Environmental Impact Categories Research Articles

Preliminary environmental benchmarks for a new Photonic Meta-Concrete based on state of the art radiative cooling materials

The usage of conventional air-conditioners increased due to global warming and the urban heat-island-effect in cities. These systems are responsible for 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions and 10% of the total energy consumption. Radiative Cooling is a passive cooling strategy which tries to mitigate global warming and the urban heat-island-effect by emitting heat through the atmosphere, into outer space. These materials are already studied for several decades, but for the first time a radiative cooling material is under development based on conventional concrete. In order to evaluate the environmental performance of this newly developed material compared to existing cooling materials, environmental benchmarks need to be defined. To determine such benchmark, existing, state of the art, daytime radiative cooling materials are assessed in this paper. Information on these materials is collected through a literature review. The radiative cooling materials are modelled using the generic Ecoinvent v3.6 database and the environmental impact is assessed using the Belgian LCA method for buildings, i.e. the MMG method. This method is in line with the EN15804:A2 and covers 16 environmental impact categories, such as global warming potential, acidification, eutrophication, water scarcity and toxicity. The results show that the production process of the materials, i.e. thin film deposition techniques, are poorly represented in the Ecoinvent database. Assumptions and adaptations are made based on literature and experts’ feedback. A sensitivity analysis is carried out to gain insight in the uncertainty of the assumptions made. Based on the results, preliminary environmental benchmarks are generated and the environmental impact of the first composition of the photonic meta-concrete is assessed against these benchmarks.

Evaluation of hazelnut production in Türkiye in environment, energy and economy using life cycle assessment approach

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the environmental impacts of hazelnut cultivation in Ordu province of Türkiye, which ranks first in world hazelnut production. Thus, a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) was implemented to analyze the environmental impact potentials determined as acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), and global warming potential (GWP). Additionally, energy use efficiency and economic analysis were identified. Data were collected from fifteen farmers cultivating in the same region and performing the same cultural practices by conducting a face-to-face questionnaire during the period of 2019–2020. LCA results showed that all environmental impacts and energy use of hazelnut production in the region were dominated by synthetic fertilizer. According to the results of the economic analysis, human labor had the highest share (52.7 % as a minimum) with 6.2 TRY kg−1 and 5550.0 TRY ha−1, although it was not included in the environmental impact category. Harvesting had the largest share in economic costs, but it was the most challenging cultural practice as it was carried out under difficult conditions (slope up to 70 %, hot weather) and depended only on human labor. This study provides a basis for future studies and recommends solutions for agricultural sustainability in hazelnut production. The foremost step taken should be to use fertilizer according to soil analysis and to encourage organic fertilizer use. Future studies should examine the relationship between fertilizer use and hazelnut yield. Also, the use of manpower tools without fossil fuels could overcome the challenges as an environmentally friendly solution for harvesting.

Sustainable assessment and resource recycling opportunities identification for China's pig industry: Integrating environmental, economic and social perspectives

Livestock plays a vital role in the livelihoods and nutritional security of people worldwide and leads to significant environmental challenges. Manure management is a major hurdle for sustainable livestock development and serves as a critical source of natural fertilizer and green energy. Given that pork accounts for the highest meat production and consumption share, this study systematically evaluates China's pig production and main manure resource utilization scenarios from life-cycle environmental, economic, and social perspectives. Results show that China's pig production poses considerable potential environmental risks, primarily in the categories of fossil depletion, freshwater ecotoxicity, particulates formation, global warming, and water depletion. Feed production coupled with traditional manure treatment scenario contributes to 94.4 %–98.4 % of the key environmental impact categories and socioeconomic impact, with 32.0 % to 38.3 % of the economic costs also stemming from feed costs. In the energy utilization scenario, the potential benefits of fossil depletion and global warming categories resulting from the replacement of synthetic fertilizers with manure-based organic fertilizers in the traditional pig manure treatment scenario could be expanded by 89.6 % and 39.2 %, respectively. China's pig production contributed 0.72 % of the national carbon emissions in 2020. Fully utilizing energy potential and organic fertilizer from pig manure would achieve 0.63 % of national carbon reduction potential, as well as an economic benefit of $1.45 × 1012 and a social benefit of $8.89 × 109. Precision feeding technology, rebuilding the spatial connection between pig farms and arable land, and internalizing external costs were recommended to ensure the sustainable development of China's pig industry.

