Integrated Life Cycle Approach Research Articles

Hydrogen Utilization in the Sustainable Manufacture of CO2-Based Methanol

Production of alternative CO2-based products may play a major role in decoupling fossil resources to the economy’s needs. CO2 hydrogenation is one of the most readily operational CO2 conversion pathways to produce chemicals. Beyond this, electrochemical, photoelectrochemical, and photochemical CO2 conversion routes have gained attention as long-term direct conversion routes. This work analyzes under what conditions H2 could be a sustainable intermediate vector in producing renewable hydrogen-based methanol (hMeOH) and compares it with the fossil-based (fMeOH) and the emerging electrochemical-based (eMeOH) routes. The technological and exogenous drivers are identified, and the trade-offs between alternatives are assessed under an integrated life cycle approach. The deployment of low carbon hMeOH is locally conditioned to use electricity with carbon intensities of 150 kg of CO2e/MWh or lower. Higher electrolysis efficiency (>70%) and product concentration (>40 wt %) are needed in the eMeOH route to be competitive with the H2-based path. Substitution of fMeOH by wind-powered hMeOH could avoid substantial CO2 emissions (−1.57 kg of CO2e/kg) and fossil resources (−0.61 kg of oileq/kg) but at the cost of almost triple the impact of land use.

A combined framework for the life cycle assessment and costing of food waste prevention and valorization: an application to school canteens

About one third of global edible food is lost or wasted along the supply chain, causing the wastage of embedded natural and economic resources. Life cycle methodologies can be applied to identify sustainable and viable prevention and valorization routes needed to prevent such inefficiencies. However, no systemic approach has been developed so far to guide practitioners and stakeholders. Specifically, the goal and scoping phase (e.g. problem assessed or system function) can be characterized by a large flexibility, and the comparability between food waste scenarios could be not ensured. Within the Horizon2020 project Resource Efficient Food and dRink for the Entire Supply cHain, this study aimed to provide practitioners with guidance on how to combine life cycle assessment and environmental life cycle costing in the context of food waste. Recent literature was reviewed to identify relevant methodological aspects, possible commonly adopted approaches, main differences among studies and standards and protocols, main challenges, and knowledge gaps. Basing on this review, an analytical framework with a set of recommendations was developed encompassing different assessment situations. The framework intends to provide a step by step guidance for food waste practitioners, and it is composed of a preliminary section on study purpose definition, three decision trees—respectively on assessment situation(s), costing approach, and type of study (footprint vs. intervention)—and two sets of recommendations. Recommendations can be applied to all levels of the food waste hierarchy, stating a generic order of preference for handling food chain side flows. This consistent and integrated life cycle approach should ensure a better understanding of the impact of specific interventions, thus supporting informed private and public decision making and promoting the design of sustainable and cost-efficient interventions and a more efficient food supply chains.

Environmental evaluation of pareto optimal renovation strategies: a multidimensional life-cycle analysis

The substantial contribution of buildings in the energy consumption and emissions renders the existing building stock a key element to tackle the climate crisis. Consequently, defining a deliberate decision-making process gains importance. Decisions are currently often based on building codes, budget, and in the best case Pareto optimality of the energy performance and the net present value of the life-cycle cost. The growing attention to sustainability, however, raises questions about the effect of environmental considerations on the outcome of the Pareto optimal solutions. This study quantifies the effect of including the environmental aspect as a third dimension to the current evaluation approach. Therefore, the most appropriate renovation measures are selected using a multidimensional Pareto optimization. The method is applied to a residential high-rise building in Belgium. Firstly, the Pareto front is constituted based on life-cycle costing and life-cycle assessment separately. Subsequently, the respective results are combined into an integrated life cycle approach by enumerating the LCA results as an external cost to the LCC results. The results show that the Pareto optimal solutions from a financial and environmental perspective do not coincide. Although the financial aspect dominates, adding the environmental cost eliminates low-performant financial optima, leading to optimal solutions with a larger insulation thickness.

