Life Cycle Considerations Research Articles

Greenhouse Gas Emission in the Chicken Feed Industry Using Life Cycle Considerations: Thailand Case Study

Greenhouse Gas Emission in the Chicken Feed Industry Using Life Cycle Considerations: Thailand Case Study

Dynamic product portfolio management with life cycle considerations

We consider a portfolio of products in which each product probabilistically transitions through various life cycle stages. The evolution through these life cycle stages is impacted by both marketing support and product launch decisions, which are bound by a financial constraint in the form of restricted working capital. In the model, the joint working capital level serves to finance the portfolio expenditures and is decided a priori by the company. We use an infinite-horizon Markov Decision Process (MDP) to find the optimal decisions to coordinate the operations and finance depending on the composition of the portfolio. We find that the policy optimizing the product launch, marketing support and inventory decisions under a working capital constraint is independent of the correlation between demand levels of the products in the portfolio. We numerically demonstrate that the joint management of the products has a significant positive effect on the total profit, reducing the amount of working capital used per product. We also show that the optimal policy smooths aggregated demand levels as well as cash flows.

GUIDELINE FOR ORIENTED SYSTEMS ENGINEERING PROCESS IN SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED ENTERPRISES

Technical systems of tomorrow will go beyond current traditional mechatronics designs by incorporating inherent intelligence. This adds high demands on the product development process, such as the need for a comprehensive understanding of the system and consideration of the full product life-cycle. Systems engineering (SE) is an approach that has a potential to fulfill these requirements. However, until now it could not be applied through a wide range of different industries and segments, especially in small and medium sized enterprises. This paper discusses different obstacles for the use of SE and presents a concept for a systems engineering guideline to face these challenges. The aim of the systems engineering guideline is to enable a target-oriented application of systems engineering methods and tools. The objective is to overcome the barriers of introduction of SE for enterprises. It links a design process to methods and tools in the field of systems engineering.

Integrating life cycle assessment into managing potential EHS risks of engineered nanomaterials: reviewing progress to date

The 2011 National Nanotechnology Initiative’s Environmental Health and Safety Research Strategy stressed the need for research to integrate life cycle considerations into risk management and, then, to better integrate risk assessment into decisionmaking on environmental, health, and safety (EHS) dimensions of nanomanufacturing. This paper reviews scholarly articles published 2010–2015 that in some way apply life cycle analysis to nanotechnology to assess the extent to which current research reflects the priorities lain out in the NNI report. As the NNI’s focus was primarily on the “responsible development of nanotechnology” we also focus our examination on the ways in which LCA, in concert with other methodologies, can provide utility to decision makers facing the challenge of implementing that broad goal. We explore some of the challenges and opportunities inherent in using LCA, a tool built to optimize manufacturing decisions, as a guide for policy formulation or tool for policy implementation.

Magnesium Melt Protection

Mg especially in the molten state is well known for its high affinity to O2. When O2 content of the atmosphere is larger than 4%, molten Mg will burn! To avoid this, melt protection is necessary. At present mostly SF6 is used during primary production and processing of Mg and its alloys. Unfortunately SF6 is a very potent greenhouse gas that is > 23,000 times more effective than CO2. This also affects life cycle considerations e.g. for the use of Mg alloys in transportation. However, other protective gases like SO2 or fluorinated hydrocarbons like HFC134a, Novec 612, or AMCover (=HFC134a) have been suggested to replace SF6. Additionally fluxes mixed from different salts may be used again as well to protect molten Mg. But fluxes and feasible replacements of SF6 have also disadvantages. Moreover SF6 and other fluorinated hydrocarbons are under discussion especially in Europe. There is an existing EU legislation that will ban SF6 from 2018 and there are similar discussions regarding all other fluorinated hydrocarbons. Due to this, new innovative ways have to be found or old methods have to be renewed to allow Mg industries further safe processing of molten magnesium. This contribution will report the state of the art in protecting molten Mg and alternatives to the use of SF6.

