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1.
Goal and Background Current Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) procedures have demonstrated certain limitations in the South African manufacturing
industry context. The aim of this paper is to propose a modified LCIA procedure, which is based on the protection of resource
groups.
Methods A LCIA framework is introduced that applies the characterisation procedure of available midpoint categories, with the exception
of land use. Characterisation factors for land occupation and transformation is suggested for South Africa. A distanceto-target
approach is used for the normalisation of midpoint categories, which focuses on the ambient quality and quantity objectives
for four resource groups: Air, Water, Land and Mined Abiotic Resources. The quality and quantity objectives are determined
for defined South African Life Cycle Assessment (SALCA) Regions and take into account endpoint or damage targets. Following
the precautionary approach, a Resource Impact Indicator (RII) is calculated for the resource groups. Subjective weighting
values for the resource groups are also proposed, based on survey results from the manufacturing industry sector and the expenditure
trends of the South African national government. The subjective weighting values are used to calculate overall Environmental
Performance Resource Impact Indicators (EPRIIs) when comparing life cycle systems with each other. The proposed approaches
are evaluated with a known wool case study.
Results and Discussion The calculation of a RJI ensures that all natural resources that are important from a South African perspective are duly considered
in a LCIA. The results of a LCIA are consequently not reliant on a detailed Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) and the number of midpoint
categories that converge on a single resource group. The case study establishes the importance of region-specificity, for
LCIs and LCIAs.
Conclusions The proposed LCIA procedure demonstrates reasonable ease of communication of LCIA results. It further allows for the inclusion
of additional midpoint categories and is adaptable for specific regions.
Recommendations and Outlook The acceptance of the LCIA procedure must be evaluated for different industry and government sectors. Also, the adequate incorporation
of Environmental Performance Resource Impact Indicators (EPRIIs) into decision-making for Life Cycle Management purposes must
be researched further. Specifically, the application of the procedures for supply chain management will be investigated. 相似文献
2.
Goal and Background LCIA procedures that have been used in the South Africa manufacturing industry include the CML, Ecopoints, EPS and Eco-indicators
95 and 99 procedures. The aim of this paper is to evaluate and compare the applicability of these European LCIA procedures
within the South African context, using a case study.
Methods The five European methods have been evaluated based on the applicability of the respective classification, characterisation,
normalization and weighting approaches for the South African situation. Impact categories have been grouped into air, water,
land and mined abiotic resources for evaluation purposes. The evaluation and comparison is further based on a cradle-to-gate
Screening Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) case study of the production of dyed two-fold wool yarn in South Africa.
Results and Discussion Where land is considered as a separate category (CML, Eco-indicator 99 and EPS), the case study highlights this inventory
constituent as the most important. Similarly, water usage is shown as the second most important in one LCIA procedure (EPS)
where it is taken into account. However, the impact assessment modelling for these categories may not be applicable for the
variance in South African ecosystems. If land and water is excluded from the interpretation, air emissions, coal usage, ash
disposal, pesticides and chrome emissions to water are the important constituents in the South African wool industry.
Conclusions In most cases impact categories and procedures defined in the LCIA methods for air pollution, human health and mined abiotic
resources are applicable in South Africa. However, the relevance of the methods is reduced where categories are used that
impact ecosystem quality, as ecosystems differ significantly between South Africa and the European continent. The methods
are especially limited with respect to water and land resources. Normalisation and weighting procedures may also be difficult
to adapt to South African conditions, due to the lack of background information and social, cultural and political differences.
Recommendations and Outlook Further research is underway to develop a framework for a South African LCIA procedure, which will be adapted from the available
European procedures. The wool SLCA must be revisited to evaluate and compare the proposed framework with the existing LCIA
procedures. 相似文献
3.
Kerwin Strauss Alan Brent Sibbele Hietkamp 《The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment》2006,11(3):162-171
Goal and Background Current Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) procedures have demonstrated certain limitations in the South African manufacturing
industry. The aim of this paper is to propose new characterisation and normalisation factors for classified mined abiotic
resource depletion categories in the South African context. These factors should reflect the importance of mined resources
as they relate to region-specific resource depletion. The method can also be applied to determine global factors.
