Life cycle assessment (LCA) of industrial milk production

A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was carried out for milk production extending from the origin of the inputs to the agricultural step to the consumer phase and the waste management of the packaging. Three Norwegian dairies of different sizes and degree of automation were studied. The main objectives were to find any hot spots in the life cycle of milk, to determine the significance of the dairy size and degree of automation, and to study the influence of transport. The agriculture was found to be the main hot spot for almost all the environmental themes studied, although the dairy processing, packaging, consumer phase and waste management were also of importance. The consumer phase was the main contributor to photo-oxidant formation and important regarding eutrophication. The small dairy was found to have a greater environmental impact than the middle-sized and the largest dairies. The transport did not have any major influence.     

Life cycle assessment in the telecommunication industry: A review

Background, Goal and Scope Today, after the technologically and commercially successful breakthrough of electronic telecommunication facilities, rapid and globally untrammelled information exchange has become an indispensable service in daily life. Associated with the tremendous growth in electronic telecommunication hardware (GSMAssociation 2005), however, was and continues to be an increasing awareness of the environmental effects related to both the operation and the production, as well as the End-of-Life (EoL) treatment of such communication equipment. Environmental concerns, for example, have resulted in various governmental regulations such as the WEEE-(CEC 2003b) and the RoHS-directives (CEC 2003a). To analyse, interpret and improve the environmental performance of electronic telecommunication equipment, life cycle assessment (LCA) is increasingly recognised as one promising analytical tool. Based on a thorough review of the scientific work and by discussing industrial views, this paper is intended to determine the key milestones achieved, to analyse the current research situation and to outline the key challenges concerning LCA and electronic telecommunication industries. Method Starting with a brief reflection of the LCA approach, the particularities in context with telecommunication products1 are discussed. Exemplary for various stakeholders participating in the supply chain of telecommunication means recent industry perspectives are also presented. Results In the core section of the proposed paper, the pertinent scientific literature on LCA and electronic telecommunication means is reviewed and the most impressive achievements are documented. Particular attention is dedicated to subcomponents of individual electronic telecommunication devices (e.g. Printed Wiring Board Assemblies (PWBA) of mobile phones), components of mobile communication networks (e.g. Base Transceiver Stations (BTS)) and entire networks concentrating on product comparisons, inventory approaches, impact assessment method development, result interpretations and presentation, and usability of LCA in decision-making. Discussion From the reviewed scientific literature and industry views, it was found that telecommunication products, in general, represent complex objects requiring a well thought-out performance of the LCA tool. It has been shown that today there is a lack of stakeholder involvement resulting in LCA studies which only partly fulfil the expectations of the contractors. In this spirit it was recognised, at present, that most of the LCA studies on telecommunication equipment result in bulky and stakeholder unspecific compilations of findings impossible to be used in rapid decision-making. This aspect may explain why LCA so far is not or only partly integrated into decision-making of globally integrated industries, such as in telecommunication industries. Conclusions In summary, it can be stated that LCA represents a promising alternative to analyse, to interpret and essentially to adjust the environmental performance of electronic telecommunication products. The review showed that there is a need to focus research efforts in order to arrive at sound improvements of the LCA methodology. Perspectives The conclusions from the presented review suggest concentrating in particular on further development of the LCA methodology with respect to efficiency, effectivity and flexibility. This challenge is associated with the need for LCA to be understood as a process rather than a discontinuously applicable tool, attending industrial processes, in essence to contribute to improved environmental performances of products. In this context, particular attention should be paid to proper stakeholder involvement and continuous exchange of concentrated information relevant for the respective stakeholder.     

Life cycle assessment of castor-based biorefinery: a well to wheel LCA

Purpose

Diminishing fossil resources and environmental concerns associated with their vast utilization have been in focus by energy policy makers and researchers. Among the different scenarios put forth to commercialize biofuels, various biorefinery concepts have aroused global interests because of their ability in converting biomass into a spectrum of marketable products and bioenergies. This study was aimed at developing different novel castor-based biorefinery scenarios for generating biodiesel and other co-products, i.e., ethanol and biogas. In these scenarios, glycerin, heat, and electricity were also considered as byproducts. Developed scenarios were also compared with a fossil reference system delivering the same amount of energy through the combustion of neat diesel.

