LCA application to Russian Conditions

The environmental impact assessment existing in the Russian Federation at the present moment cannot provide potential scenarios of consequences for the environment from examined processes, since its goal is to calculate the money equivalent of emissions to the environment. Also, it cannot help the environmental specialist to choose the most environmentally sustainable scenario or process, proceeding from the whole life cycle of the object, because it is usually performed only for the use phase of an object. This study also aims to show possibilities for applying LCA methodology, as accepted in the ISO standards series 14040, and as applied to Russian conditions. The main purpose was to investigate a possibility of using the existing environmental impact assessment as the inventory stage in the LCA. As the minor goal, normalisation and weighting factor data for the Russian Federation were calculated on the basis of energy consumption extrapolation. In this paper, the environmental impacts are associated with a sewage wastewater facility. The inventory analysis is performed with data obtained from the MosvodokanalNIIproject (Moscow Research Institute for sewage wastewater treatment facilities) and supplemented with the SimaPro 5.0 database (the Netherlands). The environmental impact categories included and discussed in this study are eutrophication, global warming, landfill, acidification, ozone layer depletion and photochemical ozone creation. This study was performed for several design alternatives or scenarios of the wastewater facility. According to the LCA performed in this study, the most environmentally sustainable scenario is that which has the most effective and complicated treatment of sewage water and sludge.     

Life cycle assessment of printing and writing paper produced in Portugal

Goal, Scope and Background The environmental sustainability is one of the current priorities of the Portuguese pulp and paper industry. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was the methodology chosen to evaluate the sustainability of the printing and writing paper production activity. This paper grade represents about 60% of the total production of paper in Portugal and its production is expected to increase in the near future. The main goal of this study was to assess the potential environmental impacts associated with the entire life cycle of the printing and writing paper produced in Portugal from Eucalyptus globulus pulp and consumed in Germany, in order to identify the processes with the largest environmental impacts. Another goal of this study was to evaluate the effect on the potential environmental impacts of changing the market where the Portuguese printing and writing paper is consumed: German market vs. Portuguese market. Methods The main stages considered in this study were: forestry, pulp production, paper production, paper distribution, and paper final disposal. Transports and production of chemicals, fuels and energy in the grid were also included in these stages. Whenever possible and feasible, average or typical data from industry were collected. The remaining data were obtained from the literature and specialised databases. A quantitative impact assessment was performed for five impact categories: global warming over 100 years, acidification, eutrophication, non-renewable resource depletion and photochemical oxidant formation. Results In the German market scenario, the paper production stage was a remarkable hot spot for air emissions (non-renewable CO₂, NO_x and SO₂) and for non-renewable energy consumption, and, consequently, for the impact categories that consider these parameters: global warming, acidification and non-renewable resource depletion. These important environmental impacts are due to the energy requirements in the printing and writing paper production process, which are fulfilled by on-site fuel oil burning and consumption of electricity from the national grid, which is mostly based on the use of fossil fuels. The pulp production stage was identified as the largest contributor to water emissions (COD and AOX) and to eutrophication. Considering that energy consumed by the pulp production processes comes from renewable fuels, this stage was also the most contributing to renewable energy consumption. Discussion The paper distribution stage showed an important contribution to NO_x emissions, which, however, did not result in a major contribution to acidification or eutrophication. The final disposal stage was the main contributor to the photochemical oxidant formation potential due to CH₄ emissions from wastepaper landfilling. On the other hand, paper consumption in Portugal was environmentally more favourable than in Germany for the parameters/impact categories where the paper distribution stage has a significant contribution (non-renewable CO₂, NO_x, non-renewable energy consumption, acidification, eutrophication and non-renewable resource depletion) due to shorter distances needed to deliver paper to the consumers. For the remaining parameters/impact categories, the increase observed in the final disposal stage in the Portuguese market was preponderant, and resulted from the existence of significant differences in the final disposal alternatives in the analysed markets (recycling dominates in Germany, whereas landfilling dominates in Portugal). Conclusions The pulp and paper production stages were found to be of significance for almost all of the inventory parameters as well as for the impact assessment categories. The paper distribution and the final disposal stages were only of importance for some of the inventory parameters and some of the impact categories. The forestry stage played a minor role in the environmental impacts generated during the paper life cycle. The consumption of paper in Portugal led to a decrease in the environmental burdens of the paper distribution stage, but to an increase in the environmental burdens of the final disposal stage, when compared with the consumption of paper in Germany. Recommendations and Perspectives This study provides useful information that can assist the pulp and paper industry in the planning of future investments leading to an increase in its sustainability. The results of inventory analysis and impact assessment show the processes that play an important role in each impact category, which allow the industry to improve its environmental performance, making changes not only in the production process itself, but also in the treatment of flue gases and liquid effluents. Besides that concern regarding pollution prevention, other issues with relevance to the context of sustainability, such as the energy consumption, can also be dealt with.     