Methods The reserve base (as in 2001) of the most commonly produced minerals in South Africa is used as basis to determine characterisation
factors for a non-renewable mineral resources category. The average production of these minerals from 1991 to 2000 is compared
to economically Demonstrated and Demonstrated Marginal Reserves (and not ultimate reserves) to obtain the characterisation
factors in equivalence units, with platinum as the reference mineral. Similarly, for a non-renewable energy resources category,
coal is used in South Africa as equivalent unit as it is the most important fossil fuel for the country. Crude oil and natural
gas resources are currently obtained from reserves elsewhere in the world and characterisation factors are therefore determined
using global resources and production levels. The normalisation factors are based on the total economic reserves of key South
African minerals and world non-renewable energy resources respectively. A case study of the manufacturing of an exhaust system
for a standard sedan is used to compare LCIA results for mined abiotic resource categories that are based on current LCIA
factors and the new South African factors.
Results and Discussion The South African LCIA procedure differs from current methods in that it shows the importance of other mined resources, i.e.
iron ore and crude oil, relative to PGMs and coal for the manufacturing life cycle of the exhaust system. With respect to
PGMs, the current characterisation factors are based on the concentrations of the metals in the ores and the ultimate reserves,
which are erroneous with respect to the actual availability of the mineral resources and the depletion burden placed on these
minerals is consequently too high.
Conclusions The South African LCIA procedure for mined abiotic resources depletion shows the significance of choosing a method, which
is inline with the current situation in the mining industry and its limitations.
Recommendations and Outlook It is proposed to similarly investigate the impacts of the use of other natural resource groups. Water, specifically, must
receive attention in the characterisation phase of LCIAs in South African LCAs. 相似文献
4.
Social impacts of novel technology can, parallel to environmental and economic consequences, influence its sustainability. By analyzing the case of hydrogen production by advanced alkaline water electrolysis (AEL) from a life cycle perspective, this paper illustrates the social implications of the manufacturing of the electrolyzer and hydrogen production when installed in Germany, Austria, and Spain. This paper complements previous environmental and economic assessments, which selected this set of countries based on their different structures in electricity production. The paper uses a mixed method design to analyze the social impact for the workers along the process chain. Appropriate indicators related to working conditions are selected on the basis of the UN Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The focus on workers is chosen as a first example to test the relatively new Product Social Impact Life Cycle Assessment (PSILCA) database version 2.0. The results of the quantitative assessment are then complemented and compared through an investigation of the underlying raw data and a qualitative literature analysis. Overall, advanced AEL is found to have least social impact along the German process chain, followed by the Spanish and the Austrian. All three process chains show impacts on global upstream processes. In order to reduce social impact and ultimately contribute to Sustainable Development, policymakers and industry need to work together to further improve certain aspects of working conditions in different locations, particularly within global upstream processes. 相似文献
5.
Alan C Brent Mark B Rohwer Elena Friedrich Harro von Blottnitz 《The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment》2002,7(3):167-172
In view of the upcoming 2002 World Summit in Johannesburg, sustainable development is a topic of high priority in South Africa.
Although the South African competency in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) has grown to some extent
over the last ten years, South African industry and government have been slow to realise the benefit of LCAs and LCE as tools
to support cleaner production and sustainable development. However, the local application of these tools, as well as considerations
during their use, differs from practices in developed countries. The applications of LCAs and LCE, the type of organisations
involved and the limitations and common problems associated with these tools in South Africa are discussed. 相似文献
6.