Is energy-efficient building sustainable? A case study on individual housing in Canada under BCESC energy updates

Life cycle thinking and holistic sustainability assessment are missing in current building energy codes globally, with primarily focus on operational energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The overall objective and originality of this study is to evaluate the building-level life-cycle environmental and economic impact of building energy code compliance, exploring the trade-offs between energy savings, various environmental impacts and cost effectiveness, taking the British Columbia Energy STEP Code (BCESC) as a case study. An integrated approach of using building information modeling (BIM) with whole building life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) is proposed, and comparisons of life cycle environmental and economic impacts are studied with respect to each energy upgrade level. The findings revealed that while the total energy demand intensity and GHG emissions decreased (by about 50% compared to base scenario) with the code intervention steps, the other environmental impacts may increase due to the embodied materials, production, and upkeep of the upgrades, for example, the ozone depletion potential increased by nearly 800% compared to the baseline. Additionally, the energy-saving measures reduce building operating costs by about C$4,000, which is significantly less than the increased costs in other stages. However, this incremental cost does not always mitigate the effects of specific environmental impact categories. The findings will be of interest to building industry policymakers to develop more holistically sustainable building energy policies, allocating limited funds in a more cost-effective manner to reduce environmental impacts, instead of focusing solely on direct and temporary benefits.

Straw density board vs. conventional density board: Is straw density board more sustainable?

The widespread use of density boards in various industries has caused a series of environmental issues. The results of this study can inform policy-making and facilitate the sustainable development of density boards. The research focuses on the comparison between 1m3 conventional density board and 1m3 straw density board, with the system boundary defined as "from cradle to grave." Their life cycles are evaluated across three stages: manufacturing, utilization, and disposal. To facilitate environmental impact comparisons, the production stage was divided into four scenarios based on different power supply techniques. To identify the environmental break-even point (e-BEP), variable parameters for transport distance and service life were incorporated into the usage phase. The disposal stage evaluated the most prevalent disposal method (100 % incineration). Regardless of the power supply method, the total environmental impact of conventional density board throughout its life cycle is always higher than that of straw density board, owing to the large amount of electricity consumption and the utilization of urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin adhesives in the raw material stage of conventional density boards. During the production stage, while the conventional manufacture of density boards results in environmental impacts ranging from 57 % to 95 %, which surpasses those of straw-based alternatives at 44 % to 75 %, modifying the power supply technique can alleviate such impacts by 1 % to 54 % and 0 % to 7 %, respectively. Thus, altering the power supply technique can effectively mitigate the ecological footprint of conventional density boards. Moreover, when assuming a service life, the remaining eight environmental impact categories exhibit an e-BEP at or prior to 50 years, with the exception of the primary energy demand (PED) values. Based on the environmental impact results, relocating the plant to a more judicious geographical location would indirectly increase the break-even transport distance and consequently mitigate the environmental impact.

Environmental impact of the production process of washing, assorting and packaging fresh potatoes and measures to mitigate it

SummaryPotato is a tuber that, due to its great variety, is available in the markets all year round. Moreover, it is a widely consumed product worldwide on the account of its affordability and versatility. Therefore, studying it in depth is significant from not only a nutritional or economic point of view, but also for considering its potential environmental impact. In this paper, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) model is developed to assess the environmental impact of a model 5 kg bag of fresh washed potatoes. It considers all phases of potato processing, from the time the potato enters the facility until it leaves the gate (gate‐to‐gate LCA). The phase of the process with the greatest environmental impact is the cleaning and classification phase, mainly due to the significant consumption of water used in the cleaning process. The general consumption and storage phases are also relevant environmental impact phases to consider. In the case of these phases, the electricity consumption resulting from the operation of the facilities and product cooling is particularly noteworthy. After establishing the critical points, based on the environmental impact perspective, this paper proposes three measures to reduce the environmental impact of the process. The application of these three measures would reduce the environmental impact by 40% in environmental impact categories such as acidification or by 32% in the global warming category.

