Life Cycle Assessment of Sugarcane Bagasse Takeout Containers: A Case Study in Laibin, Guangxi, China

Environmental life cycle assessment of seafood production: A case study of trawler catches in Tunisia

SummaryLife cycle assessment (LCA) enables us to estimate potential resource and energy consumption as well as environmental emissions resulting from various activities within our economy. The present LCA intends to analyze the energy consumption and environmental emissions of the entire life cycle of an originally manufactured diesel engine compared with its remanufactured counterpart. Further, the article attempts to identify the processes in diesel engine manufacturing and remanufacturing life cycles that contribute most to energy consumption and environmental impacts. Six environmental impacts were assessed in this study: global warming potential (GWP); acidification potential (AP); eutrophication potential (EP); ozone depletion potential (ODP); photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP); and abiotic depletion potential (ADP). The results show that diesel engine remanufacturing could reduce 66% of energy consumption, compared to original manufacturing. The greatest benefit related to environmental impact is with regard to ODP, which is reduced by 97%, followed by EP, GWP, POCP, AP, and ADP, which can be reduced by 79%, 67%, 32%, 32%, and 25%, respectively. In the life cycle of diesel engine manufacturing, production of materials brings about larger environmental impacts, especially with regard to EP and ODP, whereas transportation of materials contributes most to POCP. The situation is similar for diesel engine remanufacturing. Production of materials brings about larger environmental impacts with regard to AP, EP, and ODP, whereas components remanufacturing and production of materials exhibit the same amount of GWP impact. Further, in remanufacturing, the reverse logistics of old diesel engines brings about lesser environmental impacts than the other life cycle stages, except with regard to POCP.

PurposeWaste recycling is one of the essential tools for the European Union’s transition towards a circular economy. One of the possibilities for recycling wood and plastic waste is to utilise it to produce composite product. This study analyses the environmental impacts of producing composite pallets made of wood and plastic waste from construction and demolition activities in Finland. It also compares these impacts with conventional wooden and plastic pallets made of virgin materials.MethodsTwo different life cycle assessment methods were used: attributional life cycle assessment and consequential life cycle assessment. In both of the life cycle assessment studies, 1000 trips were considered as the functional unit. Furthermore, end-of-life allocation formula such as 0:100 with a credit system had been used in this study. This study also used sensitivity analysis and normalisation calculation to determine the best performing pallet.Result and discussionIn the attributional cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment, wood-polymer composite pallets had the lowest environmental impact in abiotic depletion potential (fossil), acidification potential, eutrophication potential, global warming potential (including biogenic carbon), global warming potential (including biogenic carbon) with indirect land-use change, and ozone depletion potential. In contrast, wooden pallets showed the lowest impact on global warming potential (excluding biogenic carbon). In the consequential life cycle assessment, wood-polymer composite pallets showed the best environmental impact in all impact categories. In both attributional and consequential life cycle assessments, plastic pallet had the maximum impact. The sensitivity analysis and normalisation calculation showed that wood-polymer composite pallets can be a better choice over plastic and wooden pallet.ConclusionsThe overall results of the pallets depends on the methodological approach of the LCA. However, it can be concluded that the wood-polymer composite pallet can be a better choice over the plastic pallet and, in most cases, over the wooden pallet. This study will be of use to the pallet industry and relevant stakeholders.

A comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of solar photo-Fenton and solar photoelectro-Fenton, two solar-driven advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) devoted to the removal of non-biodegradable pollutants in water, is performed. The study is based on the removal, at laboratory scale, of the amino acid α-methylphenylglycine, a good example of soluble and non-biodegradable target pollutant. The system under study includes chemicals, electricity, transport of all raw materials to the plant site, and the generation of emissions, but it does not take into account the impact of the infrastructure needed to build a hypothetical solar plant. Nine environmental impact categories are included in the LCA: global warming potential, ozone depletion potential, aquatic eutrophication potential, acidification potential, human toxicity potential, photochemical ozone formation potential, fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity potential, marine aquatic ecotoxicity potential, and terrestrial ecotoxicity potential and abiotic resource depletion potential. Although previous experimental results show that both AOPs are able to efficiently degrade the pollutant, the LCA indicates that solar-driven photo-Fenton is the most environmentally friendly alternative, mainly because the use of electricity in solar photoelectro-Fenton experiments involves high environmental impacts.