Development of index system for inherently safer process design using an integrated approach

Abstract With a growing population, an increasing number of petrochemical facilities are built with larger capacity and more complexity, which pose a great risk to assets, community and environment. The value of inherently safer design is recognized with time by all stakeholders, and an effective tool is needed to evaluate and compare inherent safety of alternative technologies. This study developed a safety index to evaluate existing technologies for their safety levels and guide inherently safer design. The Integrated Risk-based Safety Index (IRSI) was developed based on a comprehensive review of petrochemical processes, incident cases from Sinopec and US Chemical Safety Board, and existing safety index systems. The IRSI included all major hazards, including fire, explosion, toxic release, dust explosion, physical explosion, and runaway. Also, the integrated life cycle approach considered chemical hazards, equipment failure rates and safety measures in this risk-based index. Advanced modeling techniques, PHAST simulation and Neural Network, were used in the development of three novel sub-indices in the projects, fire, explosion and toxic release. The index system could be easily incorporated into a user friendly tool for the ease of application. A case study of hydrogen dioxide was conducted using the IRSI, which showed its capability for evaluating the safety level of process facilities.

A design tool to assess the heating energy demand and the associated financial and environmental impact in neighbourhoods

During the master planning of neighbourhoods, design decisions related to the urban layout and typology affect the building form and availability of solar radiation considerably. The influence of those decisions on the energy demand for heating is often neglected however because appropriate energy simulation tools are lacking.This paper proposes a simple and accurate design tool to assess the solar gains and heating energy demand in buildings during the master planning phase of neighbourhoods. Detailed information on building geometry, constituting building elements and solar obstructions, is extracted from a 3D neighbourhood model using a plugin implemented in the modelling software SketchUp. This information is used to assess the heating energy demand of the buildings in the neighbourhood based on the dynamic Equivalent Heating Degree Day (dEHDD) method. Furthermore, the associated financial and environmental impacts are calculated based on an integrated life cycle approach, combining Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (E-LCA) respectively. The design tool proposed is implemented for the Belgian context and used to analyse a number of schematic residential neighbourhood models with diverse built densities. The analysis reveals substantial differences in heating energy demand, life cycle financial and environmental costs. Neighbourhoods with a high built density and compact building types have a lower heating energy demand with potential reductions of up to 40% compared to neighbourhoods with a low built density and detached building types.

The Nexus Between Nutrition and Early Childhood Development.

This article looks at both nutrition and early childhood stimulation interventions as part of an integrated life cycle approach to development. We build on recent systematic reviews of child development, which are comprehensive in regard to what is currently known about outcomes reported in key studies. We then focus particularly on implementation, scaling, and economic returns, drawing mainly on experience in low- and middle-income countries where undernutrition and poor child development remain significant public health challenges with implications across the life course.

Assessing the greenhouse gas emissions of Brazilian soybean biodiesel production.

Soybean biodiesel (B100) has been playing an important role in Brazilian energy matrix towards the national bio-based economy. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is the most widely used indicator for assessing the environmental sustainability of biodiesels and received particular attention among decision makers in business and politics, as well as consumers. Former studies have been mainly focused on the GHG emissions from the soybean cultivation, excluding other stages of the biodiesel production. Here, we present a holistic view of the total GHG emissions in four life cycle stages for soybean biodiesel. The aim of this study was to assess the GHG emissions of Brazilian soybean biodiesel production system with an integrated life cycle approach of four stages: agriculture, extraction, production and distribution. Allocation of mass and energy was applied and special attention was paid to the integrated and non-integrated industrial production chain. The results indicated that the largest source of GHG emissions, among four life cycle stages, is the agricultural stage (42–51%) for B100 produced in integrated systems and the production stage (46–52%) for B100 produced in non-integrated systems. Integration of industrial units resulted in significant reduction in life cycle GHG emissions. Without the consideration of LUC and assuming biogenic CO2 emissions is carbon neutral in our study, the calculated life cycle GHG emissions for domestic soybean biodiesel varied from 23.1 to 25.8 gCO2eq. MJ-1 B100 and those for soybean biodiesel exported to EU ranged from 26.5 to 29.2 gCO2eq. MJ-1 B100, which represent reductions by 65% up to 72% (depending on the delivery route) of GHG emissions compared with the EU benchmark for diesel fuel. Our findings from a life cycle perspective contributed to identify the major GHG sources in Brazilian soybean biodiesel production system and they can be used to guide mitigation priority for policy and decision-making. Projected scenarios in this study would be taken as references for accounting the environmental sustainability of soybean biodiesel within a domestic and global level.