Roland Hischier Stefanie Hellweg Christian Capello Alex Primas 《The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment》2005,10(1):59-67
Goal, Scope and Background In contrast to inventory data of energy and transport processes, public inventory data of chemicals are rather scarce. Chemicals are important to consider in LCA, because they are used in the production of many, if not all, products. Moreover, they may cause considerable environmental impacts. For these reasons, it was one goal of the new ecoinvent database to provide LCI data on chemicals. In this paper, the methods and procedures used for establishing LCIs of chemicals in ecoinvent are presented.Methods Three different approaches are suggested for situations of differing data availability. First, in the case of good data availability, the general quality guidelines of ecoinvent can be followed. Second, a procedure is proposed for the translation of aggregated inventory data (cumulative LCI results) from industry into the ecoinvent format. This approach was used, if adequate unit process data was not available. Third, a procedure is put forward for estimating inventory data using stoichiometric equations from technical literature as a main information source. This latter method was used if no other information was available. The application of each of the three procedures is illustrated with the help of a case study.Results and Conclusion When sufficient information is available to follow the general guidelines of ecoinvent, the resulting dataset is characterized by a high degree of detail, and it is thus of high quality. For chemicals, however, the application of the standard procedure is possible in only a few cases. When using industrial data, the main drawback is the fact that those data are often available only as aggregated data, thus being out of tune with the quality guidelines of ecoinvent and its main aim, the harmonization of LCI data. As a third approach, the use of the stoichiometric reaction equation is used for the compilation of LCI datasets of chemicals. This approach represents an alternative to neglecting chemicals completely, but it contains a high risk to not consider important aspects of the life cycle of the respective substance.Outlook Further work in the area of chemicals should focus on an improvement of datasets, so far established by either of the two estimation procedures (APME method; estimation based on technical literature) described. Besides the improvement of already established inventories, the compilation of further harmonized inventories of specific types of chemicals (e.g. solvents) or of chemicals for new industrial sectors (e.g. electronics industry) are in discussion. 相似文献
7.
Karli L. James Tim Grant Kees Sonneveld 《The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment》2002,7(3):151-157
Intention, Goal, Scope, Background To discuss the process of stakeholder involvement as undertaken in a post-consumer paper and packaging waste management LCA
study conducted during 1997-2001 for the Melbourne Metropolitan Area, Victoria, Australia. Secondly, to present the findings
from a survey conducted with the stakeholder groups regarding their perception of involvement in the project.
Objectives To investigate the stakeholder’s perception; and value of being involved in the LCA study intended to generate quantitative
environmental information to support debate, development and implementation of waste management practices.
Methods Stakeholders that were involved in the study, both actively and passively, were surveyed by questionnaire Survey findings
were analysed in conjunction with stakeholder interaction experiences obtained in the course of the study. as]Results and
Discussion
Respondents to the survey believed there was a sufficient level of interaction between stakeholders and researchers during
the course of the project. The advisory committee approach helped to timely recognize issues and deal with them appropriately.
It furdier assisted in the collection of life cycle inventory data and in obtaining ownership of outcomes by the research
ream appropriately responding to the needs and issues raised by stakeholders.
Recommendations and Outlook General recommendations for the inclusion of stakeholders in future studies are to use stakeholder interactions, wherever
it is possible and practical, which in turn play an educational role, engage stakeholders from the start of the process and
allow additional time in the project plan for review stages, as well as ensuring that all relevant groups are represented
— industry, industry associations, government and non-governmental organizations, and also provide sufficient material and
progress for discussion at meetings. 相似文献
8.
Anna Moreno Francesca Cappellaro Paolo Masoni Anna Amato 《Journal of Industrial Ecology》2011,15(4):483-495
Applications of information and communications technology (ICT) for the management of environmental data, if used during the design and at the end of the product life cycle, can improve the environmental performance of products. This specific application of ICT for data management is called product data technology (PDT) and is based on the use of international standards developed by ISO TC184/SC4. PDT enables the computerized representations of information about products, processes, and their properties that are independent of any proprietary computer system or software application. The standard product data models are designed to integrate the necessary information about materials used in the product, and such information can be accessed and used at any point in the life cycle, from design to disposal. In the article, we present how PDT can support life cycle assessment (LCA) by focusing on a series of standards for communicating data for design and manufacture and standards for business and commercial information. Examples of possibilities for using PDT and semantic web for LCA data are introduced. The findings presented here are based on DEPUIS (Design of Environmentally‐Friendly Products Using Information Standards), a project aimed at improving the eco‐design of new products and services through the innovative use of new information standards. 相似文献
9.
- Preamble. This series of two papers analyses and compares the environmental loads of different water production technologies
in order to establish, in a global, rigorous and objective way, the less aggressive technology for the environment with the
present state of the art of technology. Further, an estimation of the potential environmental loads that the considered technologies
could provoke in future is also presented, taking into account the most suitable evolution of the technology.
- Part 1 presents the assessment of most commercial desalination technologies which are spread worldwide: Reverse Osmosis, Multi
Effect Desalination and Multi Stage Flash.
Part 2 presents the comparative LCA analysis of a big hydraulic infrastructure, as is to be found in the Ebro River Water
Transfer project, with respect to desalination.