Materials and methods

Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to investigate the environmental consequences of castor biodiesel production and consumption with a biorefinery approach. All the input and output flows from the cultivation stage to the combustion in diesel engines as well as changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) were taken into account. Impact 2002+ method was used to quantify the environmental consequences.

Results and discussion

The LCA results demonstrated that in comparison with the fossil reference system, only one scenario (i.e., Sc-3 with co-production of significant amounts of biodiesel and biomethane) had 16% lower GHG emissions without even considering the improving effect of SOC. Moreover, resource damage category of this scenario was 50% lower than that of neat diesel combustion. The results proved that from a life cycle perspective, energy should be given priority in biorefineries because it is essential for a biorefinery to have a positive energy balance in order to be considered as a sustainable source of energy. Despite a positive effect on energy and GHG balances, these biorefineries had negative environmental impacts on the other damage categories like Human Health and Ecosystem Quality.

Conclusions

Although biorefineries offer unique features as promising solutions for mitigating climate change and reducing dependence on fossil fuels, the selection of biomass processing options and management decisions can affect the final results in terms of environmental evaluations and energy balance. Moreover, if biorefineries are focused on transportation fuel production, a great deal of effort should still be made to have better environmental performance in Human Health and Ecosystem Quality damage categories. This study highly recommends that future studies focus towards biomass processing options and process optimization to guarantee the future of the most sustainable biofuels.

     

Life cycle assessment capacity roadmap (section 1): decision-making support using LCA

When life cycle assessment (LCA) results do not show a clear and certain environmental preference of one choice over one or several alternatives, current methods are limited in their ability to inform decision-makers. To address this and related cross-cutting issues, a group of LCA practitioners has been working on a roadmap for capacity development in LCA. The roadmap is identifying common needs for development in LCA, which can then be addressed by the broader LCA community. The roadmap document on decision-making support, having undergone a public comment period, outlines the current state as well as needs and milestones to ensure progress continues apace. The roadmap document, available for download, covers five main areas of development: (1) performance measures of confidence, which identify the acceptable uncertainty for study results, while minimizing expenditures; (2) selection of impact categories, an area with multiple existing methods. The roadmap suggests codifying these methods and identifying their suitability to various applications; (3) normalization; while several methods of normalization are in use, the method with the greatest acceptance in the LCA community (i.e., relying on total or per capita regional emissions/extractions) has a number of methodological drawbacks; (4) weighting, which is a form of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). The broader MCDA field can enrich LCA by providing studied methods of assessing trade-offs; and (5) visualization of results. Many other LCA capacity needs would benefit from documentation. These include but are not limited to the following: addressing ill-characterized uncertainty, life cycle inventory data needs, data format needs, and tool capabilities. Other roadmapping groups are forming and are looking for practitioners to support the effort.     

Representing crop rotations in life cycle assessment: a review of legume LCA studies

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment - There is an imperative to accurately assess the environmental sustainability of crop system interventions in the context of food security and...     

LCA applied to perennial cropping systems: a review focused on the farm stage

Purpose

Perennial crops globally provide a lot of fruit and other food products. They may also provide feedstock for bioenergy and have been, notably to this end, the subject of several LCA-based studies mostly focusing on energy and GHG balances. The purpose of this review was to investigate the relevance of LCAs on perennial crops, especially focusing on how the perennial crop specificities were accounted for in the farm stage modelling.

Methods

More than 100 papers were reviewed covering 14 products from perennial crops: apple, banana (managed over several years), orange and other citrus fruits, cocoa, coconut, coffee, grape fruit, Jatropha oil, kiwi fruit, palm oil, olive, pear and sugarcane. These papers were classified into three categories according to the comprehensiveness of the LCA study and depending on whether they were peer-reviewed or not. An in-depth analysis of the goal and scope, data origin for farming systems, modelling approach for the perennial cropping systems and methods and data for field emissions helped reveal the more critical issues and design some key recommendations to account better for perennial cropping systems in LCA.

