Carbon Footprint Evaluation Research Articles

Impacts of highway construction and operation on carbon footprint in China: A case study of Jiangsu Province

Transportation sector has been one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas in China and the world. Highway has been one of the vital means of transport in China, which is significantly beneficial to promote economic development, energy saving, and carbon mitigation. This study investigates the ecological value of highway at regional scale by developing carbon footprint evaluation system of highway, based on expert knowledge and by focusing on the Jiangsu Province of China. Different parts of carbon footprint (CF) are estimated by five indicators, including carbon footprint of construction, carbon footprint of management, carbon footprint of driving, carbon footprint of traffic condition change, and carbon footprint of land use and cover change. The characteristics of and spatial and temporal change in the total carbon footprint for nine trunk highways in Jiangsu Province from 2000 to 2050 were analyzed, and the key factors impacting the recovery period of carbon (RC) of the highways were identified. The results show that an overall condition of CF of highways in Jiangsu Province is helpful to reduce CO2 emissions and recover their carbon emissions in 2031. G25 has the highest value in ecology, whereas G15 has the lowest at the individual level. This study also demonstrates that traffic demand is the fundamental determinant of RC and there is synchronization between RC and recovery period of investment (RI). These findings are helpful for policy makers in mitigating carbon emissions in planning and construction of highway. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 35: 1468–1475, 2016

PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF WATER TREATMENT PROCESS

Urban water cycle, managing water supply, distribution, potabilization and wastewater treatment, comprehensively involve a considerable consumption of chemicals and energy. This study proposes an overview of the factors contributing to the environmental impact of Water Treatment (WT) process. The approach is based on the evaluation of Carbon Footprint, the environmental indicator able to relate direct and indirect emissions generated by any process in terms of CO2 equivalents. Energy consumption and utilization of chemicals in a potabilization treatment are strictly depending on several issues, mainly the geographic area of the water system, the original quality of raw resource and the required standards for drinking water. The results of the study show that WT processes have a low environmental impact in comparison with other activities of production. Anyway the emphasis is on reducing the quantities of employed chemicals and on improving energy efficiency. The load of WT, in comparison with other public services, is in fact a chief aspect in the right evaluation of any possible improvement of the overall environmental balance of a metropolitan area.

Optimal Configuration Algorithm for Mechanical Products Based on the Constraint of Carbon Footprint

The concept of carbon footprint controllable product is proposed to assess carbon footprint during the stage of product development and configuration. It’s different from carbon footprint assessment afterwards. As a result, the control objectives can be quantified accurately and realized easily. Relations among product characteristics, which include carbon footprint, are uncertain. In order to obtain the optimal product configuration scheme based on constraint of carbon footprint, three-stage theory is proposed. These three stages refer to functional configuration, compliance evaluation of carbon footprint, and optimal comprehensive evaluation. Using this theory, functional feasible solution set, carbon footprint conforming set and the optimal scheme are generated respectively. Grey relation analysis is verified as an effective method for comprehensive benefit evaluation. Reducer design is used as a case study to illustrate the proposed concept.

A Study of Carbon Footprint Evaluation at PP-R Pipe Based on Life Cycle Assessment

At present, the global warming has drew people`s attention to the emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO2, the essence of which is worrying about the more and more carbon emissions. PP-R pipe has been widely used in production and livelihood, so evaluating the carbon footprint of PP-R pipe is very necessary. This paper evaluated the carbon footprint of PP-R pipe from the production of raw materials to waste disposal, based on the life cycle assessment. The result of the study is that, in the life cycle of PP-R pipe 74.02% of the total carbon emissions come from the production of raw materials. But if using reclaimed materials to replace the total carbon emissions would reduce 52.90%. So an innovative technology of PP-R raw materials producing and using more reclaimed materials are the keys to cut down the carbon emissions of PP-R pipe.