Environmental assessment of the production and addition of bioethanol produced from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Eucalyptus globulus</Emphasis> to gasoline in Chile

Purpose

Bioethanol is not currently produced in Chile. However, mixtures of bioethanol-gasoline at 2 and 5 % have been authorized. The production and use of the bioethanol-gasoline blend “E5” has been assessed using life cycle assessment (LCA) with the aim to compare the environmental profiles of bioethanol produced from Eucalyptus globulus with gasoline in Chile and to determine the potential of this biofuel-replacing gasoline in the transport sector.

Methods

The standard framework of LCA described by ISO was selected to assess the ecological burdens derived from the biofuel production using the SimaPro v7.8 software. The system boundaries included eucalyptus cultivation, bioethanol production, E5 blend production, and final use of E5. The inventory data for Eucalyptus cultivation were previously collected through surveys with forest managers. Inventory data for bioethanol production were obtained by process simulation models using Aspen Plus v7.1, and for non-simulated or modeled information, secondary information (scientific articles and reports) was used. Conventional gasoline, produced and used in Chile, was used as base scenario for comparison with E5 scenario.

Results and discussion

The environmental results showed reduction of the environmental impacts in most of the assessed categories when E5 blend is assessed and compared with gasoline. Reduction was evident for climate change, photochemical oxidation formation, terrestrial acidification, marine eutrophication, terrestrial ecotoxicity, marine ecotoxicity, depletion of water, and fossil resources. However, there was an increase in other impact categories, such as ozone layer depletion, human toxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, and marine eutrophication. The hotspots for E5 blend were the blending production and the combustion in the engine, whereas in the production process, the electricity production was the major contributor to most of the impact categories. When increasing the bioethanol content from E5 to E10 blend, the environmental impact increases in most of the evaluated categories except in the CC, WD, and FD categories. However, compared with other studies related to wood-based E10, the values for the environmental impacts obtained were lower than the reported.

Conclusions

The use of E5 blend can help to reduce the environmental impact in 8 of the 12 categories analyzed. Environmental impacts obtained are lower compared with other studies reported for E10 blend production from wood resources.

     

Life cycle assessment of a pyrolysis/gasification plant for hazardous paint waste

Goal, Scope and Background Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) remains an important tool in Dutch waste management policies. In 2002 the new National Waste Management Plan 2002–2012 (NWMP) became effective. It was supported by some 150 LCA studies for more than 20 different waste streams. The LCA results provided a benchmark level for new waste management technologies. Although not new, operational techniques using combined pyrolysis/gasification are still fairly rare in Europe. The goal of this study is to determine the environmental performance of the only full scale pyrolysis/gasification plant in the Netherlands and to compare it with more conventional techniques such as incineration. The results of the study support the process of obtaining environmental permits. Methods In this study we used an impact assessment method based on the guidelines described by the Centre of Environmental Science (CML) of Leiden University. The functional unit is defined as treatment of 1 ton of collected hazardous waste (paint packaging waste). Similar to the NWMP, not only normalized scores are presented but also 7 aggegated scores. All interventions from the foreground process (land use, emissions, final waste) are derived directly from the site with the exception of emissions to soil which were calculated. Interventions are accounted to each of the different waste streams by physical relations. Data from background processes are taken from the IVAM LCA database 4.0 mostly originating from the Swiss ETH96 database and adapted to the Dutch situation. Allocation was avoided by using system enlargement. The study has been peer reviewed by an external expert. Results and Discussion It was possible to determine an environmental performance for the pyrolysis/ gasification of paint packaging waste. The Life Cycle Inventory was mainly hampered by the uncertainty occurred with estimated air emissions. Here several assumptions had to be made because several waste inputs and two waste treatment installations profit from one flue gas cleaning treatment thus making it difficult to allocate the emission values from the flue gasses. Compared to incineration in a rotary kiln, pyrolysis/gasification of hazardous waste showed better scores for most of the considered impact categories. Only for the impact categories biodiversity and life support the incineration option proved favorable due to a lower land use. Several impact categories had significant influence on the conclusions: acidification, global warming potential, human toxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity. The first three are related to a better energy efficiency for pyrolysis/gasification leading to less fossil energy consumption. Terrestrial ecotoxicity in this case is related to specific emissions of mercury and chromium (III). A sensitivity analysis has been performed as well. It was found that the environmental performance of the gasification technique is sensitive to the energy efficiency that can be reached as well as the choice for the avoided fossil energy source. In this study a conservative choice for diesel oil was made whereas a choice for heavy or light fuel oil would further improve the environmental profile. Conclusions Gasification of hazardous waste has a better environmental performance compared to the traditional incineration in rotary kilns mainly due to the high energy efficiency. As was determined by sensitivity analysis the differences in environmental performance are significant. Improvement options for a better performance are a decrease of process emissions (especially mercury) and a further improvement of the energy balance by decreasing the electricity consumption for shredders and oxygen consumption or making more use of green electricity. Recommendations and Perspectives Although the life cycle inventory was sufficiently complete, still some assumptions had to be made in order to establish sound mass balances on the level of individual components and substances. The data on input of waste and output of emissions and final waste were not compatible. It was recommended that companies put more emphasis on data storage accounted to particular waste streams. This is even more relevant since more companies in the future are expected to include life cycle impacts in their environmental performance.     