Environmental consequences of pig production scenarios using biomass from rotational grass-clover leys as feed

Production of pork based on monoculture cereal-based cropping systems causes substantial environmental pressures and feed-food competition. This study evaluated the environmental consequences of five different scenarios involving inclusion of rotational grass-clover leys and incorporation of grass-clover biomass in pig diets: (1) a conventional reference scenario without grass-clover biomass; (2) a conventional scenario with replacement of feed with grass-clover silage in a total mixed ration, i.e., with grass-clover biomass replacing other feed; (3) an organic scenario using grass-clover silage for enrichment purposes only; (4) an organic scenario using grass-clover silage for enrichment purposes and additional grass-clover leys for green manuring; and (5) an organic scenario using grass-clover silage and pasture to replace feed. The functional unit was 1 kg of pork slaughter weight and the system boundary was from cradle to farm gate. We used life cycle assessment, the introductory carbon balance method and human edible feed conversion efficiency to assess the performance of the pig production system. Introducing grass-clover biomass as a total mixed ration in conventional pig diets, reduced the climate impact (-17%), eutrophication (-7.1%), marine eutrophication (-15%), energy use (-13%), and feed-food competition (-20%) per kg of pork meat, while acidification (+2.7%) and land use (+1.5%) were slightly increased compared with the reference. The lower climate impact (without considering soil carbon change) was attributable to reduced fertilizer and diesel needs due to pre-crop effects. Overall, feeding grass-clover biomass decreased several environmental impact categories, feed-food competition and improved cereal-based cropping systems by the introduction of grass-clover leys.

업무용 건축물 LCA 분석을 통한 녹색건축 인증제도 개선방안 연구

In this study, a study was conducted to identify problems with the "building LCA" evaluation items in a domestic green building certification system(G-SEED), and to prepare improvement plans. To this end, domestic and foreign green building certification systems were compared, and the evaluation items of G-SEED were analyzed and LCA case studies were conducted for Business facilities buildings, and the results were analyzed. As a result of the case analysis, it was analyzed that each environmental load impact category affects the environment in the order of 48.5% global warming, 37.3% resource depletion, 5.8% photochemical oxide production, 4.7% human toxicity, 2.0% acidification, 1.1% eutrophication, 0.4% ecotoxicity, and 0.3% ozone layer destruction. In addition, improvement plans were presented through the results of case analysis.

Refining life cycle nutrient modeling in organic pig production. An analysis focusing on feeding strategies in organic Danish pig farming

Organic pig farming systems are associated with considerable ammonia losses, nitrate leaching in sow pasture concepts, and dependency on imported protein feed components, such as soybean cake. Furthermore, in environmental nutrient modeling approaches, there is a lack of data on emission factors and models that account for nutrient balances concerning organic production systems. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyze feeding strategies in organic pig farming by using refined nutrient modeling approaches.A cradle-to-farm-gate life cycle approach was used to analyze six feeding scenarios: reduced crude protein content in feed rations for sows (S1) and sows and fattening pigs (S3), alternative protein sources and reduced protein in feed rations for sows (S2) and sows and fattening pigs (S4), and reduced compound feed intake for sows (S5) and sows and fattening pigs (S6). Danish average production data were collected and specific data regarding organic production (N content in manure, emission factors for ammonia for the paddock and housing) were identified. Six sub-systems (paddocks with sows and piglets on grass-clover, weaners, fattening pigs, feed, manure, and manufacturing of inputs) were considered and balanced out. Five environmental impact categories, climate change (including soil carbon changes), eutrophication potential, acidification potential, abiotic depletion of fossil fuels, and land occupation, were assessed.It was found that the feeding strategies had considerably higher effects when including both sows and fattening pigs compared to only including sows. The highest reductions for most of the analyzed environmental impacts (13% for eutrophication and acidification, 11% for climate change, and 8% for land occupation) were estimated due to reduced amount of compound feed to both sows and fattening pigs (S6). For abiotic depletion of fossil fuels, a decrease of 33% was determined by the use of locally grown protein sources (S4), which decreased the contribution of transportation. In terms of methodological refinements, an approach for nutrient modeling at the paddock level, where crop rotation and associated effects were also considered, was identified. Furthermore, adapted emission factors for indoor housing with access to outdoor runs were suggested.