- Intention, Goal and Background. In this paper some relevant results of a research work are presented, the main aim of which
consists of performing the environmental assessment of different water production technologies in order to establish, in a
global, rigorous and objective way, the less aggressive technology for the environment for supplying potable water to the
end users. The scope of this paper is mostly oriented to the comparative Life Cycle Assessment of different water production
technologies instead of presenting new advancements in the LCA methodology. Based on the results obtained in Part 1 (LCA of
most widespread commercial desalination technologies), the particular case of a big hydraulic project, which is the Ebro River
Water Transfer (ERWT) considered in the Spanish National Hydrologic Plan, versus the production by desalination of the same
amount of water to be diverted, is compared in Part 2. The assessment technique is the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), which includes
the entire life cycle of each technology, encompassing: extraction and processing raw materials, manufacturing, transportation
and distribution, operation and final waste disposal.
Methods and Main Features. The software SimaPro 5.0, developed by Dutch PRé Consultants, has been used as the analysis tool, because
it is a well known, internationally accepted and validated tool. Different evaluation methods have been applied in the LCA
evaluation: CML 2 baseline 2000, Eco-Points 97 and Eco-Indicator 99. Data used in the inventory analysis of this Part 2 come
from: a) desalination: data obtained for existing plants in operation; b) ERWT: Project approved in the Spanish National Hydrologic
Plan and its Environmental Impact Evaluation and; c) data bases implemented in the SimaPro software – BUWAL 250, ETH-ESU 96,
IDEMAT 2001. Different scenarios have been analyzed in both parts in order to estimate not only the potential of reduction
of the provoked environmental loads with the present state of the art of technology, but also the most likely future trend
of technological evolution. In Part 1, different energy production models and the integration of desalination with other productive
processes are studied, while the effect of the most likely technological evolution in the midterm, and the estimation of the
environmental loads to the water transfer during drought periods are considered in Part 2.
Results and Discussion As proven in Part 1, RO is a less aggressive desalination technology for the environment. Its aggression is one order of
magnitude lower than that of the thermal processes, MSF and MED. The main contribution to the global environmental impact
of RO comes from the operation, while the other phases, construction and disposal, are almost negligible when compared to
it. In the case of the ERWT, the contribution of the operation phase is also the most important one, but the construction
phase has an important contribution too. Its corresponding environmental load, with the present state of the art of technology,
is slightly lower than that provoked by the RO desalination technology. However, the results obtained in the different scenarios
analyzed show that the potential reduction of the environmental load in the case of the ERWT is significantly lower than that
in the case of the RO. The effect of drought periods in the assessed environmental loads of the water transfer is not negligible,
obtaining as a result an increasing environmental load per m3 of diverted water.
Conclusion The environmental load associated with RO, with the present state of the art of technology, is slightly higher than that
provoked by the ERWT. However, considering the actual trend of technological improvement of the RO and the present trend of
energy production technology in the address of reducing the fossil fuels\ contribution in the electricity production, the
environmental load associated with RO in the short mid-term would be likely to be lower than that corresponding to the ERWT.
Recommendations and Outlook Although desalination technologies are energy intensive and provoke an important environmental load, as already explained
in Part 1, they present a high potential of reducing it. In respect to ERWT, the results indicate, when the infrastructure
of ERWT is completed (by 2010–2012), that the LCA of RO will be likely to be against the water transfer. With the present
technological evolution of water production technologies and from the results obtained in this paper, it seems, from an environmental
viewpoint, that big hydraulic projects should be considered the last option because they are rigid and long-term infrastructures
(several decades and even centuries of operation) that provoke important environmental loads with only a small margin for
reducing them. 相似文献
10.
Jorge Vendries Algarin Troy R. Hawkins Joe Marriott H. Scott Matthews Vikas Khanna 《Journal of Industrial Ecology》2015,19(4):666-675
The electric power industry plays a critical role in the economy and the environment, and it is important to examine the economic, environmental, and policy implications of current and future power generation scenarios. However, the tools that exist to perform the life cycle assessments are either too complex or too aggregated to be useful for these types of activities. In this work, we build upon the framework of existing input‐output (I‐O) models by adding data about the electric power industry and disaggregating this single sector into additional sectors, each representing a specific portion of electric power industry operations. For each of these disaggregated sectors, we create a process‐specific supply chain and a set of emission factors that allow calculation of the environmental effects of that sector's output. This new model allows a much better fit for scenarios requiring more specificity than is possible with the current I‐O model. 相似文献
11.