A diagnostic model for green productivity assessment of manufacturing processes

Goal, Scope and Background  Green Productivity (GP) is a new paradigm in sustainable manufacturing where resource conservation and waste minimization constitute the strategy in simultaneously enhancing environmental performance and productivity. This productivity approach to the sustainability of industries requires the adoption of clean production technology and the development of appropriate indicators and instruments to measure environmental performance in a continuous improvement strategy that focuses on the manufacturing stage of the product life cycle. The analysis may be expanded to include the entire life cycle with increasing details on impacts, improvement strategies and indicators. Methods  The study proposes a methodology for GP assessment that integrates the essential components of life cycle assessment (LCA) and multicriteria decision analysis specifically the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). LCA provides a systematic and holistic perspective for GP analysis that spans inventory, impact and improvement assessment. The AHP is utilized as a decision framework and valuation tool for impact and improvement assessment to come up with priority weights. Indicators are derived and measured from a streamlined LCA focused on a number of parameters within the gate-to-gate analysis to demonstrate the GP concept in relation to resource utilization and waste minimization. An input-output approach using a suitable material balance in a scenario analysis provides the basis of GP performance measurement. Results and Conclusion  The diagnostic model is applied on a semiconductor assembly/packaging operation. From the streamlined life cycle inventory, impact factors were derived for water resource depletion (WRD), energy resource depletion (ERD), human toxicity-air (HTA), human toxicity-land (HTL), human toxicity-water (HTW), aquatic ecotoxicity (ETA) and terrestrial ecotoxicity (ETT). Valuation of impact factors using the AHP showed the high significance of ETT, HTL, WRD and ERD. This especially reflects the impact of the industry on the solid waste problem as a result of emissions to land associated with human toxicity and ecotoxicity effects and the intensive use of water and energy resources. Using scenario analysis, the effect of implementing a process-based improvement technique on a product-specific operation was determined and the highest values in GP are for energy utilization, water utilization and terrestrial ecotoxicity. Recommendation and Perspective  Expert system technology was explored in developing a diagnostic prototype that emulates how human experts diagnose green productivity of manufacturing processes. The aim was to investigate how such a diagnosis could be performed in an intelligent fashion that it is also easily accessible as a decision support for industries. The expert system model will provide flexibility in testing the relationships of environmental performance and productivity parameters as well as in preserving and disseminating valuable human expertise in GP program implementation. This is a continuing research effort that is building the knowledge base for GP assessment. It will include case studies over a wider range or level of detail regarding the impacts and improvement techniques and the other stages of the product life cycle.     

A comparative life cycle assessment of two treatment technologies for the Grey Lanaset G textile dye: biodegradation by Trametes versicolor and granular activated carbon adsorption

Purpose

The aim of this study is to use life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare the relative environmental performance of the treatment using Trametes versicolor with a common method such as activated carbon adsorption. This comparison will evaluate potential environmental impacts of the two processes. This work compiles life cycle inventory data for a biological process that may be useful for other emergent biotechnological processes in water and waste management. LCA was performed to evaluate the use of a new technology for the removal of a model metal-complex dye, Grey Lanaset G, from textile wastewater by means of the fungus T. versicolor. This biological treatment was compared with a conventional coal-based activated carbon adsorption treatment to determine which alternative is preferable from an environmental point of view.

Materials and methods

The study is based on experimental research that has tested the novel process at the pilot scale. The analysis of the biological system ranges from the production of the electricity and ingredients required for the growth of the fungus and ends with the composting of the residual biomass from the process. The analysis of the activated carbon system includes the production of the adsorbent material and the electricity needed for the treatment and regeneration of the spent activated carbon. Seven indicators that measure the environmental performance of these technologies are included in the LCA. The indicators used are climate change, ozone depletion, human toxicity, photochemical oxidant formation, terrestial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, marine eutrophication, terrestrial ecotoxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, marine ecotoxicity, metal depletion and fossil depletion.

Results

The results show that the energy use throughout the biological process, mainly for sterilisation and aeration, accounts for the major environmental impacts with the inoculum sterilisation being the most critical determinant. Nevertheless, the biological treatment has lower impacts than the physicochemical system in six of these indicators when steam is generated directly on site. A low-grade carbon source as an alternative to glucose might contribute to reduce the eutrophication impact of this process.

Conclusions

The LCA shows that the biological treatment process using the fungus T. versicolor to remove Grey Lanaset G offers important environmental advantages in comparison with the traditional activated carbon adsorption method. This study also provides environmental data and an indication of the potential impacts of characteristic processes that may be of interest for other applications in the field of biological waste treatment and wastewater treatment involving white-rot fungi.     

