specific problems outlined above, encountered when analyzing LCA and EIA related information. In particular, support for multi-dimensional information representation, reduction of information load, and explicit data feature propagation are provided on an interactive, computer-aided basis. Results  Three-dimensional, interactive geometric objects, so called OM-glyphs, were used in the visualization method introduced, to represent LCA-related information in a multi-dimensional information space. This representation is defined by control parameters, which in turn represent spatial, geometric and retinal properties of glyphs and glyph formations. All relevant analysis scenarios allowed and valid can be visualized. These consist of combinations of items for the material and energy inventories, environmental items, life cycle phases and products, or their parts and components. Individual visualization scenarios, once computed and rendered on a computer screen, can then interactively be modified in terms of visual viewpoint, size, spatial location and detail of data represented, as needed. This helps to increase speed, efficiency and quality of the assessment performance, while at the same time considerably reducing mental load due to the more structured manner in which information is represented to the human expert. Conclusions  The previous paper in this series discussed the motivation for a new approach to efficient information visualization in LCA and introduced the essential basic principles. This second paper offers more insight into and discussion on technical details and the framework developed. To provide a means for better understanding the visualization method presented, examples have been given. The main purpose of the examples, as already indicated, is to demonstrate and make transparent the mapping of LCA related data and their contexts to glyph parameters. Those glyph parameters, in turn, are used to generate a novel form of sophisticated information representation which is transparent, clear and compact, features which cannot be achieved with any traditional representation scheme. Outlook  Final technical details of this approach and its framework will be presented and discussed in the next paper. Theoretical and practical issues related to the application of this visualization method to the computed life cycle inventory data of an actual industrial product will also be discussed in this next paper.