Dynamic energy modelling for ship life-cycle performance assessment

This article summarises related work undertaken by the EC-funded Research Project TARGETS, which focuses on assessing energy efficiency by a direct approach. Energy flows onboard ships are considered in the time domain for complete ship energy systems simulation, allowing for interactions at system and component levels and accounting for different configurations, operating profiles, itineraries and environmental conditions. The approach and tools form the basis for life-cycle energy management considerations, addressing design, operation and retrofitting. To demonstrate the methodology leading to the evaluation of performance-based energy efficiency and its anticipated impact on ship design and operation, a case study for containership was carried out. Results are presented and discussed, demonstrating considerable advantage in adopting a more systematic and scientific approach to address Energy Efficiency of ships.

Elevational differences in developmental plasticity determine phenological responses of grasshoppers to recent climate warming.

Annual species may increase reproduction by increasing adult body size through extended development, but risk being unable to complete development in seasonally limited environments. Synthetic reviews indicate that most, but not all, species have responded to recent climate warming by advancing the seasonal timing of adult emergence or reproduction. Here, we show that 50 years of climate change have delayed development in high-elevation, season-limited grasshopper populations, but advanced development in populations at lower elevations. Developmental delays are most pronounced for early-season species, which might benefit most from delaying development when released from seasonal time constraints. Rearing experiments confirm that population, elevation and temperature interact to determine development time. Population differences in developmental plasticity may account for variability in phenological shifts among adults. An integrated consideration of the full life cycle that considers local adaptation and plasticity may be essential for understanding and predicting responses to climate change.

Low-carbon product design for product life cycle

Product design stage has a profound impact on a product's carbon footprint in its life cycle. Existing low-carbon design approaches are either not able to achieve low-carbon design solutions in product life cycle or prone to a loss of optimal solutions with the consideration of product life cycle. At each stage of product life cycle, there are several alternative design solutions, which can provide extra design space and bring more opportunities for low-carbon design. In this paper, a feature-based carbon footprint element model is proposed to estimate the carbon footprint at each stage of product life cycle. A five-layer weighted directed graph-based life cycle decision space is also proposed to represent the alternative life cycle paths. The low-carbon design process is to search the design solution with the lowest carbon footprint based on the mapping between design solution space and life cycle decision space. The proposed design process is to provide an integrated approach to enumerate and combine alternative solutions at each stage of product life cycle. The low-carbon design of a cold heading machine is given as an example to demonstrate the design methodology.

Navigating the adaptive cycle: an approach to managing the resilience of social systems

The concept of resilience continues to crescendo since the 1990s, touching on multiple fields with multiple interpretations and uses. Here, we start from its origins in systems ecology, framing the resilience concept explicitly in the adaptive cycle with the observation that resilient systems are ones that successfully navigate all stages of growth, development, collapse, and reorientation of this cycle. The model is explored in terms of the traps and pathologies that hinder this successful navigation, particularly when applied to socioeconomic organizations and decision-management situations. For example, for continuous function over the adaptive life cycle, a system needs activation energy or resources to grow, followed by adequate structure and complexity to maintain maturity. Implementation of crisis plans may avert collapse, but during catastrophe, the ability to improvise and re-orient will allow the system to emerge along a new cycle. We review the capacities, competencies, and cultures needed by these organizations, specifically, identifying that the needed resources are often cultivated in earlier stages, thus requiring consideration of the entire life cycle for success.

Market Participation and Dividend Clienteles

Asset allocation and market participation are intimately related investment decisions. Studies of dividend clienteles often attribute the positive relation between age and dividends to lack of self-control, but consumers with self-control problems are precisely those less likely to hold securities. Using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CEX), I model market participation and dividend preferences jointly and find evidence of self-selection bias in traditional regressions linking dividend preferences to investors' demographics. The positive relation between dividends and age is likely due to life-cycle considerations rather than to lack of self-control.