Environmental performance assessment of hardboard manufacture

Background, aim and scope  The forest-based and related industries comprise one of the most important industry sectors in the European Union, representing some 10% of the EU's manufacturing industries. Their activities are based on renewable raw material resources and efficient recycling. The forest-based industries can be broken down into the following sectors: forestry, woodworking, pulp and paper manufacturing, paper and board converting and printing and furniture. The woodworking sector includes many sub-sectors; one of the most important is that of wood panels accounting for 9% of total industry production. Wood panels are used as intermediate products in a wide variety of applications in the furniture and building industries. There are different kinds of panels: particleboard, fibreboard, veneer, plywood and blockboard. The main goal of this study was to assess the environmental impacts during the life cycle of wet-process fibreboard (hardboard) manufacturing to identify the processes with the largest environmental impacts. Methods  The study covers the life cycle of hardboard production from a cradle-to-gate perspective. A hardboard plant was analysed in detail, dividing the process chain into three subsystems: wood preparation, board forming and board finishing. Ancillary activities such as chemicals, wood chips, thermal energy and electricity production and transport were included within the system boundaries. Inventory data came from interviews and surveys (on-site measurements). When necessary, the data were complemented with bibliographic resources. The life cycle assessment procedure followed the ISO14040 series. The life cycle inventory (LCI) and impact assessment database for this study were constructed using SimaPro Version 7.0 software. Results  Abiotic depletion (AD), global warming (GW), ozone layer depletion (OLD), human toxicity (HT), ecotoxicity, photochemical oxidant formation (PO), acidification (AC) and eutrophication (EP) were the impact categories analysed in this study. The wood preparation subsystem contributed more than 50% to all impact categories, followed by board forming and board finishing, which is mainly due to chemicals consumption in the wood preparation subsystem. In addition, thermal energy requirements (for all subsystems) were fulfilled by on-site wood waste burning and, accordingly, biomass energy converters were considered. Several processes were identified as hot spots in this study: phenol-formaldehyde resin production (with large contribution to HT, fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity and PO), electricity production (main contributor to marine aquatic ecotoxicity), wood chips production (AD and OLD) and finally, biomass burning for heat production (identified as the largest contributor to AC and EP due to NO _X emissions). In addition, uncontrolled formaldehyde emissions from manufacturing processes at the plant such as fibre drying should be controlled due to relevant contributions to terrestrial ecotoxicity and PO. A sensitivity analysis of electricity profile generation (strong geographic dependence) was carried out and several European profiles were analysed. Discussion  Novel binding agents for the wood panel industry as a substitute for the currently used formaldehyde-based binders have been extensively investigated. Reductions of toxic emissions during drying, mat forming and binder production are desirable. The improved method would considerably reduce the contributions to all impact categories. Conclusions  The results obtained in this work allow forecasting the importance of the wood preparation subsystem for the environmental burdens associated with hardboard manufacture. Special attention was paid to the inventory analysis stage for each subsystem. It is possible to improve the environmental performance of the hardboard manufacturing process if some alternatives are implemented regarding the use of chemicals, electricity profile and emission sources in the production processes located inside the plant. Recommendations and perspectives  This study provides useful information for forest-based industries related to panel manufacture with the aim of increasing their sustainability. Our research continues to assess the use phase and final disposal of panels to complete the life cycle assessment. Future work will focus on analysing the environmental aspects associated with plywood, another type of commonly used wood panel.     

Electrical and electronic components in the automotive sector: Economic and environmental assessment

Background Aims and Scope Automotive electrical and electronic systems (EES) comprise an area that has grown steadily in importance in the past decade and will continue to gain relevance in the foreseeable future. For this reason, the SEES project (Sustainable Electrical & Electronic System for the Automotive Sector) aims to contribute to cost-effective and eco-efficient EES components. Scenarios for the recovery of automotive EES are defined by taking into consideration the required improvements in EES design and the development and implementation of new technologies. The research project SEES is funded by the European Commission (Contract no. TST3-CT-2003-506075) within the Sixth Framework Programme, priority 6.2 (see 〈www.sees-project.net〉 for more information). This paper presents the findings of an assessment of the environmental and economic improvements for automotive EES from a system perspective, taking into account all life cycle steps. Methods Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) case studies have been employed within the SEES project to define optimum design and end-of-life scenarios. These case studies have been applied to two selected EES components: an engine wire harness and a smart junction box, both manufactured by LEAR and assembled in an existing Ford car model. The component design has a significant impact on the product system and its processes, including its use and end-of-life (EOL) phase. For each of the analysed components, two potential design alternatives have been compared with the original design, based on designers’ recommendations from the status quo scenario results. These include the use of alternative wiring systems with a reduced copper content (flat flexible cable), lead-free solder alloys and new fixation mechanisms to facilitate disassembly. The overall EOL scenario determines the technologies of processes that must be modelled within the EOL phase of a product system. The analysed end-of-life scenarios include: status quo car recycling and two alternatives: 1. disassembly for specific EES component recycling; 2. advanced post-shredder recycling of shredding residues. The influences of the different design and EOL treatment scenarios on the LCA and LCC results have been analysed. Results The most dominant life cycle phases for the LCA results are manufacturing (including raw material extraction and manufacturing of materials and components) and the use-phase. Similarly, manufacturing was the predominant phase during the LCC study. Disassembly costs were shown to be significant during the EOL phase. Among the analysed design alternatives, the highest environmental improvement potential were gained from the use of alternative wiring systems with reduced weight and copper content, but with slightly increased life cycle costs. Smaller differences of the results were determined for the different end-of-life scenarios. Discussion The results of the EOL scenario depend on the component in question. The influence of variations in process data, model choices, e.g. which LCIA model was used for calculating the Human Toxicity Potential (HTP), which inventory data for copper production was used and other variables have been assessed in the sensitivity analysis. The sensitivity analysis demonstrates a strong dependency of results for HTP on the selected model. The presented results are based on a public report of the SEES project. The study has undergone a critical review by an external expert according to ISO 14040, § 7.3.2. Conclusions The environmental impacts during the life cycle of the analysed products are generally most strongly influenced by material production and the use phase of the products. In comparison, improvements during the EOL phase have only a very limited potential to reduce environmental impacts. The studied design changes displayed clear environmental advantages for (lighter) flat, flexible cables. Whereas, the lead-free solder design alternatives showed a slight increase in some environmental impact categories. The application of these design changes has been limited in some cases by technical issues. Recommendations and Perspectives Focussing only on end-of-life improvements cannot be recommended for automotive EES products. A life-cycle perspective should be utilised for assessing improvements in individual life cycle stages of a product. The presented results will be an input for Eco-design guidelines for automotive EES, to be developed at a later stage within the SEES project. ESS-Submission Editor: Dr. Lester Lave (II01@andrew.cmu.edu)     