A comparative life cycle assessment of two desiccant wheel dehumidifiers for industrial applications

Desiccant wheel dehumidification technology is essential within industrial applications to maintain indoor humidity levels and provide low dew points. While the need for desiccant wheel dehumidification has increased in several industrial sectors, it is still an energy-intensive method undergoing rapid technological development. The lack of comprehensive life cycle assessment studies and recently introduced taxonomy by the European Union (EU) prompt the urgency of evaluating the environmental impacts of dehumidification systems. This study performs a comparative life cycle assessment for two desiccant wheel dehumidifiers for industrial applications. We identify the key influencing factors of selected environmental impact categories, e.g., climate change, ozone depletion, and fine particulate matter formation. The study reveals that the usage phase contributes the most, varying between 65% and 99% of the overall impact in all categories, with electricity consumption as the key driver. The cradle-to-gate stage, which shows the second biggest impact (up to 26%), has its most significant share in fine particulate matter formation. The end-of-life (disposal) contributions are insignificant, with an average impact of less than 1%. The scaling factor, operational hours of the systems, the target supply humidity, and the climatic data are the critical parameters for environmental performance. Potential for improvement is seen for an increased recycled content during the cradle-to-gate stage to reduce the impact from raw material inputs and the integration of sustainable energy technology as well as the connection of the systems to energy-efficient equipment during the operational phase. The study could serve as an example on how the EU Taxonomy can be applied for investigating the environmental sustainability of dehumidification systems.

Incorporation of main line impact into life cycle assessment of nutrient recovery from reject water using novel membrane contactor technology

Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) nutrient recovery has recently gained traction in the search for new pathways for fertilizer production. In particular, concentrated waste streams such as reject water from sludge digestion are suitable. The environmental impact of a novel nutrient recovery technology using a membrane contactor (NPHarvest) was examined with an environmental life cycle assessment (LCA). Impact hotspots were benchmarked against a comparable technology (struvite precipitation and ammonia stripping), and the impacts of the two technologies were found to be similar for most studied environmental impact categories. To allow for the inclusion of effects on other parts of the WWTP while limiting the general system boundaries to the reject water treatment, a novel approach to capture the main line impact was developed. The effects on the main line contributed substantially to the overall results. The overall results indicated clear nutrient recovery benefits related to substituted materials in mineral fertilizer production. Additionally, reject water nutrient recovery provided even greater benefits due to reduced N2O emissions and the reduced use of precipitation chemicals in the WWTP main line. Nonetheless, both nutrient removal and recovery were necessary for the two technologies to reach a net zero climate impact in their current pilot scales. Further development of the NPHarvest technology—such as mitigating NH3 emissions, exploring alternative input chemicals and optimizing energy consumption (especially for crystallizing the ammonium salt solution that is produced)—is recommended before full-scale implementation.

Evaluating the absolute eco-efficiency of food products: A case study of rice in Pakistan

Eco-efficiency is a quantitative management tool that has widely been used to evaluate the life cycle impacts of a product system along with its value to the stakeholders. However, the existing eco-efficiency assessment approaches are relative in nature and unable to address the growing environmental challenges. Therefore, this study is aimed at developing a novel approach using absolute eco-efficiency based on the absolute sustainability concept which attempts to align the environmental impacts with the Earth's carrying capacity. An absolute eco-efficiency framework is developed based on the planetary boundary-based life cycle assessment and calorific intake considering the healthy diet reference. A case study from food sector is considered because food production is already putting enormous pressure on ecosystems. All the analyzed scenarios of rice production in Pakistan could not meet the reference eco-efficiency targets for most of the environmental impact categories. Therefore, it was inferred that the consumption and production of rice in Pakistan is contributing to an increase in the triple planetary crisis, viz., global warming, biodiversity loss, and unsustainable use of one of the scarce resources. Recommendations were made to reduce the environmental impacts of rice within limits as well as to analyze the other food products and management practices to promote the sustainable foods and to avoid the unnecessary exploitation of resources.