Results and discussion

In the vast majority of the reviewed papers, very little attention was paid on integrating the perennial cropping cycle in the LCA. It is especially true for bioenergy LCA-based studies that often mostly focused on the industrial transformation without detailing the agricultural raw material production, although it might contribute to a large extent to the studied impacts. Some key parameters, such as the length of the crop cycle, the immature and unproductive phase or the biannual yield alternance, were mostly not accounted for. Moreover, the lack of conceptual modelling of the perennial cycle was not balanced by any attempt to represent the temporal variability of the system with a comprehensive inventory of crop managements and field emissions over several years.

Conclusions

According to the reviewed papers and complementary references, we identified the gaps in current LCA of perennial cropping systems and proposed a road map for scientific researches to help fill-in the knowledge-based gaps. We also made some methodological recommendations in order to account better for the perennial cycle within LCA considering the aim of the study and data availability.     

Status of life cycle assessment (LCA) activities in the nordic region

The status of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) activities in the Nordic Region (period 1995-97) is presented, based on more than 350 reported studies from industrial companies and research institutes in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland. A large number of industrial sectors is represented, with car components, building materials, pulp and paper products, electronic components and packaging as the most important ones. All aspects of LCA methodology are used: 90% use impact assessment, 80% impact assessment and valuation step. In most studies, more than one valuation method is used for ranking environmental impacts. LCA studies are well integrated in the business activities in many large Nordic corporations. From the early attempts, more familiar with LCA methodology, LCA has been integrated in strategy development, product development, process development and, to some extent, marketing. LCA has not only been used in the strict sense presented in the ISO 14040-43 standards. The systems approach, which is the basis for LCA, has also been modified and used in Sustainable Product Development, and in Environmental Performance Indicator and Product Declarations development. Future applications should be within Environmental Impact Assessments.     

Life cycle assessment at nanoscale: review and recommendations

Purpose  

The need for a systematic evaluation of the human and environmental impacts of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) has been widely recognized, and a growing body of literature is available endorsing life cycle assessment (LCA) as a valid tool for the same. The purpose of this study is to evaluate how the nano-specific environmental assessments are being done within the existing framework of life cycle inventory and impact assessment and whether these frameworks are valid and/or whether they can be modified for nano-evaluations.     

Life cycle assessment of emerging technologies: A review

In recent literature, prospective application of life cycle assessment (LCA) at low technology readiness levels (TRL) has gained immense interest for its potential to enable development of emerging technologies with improved environmental performances. However, limited data, uncertain functionality, scale up issues and uncertainties make it very challenging for the standard LCA guidelines to evaluate emerging technologies and requires methodological advances in the current LCA framework. In this paper, we review published literature to identify major methodological challenges and key research efforts to resolve these issues with a focus on recent developments in five major areas: cross‐study comparability, data availability and quality, scale‐up issues, uncertainty and uncertainty communication, and assessment time. We also provide a number of recommendations for future research to support the evaluation of emerging technologies at low technology readiness levels: (a) the development of a consistent framework and reporting methods for LCA of emerging technologies; (b) the integration of other tools with LCA, such as multicriteria decision analysis, risk analysis, technoeconomic analysis; and (c) the development of a data repository for emerging materials, processes, and technologies.     

LCA of the timber sector in Ghana: preliminary life cycle impact assessment (LCIA)

Purpose  

Most life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) approaches in life cycle assessment (LCA) are developed for western countries. Their LCIA approaches and characterization methodologies for different impact categories may not be necessarily relevant to African environmental conditions and particularly not for the timber sector in Ghana. This study reviews the relevance of existing impact categories and LCIA approaches, and uses the most relevant for the timber sector of Ghana.     

Life cycle assessment of dairy production systems in Inner Mongolia: reiterate LCA modeling approaches

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment - The selection of different LCA modeling approaches can lead to inconsistent applications and results. Here, we proposed decision trees to...     

Bringing nutrition and life cycle assessment together (nutritional LCA): opportunities and risks

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment -     

Life cycle assessment applying planetary and regional boundaries to the process level: a model case study

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment - The planetary boundaries framework contains regional boundaries in addition to global boundaries. Geographically resolved methods to assess...     

Improving the environmental performance of bio-waste management with life cycle thinking (LCT) and life cycle assessment (LCA)

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment - Globally, many countries worldwide aim at increasing the environmental sustainability of waste management activities. Special attention is...     