LCA of energetic biomass utilization: actual projects and new developments—April 23, 2012, Berne, Switzerland

Introduction

In the last years, the use of biomass for energy purposes has been seen as a promising option to reduce the use of nonrenewable energy sources and the emissions of fossil carbon. However, LCA studies have shown that the energetic use of biomass also causes impacts on climate change and, furthermore, that different environmental issues arise, such as land use and agricultural emissions. While biomass is renewable, it is not an unlimited resource. Its use, to whatever purpose, must therefore be well studied to promote the most efficient option with the least environmental impacts. The 47th LCA Discussion Forum gathered several national and international speakers who provided a broad and qualified view on the topic.

Summary of the topics presented in DF 47

Several aspects of energetic biomass use from a range of projects financed by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) were presented in this Discussion Forum. The first session focused on important aspects of the agricultural biogas production like the use of high energy crops or catch crops as well as the influence of plant size on the environmental performance of biogas. In the second session, other possibilities of biomass treatment like direct combustion, composting, and incineration with municipal waste were presented. Topic of the first afternoon session was the update and harmonization of biomass inventories and the resulting new assessment of biofuels. The short presentations investigated some further aspects of the LCA of bioenergy like the assessment of spatial variation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from bioenergy production in a country, the importance of indirect land use change emissions on the overall results, the assessment of alternative technologies to direct spreading of digestate or the updates of the car operation datasets in ecoinvent.

Conclusions

One main outcome of this Discussion Forum is that bioenergy is not environmentally friendly per se. In many cases, energetic use of biomass allows a reduction of GHG and fossil energy use. However, there is often a tradeoff with other environmental impacts linked to agricultural production like eutrophication or ecotoxicity. Methodological challenges still exist, like the assessment of direct and indirect land use change emissions and their attribution to the bioenergy production, or the influence of heavy metal flows on the bioenergy assessment. Another challenge is the implementation of a life cycle approach in certification or legislation schemes, as shown by the example of the Renewable Energy Directive of the European Union.     

Application of life cycle assessment to landfilling

A case study of a life-cycle assessment (LCA) is performed concerning the treatment of household solid wastes in a landfill. The stages considered in this LCA study are: goal and scope definition, inventory analysis and impact assessment. The data of the inventory include the consumption of raw materials and energy through the transport of wastes and the management of landfill, and the corresponding emissions to the environment. Abiotic resource depletion, global warming, acidification, eutrophication and human toxicological impacts have been considered as impact categories for the impact assessment phase of the LCA. A comparison of the environmental impact of the landfilling with and without energy recovery is carried out. Members of the Spanish Association for LCA Development (APRODACV)     

Life cycle analysis of biochemical cellulosic ethanol under multiple scenarios

Cellulosic ethanol is widely believed to offer substantial environmental advantages over petroleum fuels and grain‐based ethanol, particularly in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. The environmental impacts of biofuels are largely caused by precombustion activities, feedstock production and conversion facility operations. Life cycle analysis (LCA) is required to understand these impacts. This article describes a field‐to‐blending terminal LCA of cellulosic ethanol produced by biochemical conversion (hydrolysis and fermentation) using corn stover or switchgrass as feedstock. This LCA develops unique models for most elements of the biofuel production process and assigns environmental impact to different phases of production. More than 30 scenarios are evaluated, reflecting a range of feedstock, technology and scale options for near‐term and future facilities. Cellulosic ethanol, as modeled here, has the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to petroleum‐based liquid transportation fuels, though substantial uncertainty exists. Most of the conservative scenarios estimate GHG emissions of approximately 45–60 g carbon dioxide equivalent per MJ of delivered fuel (g CO₂e MJ^?1) without credit for coproducts, and 20–30 g CO₂e MJ^?1 when coproducts are considered. Under most scenarios, feedstock production, grinding and transport dominate the total GHG footprint. The most optimistic scenarios include sequestration of carbon in soil and have GHG emissions below zero g CO₂e MJ^?1, while the most pessimistic have life‐cycle GHG emissions higher than petroleum gasoline. Soil carbon changes are the greatest source of uncertainty, dominating all other sources of GHG emissions at the upper bound of their uncertainty. Many LCAs of biofuels are narrowly constrained to GHG emissions and energy; however, these narrow assessments may miss important environmental impacts. To ensure a more holistic assessment of environmental performance, a complete life cycle inventory, with over 1100 tracked material and energy flows for each scenario is provided in the online supplementary material for this article.     

