International Reference Life Cycle Data Research Articles

Environmental Impacts of Solar-Photovoltaic and Solar-Thermal Systems with Life-Cycle Assessment

The demand for clean energy is strong, and the shift from fossil-fuel-based energy to environmentally friendly sources is the next step to eradicating the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Solar energy technology has been touted as one of the most promising sources for low-carbon, non-fossil fuel energy production. However, the true potential of solar-based technologies is established by augmenting efficiency through satisfactory environmental performance in relation to other renewable energy systems. This paper presents an environmental life-cycle assessment (LCA) of a solar-photovoltaic (PV) system and a solar-thermal system. Single crystalline Si solar cells are considered for the solar PV system and an evacuated glass tube collector is considered for the solar thermal system in this analysis. A life-cycle inventory (LCI) is developed considering all inputs and outputs to assess and compare the environmental impacts of both systems for 16 impact indicators. LCA has been performed by the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD), Impact 2002+, Cumulative Energy Demand (CED), Eco-points 97, Eco-indicator 99 and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methods, using SimaPro software. The outcomes reveal that a solar-thermal framework provides more than four times release to air ( 100 % ) than the solar-PV ( 23.26 % ), and the outputs by a solar-PV system to soil ( 27.48 % ) and solid waste ( 35.15 % ) are about one third that of solar-thermal. The findings also depict that the solar panels are responsible for the most impact in the considered systems. Moreover, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis has also been carried out for both frameworks, which reveal that Li-ion batteries and copper-indium-selenium (CIS)-solar collectors perform better than others for most of the considered impact categories. This study revealed that a superior environmental performance can be achieved by both systems through careful selection of the components, taking into account the toxicity aspects, and by minimizing the impacts related to the solar panel, battery and heat storage.

Economic analysis and life cycle impact assessment of municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal: A case study of Mumbai, India.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management is a major concern in Indian cities. This work rigorously assesses the relative costs and the environmental and health benefits of alternative MSW management methods. Management of MSW over the next 20 years for the city of Greater Mumbai was considered. A generic model was developed to determine the costs for (i) dumping on open ground, (ii) sanitary landfill without leachate treatment, (iii) landfilling with leachate treatment and (iv) regional composting and landfilling. LandGEM was used to quantify the gaseous emissions from landfill, while emissions from leachate and composting were taken from literature. The life cycle impact model of one tonne of MSW was developed using OpenLCA software and the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) 2011 method was used for impact assessment. The cost of disposal of one tonne of waste was found to be INR344 (US$5.17), INR741 (US$11.13) and INR1367 (US$20.53), respectively, for the first three scenarios. As compared to open dumping, landfill gas flaring reduced the global warming potential by 32% and leachate treatment reduced freshwater ecotoxicity and total human toxicity marginally, by 20% and 60%, respectively. Composting-landfilling was the most preferred option, with a cost of INR531 tonne-1 (US$7.97), leading to a reduction in global warming potential by 79% and a slight decrease in freshwater ecotoxicity by 64%. Further, emissions due to accidental fires were also quantified. The study provides valuable insights for the selection of MSW management options for large metropolitan cities in developing countries.

Comparative life-cycle assessment of uranium extraction processes

This study assessed the environmental impacts of uranium extraction through three different mining process namely open-pit, underground, and in-situ leaching. The study is carried out through life-cycle impact assessment by using the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) method, for 14 significant impact categories; the major categories with significant results are ionizing radiation, climate change, human toxicity, ecotoxicity, and eutrophication. Impact assessment through the Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) method is also carried out to assess the usage of renewable and non-renewable sources of energy in uranium extraction processes. All analysis is carried out for 1 kg uranium production through three different processes by using heavy fuel and diesel as the energy source. The comparative impact-assessment results for the open-pit mining method, underground mining, and in-situ leaching mining methods are presented and discussed in detail. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis has been carried out to rationalize the linear relationship between the materials or fuels responsible for environmental impacts and sustainability. Three different scenarios are assessed including the base case scenario of the uranium extraction process. Sensitivity analysis results reveal the effect of fossil fuel based energy generation sources is the primary factor for causing environmental impacts during the uranium extraction routes.