Underhill, L.G., Oatley, T.B. & Harrison, J.A. 1991. The role of large-scale data collection projects in the study of southern African birds. Ostrich 62:124-148. The major ornithological data collections in southern Africa (checklists, migration enquiry, atlas projects, censuses, bird ringing and recoveries, biometric data, nest record cards, moult cards and beached birds) are described. For each project, current volumes of data are tabulated. The Southern African Bird Atlas Project database contained 5,0 million records in December 1990. 1,25 million birds of 810 species had been ringed with South African Bird Ringing Unit rings by June 1989, resulting in 22 000 recoveries. There were more than 100 recoveries for 27 species. The nest record card scheme of the Southern African Ornithological Society had 117 000 cards on file in February 1990, representing 696 species, with more than 1 000 cards for 18 species. There were 4 040 cards of 380 species in the moult record scheme. African Seabird Group beach patrols had found 10 057 seabirds by the end of 1985. A selection of published applications for each data set is given. The potential of the data sets for further analyses is considered, especially in relation to key demographic characteristics such as abundance, productivity and survival. It is recommended that volunteer participation projects should concentrate on monitoring and that indices for change in the demographic characteristics be developed. Most of the projects could be incorporated into an Avian Demography Unit. 相似文献
12.
Ramon Mendivil Ulrich Fischer Masahiko Hirao Konrad Hungerbühler 《The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment》2006,11(2):98-105
Goal, Scope and Background
This paper presents a new LCA method of technology evolution (TE-LCA), and its application to the production of ammonia, the second largest chemical product in the world, over the last fifty years. The TE-LCA of a chemical process is the procedure in which historical information on a process, mainly the evolution of technical parameters, is translated by simulation to mass and energy balances as a function of time. These mass and energy balances are then transformed into environmental impact indicators using common LCA approaches. Finally, the evolution of environmental impact resulting from the investigated process can be related to its technical and other, i.e. legislative, developments.Methods
The technological evolution of the production of ammonia was compiled according to three basic sources of information: patents, publications and industry data. From these sources in a first step, the major technological advances of the process were identified as a function of time delivering different process variants that were modelled using the simulation software Aspen Plus®. In a second step, the evolution of environmental regulations is studied. For those energy related emissions that were regulated, e.g. SOx and NOx, it was assumed that threshold values defined in legislation were realized immediately. The aggregation of both steps allows the calculation of the emissions resulting from the production (cradle to gate view) of the investigated chemical as a function of time.Results and Discussion
The application of the TE-LCA to the production of ammonia revealed when and to which extent technological and legislative developments resulted in the reduction of energy related emissions in the production of this chemical compound. Overall, the reduction of emissions from ammonia production was highly influenced by the technological development and only to a lower extent by environmental regulations.Conclusion
The results obtained from the TE-LCA method is useful to reveal how the environmental performance of a process developed in the past and to identify the reasons for this development. The investigated case study of ammonia production shows that investment in technological development also paid off in terms of being ahead of tightened environmental legislation that might bear potential cost consequences such as carbon dioxide tax.Outlook
The presented method can be easily extended by including an economic analysis, which provides additional information on why certain technological developments were enforced and which the economic consequences of changes in environmental legislation were. The new methodology has to be applied to additional case studies, i.e. to other chemical sectors than basic chemicals and to other branches than chemicals. In other chemical sectors, toxic emissions from the production process might have to be considered and trade-offs between these and the overall energy consumption might result. 相似文献13.
Background Tools and methods able to cope with uncertainties are essential for improving the credibility of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
as a decision support tool. Previous approaches have focussed predominately upon data quality.
Objective and Scope. An epistemological approach is presented conceptualising uncertainties in a comparative, prospective, attributional
LCA. This is achieved by considering a set of cornerstone scenarios representing future developments of an entire Life Cycle
Inventory (LCI) product system. We illustrate the method using a comparison of future transport systems.