BUILD-OWN-OPERATE-TRANSFER (BOOT) FOR WATER-INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

Restructuring procurement processes is one way to enhance project delivery systems to service the needs of the community while providing value-for-money outcomes. Procurement options, however, require ongoing review of relative effectiveness in delivering (public-sector) infrastructure facilities. Public-private partnership (PPP) procurement adds to a list of schemes that can be utilized to bring infrastructure projects to fruition. The effectiveness of a PPP in comparison with traditional procurement is investigated here by case-study project examination of Western Australia’s first water-infrastructure project to be procured under a PPP scheme, using build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) progression. Data was generated principally by designing/developing and conducting semi-structured interviews with the key stakeholders involved. The survey results show that the most significant factor in a decision to pursue a BOOT scheme, in comparison with traditional procurement, is the establishment of value-for-money (determined by a public-sector-comparator to provide a benchmark for evaluating private consortia bids). The work conducted here found that while BOOT schemes have extremely high bid costs that restrict tender participation, life-cycle considerations from a single consortium can offer cost advantages (through BOOT) in comparison to traditional procurement. Conversely however, the study found that if the procurement and delivery timeframes are factored in, traditional procurement is deemed more time efficient than PPP/BOOT. Indeed, currently mitigation of risk via bespoke contractual agreements for BOOT is (overly) complex and difficult to administer. Findings go towards part of the (public sector’s) procurement assessment suite of tools for the realization of future infrastructure assets.

A decision support method for development of industrial synergies: case studies of Latvian brewery and wood-processing industries

Industrial synergies – be they, the single by-product exchanges between two companies or the comprehensive industrial symbiosis networks involving numerous industrial synergies – have been recognized for their potential to improve industrial resource efficiency and provide simultaneous economic benefits. With increasing research on maximizing the implementation of industrial symbiosis initiatives per se, the notion of quality of these implemented exchanges has been disregarded. Nevertheless the quality and consideration of whole production life cycle impacts of industrial symbiosis initiatives are important to ensure harmonic and sustainable development. To develop and promote a strategy for advancement of new and qualitative industrial synergies the analysis and evaluation of existing examples of collaboration is necessary. To provide a means for evaluation and comparison of the quality of industrial synergies, a qualitative evaluation method is developed. An illustration of the evaluation method is presented through two case studies of industrial synergies identified in the brewery industry and the wood processing industry in Latvia.The results of these case studies provide valuable information for decision makers in Latvia and industrial symbiosis practitioners worldwide. Case study results show that only few of the considered self-organized industrial synergies are beneficial regarding all three – environmental quality, economic quality and geographic proximity – evaluation categories. This leads to the conclusion that these three aspects create a three-layer filter for development of qualitative industrial synergies and the quality of each category should be considered before the planning stage of such collaborations.

Investigation of the impacts of selected nanotechnology products with view to their demand for raw materials and energy

In the study presented here qualitative and quantitative life-cycle considerations were employed to assess the potential material and energy savings that might be achieved through nanoenabled applications. Ten nanotechnology application fields with broad market coverage and immediate impact to either the generation of renewable energies or the use of critical resources were analyzed. Organic photovoltaic modules (solar cells that essentially consist of organic materials) and electronically dimmable windows (electrochromic laminated glass, which can be adjusted to conform to the ambient light conditions) as two very promising nano-enabled applications were quantitatively analyzed. Eight further products including neodymium magnets were evaluated on a qualitative basis. All assessments contain classical indicators such as energy efficiency, product carbon footprint, and resource consumption. In addition, pollutant aspects (exposure and toxicology) as well as other sustainability aspects (such as user benefits) were taken into account in the framework of a so-called "hot spot analysis". Furthermore, drivers behind the innovation as well as associated rebound effects were identified. The results highlight the importance of product specific analyses based on a life-cycle thinking approach.

Greenhouse gas emissions from renewable energy sources: A review of lifecycle considerations

Abstract Electricity and heat generation are key contributors to global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). In this paper, specific attention is paid to renewable energy technologies (RETs) for electricity and heat generation and reviews current understanding and estimates of life cycle GHG emissions from a range of renewable electricity and heat generation technologies. Comprehensive literature reviews for each RET were carried out. The 79 studies reviewed involved the life cycle assessment (LCA) of renewable electricity and heat generation based on onshore and offshore winds, hydropower, marine technologies (wave power and tidal energy), geothermal, photovoltaic (PV), solar thermal, biomass, waste, and heat pumps. The study demonstrates the variability of existing LCA studies (results) in tracking GHG emissions for electricity and heat generation from RETs. This review has shown that the lowest GHG emissions were associated with offshore wind technologies (mean life cycle GHG emissions could be 5.3–13 g CO2 eq/kWh). Results compared with GHG estimates by fossil fuel heat and electricity indicated that life cycle GHG emissions are comparatively higher in conventional sources as compared to renewable sources with the exception of nuclear-based power electricity generation. In this present study, considering renewable energy sources, waste treatment and dedicated biomass technologies (DBTs) were found to potentially have high GHG emissions based on the feedstock, selected boundary and the inputs required for their production. The study identifies additional impacts associated with renewable electricity and heat technologies, points out the effectiveness of life cycle analysis (LCA) as a tool for assessing environmental impacts of renewable energy sources and concludes with opportunities for improvement in the future.