Life cycle assessment and life cycle costing of road infrastructure in residential neighbourhoods

The built environment consists of a huge amount of infrastructure, such as roads and utilities. The objective of this paper is to assess the life cycle financial and environmental impact of road infrastructure in residential neighbourhoods and to analyse the relative contribution of road infrastructure in the total impact of neighbourhoods. Various road sections are analysed based on an integrated life cycle approach, combining life cycle costing and life cycle assessment. To deal with complexity, a hierarchic assessment structure, using the principles of the “element method for cost control”, is implemented. Four neighbourhood models with diverse built densities are compared to gain insight in the relative impact of road infrastructure in neighbourhoods. The results reveal important financial and environmental impact differences between the road sections analysed. Main contributors to the life cycle financial and environmental impact are the surface layer and electrical and piped services. The contribution of road infrastructure to the total neighbourhood impact, ranging from 2 to 9 % of the total cost, is relatively limited, compared to buildings, but not negligible in low built density neighbourhoods. Good spatial planning of the neighbourhood is recommended to reduce the amount of road infrastructure and the related financial and environmental impact. The priority should be to design denser neighbourhood layouts, before decreasing the financial and environmental impact of the road sections.

Energy efficiency of urban transportation system in Xiamen, China. An integrated approach

An integrated life cycle approach framework, including material flow analysis (MFA), Cumulative Energy Demand (CED), exergy analysis (EXA), Emergy Assessment (EMA), and emissions (EMI) has been constructed and applied to examine the energy efficiency of high speed urban bus transportation systems compared to conventional bus transport in the city of Xiamen, Fujian province, China. This paper explores the consistency of the results achieved by means of several evaluation methods, and explores the sustainability of innovation in urban public transportation systems. The case study dealt with in this paper is a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system compared to Normal Bus Transit (NBT). All the analyses have been performed based on a common yearly database of natural resources, material, labor, energy and fuel input flows used in all life cycle phases (resource extraction, processing and manufacturing, use and end of life) of the infrastructure, vehicle and vehicle fuel. Cumulative energy, material and environmental support demands of transport are accounted for. Selected pressure indicators are compared to yield a comprehensive picture of the public transportation system. Results show that Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT) shows much better energy and environmental performance than NBT, as indicated by the set of sustainability indicators calculated by means of our integrated approach. This is because of the higher efficiency of such modality (less affected by traffic, higher vehicle occupancy, suitability for large distance transportation). The study suggests that the higher economic and resource investments performed in order to provide dedicated roads, more modern transport technology and higher speed, translated into a better use of resources and lower environmental pressure, also because of the attraction of an increased number of passengers, who would have otherwise used car transportation modalities. This study also provides a clear evidence that more than one criterion is needed to address a fully reliable and sustainable urban transportation policy. An integrated approach is therefore suggested to support decision making in the presence of complex systems and different kinds of concerns to be taken into proper account.

Life Cycle Based Evaluation of Environmental and Economic Impacts of Agricultural Productions in the Mediterranean Area

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) applied to estimate the cradle-to-grave environmental impact of agricultural products or processes. Furthermore, including in the analysis an economic evaluation, from the perspective of an integrated life cycle approach, appears nowadays as a fundamental improvement. In particular, Life Cycle Costing (LCC), is a method that could integrate financial data and cost information with metrics of life cycle approaches. In this study, LCA in conjunction with LCC methods were used, with the aim to evaluate the main cost drivers—environmental and economic—of five widely diffused and market-valued agricultural productions (organic tomato and pear, integrated wheat, apple and chicory) and to combine the results in order to understand the long-term externalities impacts of agricultural productions. Data obtained in local assessment show a wide margin of improvement of resources management at farms level in the short-term, but also allow for the investigation of future effects of environmental impacts not expressed in product price on the market. Reaching a real sustainable model for agriculture could be a value added approach firstly for farmers, but also for all the people who live in rural areas or use agricultural products.

