Abstract
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is being included formally in EcoDesign regulations. Especially product carbon footprint will be mandatory in Europe. However, life cycle impact assessment, including global warming potential (GWP) in LCA, is hampered by several challenges. One of these is a lack of water vapor characterization indexes for GWP. A life cycle inventory profile for air transport fuel, including water vapor emissions, is evaluated with state-of-the-art practice, i.e., Environmental Footprint (EF) Method and International Life Cycle Data (ILCD) 2011 Mid-point+, neglecting water vapor’s high altitude GWP compared to carbon dioxide. Then, the characterization factor in GWP over 100 years (GWP100) for water vapor and alternate normalization for particulates are introduced. The results are compared. The main findings are that the previous EF method and ILCD both generate rather realistic results for Particulate Matter and Respiratory Inorganics mid-point indicators, respectively, but the number of premature deaths should be better allocated to different specific emissions, and that water vapor may dominate the GWP100 result over the usual carbon dioxide. Respiratory inorganics may need one impact category, each starting with particles smaller than 2.5 µm. LCIA mid-points need measurable and understandable bases. The common knowledge of water vapor’s GWP100 should not be neglected in LCIA for air transport and beyond where relevant.
Highlights
IntroductionPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
Follow the results for baseline and alternate normalization and characterization applied to airplane emissions
For a more transparent normalization in International Life Cycle Data (ILCD) and Environmental Footprint (EF) method both, it would be appropriate to focus on one air pollutant at a time as far as health impacts of Respiratory
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has turned out to be a preferred tool to measure, especially product sustainability progress [1]. LCA is being included formally in EcoDesign regulations. Product carbon footprint will be mandatory in Europe. The sustainability assessment is rather scattered, and no uniform accepted metric exists. Even the rather straightforward mid-point categories have methodological and measurement problems. In truth, ensuring repeated measurement is one of the largest problems.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 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 callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