Life cycle assessment of Australian automotive door skins

Background, aim, and scope  Policy initiatives, such as the EU End of Life Vehicle (ELV) Directive for only 5% landfilling by 2015, are increasing the pressure for higher material recyclability rates. This is stimulating research into material alternatives and end-of-life strategies for automotive components. This study presents a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) on an Australian automotive component, namely an exterior door skin. The functional unit for this study is one door skin set (4 exterior skins). The material alternatives are steel, which is currently used by Australian manufacturers, aluminium and glass-fiber reinforced polypropylene composite. Only the inputs and outputs relative to the door skin production, use and end-of-life phases were considered within the system boundary. Landfill, energy recovery and mechanical recycling were the end-of-life phases considered. The aim of the study is to highlight the most environmentally attractive material and end-of-life option. Methods  The LCA was performed according to the ISO 14040 standard series. All information considered in this study (use of fossil and non fossil based energy resources, water, chemicals etc.) were taken up in in-depth data. The data for the production, use and end-of-life phases of the door skin set was based upon softwares such as SimaPro and GEMIS which helped in the development of the inventory for the different end-of-life scenarios. In other cases, the inventory was developed using derivations obtained from published journals. Some data was obtained from GM-Holden and the Co-operative research Centre for Advanced Automotive Technology (AutoCRC), in Australia. In cases where data from the Australian economy was unavailable, such as the data relating to energy recovery methods, a generic data set based on European recycling companies was employed. The characterization factors used for normalization of data were taken from (Saling et. al. Int J Life Cycle Assess 7(4):203–218 2002) which detailed the method of carrying out an LCA. Results  The production phase results in maximum raw material consumption for all materials, and it is higher for metals than for the composite. Energy consumption is greatest in the use phase, with maximum consumption for steel. Aluminium consumes most energy in the production phase. Global Warming Potential (GWP) also follows a trend similar to that of energy consumption. Photo Oxidants Creation Potential (POCP) is the highest for the landfill scenario for the composite, followed by steel and aluminium. Acidification Potential (AP) is the highest for all the end-of-life scenarios of the composite. Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) is the highest for the metals. The net water emissions are also higher for composite in comparison to metals despite high pollution in the production phases of metallic door skins. Solid wastes are higher for the metallic door skins. Discussion  The composite door skin has the lowest energy consumption in the production phase, due to the low energy requirements during the manufacturing of E-glass and its fusion with polypropylene to form sheet molding compounds. In general, the air emissions during the use phase are strongly dependent on the mass of the skins, with higher emissions for the metals than for the composite. Material recovery through recycling is the highest in metals due to efficient separation techniques, while mechanical recycling is the most efficient for the composite. The heavy steel skins produce the maximum solid wastes primarily due to higher fuel consumption. Water pollution reduction benefit is highest in case of metals, again due to the high efficiency of magnetic separation technique in the case of steel and eddy current separation technique in the case of aluminium. Material recovery in these metals reduces the amount of water needed to produce a new door skin set (water employed mainly in the ingot casting stage). Moreover, the use of heavy metals, inorganic salts and other chemicals is minimized by efficient material recovery. Conclusions  The use of the studied type of steel for the door skins is a poor environmental option in every impact category. Aluminium and composite materials should be considered to develop a more sustainable and energy efficient automobile. In particular, this LCA study shows that glass-fiber composite skins with mechanical recycling or energy recovery method could be environmentally desirable, compared to aluminium and steel skins. However, the current limit on the efficiency of recycling is the prime barrier to increasing the sustainability of composite skins. Recommendations and perspectives  The study is successful in developing a detailed LCA for the three different types of door skin materials and their respective recycling or end-of-life scenarios. The results obtained could be used for future work on an eco-efficiency portfolio for the entire car. However, there is a need for a detailed assessment of toxicity and risk potentials arising from each of the four different types of door skin sets. This will require greater communication between academia and the automotive industry to improve the quality of the LCA data. Sensitivity analysis needs to be performed such as the assessment of the impact of varying substitution factors on the life cycle of a door skin. Incorporation of door skin sets made of new biomaterials need to be accounted for as another functional unit in future LCA studies. Discussion contributions to this article from the readership would the highly welcome. The authors     

Energy Requirements and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Maize Production in the USA