Method Scenario modelling is organized by means of Formative Scenario Analysis (FSA), which provides a set of possible and consistent
scenarios of those unit processes of an LCI product system which are time dependent and of environmental importance. Scenarios
are combinations of levels of socio-economic or technological impact variables. Two core elements of FSA are applied in LCI
scenario modelling. So-called impact matrix analysis is applied to determine the relationship between unit process specific
socio-economic variables and technology variables. Consistency Analysis is employed to integrate unit process scenarios, based
on pair-wise ratings of the consistency of the levels of socio-economic impact variables of all unit processes. Two software
applications are employed which are available from the authors.
Results and Discussion The study reveals that each possible level or development of a technology variable is best conceived of as the impact of
a specific socio-economic (sub-) scenario. This allows for linking possible future technology options within the socio-economic
context of the future development of various background processes. In an illustrative case study, the climate change scores
and nitrogen dioxide scores per seat kilometre for six technology options of regional rail transport are compared. Similar
scores are calculated for a future bus alternative and an average Swiss car.
The scenarios are deliberately chosen to maximise diversity. That is, they represent the entire range of future possible developments.
Reference data and the unit process structure are taken from the Swiss LCA database 'ecoinvent 2000'. The results reveal that
rail transport remains the best option for future regional transport in Switzerland. In all four assessed scenarios, four
technology options of future rail transport perform considerably better than regional bus transport and car transport.
Conclusions and Recommendations. The case study demonstrates the general feasibility of the developed approach for attributional prospective
LCA. It allows for a focussed and in-depth analysis of the future development of each single unit process, while still accounting
for the requirements of the final scenario integration. Due to its high transparency, the procedure supports the validation
of LCI results. Furthermore, it is well-suited for incorporation into participatory methods so as to increase their credibility.
Outlook and Future Work. Thus far, the proposed approach is only applied on a vehicle level not taking into account alterations in
demand and use of different transport modes. Future projects will enhance the approach by tackling uncertainties in technology
assessment of future transport systems. For instance, environmental interventions involving future maglev technology will
be assessed so as to account for induced traffic generated by the introduction of a new transport system. 相似文献
14.
Pere Fullana i Palmer Rita Puig Alba Bala Grau Baquero Jordi Riba Marco Raugei 《Journal of Industrial Ecology》2011,15(3):458-475
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a widely accepted methodology to support decision‐making processes in which one compares alternatives, and that helps prevent shifting of environmental burdens along the value chain or among impact categories. According to regulation in the European Union (EU), the movement of waste needs to be reduced and, if unavoidable, the environmental gain from a specific waste treatment option requiring transport must be larger than the losses arising from transport. The EU explicitly recommends the use of LCA or life cycle thinking for the formulation of new waste management plans. In the last two revisions of the Industrial Waste Management Programme of Catalonia (PROGRIC), the use of a life cycle thinking approach to waste policy was mandated. In this article we explain the process developed to arrive at practical life cycle management (LCM) from what started as an LCA project. LCM principles we have labeled the “3/3” principle or the “good enough is best” principle were found to be essential to obtain simplified models that are easy to understand for legislators and industries, useful in waste management regulation, and, ultimately, feasible. In this article, we present the four models of options for the management of waste solvent to be addressed under Catalan industrial waste management regulation. All involved actors concluded that the models are sufficiently robust, are easy to apply, and accomplish the aim of limiting the transport of waste outside Catalonia, according to the principles of proximity and sufficiency. 相似文献
15.
Ricky Speck Susan Selke Rafael Auras James Fitzsimmons 《Journal of Industrial Ecology》2016,20(1):18-28
When software is used to facilitate life cycle assessments (LCAs), the implicit assumption is that the results obtained are not a function of the choice of software used. LCAs were done in both SimaPro and GaBi for simplified systems of creation and disposal of 1 kilogram each of four basic materials (aluminum, corrugated board, glass, and polyethylene terephthalate) to determine whether there were significant differences in the results. Data files and impact assessment methodologies (Impact 2002, ReCiPe, and TRACI 2) were ostensibly identical (although there were minor variations in the available ReCiPe version between the programs that were investigated). Differences in reported impacts of greater than 20% for at least one of the four materials were found for 9 of the 15 categories in Impact 2002+, 7 of the 18 categories in ReCiPe, and four of the nine categories in TRACI. In some cases, these differences resulted in changes in the relative rankings of the four materials. The causes of the differences for 14 combinations of materials and impact categories were examined by tracing the results back to the life cycle inventory data and the characterization factors in the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods. In all cases examined, a difference in the characterization factors used by the two programs was the cause of the differing results. As a result, when these software programs are used to inform choices, the result can be different conclusions about relative environmental preference that are functions purely of the software implementation of LCIA methods, rather than of the underlying data. 相似文献
16.