Product Structure-Based Integrated Life Cycle Analysis (PSILA): a technique for cost modelling and analysis of closed-loop production systems

Abstract As closed-loop production becomes an increasingly viable strategy for product life cycle management, cost modelling and analytical tools for closed-loop production systems will become increasingly important. Existing tools based on life cycle costing (LCC) methods are lacking an integrated life cycle perspective in their approach – a perspective that cannot be overlooked when modelling closed-loop production systems. In this paper, we aim to solve this lack of integrated life cycle approach by proposing the product structure-based integrated life cycle analysis (PSILA) technique. It allows us to streamline the process of modelling a closed-loop production system for a complex product based on its product structure. Through this technique, we developed a cost model of a closed-loop production system for a flat-panel (FPD) monitor case study. In this case study, the results simulated by the cost model show an increase in the economic performance when closed-loop production is adopted for the FPD monitor. Deeper analysis of the results in the case study indicate that in order to improve the economic performance of the closed-loop production system for the FPD monitor, the best strategy is not to merely focus on the reutilisation of materials. Instead, the option to remanufacture the FPD monitor for the secondary market should be explored to maximise the value reclaimed from the monitors in the EoL phase. The case study demonstrates that the cost model developed through the PSILA technique has the ability to function as a tool for analysing the economic performance of closed-loop production systems. More importantly, it has the ability to provide us with strategic insights on the cost feasibility of adopting closed-loop production strategies.

A Global Environmental Assessment of Electricity Generation Technologies with Low Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Limiting climate change by stabilizing the global temperature requires the near complete phase-out of conventional fossil fuel power generation and its replacement through technologies with low greenhouse gas emissions, such as renewable energy, nuclear power, and fossil fuel power plants with CO2 capture and storage. We investigate the environmental and resource co-benefits and adverse trade-offs for a wide range of candidate electricity generation technologies using an integrated life cycle approach. Most renewable energy technologies provide substantial benefits in terms of emission reductions. Additional material demand for manufacturing energy conversion devices ranges between 0.1 and 3 times annual global production in 2010.

Methodology for an Integrated Life Cycle Approach to Design for Environment

To ensure that the economic and environmental impact over the entire product life cycle is taken into consideration during the design process, an integrated life cycle approach to Design for Environment (DfE) must be taken. In this paper, we describe the application of the product structure-based methodology for integrated life cycle analysis as a DfE decision-support tool. While maintaining an integrated perspective of the product life cycle, this methodology modularises the product life cycle model to the individual parts of the product structure; thus, allowing product designers to analyse the parts independently from the rest of the product system and enabling them to systematically evaluate the design alternatives. Using a case study on a dive torchlight, we demonstrate how through our proposed methodology, design alternatives for the product can be evaluated based on the life cycle eco-efficiency.

Is Use of Both Pulpwood and Logging Residues Instead of Only Logging Residues for Bioenergy Development a Viable Carbon Mitigation Strategy?

This study adopts an integrated life-cycle approach to assess overall carbon saving related with the utilization of wood pellets manufactured using pulpwood and logging residues for electricity generation. Carbon sequestered in wood products and wood present in landfills and avoided carbon emissions due to substitution of grid electricity with the electricity generated using wood pellets are considered part of overall carbon savings. Estimated value of overall carbon saving is compared with the overall carbon saving related to the current use of pulpwood and logging residues. The unit of analysis is a hectare of slash pine (Pinus elliottii) plantation in southern USA. All carbon flows are considered starting from forest management to the decay of wood products in landfills. Exponential decay function is used to ascertain carbon sequestered in wood products and wood present in landfills. Non-biogenic carbon emissions due to burning of wood waste at manufacturing facilities, wood pellets at a power plant, and logging residues on forestlands are also considered. Impacts of harvest age and forest management intensity on overall carbon saving are analyzed as well. The use of pulpwood for bioenergy development reduces carbon sequestered in wood products and wood present in landfills (up to 1.6 metric tons/ha) relative to a baseline when pulpwood is used for paper making and logging residues are used for manufacturing wood pellets. Avoided carbon emissions because of displacement of grid electricity from the electricity generated using wood pellets derived from pulpwood fully compensate the loss of carbon sequestered in wood products and wood present in landfills. The use of both pulpwood and logging residues for bioenergy development is beneficial from carbon perspective. Harvest age is more important in determining overall carbon saving than forest management intensity.

The UK transport carbon model: An integrated life cycle approach to explore low carbon futures

Current debate focuses on the need for the transport sector to contribute to more ambitious carbon emission reduction targets. In the UK, various macro-economic and energy system wide, top-down models are used to explore the potential for energy demand and carbon emissions reduction in the transport sector. These models can lack the bottom-up, sectoral detail needed to simulate the effects of integrated demand and supply-side policy strategies to reduce emissions. Bridging the gap between short-term forecasting and long-term scenario “models”, this paper introduces a newly developed strategic transport, energy, emissions and environmental impacts model, the UK Transport Carbon Model (UKTCM). The UKTCM covers the range of transport–energy–environment issues from socio-economic and policy influences on energy demand reduction through to life cycle carbon emissions and external costs. The model is demonstrated in this paper by presenting the results of three single policies and one policy package scenario. Limitations of the model are also discussed. Developed under the auspices of the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) the UKTCM can be used to develop transport policy scenarios that explore the full range of technological, fiscal, regulatory and behavioural change policy interventions to meet UK climate change and energy security goals.