Comparative life cycle assessment of first- and second-generation ethanol from sugarcane in Brazil

The use of bagasse and trash from sugarcane fields in ethanol production is supposed to increase the ethanol yield per hectare, to reduce the energy demand, greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental impacts. In this article, different technological options of ethanol production are investigated and quantified looking at potential environmental impacts. The first-generation ethanol from sugarcane is compared to stand-alone second-generation ethanol as well as an integrated first- and second-generation ethanol production. The method applied for this life cycle assessment follows the ISO standards 14040/44. The data used in this life cycle assessment is mainly derived from process simulation, literature, and primary data collection. Background data was taken from databases such as GaBi and ecoinvent. The life cycle impact assessment follows the default methods at midpoint level recommended by the International Reference Life Cycle Data System. The calculations were performed using the GaBi 7 life cycle assessment software. It is assumed that 50% of sugarcane trash is recovered and used for second-generation ethanol production, whereas the other 50% remain in the field to maintain soil fertility and to prevent soil erosion. In the case of first-generation ethanol, the same amount of trash is used for energy generation. The results of the life cycle impact assessment show that, compared to first-generation ethanol, second-generation ethanol from sugarcane in Brazil allows significant reductions in all investigated impact categories except resource depletion. Resource depletion, however, is strongly influenced by the demand for ammonium phosphate which is needed for inoculum preparation. Integrated first- and second-generation ethanol production also allows reductions in most of the environmental impacts except for global warming, photochemical ozone depletion, and resource depletion. The yield of ethanol per hectare increases since bagasse and trash are used for the production of second-generation ethanol. Consequently, the results show that agricultural land occupation is reduced for integrated first- and second-generation ethanol by approximately 11%, whereas second-generation ethanol allows reduction of land use by approximately a factor of 30. The use of bagasse and trash for ethanol production allows both the reduction of several environmental impacts and land use, in particular, because impacts caused by sugarcane cultivation are avoided. For the integrated first- and second-generation ethanol scenario, it is important to further reduce the total energy demand in order to achieve self-sufficiency for the plant energy and to avoid additional emissions from burning fossil fuels.

Towards sustainable TiO2 production: An investigation of environmental impacts of ilmenite and rutile processing routes in Australia

Abstract This paper presents life-cycle environmental impacts and health hazards of the ilmenite and rutile processing routes which are very little explored despite a significant quantity of production worldwide. The study is carried out through a life-cycle environmental-impact assessment of the ilmenite and rutile mining production processes in Australia, using the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) method under 14 significant impact categories and the Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) method for 10 significant impact categories. The dataset is collected from EcoInvent and the Australian Life cycle assessment database considering Australia as the geographic region. The major impact categories are climate change, human health (cancer), human health (non-cancer), ecotoxicity, and eutrophication. The analysis results show that the highest impact is caused in climate change, at 0.295 kg CO2 eq, which is due to the large amount of electricity consumption in the ilmenite extraction process. Then, human toxicity-non cancer effects (4.42E-09 CTUh) and particulate matter (0.000155 kg PM 2.5 eq) are also noteworthy. Water resources depletion is affected due to the chemical emissions from ilmenite ore, which are found to be 0.00163 m3 water eq. Rutile production impacts greatly on climate change at 1.535 kg CO2 eq owing to large-scale electricity consumption. Electricity consumption for rutile also affects human toxicity-non cancer (2.3E-8 CTUh), particulate matter (0.00081 kg PM2.5 eq), and terrestrial eutrophication (0.024 molc N eq). Water-resources depletion from rutile is due to the ore, which are found to be 0.0085 m3 water eq. The comparative assessment between ilmenite and rutile implies that rutile has more impact on the environment than ilmenite due to the electricity consumption and fossil fuel consumption. This result is validated through further analysis using the Cumulative Energy Demand method. A sensitivity analysis is also carried out to elucidate that the electricity grid mix from country-to-country contributes to sustainability by reducing the environmental impacts significantly.

Evaluation of Alternatives for the Passenger Road Transport Sector in Europe: A Life-Cycle Assessment Approach

The road passenger transport is responsible for a large share of energy consumption and pollutants emission in Europe. Efforts have been made in the definition of new policies to reduce the environmental impacts of this sector. However, an integrated and consistent assessment of the most promising policies is required, using specific European indicators. For that matter, a life-cycle analysis was applied to the road passenger transport, for the European Union with 27 countries (EU27) in 2010, following a basket-of-products methodology and considering three main stages: production, use, and end-of-life of vehicles. Simapro 8 software was used, along with Ecoinvent 3 database and the impact assessment method International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) 2011 Midpoint+. Changes in vehicle production processes, vehicle constitution, and energy sources for vehicle propulsion were analyzed. The policies resulting in a decrease in all impact categories are the use of smaller or lightweight vehicles by positively influencing use, production, and end-of-life of vehicles. The use of more recent vehicles technology or diesel vehicles show substantial reductions in, respectively, five and eight impact categories (out of 15), justifying their adoption in the European fleet. Generally, the most notorious policies compared to the actual transport paradigm, like compressed natural gas (CNG), biofuels, or electric vehicles use, show the greatest reduction in climate change (up to 46%) but also a very significant rise of impacts in the categories that in the conventional basket-of-products already resulted in the worst indicators after normalization.

