Purpose
The aim of this paper is to conduct a life cycle assessment study of ceramic tiles (single-fired glazed stoneware) in order to identify the stages that produce the greatest impact on the environment and the materials and/or processes that make the largest contribution to that impact. The life cycle is considered to be made up of seven stages: (1) mining the clay, (2) atomising the clay, (3) production of frits and glazes, (4) production of ceramic tiles, (5) distribution, (6) installation and usage, and, on ending their useful life (7) treatment as construction and demolition waste. 相似文献Purpose
To support the data requirements of stakeholders, the Nickel Institute (NI) conducted a global life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) to show, with indicators, the potential environmental impacts of the production of nickel and ferronickel from mine to refinery gate. A metal industry wide agreed approach on by-products and allocation was applied.Methods
Nine companies, comprising 19 operations, contributed data, representing 52 % of global nickel metal production and 40 % of global ferronickel production. All relevant pyro- and hydrometallurgical production routes were considered, across most major nickel-producing regions. Data from Russia, the biggest nickel-producing nation, was included; the Chinese industry did not participate. 2011 was chosen as reference year for data collection. The LCIA applied allocation of impacts of by-products using both economic and mass allocations. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to further understand the relevance and impact of the different allocation approaches.Results and discussion
The primary extraction and refining steps are the main contributors to primary energy demand (PED) and global warming potential (GWP), contributing 60 and 70 % to the PED for the production of 1 kg class I nickel and 1 kg nickel in ferronickel, respectively, and over 55 % of the GWP for both nickel products. The PED for 1 kg class 1 nickel was calculated to be 147 MJ, whilst the PED for 1 kg nickel in ferronickel was calculated to be three times higher at 485 MJ. The main factors influencing energy demand in the metallurgical processes are ore grade and ore mineralogy. Sulphidic ore is less energy intensive to process than oxidic ore. Eighty-six percent of the production volume from class 1 nickel producers, in this study, is from sulphidic ore. All ferronickel was produced from oxidic ore. The LCIA results, including a sensitivity analysis of the impact of producers with higher and lower PED, reflect the influence of the production route on energy demand and on environmental impact categories.Conclusions
Conformant to relevant ISO standards, and backed-up with a technical and critical review, this LCIA quantifies the environmental impacts associated with the production of the main nickel products. With this study, a sound background dataset for downstream users of nickel has been provided. The Nickel Institute aims to update their data in the coming years to reflect upon changes in technology, energy efficiency, and raw material input.Purpose
This study performs an exploratory comparative evaluation of various animal and vegetable protein and lipid sources, used as feed in the aquaculture industry. The ingredients studied include fishmeal (FM) and fish oil (FO) from fisheries by-products, meal and fat by-products from poultry slaughter, FM and FO from Peruvian anchovy capture, and soybean meal and oil. The boundaries studied include the production or capture, the ingredient processing unit and the transport to the unit that processes the ingredients into aquafeeds in Portugal.Methods
The LCA impact assessment method is the CML-IA baseline V3.04/EU25 and the results were obtained for the characterisation step. Some of the inventory data were collected from a Portuguese company (Savinor) that processes both by-products from local fisheries and by-products from poultry production. Savinor provided data specifically associated with the ingredients’ production. Obtained data were complemented with literature data from: fish capture and poultry production. Inventory data for the production of ingredients from Peruvian anchovy and soybeans were retrieved from literature. It was assumed that the transport of the ingredients produced from Peruvian anchovy, between Lima and Rotterdam, is made in a transoceanic vessel, and it is considered a transport by truck between Rotterdam and Ovar, for soybean ingredients and FM/FO produced from Peruvian anchovy.Results and discussion
This paper shows that poultry meal and poultry fat from poultry slaughter by-products have the larger contribution to all environmental impact categories evaluated, being the production of poultry the life cycle stage that contributes most to the overall categories. On the other hand, FM and FO from Peruvian anchovy were the ingredients with a lower contribution to all impact categories, except for abiotic depletion category, for FM from Peruvian anchovy, and abiotic depletion, abiotic depletion (fossil fuels) and ozone layer depletion for FO from Peruvian anchovy. For these categories, soybean meal and oil had lower impacts, respectively. The ingredients were compared by classes (protein and lipid sources).Conclusions