Knowledge-based scenario management — Process and support

Scenario planning is a widely accepted management process for decision support activities. Though conventional decision support systems provide a strong database, modeling and visualization capabilities for the decision maker, they do not explicitly support scenario management. We propose an integrated life cycle approach for knowledge-based scenario-driven decision support incorporating three interrelated frameworks at different abstraction levels to support this process. The macro-level knowledge-based framework guides the Meso-level Scenario-driven framework, and these two in turn guide and inform the micro-level process-oriented framework. We develop a domain independent, component-based, and layered architecture to support the scenario management process and framework. The framework and architecture are realized through a concrete prototype.

An integrated life cycle approach to lightweight automotive design

Modern lightweight design techniques are one of the key technologies in the development of efficient and sustainable mobility solutions. Volkswagen AG aims to ensure that as well as meeting all the necessary technical requirements, its products also deliver continuously improved environmental performance. Right from the start of the development process, these efforts are always focused on the full life cycle of the product. Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) based on ISO 14040/44 allow life cycle environmental impacts to be quantified, so that they can be taken into account in business decisions.

Environmentally responsible public procurement (ERPP) and its implications for integrated product policy (IPP)

This article presents the development of some product-related environmental policy instruments such as ecolabeling, extended producer responsibility, and environmentally responsible public procurement. An effort of incorporating these policy tools taking an integrated life-cycle approach is introduced. This research studied governmental computer purchasing at state level in the United States, in order to explore the potential of using ERPP to integrate other product-related policy instruments in practice. This research concludes that environmentally responsible public procurement is a driving force in the integration of environmental product policy instruments.

An enhanced approach for implementing total productive maintenance in the manufacturing environment

Many systems in use today are not performing as intended, nor are they cost effective in terms of their operation and support. Manufacturing systems, in particular, often operate at less than full capacity, productivity is low, and the costs of producing products are high. In dealing with the aspect of cost, experience has indicated that a large percentage of the total cost of doing business is due to maintenance‐ related activities in the factory; i.e. the costs associated with maintenance labour and materials and the cost due to production losses. Further, these costs are likely to increase even more in the future with the added complexities of factory equipment through the introduction of new technologies, automation, the use of robots, and so on. In response to maintenance and support problems in the typical factory environment, the Japanese introduced the concept of total productive maintenance (TPM), an integrated life cycle approach to factory maintenance and support. TPM methods and techniques have been successfully implemented in Japan through the past decade, and more recently in the USA. Inherent within the TPM concept are the aspects of enhancing the overall effectiveness (efficiency) of factory equipment, and providing an optimal group organizational approach in the accomplishment of system maintenance activities. Both the equipment and the organizational sides of the spectrum need to be addressed in fulfilling the objectives of TPM. It is believed that while many successes have been realized in structuring organizations to respond better to the maintenance challenge, very little progress has been made relative to the influence of equipment design for minimal maintenance and support (i.e. the incorporation of reliability, maintainability, and supportability characteristics in design). Briefly addresses this aspect of the problem, identifies some design analysis/evaluation tools that can be used, and recommends an approach for the continuous improvement of manufacturing systems in terms of operation and support.

Nurses As Health Educators: With Emotionally Disturbed Children

A health education program as part of a service for emotionally disturbed children presents unusual challenges as well as unusual rewards. Such a program should be based upon the unique emotional needs of the child, so that both openness and basic human values can be emphasized. Program structure and process should reflect the over-all philosophy of the service, which means that the roles played by both treatment staff members andparents need to be recognized and integrated into the program. In sum, the nurse who combines theoretical and experiential knowledge is well suited to serve as a specialized health educator who can present an integrated life cycle approach to bodily function and sexuality. Through this approach, emotionally disturbed children can acquire greater knowledge about formerly taboo subjects, and greater maturity in handling their emotional responses to these areas.