Environmental impacts evaluation and promotion measures of wood-based composite doors

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology for assessing the environmental impacts of a product. PT Pertamina Hulu Mahakam - BSP Site has conducted an LCA study to quantify the environmental impact of natural gas and crude oil producing and then identify the activities that give significant impact on the environment which is referred to as a hotspot. The methodology used in this LCA study refers to ISO 14040:2016 and 14044:2017. The impact categories considered are Global Warming Potential (GWP), Acidification Potential (AP), Eutrophication Potential (EP), Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP), Photochemical Oxidant Creation Potential (POCP), Abiotic Depletion Potential (AD), Abiotic Depletion Potential -fossil (ADP-fossil), Human Toxicity Potential (HTP), Eco-Toxicity Potential (ETP), Land Used (LU) and Water Footprint (WFP). The result of this study identifies several activities in PT Pertamina Hulu Mahakam – BSP Site that can be categorized as hot spot: (1) The oil and gas extraction process, (2) Emission from transportation activities (3) Emission from electricity generator unit and compressor unit (4) Gas venting from surface facilities (5) Steel production that used in offshore platform infrastructure and (6) Fugitive emission from produced water. Several recommendations have been proposed to reduce the impact of those activities: reduce water content in the oil and gas extraction process, optimized transportation routes, use more environmentally friendly fuel for transportation activities, optimize the performance of compressor and electricity generator, and install the new offshore platform with a slimmer design. This study shows that LCA can help oil and gas producers to improve operational efficiency and reduce the impact on the environment to achieve sustainable development.

In this paper, a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) method is used to compare the overall energy consumption and environmental impact of hybrid additive manufacturing (HAM) and the traditional CNC milling process with a case study of turbine blade manufacturing. Six environmental impacts are assessed in this study: acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), global warming potential (GWP), photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP), ozone depletion potential (ODP), and abiotic depletion potential (ADP). The results suggest that HAM can not only reduce energy consumption and material waste but also reduce the environmental impact by 53% from a life cycle perspective. Specifically, the results of GWP, AP, EP, ODP, POCP and ADP of the HAM are only 32.2%, 34.6 %, 44.7%, 27.2%, 25.6%, and 24.7 % of that in traditional CNC machining.

Life Cycle Assessment of electricity production in Italy from anaerobic co-digestion of pig slurry and energy crops

Fossil-fuel based energy systems pose a great threat to the climate and ecosystem. Renewable energy is considered the key to achieve carbon neutrality and Sustainable Development Goals. California is a forerunner in promoting renewable energy and sustainable development. In this study, we conduct a life cycle assessment (LCA) on the renewable energy system of California between 2001 and 2019, assessing the abiotic resource depletion potential (ADP), global warming potential (GWP), ozone depletion potential (ODP), acidification potential (AP), photochemical oxidant formation potential (POFP), and eutrophication potential (EP), respectively . We show that solar energy and biomass and waste-to-energy were the main contributors to the overall life cycle impacts of California renewable energy system during 2001-2019, which accounted for 9.0%±1.2% and 90.7%±1.2%, respectively. Impacts on AP, POFP, EP and GWP from these two renewable sources are particularly evident. Geographically, Kern currently holds the most renewable energy generation (15.3 TWh in 2019) in the state, but Los Angeles has the highest environmental impact (1.2E-0.5 in 2019) due to a larger portion of waste-to-energy system. Renewable energy are essential for decarbonization, but the environmental impacts of certain sources, such as solar energy and waste-to-energy, demand further reduction through technology advancement and improved resource management.

Chapter 8 - Life cycle assessment

Additive manufacturing is considered more sustainable than traditional manufacturing due to its efficient energy and materials usage. However, previous literature indicates that this suggestion is applicable only for the polymer materials, and the environmental issues of additive manufacturing with metallic materials are still not clear. With the method of life cycle assessment, this paper analyzes and compares the energy consumptions and environmental impacts of direct energy deposition and traditional machining processes for a typical metal part. Further, the article attempts to identify the significant issues in the two manufacturing options that contribute most to the environmental impacts. Six environmental impacts were assessed in this study: global warming potential (GWP); acidification potential (AP); eutrophication potential; ozone depletion potential (ODP); photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP); and abiotic depletion potential (ADP). The results show that the gear laser fabrication process consumes more energy and releases more negative emissions compared with traditional gear manufacturing processes. The results of GWP, AP, ODP, ADP and POCP of the traditional gear manufacturing are only 30.33, 43.42, 17, 65.05 and 54.68% of the gear laser fabrication.