Consequential Life Cycle Assessment of Grain and Oilseed Crops: Review and Recommendations

The field crop industry in Canada is a source of both significant economic benefits and environmental impacts. Environmental impacts include land and energy use, as well as greenhouse gas (GHG) and other emissions. Impacts also accrue upstream of the field in the product supply chain, from the production of such inputs as fertilizers and pesticides. There are currently two types of environmental life cycle assessment (LCA)—attributional LCA (ALCA) and consequential LCA (CLCA)—that may be used to study the life cycle impacts of products such as field crops. ALCA is a retrospective methodology that presents a snapshot of average, “status quo” conditions. CLCA is a prospective methodology that presents the potential implications of changes in a product system, including any associated market-mediated changes in supply or demand in other product systems. Thus, CLCAs can be used to assess large-scale changes in the field crop industry, including its relationship to other sectors and processes, such as the production of biofuel or of food for both human and animal consumption. The aim of this paper is to review and curate the knowledge derived through published CLCA studies that assessed the impacts of changes to field crop production systems on the life cycle resource use and emissions associated with the agricultural products, with a focus on their relevance to temperate climate conditions. The current study also highlights how previous studies, including ALCAs and farm management recommendations, can be used to inform the changes that should be studied using CLCA. The main challenges to conducting CLCAs include identifying the system boundaries, marginal products and processes that would be impacted by changes to field crop production. Marginal markets and product systems to include can be determined using economic equilibrium models, or information from local experts and industry reports. In order to conduct ISO-compliant CLCAs, it is necessary to include multiple relevant environmental impact categories, and to perform robust data quality and uncertainty analyses.

Optimizing supplementary cementitious material replacement to minimize the environmental impacts of concrete

With growing environmental consequences from material consumption, there is increased urgency to decarbonize the production of materials we consume frequently, including concrete. It is common to use supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) to limit the clinker content of Portland cement and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in concrete production. However, over-utilization of SCMs can degrade material performance and increase other environmental impacts. Here we derive quantitative methods to determine the optimal SCM to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) ratio (s/c) for 7 different SCMs to minimize 11 environmental impact categories while maintaining compressive strength. We find that optimal replacement levels are heavily dependent on the SCM. Notably, lower s/c in many cases lowered emissions (e.g., s/c of 0.17 kg/kg for limestone leads to ∼1.6x lower GHG emissions than a s/c of 0.42 kg/kg in 30 MPa concrete). This work demonstrates a systematic means to effectively utilize limited SCM resources to mitigate environmental impacts from concrete production.

Life cycle assessment of potential environmental burden and human capital loss caused by apple production system in China

As one of the representative fruits of China, apple plays an important role in the overall agricultural production system. However, the large amount of chemical inputs in apple production has potential detrimental impacts on the environment and human health, and thus threatens the achievement of sustainable development goals. Therefore, a comprehensive evaluation of the environmental burden (EB) and human capital (refer to human lives) loss (HCL) caused by apple production system (APS) is urgently needed to suggest directions for improvement. A method widely used to measure impacts from both the use of resources and the emissions generated in the agriculture sector is the life cycle assessment (LCA). In this study, the EB and HCL caused by the APS have been determined from two phases using the LCA methodology in China. The results show that the leading cause of EB in the agricultural materials' production phase is nitrogen fertilizer (N) production, and in the farming phase is chemical fertilizer use. The top 5 major pollutants that cause potential damage to human health in APS are carbon dioxide (CO2), ammonia (NH3), nitrogen dioxide (N2O), nitrate (NO3), and sulfur oxides (SOx). The human health risk (HHR) is 5.84 × 10-2 disability-adjusted life year to cultivate 1ha of the apple orchard 1year, and the corresponding HCL is about 4230 Chinese yuan (CNY). Under the scenario analysis of a 15% reduction in chemical fertilizer use and a 20% increase in organic fertilizer (mainly dried sheep dung) use, most of the environmental impact categories have a decreasing trend, and the HCL decreased by 438 CNY of 10.36%. Therefore, chemical fertilizer (especially N) is the most critical environmental hotspot in APS, and our results suggest that the replacement of chemical fertilizers by organic fertilizers is an effective solution to reduce the potential EB and HCL and improve the sustainability of the APS.