Correction to: Life cycle assessment of electricity generation: a review of the characteristics of existing literature

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment - The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake which was missed during typesetting. The figures of Graph 1 and...     

Life cycle assessment of electricity generation: a review of the characteristics of existing literature

Purpose

The environmental impacts of electricity generation are a critical issue towards sustainability and thus an important research topic in several countries. The life cycle assessment methodology has been widely employed to assess electricity generation. However, there are still gaps in research to be explored within this theme. Therefore, this paper aims to conduct a systematic theoretical analysis of the state of the art of the scientific research on LCA of electricity generation systems in the world.

Methods

A critical review of 47 studies was conducted. The study is comprehensive in the analysis of the main aspects of the identified high impact studies as follows: authors, countries, universities, keywords, journals, number of citations, life cycle impact assessment methods, impact categories, software tools, and databases. The Methodi Ordinatio was applied to rank the studies in terms of impact factor and number of citations, pointing out high impact research.

Results and discussion

Wind and solar powers have two of the smallest impact indices in their generation in terms of global warming, compared to other sources. The ecoinvent database was the most used among the studies analyzed, providing data for potential environmental impacts. The most frequently used impact category in the assessments was climate change. The studies are not equally distributed but most of them are concentrated in European countries. In some countries, clean sources seem promising due to their capacity to generate electricity in places with high wind incidence and high capacity for sunlight capture.

Conclusions

The conclusions of this article summarize the characteristics of existing literature and provide suggestions for future work. The results of the study can also be used to promote development actions and foment changes in energy matrices in a global context. The main studies in this area point that in the future, the main sources for electricity generation will be renewable ones, since life cycle assessment of electricity generation systems has been seeking to generate knowledge to support informed decision-making.

     

Apeironpro, software for life cycle assessment (LCA) and environmental performance evaluation (EPE)

Background, Aims and Scope  In the world there are more than thirty LCA software products, but they do not have inventories or an evaluation method either with regional applicability, especially for Colombia. A special software for Life Cycle Assessment and the Environmental Performance Evaluation has been developed, which considers the environmental impacts generated by products during their life cycle and processes involving productive activities. It accounts with inventories applicable to Colombia, for processes and services like electrical energy production, transport and waste disposition. The Ecoscarcity evaluation method was adapted to Colombia with national legislation and agreements for polluting reduction signed by country and the EPI (Environmental Points of Impact) was established for 353 substances. Methods  The software allows users to use the methodology which corresponds to the standard ISO 14030 and 14040 directives. The database uses the SPOLD international format. For ApeironPro software, database information used from monitoring air emissions and effluents on factories in the region were realized by the Environmental Research Group from Pontificia Bolivariana University and secondary type information has been obtained starting from studies realized by environmental organizations and factories in the country which are interested in the management of quality environmental indicators. The antiquity of the information was restricted from the last 5 years, 1998 to 2003, in order to possess temporal representativity. The Ecoscarcity method uses information of the Environmental Ministry and Environmental Institutes of Colombia for the actual current load (F), and target norm for total load (F_k), using information with national legislation and agreements for polluting reduction signed by the respective countries. The software was designed in Web ambience with the database in MySQL, while the programming language was JAVA from Sun Microsystem. Results  The software has inventories for energy (electricity from coal, natural gas, fuel oil, hydroelectricity) transport (mean air, truck, motor bus), processes (plastics, rubber, sugar, paints production, detergent production, combustion in heaters, foundry of copper, iron, gold), waste disposal (incineration and landfill). Discussion  The Ecoscarcity method was analyzed for seven impact categories: climate change, acidification, stratospheric ozone depletion, photo-oxidant formation, eutrophication, ecotoxicity and depletion of abiotic resources (coal, oil, natural gas, copper, nickel). Conclusions  For Colombia, the highest environmental impact is associated with the ozone layer depletion (235.7 Ecopoints/g) while the lowest is associated with depletion of coal (8.6 × 10⁻⁷ Ecopoints/g), although this is reasonable since Colombia is the tenth largest producer of coal in the world. Recommendations and Perspectives  Latin America and Colombia need more inventories for their processes and to identify the more significant environmental impacts of their industries. This work is an initial step in the research about Life Cycle Assessment and can also improve the work in ecolabels for Colombia.