Abstract
As an extension of traditional life cycle assessment, ecologically based life cycle assessment (Eco-LCA) provides an appealing approach to recognize the impacts and sustainability of the process industries from an ecological scale. However, a comprehensive model of ecological cumulative exergy consumption (ECEC) for Eco-LCA of industrial processes is still not available. In this paper, the quantification of ECEC is discussed. Three influencing factors of industrial processes including natural capital, social capital and environmental impact are addressed and studied here. An ECEC model integrating resources, economic and environmental elements is established. It aims to improve the Eco-LCA methodology as applied for sustainability analysis of the process industries. An illustrative example of Chinese crude oil production provides insight into the features of the proposed model.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