LCA of a multifunctional bioenergy chain based on pellet production

This paper investigates the environmental performance of a multifunctional bioenergy chain for the provision of domestic heat using Life Cycle Assessment methodology. The analysis is based on a commercial pellet plant located in Spain and incorporating a Combined Heat and Power system based on Organic Rankine Cycle technology that also produces electricity that is sold to the grid. The base scenario involves using pine wood both from forests and wood processing activities. This situation is compared against a conventional pellet plant with no Combined Heat and Power, using poplar wood from a Short Rotation Coppice plantation and also using the ash produced in the pellet plant as a surrogate fertilizer. The base scenario has also been compared against domestic heat provision from conventional systems based on natural gas, diesel and electricity. The results have shown that the most impacting activities in the life cycle of the bioenergy chain are primarily attributable to the pellet making process, followed by biomass production, biomass transport and finally pellet combustion by the final user. Incorporation of the Combined Heat and Power system to the pellet plant has a very limited influence on the environmental performance of the system since the power generation capacity is very limited and environmental savings from power generation are offset by detrimental effects associated with extra biomass consumption. For a conventional pellet plant, the normalized impact value obtained using International Reference Life Cycle Data System methodology is 2.78 E−04 µPt (vs 2.85 E−04 µPt for the base scenario). A similar bioenergy chain based on poplar wood from a Short Rotation Coppice generates higher environmental impact in water resource depletion. This impact category has a decisive weight after normalization, making this alternative highly unfavorable (5.50 E−04 µPt). Utilizing the ash fraction produced in the pellet plant as a surrogate fertilizer implies low environmental benefits (2.71 E−04 µPt).When compared against heating systems based on diesel, natural gas or electricity (heat pump), the pellet system benefits from reduced impacts on global impact categories like climate change, ozone depletion and Cumulative Energy Demand. However, the bioenergy system performs worse on local impact categories such as particulate matter formation, human toxicity, photochemical ozone formation, freshwater eutrophication and land use. Normalized impact values suggest that the bioenergy system is the least favorable environmental option (2.85 E−04 µPt) as compared to heating systems based on diesel, natural gas or electricity (5.72 E−05 µPt, 5.15 E−05 µPt and 1.99 E−04 µPt respectively).

ILCD 등록요건에 따른 국가 LCI 데이터베이스 개정 방향

In Europe, PEF(Product Environmental Footprint) is be promoting for efficient use of resources. In order to calculate the PEF, only the LCI DB that satisfy the entry level requirement of the ILCD(International Reference Life Cycle Data System) Data Network should be used. The entry level requirement are divided into documentation, nomenclature, data quality assessment, methodology, and review. Most of them provide similar conditions to the national LCI DB(Life Cycle Inventory Database) construction method. In this study, the calcium oxide(CaO) that is national LCI DB was revised and supplemented to satisfy the entry level requirement of ILCD Data Network. As a result, documentation, data quality, methodology, and review could be supplemented to satisfy the entry level requirement, but there are significant differences in nomenclature so further analysis and research should be done.

Environmental impacts of forest biomass-to-energy conversion technologies: Grate furnace vs. fluidised bed furnace

Electricity production from biomass has the potential to significantly contribute to the power mix in Portugal with lesser environmental impact than non-renewable resources. This study focuses on electricity production from the combustion of residual forest biomass from eucalypt logging activities in Portugal using life cycle assessment. In Portugal, several power plants fuelled by residual forest biomass have been commissioned in the last few years. Most of the installations use fluidised bed furnaces, and the others use grate furnaces. This study aims to compare the environmental impacts associated with these two alternative combustion technologies. System boundaries include the stages of forest management, collection processing and transportation and energy conversion. The default impact assessment method used is that suggested in the International Reference Life Cycle Data System. In a sensitivity analysis, calculations are performed using the ReCiPe method. For all of the impact categories analysed, the fluidised bed presents the smallest environmental impact. Even when the grate furnace efficiency increases and the fluidised bed efficiency decreases in the sensitivity analysis, the fluidised bed has lower impacts than the grate technology and can be the best alternative in the implementation of new power plants.