A comprehensive environmental assessment of beef production and consumption in the United States

Life cycle assessments of have been completed documenting the environmental sustainability of beef, but these studies have often focused on specific cattle production systems with an emphasis on global warming potential. A need exists for a national-scale full life cycle assessment of beef production through consumption in the United States. Process level simulation of archetypical cattle production systems throughout the nation were combined with information gathered for harvest, processing, retail, and consumption of beef to provide inventory data for a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment. A set of 18 environmental impact categories were quantified, and important sources of each were identified. In 13 of the categories, the major sources of impact were related to cattle production, and for 10 of these categories, cattle production and related upstream sources contributed more than half of the total impact. These categories were fine particulate matter, global warming, land use, mineral resource scarcity, ozone formation, stratospheric ozone depletion, terrestrial acidification, and water consumption. Categories where most of the impact occurred post farmgate were fossil resource scarcity, freshwater ecotoxicity, freshwater eutrophication, human carcinogenic toxicity, human non-carcinogenic toxicity, ionizing radiation, marine ecotoxicity, and terrestrial ecotoxicity. Mitigation strategies for reducing these environmental impacts are normally specific to the impact category. Because electricity use is an important contributor to many of the potential impacts throughout the full chain, reducing electricity use is an important mitigation strategy. We evaluated the sensitivity associated with greening of the electric grid in which the Northeast US power grid, which has a larger percentage of renewables, was used as the source of electricity for all systems. The impact remained constant or were reduced in 15 of the 18 impact categories including a 6% reduction in global warming and 22% reduction in particulate matter formation. Another major contributor to all impact categories was food loss and waste. A 50% reduction in food waste, primarily by the consumer, resulted in an across-the-board reduction of approximately 11% in each of the impact categories, which makes food waste reduction one of the most important strategies for improving the environmental sustainability of beef. This assessment provides a current baseline for evaluating mitigation strategies and measuring future improvements in sustainability for the U.S. beef industry.

Environmental assessment of greenhouse herb production: A case of longitudinal improvement options in Sweden

The greenhouse sector has seen many advances to improve its resource demands, though little is known of the environmental impacts. This study aims to assess the environmental performance of a horticultural greenhouse in Sweden producing herbs. Life cycle assessment is employed to analyze different scenarios. These include previous measures, such as switching to organic fertilizers, a pellet burner, and reducing the packaging weight. Future scenarios are assessed, including increasing biofueled logistics, switching to LEDs, densifying production, and including recyclable packaging. The results suggest that GHG emissions were reduced by 32% per kg edible portion through past scenarios in current scenario. Additionally, densifying production and switching to LED lighting can lead to an additional 14% and 10% reduction in GHG emissions compared to the current system respectively, while also reducing other environmental impact categories. These results provide insights into the implications of environmental and resource improvement measures taken at greenhouses.

Life Cycle Assessment of River Sand and Aggregates Alternatives in Concrete.

Urbanization processes in Asia are still ongoing; thus, aggregate demand is expected to increase in following years. Even though construction and demolition waste is a source for secondary building materials in industrialized countries, it is not yet an alternative construction material source in Vietnam as the urbanization process is still ongoing. Thus, there is a need for river sand and aggregates alternatives in concrete, namely manufactured sand (m-sand) from primary solid rock materials and secondary waste materials. The focus in the present study for Vietnam was on m-sand sand as alternative for river sand, and different ashes as alternatives for cement in concrete. The investigations comprised concrete lab tests according to the formulations of concrete strength class C 25/30 in accordance with DIN EN 206, followed by a lifecycle assessment study in order to identify the environmental impact of the alternatives. In total 84 samples were investigated, consisting of 3 reference samples, 18 samples with primary substitutes, 18 samples with secondary substitutes, and 45 samples with cement substitutes. This kind of holistic investigation approach comprising material alternatives and accompanying LCA was the first study for Vietnam, and even for Asia, and represents a substantial added value for future policy development in order to cope with resource scarcity. The results show that with the exception of metamorphic rocks, all m-sands meet the requirements for quality concrete. In terms of cement replacement, the mixes showed that a higher percentage of ash reduces the compressive strength. The compressive strength values of the mixes with up to 10% coal filter ash or rice husk ash were equivalent to the C25/30 standard concrete formulation. Higher ash contents up to 30% lead to the reduction of the concrete quality. The LCA study's results highlighted the better environmental footprints across environmental impact categories in the 10% substitution material in comparison to the use of primary materials. The LCA analysis results showed that cement as a component in concrete holds the highest footprint. The use of secondary waste as alternative for cement provides significant environmental advantage.