Life cycle inventory of medium density fibreboard 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
Beatriz Rivela Ma Teresa Moreira Gumersindo Feijoo 《The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment》2007,12(3):143-150
Goal, Scope and Background Wood is the most important renewable material. The management of wood appears to be a key action to optimise the use of resources
and to reduce the environmental impact associated with mankind’s activities. Wood-based products must be analysed considering
the two-fold nature of wood, commonly used as a renewable material or regenerative fuel. Relevant, up-to-date environmental
data are needed to allow the analysis of wood-based products. The main focus of this study is to provide comprehensive data
of one key wood board industry such as the Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF). Moreover, the influence of factors with strong
geographical dependence, such as the electricity profile and final transport of the product, is analysed.
In this work, International Organization for Standardization standards (ISO 14040-43) and Ecoindicator 99 methodology have
been considered to quantify the potential environmental impact associated to the system under study. Three factories, considered
representative of the ‘state of art’, were selected to study the process in detail: two Spanish factories and a Chilean one,
with a process production of around 150,000 m3 per year. The system boundaries included all the activities taking place into the factory as well as the activities linked
to the production of the main chemicals used in the process, energy inputs and transport. All the data related to the inputs
and outputs of the process were obtained by on-site measurements during a one-year period. A sensitive analysis was carried
out taking into account the influence of the final transport of the product and the dependence on the electricity generation
profile.
Life Cycle Inventory Analysis LCI methodology has been used for the quantification of the impacts of the MDF manufacture. The process chain can be subdivided
in three main subsystems: wood preparation, board shaping and board finishing. The final transport of the product was studied
as a different subsystem, considering scenarios from local to transoceanic distribution and three scenarios of electricity
generation profile were assessed. The system was characterised with Ecoindicator 99 methodology (hierarchic version) in order
to identify the ‘hot spots’. Damage to Human Health, Ecosystem Quality and Resources are mainly produced by the subsystem
of Wood Preparation (91.1%, 94.8% and 94.1%, respectively). The contribution of the subsystem of Board Finishing is considerably
lower, but also significant, standing for the 5.8% of the damage to HH and 5.5% of the damage to Resources.
Condusions With the final aim of creating a database of wood board manufacture, this work was focused in the identification and characterisation
of one of the most important wood-based products: Medium Density Fibreboard. Special attention has been paid in the inventory
analysis stage of the MDF industry. The results of the sensitive analysis showed a significant influence of both the final
transport of the product and the electricity generation profile. Thus, the location of MDF process is of paramount importance,
as both aspects have considerable site-dependence.
Recommendations and Perspectives Research continues to be conducted to identify the environmental burdens associated to the materials of extended use. In this
sense, future work can be focused on the comparison of different materials for specific applications. 相似文献
17.
Gregor Wernet Christopher Mutel Stefanie Hellweg Konrad Hungerbühler 《Journal of Industrial Ecology》2011,15(1):96-107
In many cases, policy makers and laymen perceive harmful emissions from chemical plants as the most important source of environmental impacts in chemical production. As a result, regulations and environmental efforts have tended to focus on this area. Concerns about energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, however, are increasing in all industrial sectors. Using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach, we analyzed the full environmental impacts of producing 99 chemical products in Western Europe from cradle to factory gate. We applied several life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods to cover various impact areas. Our analysis shows that for both organic and inorganic chemical production in industrial countries, energy‐related impacts often represent more than half and sometimes up to 80% of the total impacts, according to a range of LCIA methods. Resource use for material feedstock is also important, whereas direct emissions from chemical plants may make up only 5% to 10% of the total environmental impacts. Additionally, the energy‐related impacts of organic chemical production increase with the complexity of the chemicals. The results of this study offer important information for policy makers and sustainability experts in the chemical industry striving to reduce environmental impacts. We identify more sustainable energy production and use as an important option for improvements in the environmental profile of chemical production in industrial countries, especially for the production of advanced organic and fine chemicals. 相似文献
18.