Carbon Footprint Assessment Methods of Wood Furniture Based on LCA

Based on life cycle assessment, develop carbon footprint assessment methods of wood furniture. By setting of wood furniture carbon footprint evaluation objectives, system boundary, process diagram mapping, data collection and basic formula, calculated the carbon footprint of wood furniture.

Carbon Footprint Evaluation and Reduction as a Climate Change Mitigation Tool – Case Study of Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria

Since the knowledge of carbon footprint evaluation, co-operations have since been striving to set an example of environmental responsibility by establishing environmentally sound policies and practices, and by developing curricula and research initiatives to support an environmentally sustainable future. One of the most recent efforts in this quest was the urge to create awareness and evaluate carbon footprint for the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB) for the period August 2011 to July 2012. It stressed the need to conduct a detailed and comprehensive carbon footprint analysis for the whole University. The aim of this analysis was to determine the carbon footprint of FUNAAB, not only to give a tangible number with which the University’s carbon sustainability level can be compared with other academic institutions, but also to provide the much-needed baseline against which future mitigation efforts on the university campus can be measured. In this paper, boundary conditions were set out to identify the various emission sources on campuses using international standards like the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission factor. Using a genuinely analytical questionnaire, surveys, and interviews, data on the various emission sources were collected. The data collected was analyzed and used for the calculation of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in FUNAAB using the appropriate emission factors from Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) guidelines and GHG emission data respectively. FUNAAB’s carbon footprint for the 2011/2012 session was found to be about 5,935 tons CO2, with transportation, campus energy consumption and farm machineries contributing about 63%, 35% and 2% respectively. Staff and student commuting alone contribute about 55% of all the emissions associated with University activities. FUNAAB’s per-capita emissions with a total of about 10,256 students for the 2011/2012 session amount to about 0.6 tons CO2 emissions per student. By this study, FUNAAB contributes a total of 5,935 tons of CO2 for all emissions released into the atmosphere yearly. These CO2 emissions contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer causing Greenhouse effects and global warming. FUNAAB can reduce her carbon footprint by introducing green energy sources such as solar energy in place of the standby diesel generators that contributes an estimated 84 tons of CO2 monthly. In addition, transportation emissions can be reduced by implementing a transportation routine programme to reduce the amount of cars that commute to the University daily. The period of study covers August 2011 to July 2012.

Evaluation of Carbon Offsets and Carbon Footprint through Environmental Assessment of Waterless Printing

Evaluation of Carbon Offsets and Carbon Footprint through Environmental Assessment of Waterless Printing

Evaluation of Carbon Footprint of Bioplastic Straw Compared to Petroleum based Straw Products

This research aimed to compare the carbon footprint between bioplastic straws (PBS/PLA 65/35 and PBS/PLA 70/30 blends) and PP straws through the life cycle. PP straws were prepared by straw extruder and flexible straw bending machine, whereas bioplastic straws involved one additional compounding process; twin screw extrusion. Morphology of blends was investigated by SEM and demonstrated compatibility between PBS and PLA. Young's modulus and tensile stress at break of both blends were similar to PP properties, whereas % elongation at break was around 6 – 9%. The melt flow indexes were about 5 – 7g/10min. Carbon footprint of bioplastic straws and PP straws are carried out by life cycle assessment (LCA) typed business to consumer model (B2C). This method estimated the total emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) in carbon equivalents per 1kg weight of product through their life cycles, from raw material, transportation, manufacturing, and disposals of finished products. The results showed that the carbon footprint of bioplastic straws was higher than that of PP straws because of more wastes from manufacturing. However, if these wastes can be reduced, the carbon footprint of PBS/PLA straws would be less than carbon footprint of PP straws. The statistical analysisd was performed using electrical energy collected from straw extruder as data. The electrical energy was used in the production of bioplastic straws were less than that of PP straws.