ADULT LONGEVITY AND GROWTH TAKEOFF

This paper develops an overlapping-generations model in which agents make educational and fertility decisions under life-cycle considerations and retirement from work is distinguished from death. Gains in adult longevity induce agents to decrease fertility, invest in education, and achieve higher income in order to save more for retirement. Even if working life is shortened by early retirement, this mechanism works as long as adult longevity increases sufficiently. Our model can explain the positive effect of life expectancy on education without contradicting the fact that working life length has not substantially increased, because of retirement. We also provide new insights into the interaction between fertility and retirement decisions.

The Generation, Impact, and Management of E-Waste: State of the Art

Even as the world has been unsuccessfully trying to dispose off the rising quantities of its municipal solid waste (MSW) and hazardous waste (HW) in a clean manner, it has been confronted with an even more complex problem—of e-waste. Only a few countries in the developed world are able to scientifically recycle or dispose the e-waste they generate. In other developed countries only a fraction of the e-waste is properly recycled, the rest is either incinerated or sent to landfills—which are solutions that cause serious secondary problems. Worse still, a sizeable portion of the e-waste generated in the developed world is exported to developing countries where it is recycled or dumped without any concern for the gross pollution that is being caused. It can be said that if the situation vis-à-vis e-waste is posing a challenge in most developed counties, it is alarmingly bad in the developing world. In an attempt to contain the e-waste problem most of the developed world and several countries in the developing world have enacted legislation to curb illegal trafficking and unlicensed recycling of e-waste. These legislations invoke the extended producer responsibility concept based on life-cycle considerations in the hope that it will provide prevention as well as cure. Innumerable non-governmental organizations and citizen's groups have also been trying to help out. So far, all these measures together have achieved only a modicum of success—that, too, only in a few regions of the developed world—but if viewed on the global scale ever bigger streams of e-waste are threatening to join the rising tides of MSW and HW in engulfing the world. The present paper assesses the state-of-the-art, bringing out how and why the e-waste problem has been defying all attempts to contain it. The paper also brings out that—much the same way as has happened with MSW and HW—the size and the complexity of the e-waste problem is increasing at much faster rate than the efficacy of our strategies to contain it. This trend is not likely to reverse soon and the only viable means to solve the problem is to drastically reduce generation of waste.

An integrated approach for sustainable design and assessment of residential building envelope: part II

The assessment of building envelope sustainability using existing building performance assessment methods is still a challenge and yet to be fully addressed. This is due to the single-dimensional nature and lack of integration of sustainable performance values. Besides, the issue of sustainability assessment in the building envelope requires considering many factors including life cycle considerations. As such, in an effort to develop an integrated approach that combines relevant sustainable development factors and life cycles, an integrated performance model (IPM) was developed. The IPM is an essential tool developed to aid the sustainable design of the residential building envelope that can reduce carbon emission and whole residential building energy consumption and ensure sustainable performance of the building envelope.

Harvesting juveniles of blackspot sea bream (Pagellus bogaraveo) in the Azores (Northeast Atlantic): biological implications, management, and life cycle considerations

Abstract Blackspot sea bream (Pagellus bogaraveo) is the most important economical resource of Azorean fisheries. Juveniles (age 0 and 1) were detected along island coastlines in nursery grounds that sheltered individuals of up to 13 cm (fork length). Juveniles occurred in coastal areas in all seasons, but higher catch per unit efforts occurred during summer. Larger individuals tended to be caught on the shelves and slopes of the islands and seamounts by the demersal, mixed hook, and line fisheries. Juveniles were exclusively found at inshore areas, while spawners were distributed over offshore areas (islands shelf/slope and seamounts), suggesting an inter-connected cycle of recruitment in coastal areas and ontogenetic migration of juveniles from inshore to offshore areas, while eggs and larvae drift in the opposite direction. Juveniles were found to be targeted by three types of fisheries, amounting to cumulative annual catches of ∼36 t. Shore angling was the most important fishing method, followed by bait fishing for tuna and the coastal pelagic live-bait fishery. Fishery managers have enforced several measures to protect juveniles, although our results indicate that effective interdiction of juvenile catch would provide a long-term increase of 15 and 8% in spawning-stock biomass and catch, respectively, as well as ∼13% increase in the value of landings. Although this measure could improve the protection of a species in an advanced state of overexploitation, our results showed that a decrease in fishing effort would be necessary to achieve sustainability of the stock.