Georgios Pallas Martina G. Vijver Willie J. G. M. Peijnenburg Jeroen Guine 《Journal of Industrial Ecology》2020,24(1):193-204
Nanomaterials are expected to play an important role in the development of sustainable products. The use of nanomaterials in solar cells has the potential to increase their conversion efficiency. In this study, we performed a life cycle assessment (LCA) for an emerging nanowire‐based solar technology. Two lab‐scale manufacturing routes for the production of nanowire‐based solar cells have been compared—the direct growth of GaInP nanowires on silicon substrate and the growth of InP nanowires on native substrate, peel off, and transfer to silicon substrate. The analysis revealed critical raw materials and processes of the current lab‐scale manufacturing routes such as the use of trifluoromethane (CHF3), gold, and an InP wafer and a stamp, which are used and discarded. The environmental performance of the two production routes under different scenarios has been assessed. The scenarios include the use of an alternative process to reduce the gold requirements—electroplating instead of metallization, recovery of gold, and reuse of the InP wafer and the stamp. A number of suggestions, based on the LCA results—including minimization of the use of gold and further exploration for upscaling of the electroplating process, the increase in the lifetimes of the wafer and the stamp, and the use of fluorine‐free etching materials—have been communicated to the researchers in order to improve the environmental performance of the technology. Finally, the usefulness and limitations of lab‐scale LCA as a tool to guide the sustainable development of emerging technologies are discussed. 相似文献
19.
The leather industry needs to switch from the traditional chemically based dehairing process to an environmentally friendly one so that the overall burdens to the environment are reduced. The primary goal of the work was thus to compare the chemical leather dehairing process to an enzymatically based one using the enzymes that are extracted after the application of solid state fermentation (SSF) on hair wastes generated after dehairing. The environmental burdens of the dehairing stage were determined using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach by comparing the two aforementioned management scenarios. The first scenario was the commonly used technology in which hair is removed via a chemical process and then composted in open piles. This scenario included two subscenarios where hair waste is either incinerated or landfilled. In the second scenario, the proteolytic enzymes extracted during the SSF of the residual hair are used to dehair the new rawhides instead of chemicals. Industrial and laboratory data were combined with international databases using the SimaPro 8.0 LCA software to make comparisons. The environmental impacts associated with the enzymatic dehairing were significantly lower than the ones associated to the conventional chemical dehairing process. This difference is attributed to the impacts associated with the original production of the chemicals and to the electricity consumed in the conventional method. A sensitivity analysis revealed that the results are affected by the amounts of chemicals used during dehairing. 相似文献
20.
Bengt A. Steen 《The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment》2006,11(1):49-54
Goal, Scope and Background The goal of the present paper is to demonstrate how environmental product declarations (EPDs) are developed based on a set
of product category rules (PCRs) in accordance with the requirements in the ISO 14025-standard. This is demonstrated by examples
from the furniture industry in Norway, where several case models are evaluated. To ease the capability of developing EPDs
in this industry, a database with specific environmental data for materials in furniture is developed. The database is used
to produce the LCA for selected furniture models, and further, the database is the backbone of a data-assistance tool used
to create the EPDs.
Methods The LCA-data are produced based on traditional LCA-methodology. The PCR is based on a stakeholder analysis and the proposed
methodology in the ISO 14025-standard. The EPDs developed so far, are results of close collaboration between companies and
research centres in the Nordic countries. For the verification of the EPDs, auditing methodologies are used as a part of the
audit of the companies' environmental management systems (EMS).
Results and Conclusion Based on a hearing of a set of suggested PCRs, a consensus document for seating accommodation is developed. This is further
the model for how to develop PCR-documents for all types of furniture, for example sleeping accommodations. Likewise, the
database shall contain the most important data for the parts of a furniture model. Within the goal of the project period,
EPDs will be developed for 80% of Norwegian furniture. The verification of the EPDs is done as a part of the certification
procedures of EMS in accordance with the ISO 14001.
Recommendation and Perspective The results presented in the paper are mainly for the pilot models in the project. However, the results will be further tested
and the data-tool will be developed as a part of a product design tool where environmental requirements will be combined with
quality requirements. The product design tool will be implemented in the furniture industry. Information on how to use EPDs
in public purchasing will also be a part of future work. 相似文献