This meta-study quantitatively and qualitatively compares 21 published life cycle assessment (LCA)-type studies for energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of maize production in the USA. Differences between the methodologies and numerical results obtained are described. Nonrenewable energy consumption in maize production (from cradle-to-farm gate) ranges from 1.44 to 3.50 MJ/kg of maize, and GHG emissions associated with maize production range from ?27 to 436 g CO₂ equivalent/kg of maize. Large variations between studies exist within the input data for lime application, fuels purchased, and life cycle inventory data for fertilizer and agrochemical production. Although most studies use similar methodological approaches, major differences between studies include the following: (1) impacts associated with human labor and farm machinery production, (2) changes in carbon dioxide emissions resulting from soil organic carbon levels, and (3) indirect N₂O emissions.     

Carbon Footprint of Telemedicine Solutions - Unexplored Opportunity for Reducing Carbon Emissions in the Health Sector

Background

The healthcare sector is a significant contributor to global carbon emissions, in part due to extensive travelling by patients and health workers.

Objectives

To evaluate the potential of telemedicine services based on videoconferencing technology to reduce travelling and thus carbon emissions in the healthcare sector.

Methods

A life cycle inventory was performed to evaluate the carbon reduction potential of telemedicine activities beyond a reduction in travel related emissions. The study included two rehabilitation units at Umeå University Hospital in Sweden. Carbon emissions generated during telemedicine appointments were compared with care-as-usual scenarios. Upper and lower bound emissions scenarios were created based on different teleconferencing solutions and thresholds for when telemedicine becomes favorable were estimated. Sensitivity analyses were performed to pinpoint the most important contributors to emissions for different set-ups and use cases.

Results

Replacing physical visits with telemedicine appointments resulted in a significant 40–70 times decrease in carbon emissions. Factors such as meeting duration, bandwidth and use rates influence emissions to various extents. According to the lower bound scenario, telemedicine becomes a greener choice at a distance of a few kilometers when the alternative is transport by car.

Conclusions

Telemedicine is a potent carbon reduction strategy in the health sector. But to contribute significantly to climate change mitigation, a paradigm shift might be required where telemedicine is regarded as an essential component of ordinary health care activities and not only considered to be a service to the few who lack access to care due to geography, isolation or other constraints.     

A spatially explicit life cycle inventory of the global textile chain

Background, aim, and scope  Life cycle analyses (LCA) approaches require adaptation to reflect the increasing delocalization of production to emerging countries. This work addresses this challenge by establishing a country-level, spatially explicit life cycle inventory (LCI). This study comprises three separate dimensions. The first dimension is spatial: processes and emissions are allocated to the country in which they take place and modeled to take into account local factors. Emerging economies China and India are the location of production, the consumption occurs in Germany, an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development country. The second dimension is the product level: we consider two distinct textile garments, a cotton T-shirt and a polyester jacket, in order to highlight potential differences in the production and use phases. The third dimension is the inventory composition: we track CO₂, SO₂, NO _x , and particulates, four major atmospheric pollutants, as well as energy use. This third dimension enriches the analysis of the spatial differentiation (first dimension) and distinct products (second dimension). Materials and methods  We describe the textile production and use processes and define a functional unit for a garment. We then model important processes using a hierarchy of preferential data sources. We place special emphasis on the modeling of the principal local energy processes: electricity and transport in emerging countries. Results  The spatially explicit inventory is disaggregated by country of location of the emissions and analyzed according to the dimensions of the study: location, product, and pollutant. The inventory shows striking differences between the two products considered as well as between the different pollutants considered. For the T-shirt, over 70% of the energy use and CO₂ emissions occur in the consuming country, whereas for the jacket, more than 70% occur in the producing country. This reversal of proportions is due to differences in the use phase of the garments. For SO₂, in contrast, over two thirds of the emissions occur in the country of production for both T-shirt and jacket. The difference in emission patterns between CO₂ and SO₂ is due to local electricity processes, justifying our emphasis on local energy infrastructure. Discussion  The complexity of considering differences in location, product, and pollutant is rewarded by a much richer understanding of a global production–consumption chain. The inclusion of two different products in the LCI highlights the importance of the definition of a product's functional unit in the analysis and implications of results. Several use-phase scenarios demonstrate the importance of consumer behavior over equipment efficiency. The spatial emission patterns of the different pollutants allow us to understand the role of various energy infrastructure elements. The emission patterns furthermore inform the debate on the Environmental Kuznets Curve, which applies only to pollutants which can be easily filtered and does not take into account the effects of production displacement. We also discuss the appropriateness and limitations of applying the LCA methodology in a global context, especially in developing countries. Conclusions  Our spatial LCI method yields important insights in the quantity and pattern of emissions due to different product life cycle stages, dependent on the local technology, emphasizing the importance of consumer behavior. From a life cycle perspective, consumer education promoting air-drying and cool washing is more important than efficient appliances. Recommendations and perspectives  Spatial LCI with country-specific data is a promising method, necessary for the challenges of globalized production–consumption chains. We recommend inventory reporting of final energy forms, such as electricity, and modular LCA databases, which would allow the easy modification of underlying energy infrastructure. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