Technology Focus: High-Pressure/High-Temperature Challenges (April 2014)

Technology Focus High-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) challenges are being addressed in a variety of locations around the world. These include the very challenging HP/HT wells in Malaysia, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, the South China Sea, the US Gulf Coast (both onshore and in shallow water), and the US deep water. The deepwater challenges are somewhat different because they involve high pressures but somewhat milder temperatures than seen in other regions. The deepwater challenges also require high-pressure equipment in large-bore configurations adapted for subsea use. In response to these various HP/HT challenges, industry standards organizations have been working to develop foundational technical standards to provide design and qualification guidance for new equipment and systems. One of these key standards, American Petroleum Institute (API) Technical Report PER15K, details the verification and validation protocols for HP/HT equipment rated for working pressures above 15,000 psi or temperatures above 350°F. PER15K was published as a first-edition industry standard in March 2013. It provides a holistic approach to the development and qualification challenges for the new HP/HT equipment and systems. Functional specification guidance is provided, covering environmental conditions, specified loads and loading characteristics, and lifecycle considerations. Guidance on technical specifications is supplied so the specifications are developed effectively to address the detailed functional requirements. Best practices and guidance are provided on materials, design verification, failure mode and effects analysis, validation testing, manufacturing processes, and quality systems. Following PER15K, parties will be able successfully and consistently to develop the industry’s next generation of HP/HT equipment and systems. The new PER15K was developed by use of overarching principles and is not specific to any single type of equipment. Therefore, the various API subcommittees that govern specific equipment class standards are developing and codifying the HP/HT protocols for their respective drilling, completion, subsea, well-control, interventions, and production equipment. This work is already well under way, so interested parties who would like more information are encouraged to contact these standards work groups. As the industry takes on new challenges, including those in HP/HT, consensus industry standardization plays an important role. It provides the approaches and the methods for developing and qualifying new equipment and systems that are robust, fit for purpose, effective, and efficient. This new industry standard has been developed to enable those outcomes for all who properly apply it. Lessons learned from current HP/HT equipment development and qualification will be used to feed back continuous improvements and enhancements to these standards. Key industry standards such as PER15K form the basis of safe, reliable well operations in all phases of our upstream industry and are especially important in challenging areas such as HP/HT. JPT Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. SPE 166574 Shearwater—Securing the Chalk—Effects of Depletion of an HP/HT Reservoir on Chalk Overburden by P.F. van Bergen, Shell UK, et al. SPE 167067 First Reverse-Circulation Cement Job in Australia Executed in HP/HT Geothermal Well in Cooper Basin by Daniel L. Bour, Geodynamics Limited, et al. SPE 166179 Thermally Stable Explosive System for Ultrahigh-Temperature Perforating by James M. Barker, Halliburton

Assessment of Seismic Damage of Buildings and Related Environmental Impacts

AbstractSustainable development studies have recently begun to consider damage loss attributable to natural hazards. A sustainable perspective on building design entails an understanding of a structure’s life-cycle environmental costs and consideration of the associated environmental impacts induced by natural hazards. Damage repair costs lead to additional material and energy consumption, creating harmful environmental impacts. Merging the results obtained from a natural hazard evaluation and related environmental impacts for buildings in seismically prone areas provides a novel outlook for sustainable design decisions. To evaluate the environmental impacts caused by buildings, the long-term effects accrued throughout a building’s lifetime and the effects associated with damage repair need to be quantified. A literature review and a proposed method for this type of analysis have been developed and are discussed. Using Athena and HAZUS-MH software, this study evaluated the performance of steel and concret...