Despite substantial progress in sustainable building design, a significant gap remains in the integration of building information modeling (BIM) and life cycle assessment (LCA); specifically, a gap exists in the optimization of the LCA design. The present study addresses this gap by presenting a BIM plugin that incorporates the LCA to optimize the design of sustainable buildings. Benchmarks were studied in the literature review, leading to a proposal for the optimized integration of the BIM-LCA tool. This innovative tool enables the evaluation of multiple environmental impacts, such as global warming potential, abiotic depletion potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, ozone depletion potential, and photochemical ozone creation potential, during the design stages. In addition to calculating the impacts, the plugin offers designers a range of construction system options ranked by their environmental impact, as long as the automation of the BIM object replacement is included in the project to facilitate design solution benchmarking and informed decision-making to reduce carbon emissions. A case study demonstrates the utility and effectiveness of this BIM-LCA integration tool specifically designed to integrate benchmarking in optimized wall design, thereby advancing sustainable building design practices following the European directives for sustainability (CEN, 2019) and a level(s) framework (EC, 2021).

Concrete is a type of construction material in which cement, aggregate, and admixture materials are mixed. When cement is produced, large amounts of substances that impact the environment are emitted during limestone extraction and clinker manufacturing. Additionally, the extraction of natural aggregate causes soil erosion and ecosystem destruction. Furthermore, in the process of transporting raw materials such as cement and aggregate to a concrete production company, and producing concrete in a batch plant, substances with an environmental impact are emitted into the air and water system due to energy use. Considering the fact that the process of producing concrete causes various environmental impacts, an assessment of various environmental impact categories is needed. This study used a life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental impacts of concrete in terms of its global warming potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, ozone depletion potential, photochemical ozone creation potential, and abiotic depletion potential (GWP, AP, EP, ODP, POCP, ADP). The tendency was that the higher the strength of concrete, the higher the GWP, POCP, and ADP indices became, whereas the AP and EP indices became slightly lower. As the admixture mixing ratio of concrete increased, the GWP, AP, ODP, ADP, and POCP decreased, but EP index showed a tendency to increase slightly. Moreover, as the recycled aggregate mixing ratio of concrete increased, the AP, EP, ODP, and ADP decreased, while GWP and POCP increased. The GWP and POCP per unit compressed strength (1 MPa) of high strength concrete were found to be about 13% lower than that for its normal strength concrete counterpart. Furthermore, in the case of AP, EP, ODP, and ADP per unit compressed strength (1 MPa), high-strength concrete was found to be about 10%~25% lower than its normal strength counterpart. Among all the environmental impact categories, ordinary cement was found to have the greatest impact on GWP, POCP, and ADP, while aggregate had the most impact on AP, EP, and ODP.

This paper presents life cycle assessment (LCA) results of design variations for a 1.5-MW wind turbine due to the potential for advances in technology to improve their performance. Five LCAs have been conducted for design variants of a 1.5-MW wind turbine. The objective is to evaluate potential environmental impacts per kilowatt hour of electricity generated for a 114-MW onshore wind farm. Results for the baseline turbine show that higher contributions to impacts were obtained in the categories of ozone depletion potential, marine aquatic eco-toxicity potential, human toxicity potential and terrestrial eco-toxicity potential compared to technology improvement opportunities (TIOs) 1–4. Compared to the baseline turbine, TIO 1 with advanced rotors and reduced tower mass showed increased impact contributions to abiotic depletion potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, global warming potential and photochemical ozone creation potential, and TIO 2 with a new tower concept involving improved tower height showed an increase in contributions to abiotic depletion potential, acidification potential and global warming potential. Additionally, lower contributions to all the environmental categories were observed for TIO 3 with drivetrain improvements using permanent magnet generators while increased contributions towards abiotic depletion potential and global warming potential were noted for TIO 4 which combines TIO 1, TIO 2 and TIO 3. A comparative LCA study of wind turbine design variations for a particular power rating has not been explored in the literature. This study presents new insight into the environmental implications related with projected wind turbine design advancements.

The life cycle assessment of a solar-assisted absorption chilling system in Bangkok, Thailand