A general conclusion is that soybean meal and oil and FM/FO from Peruvian anchovy appear to be very interesting options for aquafeeds from an LCA perspective. However, some limitations identified for this study, as, for instance, that it does not account for the environmental benefits associated with the use of the mentioned by-products, that would otherwise be considered wastes (i.e. by-products from the fish canning sector and poultry slaughter) shall be evaluated in future studies.Background Aims and Scope
Sustainability was adopted by UNEP in Rio de Janeiro (1992) as the main political goal for the future development of humankind. It should also be the ultimate aim of product development. According to the well known interpretation of the original definition given in the Brundtland report, sustainability comprises three components: environment, economy and social aspects. These components or “pillars” of sustainability have to be properly assessed and balanced if a new product is to be designed or an existing one is to be improved. 相似文献Purpose
Pulp and paper manufacturing constitutes one of the largest industry segments in term of water and energy usage and total discharges to the environment. More than many other industries, however, this industry plays a key role in sustainable development because its most important raw material, wood fiber, is renewable Dias and Houtman (Environ Prog 23(4):347?C357, 2004). Actually, even if the communication is dominated by electronic media, paper-based communication has a role to play due to its unique practical and aesthetic qualities. This research aims to assess the environmental impact of advertising folders produced with different papers and distributed by a system of Italian consumers?? cooperatives in order to indicate the possible options of improvement and to assess the CO2 (eq) emitted during the entire life cycle.Methods
Life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed from cradle-to-grave considering paper production, transport from paper mill to printing site, printing, distribution, and disposal. Data for the study were directly collected from specific companies and completed on the basis of literature information. The analysis was conducted using the SimaPro 7.1.5 software and IMPACT 2002+ method to assess all its environmental impact and damage categories.Results and discussion
LCA analysis indicates that the higher environmental impact is mainly due to paper production and printing processes. The main operations which generate the major impact in the paper production stage are related to the direct or indirect fossil energy use, the production of additives for bleaching operations, and the collection and selection of waste paper. Printing causes relevant impacts for the electricity and ink production and for the aluminum plates used in the offset printing. Moreover, the use of paper with low quantity of additives and small amount of primary fibers causes a reduction of the environmental load of 13.94?%. The major global warming potential value was found for advertising folders made with little amount of mechanical pulp which slightly contributes to the absorption of CO2.Conclusions
The analysis pointed out the relevance of the paper production phase and of the printing step within the advertising folders life cycle and allowed to detect the other critical stages of the life cycle. Paper composition greatly affects the environmental impact of the advertising folders?? life cycle. 相似文献Ferro niobium (FeNb) is a metallic alloy whose industrial use has been increasing steadily in the last decades. This work aims to systematize the available information on FeNb production, provide its inventory data and generate its first technologically representative publicly available life cycle impact assessment (LCIA).
MethodsThe production of 1 kg of FeNb from pyrochlore in the baseline year 2017 was modelled following a cradle-to-gate approach. Primary information on mass, energy and water flows was collected when possible from the Brazilian leading FeNb supplier, CBMM (80% of the world market). The CML method (CML-IA 4.7) was applied for the impact assessment including global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), ozone layer depletion potential (ODP), abiotic depletion potential (fossil and elemental) (ADPfossil and ADPelemental) and photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP).
Results and discussionThe first stage of pyrochlore processing (pyrochlore ore extraction, mechanical processing and flotation) and the last stage (aluminothermic reaction) bear the highest impact in all analyzed CML impact categories. The primary aluminium consumption has the most important contribution in five out of seven impact categories (50% in ADPfossil, 55% in AP, 35% in EP, 57% in GWP and 40% in POCP). In this sense, the industry should promote a higher share of secondary aluminium in the production process. Also, the impact from electricity consumption and processing chemicals showed to be relevant.
ConclusionsThis work is the first LCIA on ferro niobium to be published with representative, high-quality data. A dataset was produced in order to enable ferro niobium to be incorporated to future LCIA-modelling.