LCA of an Italian lager beer

Background, Aim and Scope  The increasing concern about environment protection and a broader awareness of the sustainable development issues cause more and more attention to be given to the environmental impacts of products through the different phases of their life cycle. Foods are definitely among the products whose overall environmental performance can be effectively investigated resorting to LCA. A LCA case study was performed in order to detect and quantify the environmental impacts deriving from the life cycle of a lager beer produced by an Italian small brewery, investigating and comparing two packaging options: beer in 20 L returnable stainless steel kegs and beer in 33 cL one way glass bottles. Materials and Methods  The investigated system included: production and acquisition of materials and energy, brewing process, packaging, transports, beer consumption and waste disposal. Data for the study were mostly collected from the Theresianer Brewery and completed on the basis of literature information. Data uncertainty was treated with a Monte Carlo analysis. Life Cycle Inventories were constructed for 1 L of beer in bottle and 1 L of beer in keg using the LCA software SimaPro and then assessed at the endpoint level according to the Eco-Indicator’99 method. Results  Inorganic emissions, land use and fossil fuel consumptions resulted to be the most critical environmental issues of both beer life cycles. Beer in keg turned out to cause a lower environmental load along its life cycle than bottled beer; this was mainly due to the higher emissions and the higher energy consumptions allocated to the glass bottles. Moreover, beer consumption phase, glass bottle production and barley cultivation were found to be the critical stages of the beer life cycle. Discussion  The brewing process did not result as a critical stage and therefore the company dimension may not be a crucial element for the overall impact quantification. On the contrary, beer consumption may have a significant impact mainly due to the consumer displacement. Conclusions  The analysis pointed out the relevance of the beer consumption phase and of the packaging choice within the beer life cycle and allowed to detect the other critical stages of the life cycle. It is worth to notice that producers and consumers can be active and responsible actors in pursuing the collective goal of the environmental sustainability. Recommendations and Perspectives  In order to improve the environmental performance of the beer life cycle, producers should set up marketing strategies in favour of reusable packaging and consumers should prefer draught beer and reduce car use. As beer consumption phase, bottle production and recycling and barley cultivation were found to be very significant stages of the life cycle of the beer, deepening the analysis of these aspects in similar studies is suggested. ESS-Submission Editor: Dr. Rolf Frischknecht (frischknecht@ecoinvent.org)     

综合生命周期分析在可持续消费研究中的应用

1992年联合国提出可持续消费的概念,经过10几年的发展,生命周期分析已经成为可持续消费的主要研究方法。由于传统生命周期分析方法需要大量基础数据支持,因此目前综合生命周期分析方法被广泛应用于可持续消费研究中。以1997年中国投入产出表为基础,建立了包括CO2排放量的投入产出表延长表。并对居民终端消费产生的CO2排放总量及其与产业部门的关系进行了分析。结果表明,1997年城市居民终端消费人均CO2排放量为1576．62kg,是农村居民CO2排放量的24．96倍,城市居民每个单位货币消费量所产生的CO2的排放量也远远高于农村居民,电力生产部门对居民消费环境影响的贡献率最大。对该方法中存在的一些问题进行了讨论,这些问题主要产生在价值量与物理量转换过程及分配过程中。     

Sensitivity of the carbon footprint of New Zealand milk to greenhouse gas metrics

Milk production is responsible for emitting a range of greenhouse gases (GHGs), mainly carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrous oxide (N₂O) and methane (CH₄). In Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), the Global Warming Potential with a time horizon of 100 years (GWP100) is used almost universally to aggregate emissions of individual gases into so-called CO₂-equivalent emissions that are used to calculate the overall carbon footprint of milk production. However, there is growing awareness that, depending on the purpose of the LCA, metrics other than GWP100 could be justified and some would give a very different weighting for the short-lived gas CH₄ relative to the long-lived gases CO₂ and N₂O when calculating the carbon footprint. Pastoral dairy production systems at different levels of intensification differ in the balance of short- and long-lived GHGs associated with on- and off-farm emissions. Differences in the carbon footprint of different production systems could therefore be highly sensitive to the choice of GHG metric. Here we explore the extent to which alternative GHG metric choices would alter the carbon footprint of New Zealand milk production at different levels of intensification at national, regional and individual farm scales and compared to the carbon footprint of milk of selected European countries. We find that the ranking of different production systems and individual farms in terms of their carbon footprint is relatively robust against the choice of GHG metric, despite significant differences in their utilisation of pastures versus supplementary off-farm feed, fertiliser use and energy consumption at various stages of farm operations. However, there are instances where alternative GHG metric choices would fundamentally change the conclusions of LCA of different production systems, including whether a move towards higher or lower input systems would increase or decrease the average carbon footprint of milk production in New Zealand. Greater transparency about the implications of alternative GHG metrics for LCA, and the often inadvertent and implicit value judgements embedded in these metrics, would help ensure that policy decisions and consumer choices based on LCA indeed deliver the climate outcomes intended by end-users.