Comparative sustainability assessment of lithium-ion, lithium-sulfur, and all-solid-state traction batteries

PurposeTraction batteries are a key component for the performance and cost of electric vehicles. While they enable emission-free driving, their supply chains are associated with environmental and socio-economic impacts. Hence, the advancement of batteries increasingly focuses on sustainability next to technical performance. However, due to different system definitions, comparing the results of sustainability assessments is difficult. Therefore, a sustainability assessment of different batteries on a common basis considering the three sustainability dimensions is needed.MethodsThis paper investigates the sustainability of current and prospective traction battery technologies for electric vehicles. It provides a common base for the comparison of the predominant lithium-ion batteries with new technologies such as lithium-sulfur and all-solid-state batteries regarding the environmental and socio-economic impacts in their supply chain. A life cycle sustainability assessment of ten battery types is carried out using a cradle-to-gate perspective and consistent system boundaries. Four environmental impact categories (climate change, human toxicity, mineral resource depletion, photochemical oxidant formation), one economic performance indicator (total battery cost), and three social risk categories (child labor, corruption, forced labor) are analyzed.ResultsThe assessment results indicate that the new battery technologies are not only favorable in terms of technical performance but also have the potential to reduce environmental impacts, costs, and social risks. This holds particularly for the lithium-sulfur battery with solid electrolyte. The environmental benefits are even amplified with a higher share of renewable energy for component and battery production. Nevertheless, hotspots related to the high energy demand of production and the supply chain of the active materials remain.ConclusionsThis article emphasizes the need to evaluate different battery technologies on a common basis to ensure comparability of the results and to derive reliable recommendations. The results indicate that the lithium-sulfur battery with solid electrolyte is preferable since this battery has the best indicator scores for all impact categories investigated. However, all-solid-state batteries are still under development so that no conclusive recommendation can be made, but further development of these battery technologies appears promising.

Life Cycle Assessment of Post-Combustion CO2 Capture and Recovery by Hydrophobic Polypropylene Cross-Flow Hollow Fiber Membrane Contactors with Activated Methyldiethanolamine

The present study evaluated the environmental impacts of post-combustion CO2 capture and recovery via membrane–gas absorption processes. We have used SimaPro v.9 packages with the Ecoinvent v3.5 database employing two different methods, ReCiPe 2016 Endpoint (H) and Midpoint (H), considering a fundamental methodological framework to determine the most environmentally friendly experimental condition. Life cycle impact categories were examined and assessed supposing a functional unit of 1 kgCO2/h recovered. Fourteen environmental impact categories including global warming, ozone depletion, eutrophication, and toxicity potentials have been evaluated within the context of a gate-to-gate approach focusing on only the process stage. Simulation results showed that the maximum liquid flow rate, sweep helium flow rate together with the minimum solvent concentration demonstrated the highest impact on human health, ecosystem, and resources. The usage of pure methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) activated by piperazine as a reactive absorbent provided the lowest environmental impact due to the elimination of the energy needed to heat and evaporate water present in aqueous absorbent solutions and the prevention of the excess water consumption depending on meeting the water needed for reactive absorption of CO2 in tertiary amine MDEA from simulated humidified flue gas stream. The study highlights the importance of LCA in the determination of an environmentally more sustainable condition during the capture and recovery of post-combustion CO2 by gas absorption and stripping using membrane contactors in tertiary amine MDEA.