相似文献Purpose
This work generates attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) results for products produced from Australian sugarcane—raw sugar, molasses, electricity (from bagasse combustion), and ethanol (from molasses). It focuses on cane processing in sugar mills and is a companion to the work presented in (Renouf et al. 2010), where the focus is on cane growing. This work also examines the preferred approach for assigning impacts to the multiple products from cane processing, and the influence that variability in cane growing has on the results. 相似文献Purpose
Past life cycle assessments (LCA) of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) production have commonly been based on limited datasets, and variability has not been well described. In this work, Australian sugarcane production was assessed more comprehensively in order to generate a robust set of LCA results for use in subsequent assessments of sugarcane products and also to investigate: (1) variability due to regional differences, (2) factors influencing variability, and (3) significance of the impacts. 相似文献Purpose
This paper compares 16 waste lubricant oil (WLO) systems (15 management alternatives and a system in use in Portugal) using a life cycle assessment (LCA). The alternatives tested use various mild processing techniques and recovery options: recycling during expanded clay production, recycling and electric energy production, re-refining, energy recovery during cement production, and energy recovery during expanded clay production.Methods
The proposed 15 alternatives and the actual present day situation were analyzed using LCA software UMBERTO 5.5, applied to eight environmental impact categories. The LCA included an expansion system to accommodate co-products.Results
The results show that mild processing with low liquid gas fuel consumption and re-refining is the best option to manage WLO with regard to abiotic depletion, eutrophication, global warming, and human toxicity environmental impacts. A further environmental option is to treat the WLO using the same mild processing technique, but then send it to expanded clay recycling to be used as a fuel in expanded clay production, as this is the best option regarding freshwater sedimental ecotoxicity, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity, and acidification.Conclusions
It is recommended that there is a shift away from recycling and electric energy production. Although sensitivity analysis shows re-refining and energy recovery in expanded clay production are sensitive to unit location and substituted products emission factors, the LCA analysis as a whole shows that both options are good recovery options; re-refining is the preferable option because it is closer to the New Waste Framework Directive waste hierarchy principle. 相似文献This life cycle assessment (LCA) study compares energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and environmental damages for two methods of constructing retaining structures, a traditional method involving a retaining wall backfilled with sand, and an alternative method involving a retaining wall backfilled with shredded tires.
MethodsTaking into account the extraction and production of the used construction materials, loading, transport and installation, the cumulative energy demand (CED), global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential, Human Health Criteria Air-mobile, aquatic eutrophication potential, ozone depletion potential, and smog potential is determined for each construction method. The seven environmental impact categories are calculated using the software tool, ATHENA® Environmental Impact Estimator (ATHENA® EIE) for Buildings v5.2.0118.
Results and discussionThe seven impact categories were reduced significantly by using shredded tires as retaining wall backfill; this is due to the decrease in the amounts of concrete, reinforcing steel, and fuel quantity consumed by building machines and vehicles transporting construction materials.
ConclusionsThe study concludes that in all examined impact categories alternative method provides a larger environmental benefit than the traditional method. Also, the results clearly demonstrate that the use of shredded tires is very effective as a sustainable alternative to retaining structures.
相似文献Winter road maintenance in the Nordic climate is demanding due to challenging weather conditions, high precipitation, and icy conditions. As a leading country in the transition to low-emission transport, Norway must work to reduce their emissions while providing a safe level of service through winter maintenance operations. This article investigates the environmental impacts of winter road maintenance (WRM) in Norway both today and under a climate change scenario predicted for 2050.
MethodsLife cycle assessment (LCA) is used to evaluate the environmental impact of the functional unit “average winter road maintenance in Norway on national and county roads per km.lane.” The ReCiPe (hierarchy) method was used to identify and categorize emissions related to WRM to show how different factors affect the system and to reveal hidden emissions hotspots. Real-time data from WRM vehicles were used to determine how fuel consumption is affected by gradient and weather. Producers and operators provided other relevant information on WRM vehicles. Official reports supplied information on deicer quantities used and the total distance driven by WRM vehicles in Norway.
Results and discussionThe quantity of deicer used is the main source of emissions contributing toward all impact categories. The effect of deicer is likely to be even higher in certain impact categories. The environmental impact of the deicer after application is not included. The representation of WRM in existing emissions data is limited despite the considerable amount of deicer applied and the long distances that WRM vehicles travel. The results document how energy use throughout the system is another important source of emissions. Various parameters, such as road gradient, vehicle properties, driver behavior, and weather, affect the fuel consumption of WRM vehicles, with weather being the most important of these.
ConclusionsSignificant potential for emissions reductions from WRM was found, and WRM operations should be included in cold-climate road LCA studies. The environmental impacts of deicer application are especially high compared to the mechanical clearing of roads and contribute strongly to impact categories such as terrestrial, freshwater, and human toxicity and to the formation of particulate matter.
相似文献