Environmental and economic assessment of fresh fruit supply chain through value chain analysis. A case study in chestnuts industry

In recent years, both researches and practitioners have devoted attention to environmental sustainability of supply chain (SC), while firms have modified their marketing strategies highlighting green practices in productive and logistic processes among the features of their products. These behaviours move firms to require to their suppliers the adoption of green measures and practices to reduce environmental impacts within the entire SC. This paper presents the results on an exploratory case-based research on the SC of fresh chestnuts aimed to integrate environmental concepts in the value chain approach, with a concurrent evaluation of sustainability improvements and their economic impact. Within the value chain configuration, environmental KPIs are defined for the specific case study and a logistic environmental model is developed. Within the model, an evaluation of carbon footprint for this SC is proposed, along with its possible improvements. Results include the analysis of different improvement scenarios and their comparison.

Carbon footprint model for evaluating the global warming impact of food transport refrigeration systems

Abstract This paper presents a model for assessing the carbon footprint of food transport refrigeration systems. The model considers all the impacts of the refrigerators and refrigerants in each process, including production, transport, use, repair and recycling, on greenhouse gas emissions expressed as the CO2 equivalent emissions in total. The carbon footprint can be divided into direct emissions which are the greenhouse effect caused by various greenhouse gas emissions and leakage in each process, and indirect emissions which are the CO2 equivalent emissions due to the energy consumption in each process. This model was used to evaluate the carbon footprint of food transport refrigeration systems with three refrigerants, R404A and the environmentally benign refrigerants R744 (CO2) and R410A for various ambient temperatures, refrigeration temperatures, lifetimes and refrigerator drive modes. The results show that the carbon footprint of food transport refrigeration systems with R404A is larger than for R744 and R410A. Although the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of R744 is the lowest, the carbon footprint of food transport refrigeration systems with R744 is not always the smallest, but may exceed that of R410A in high temperature areas. The CO2 emissions caused by the energy consumption are a large part of the total CO2 emissions, with the energy consumption to power the refrigerator and to carry the refrigeration unit weight resulting in the largest proportions; thus increasing the coefficient of performance (COP) of the refrigerator and the efficiencies of other equipments can significantly reduce the energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Higher ambient temperatures and lower refrigeration temperatures lead to more CO2 emissions. Refrigerators driven by auxiliary engines have higher CO2 emissions than refrigeration systems driven by the main vehicle engine or electricity. The carbon footprint evaluation model developed in this paper can also be used to evaluate the carbon footprint of mobile air conditioning and other systems.

Carbon footprint evaluation at industrial park level: A hybrid life cycle assessment approach

Industrial parks have become the effective strategies for government to promote sustainable economic development due to the following advantages: shared infrastructure and concentrated industrial activities within planned areas. However, due to intensive energy consumption and dependence on fossil fuels, industrial parks have become the main areas for greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, it is critical to quantify their carbon footprints so that appropriate emission reduction policies can be raised. The objective of this paper is to seek an appropriate method on evaluating the carbon footprint of one industrial park. The tiered hybrid LCA method was selected due to its advantages over other methods. Shenyang Economic and Technological Development Zone (SETDZ), a typical comprehensive industrial park in China, was chosen as a case study park. The results show that the total life cycle carbon footprint of SETDZ was 15.29Mt, including 6.81Mt onsite (direct) carbon footprint, 8.47Mt upstream carbon footprint, and only 3201t downstream carbon footprint. Analysis from industrial sector perspectives shows that chemical industry and manufacture of general purpose machinery and special purposes machinery sector were the two largest sectors for life cycle carbon footprint. Such a sector analysis may be useful for investigation of appropriate emission reduction policies.

Sensitivity analysis of methodological choices in road pavement LCA

Purpose There are methodological questions concerning life cycle assessment (LCA) and carbon footprint evaluation of road pavements, including allocation among co-products or at end-of-life (EOL) recycling. While the development and adoption of a standard methodology for road pavement LCA would assist in transparency and decision making, the impact of the chosen method on the results has not yet been fully explored.