Life cycle assessment of a detailed dairy processing model and recommendations for the allocation to single products

PURPOSE: This study analyses the environmental impacts referring to dairy products and to the operation of a dairy. The study aims to better understand different process stages in a dairy operation. This analysis can be used to improve the flows of energy, water, and materials in the dairy operation. The results are also used to suggest an improved allocation model for assigning the impacts of operation to single dairy products. METHODS: The analysis is based on a detailed, product-specific model calculation for the use of energy, water, and chemicals for more than 40 subprocesses of a dairy operation. This model has been used to elaborate the life cycle inventory for a detailed life cycle assessment study. The environmental impacts are analyzed from cradle to gate including and excluding the raw milk input. The environmental impacts are assessed with the midpoint indicators suggested by the International Reference Life Cycle Data System. Finally, results of this study are compared with an allocation model recommended for life cycle assessment (LCA) studies on milk products. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The analysis of the model dairy shows that raw milk production has the main impact in all categories. Consumer packaging has the second biggest impact in many categories. The detailed dairy processing model allows the assignment of inputs and outputs for each subprocess to single dairy products and thus avoids allocation largely. The analysis of inputs to different dairy products per kilogram shows that ultra-high-temperature (UHT)-processed milk uses more chemicals for cleaning compared to the other products. Cream uses more electricity and heat compared to UHT milk and to yogurt. CONCLUSIONS: A detailed discussion shows the overlaps and differences found for the allocation of inputs to the milk processing to final dairy products. Allocation models for different types of inputs are partly confirmed by the detailed theoretical model used for this LCA. The allocation of chemicals, steam, and electricity to single products can be improved based on the detailed dairy model developed in this study.

Combining cleaner production and life cycle assessment for reducing the environmental impacts of irrigated carrot production in Brazilian semi-arid region

Agriculture is the activity that contributes most to the emission of greenhouse gases, water quality degradation, soil loss and nutrient runoff worldwide. These harmful environmental impacts are issues in irrigated agriculture in the Brazilian semi-arid region. The rational use of natural resources and the efficiency of agricultural systems can reduce the environmental impacts and are essential for a more sustainable agriculture. However, a limited amount of data concerning the environmental impacts of horticultural practices is available. To date, no evaluation of a carrot crop life cycle in Brazil could be found in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to present a methodological approach combining Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Cleaner Production (CP) principles in the environmental and economic evaluation of irrigated carrot farming. Life Cycle Impact Assessment was carried using the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD, 2011) method, including data uncertainty. We evaluated the base scenario based on management practices widely adopted in the studied area, and the recommended scenario based on adoption of CP selected opportunities using agronomic recommendations for the carrot production system. By these means, the environmental impacts can be reduced between 15 and 70% in the evaluated categories from the base to the recommended scenario. Most environmental impacts were related to fertilizer production and field emissions. The global warming effect related to the emission of 0.12 kg CO2 eq/kg product from the base scenario can be reduced to 0.07 kg CO2 eq/kg product in the recommended scenario. This represents a lower value than most global warming rates for carrots found in literature. The costs of inputs were reduced by 49% from in the recommended scenario. Most costs of inputs were related to fertilizers and seed purchasing. The combined use of the two methods proved feasible as LCA identifies the main hotspots of the analyzed system, while CP support practices that reduce costs and the use of inputs such as water, energy, fertilizers, seeds and pesticides. CP provided a higher level of compliance with the technical requirements for the studied system and proved to be more economically and environmentally efficient than ‘end of pipe’ practices. The complementary use of CP and LCA provided better support for a more sustainable irrigated carrot production in the semiarid region of Brazil.

Improving substance information in USEtox® , part 1: Discussion on data and approaches for estimating freshwater ecotoxicity effect factors.

The scientific consensus model USEtox® is recommended by the European Commission as the reference model to characterize life cycle chemical emissions in terms of their potential human toxicity and freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity impacts in the context of the International Reference Life Cycle Data System Handbook and the Environmental Footprint pilot phase looking at products (PEF) and organizations (OEF). Consequently, this model has been systematically used within the PEF/OEF pilot phase by 25 European Union industry sectors, which manufacture a wide variety of consumer products. This testing phase has raised some questions regarding the derivation of and the data used for the chemical-specific freshwater ecotoxicity effect factor in USEtox. For calculating the potential freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity impacts, USEtox bases the effect factor on the chronic hazard concentration (HC50) value for a chemical calculated as the arithmetic mean of all logarithmized geometric means of species-specific chronic median lethal (or effect) concentrations (L[E]C50). We investigated the dependency of the USEtox effect factor on the selection of ecotoxicological data source and toxicological endpoints, and we found that both influence the ecotoxicity ranking of chemicals and may hence influence the conclusions of a PEF/OEF study. We furthermore compared the average measure (HC50) with other types of ecotoxicity effect indicators, such as the lowest species EC50 or no-observable-effect concentration, frequently used in regulatory risk assessment, and demonstrated how they may also influence the ecotoxicity ranking of chemicals. We acknowledge that these indicators represent different aspects of a chemical's ecotoxicity potential and discuss their pros and cons for a comparative chemical assessment as performed in life cycle assessment and in particular within the PEF/OEF context. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:3450-3462. © 2017 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.

Life cycle assessment in the furniture industry: the case study of an office cabinet

In an effort to reduce the environmental impacts of the furniture sector, this study aimed to diagnose the environmental performance of an office cabinet throughout its life cycle. An attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) was used, based on the ISO 14044 Standard and ILCD Handbook. The scope of the study considered the entire supply chain, from cradle to grave, including the steps of pre-manufacturing, manufacturing, use, and post-use of the product. The impact assessment method was the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) 2011 midpoint. The results identified that the most significant environmental impact of the furniture life cycle was due to the distances covered and production of the main raw material, wood medium-density particleboard (MDP). The evaluation of transport scenarios showed environmental tradeoffs for truck fuel switches and environmental gains for the distribution of MDP from closer suppliers by truck, as well as from current supplier by truck and ship in the major categories. Furthermore, evaluation of the office cabinet post-use options showed that reuse, recycling, or energy recovery from waste cause significant environmental gains in the major categories. Wooden furniture is a potential carbon sink if its life cycle does not emit more greenhouse gases than its materials can store. The impacts of substitution scenarios varied depending on the type of product avoided. The LCA proved a powerful method to diagnose and manage environmental impacts in complex product systems. The sensitivity analysis showed that it is possible to reduce the environmental impacts and, at the same time, make the furniture industry increase its economic gains and net carbon stock in the anthroposphere.

Life Cycle Datasets for the Ornamental Stone Sector

The environmental impact related to ornamental stones (such as marbles and granites) is largely debated. Starting from the industrial revolution, continuous improvements of machineries led to a higher exploitation of this natural resource and to a more international interaction between markets. As a consequence, the environmental impact of the extraction and processing of stones has increased. Nevertheless, if compared with other building materials, ornamental stones are generally more durable, natural, and recyclable. From the scientific point of view, studies on stone life cycle sustainability have been carried out, but these are often partial or not very significant because of the high percentage of approximations and assumptions in calculations. This is due to the lack, in life cycle databases (e.g. Ecoinvent, Thinkstep, and ELCD), of datasets about the specific technologies employed in the stone production chain. For example, databases do not contain information about diamond wires, chains or explosives, materials commonly used in quarries and transformation plants. The project presented in this paper aims to populate the life cycle databases with specific data of specific stone processes. To this goal, the methodology follows the standardized approach of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), according to the requirements of UNI 14040- 14044 and to the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) Handbook guidelines of the European Commission. The study analyses the processes of the entire production chain (fromcradle- to-gate system boundaries), including the extraction of benches, the cutting of blocks into slabs/tiles and the surface finishing. Primary data have been collected in Italian quarries and transformation plants which use technologies representative of the current state-of-the-art. Since the technologies vary according to the hardness of the stone, the case studies comprehend both soft stones (marbles) and hard stones (gneiss). In particular, data about energy, materials and emissions were collected in marble basins of Carrara and in Beola and Serizzo basins located in the province of Verbano Cusio Ossola. Data were then elaborated through an appropriate software to build a life cycle model. The model was realized setting free parameters that allow an easy adaptation to specific productions. Through this model, the study aims to boost the direct participation of stone companies and encourage the use of LCA tool to assess and improve the stone sector environmental sustainability. At the same time, the realization of accurate Life Cycle Inventory data aims at making available, to researchers and stone experts, ILCD compliant datasets of the most significant

Fostering corporate sustainability in the Mexican coffee industry

Purpose At the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP 21) in Paris, 195 governments reached an agreement pivotal not only for countries but also for companies. The Paris Agreement makes it impossible to practice business as usual. The transition to a low-carbon coffee industry could be achieved by fostering corporate sustainability. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence of how to adopt the principles of Paris Agreement by enhancing the corporate sustainability of a Mexican coffee-roaster company using the inventory phase of the life cycle assessment tool. Design/methodology/approach The data collection process followed the requirements of the International Reference Life Cycle Data System Handbook, developed by the Institute for Environment and Sustainability in the European Commission Joint Research Centre, and data on packaging materials and energy production were drawn from a commercially available database in the LCA software SimaPro. Findings Compiling data on the energy of the firm’s material flows in a firm revealed opportunities to improve energy efficiency and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The results of the inventory analysis can be used to evaluate the specific environmental impacts of the coffee-roasting process at this Mexican coffee company. Data compilation activities for energy flows identified the need to install liquefied petroleum gas measuring devices and individual measuring devices for electricity consumption in different areas of the coffee plant. It is recommended that, while implementing this option, the company also develop an energy management program to achieve energy efficiency. Practical implications The inventory data in this case study permit comparisons of the current state of the system studied and its possible future states and offer stakeholders relevant information on resource use. Similarly, the project results provide the basis for future research on environmental performance in the coffee industry in Mexico and for the development of policies regarding the production process in the coffee supply chain. Consequently, this research can help fulfil Mexico’s commitment to the Paris Agreement. Social implications Reaching the goal of the Paris Agreement will require gathering key information for each single company. The current case study has provided key data to foster the principles of sustainability in the Mexican coffee industry to help this sector to transit toward sustainable development, which is a new demand of the Mexican society. Even though it may seem simple, this is the hardest step for enhancing stakeholder involvement in corporate sustainability. Originality/value The main contribution of this research to science and practice is to confirm that fostering corporate sustainability is easier and more feasible when energy flow information is available.

Using the product environmental footprint for supply chain management: lessons learned from a case study on pork

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to test the chain-organization environmental footprint (chain-OEF) approach by applying it to part of a pork production chain in Belgium. The approach is supposed to provide insight into the environmental impact of a specific production chain in an efficient manner by applying pragmatic data collection throughout the chain. This is achieved by allocating the environmental impact of each of the production sites to the product of interest using straightforward allocation rules.MethodsThe cradle-to-gate (up to retail) environmental impact of pork was determined by life cycle assessment (LCA), in line with the product and organisation environmental footprint guidelines (PEF and OEF; European Commission 2013b). Foreground data was gathered at a feed production site, two farmers, a slaughterhouse and a meat processing site. All foreground operations are part of the same pork production chain in Belgium. The chain was completed using background data from Ecoinvent v3.01 (Wernet et al. 2016), Agri-Footprint v1.0 (Blonk 2014), European Life Cycle Database v3.0, LCA Food Database (Nielsen et al. 2003) and OEF Sector Rules Retail (Humbert et al. 2015b). The impact was quantified using the international reference life cycle data system (ILCD) midpoint method for 14 impact categories, but focussing on climate change.Results and discussionThe total carbon footprint of the cradle-to-gate pork production system equals 0.46 kg CO2-eq. (100 g pork)−1. This result is quite similar to that of earlier studies analysing the pork production chain: 0.58 and 0.57 kg CO2-eq. (100 g pork)−1 (Bracquené et al. 2011, Agri-Footprint 2014). Most of the carbon footprint was caused by feed production and more specifically, by the feed ingredients and their transport. Grains, soy and palm oil have the largest impact contributions. The farms are responsible for most of the remaining impact. N2O and CH4 emissions are the largest cause of greenhouse gas emissions at the farms. Also, in the other 13 considered impact categories, feed production and farming are responsible for more than half of the total impact, mostly followed by meat processing.ConclusionsApplying the chain-OEF approach in this study has shown that a chain LCA can be performed successfully and pragmatic data collection allows obtaining LCA results relatively fast, especially for small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Whereas data availability was not such an issue, the main bottlenecks identified are data management and the link of LCA to other disciplines such as engineering, policy, etc. which could increase the added value of LCA studies.

Environmental performance of expanded cork slab and granules through life cycle assessment

The great quantities of raw materials used in the construction sector, involve high energy consumption in their production resulting to a high energy use in this sector. One of the ways to improve the energy efficiency of buildings is through the use of more environmentally friendly materials such as forest-based materials. In the present study, the environmental impacts associated with the production of expanded cork slab and granules used in construction for insulation are evaluated from a life cycle perspective with the aim of identifying the most influential stages and processes. The obtained results show that the process with the greatest environmental impact derives from the boiler process due to the production of thermal energy used for the agglomeration of the slabs and also the production of falca used as raw material at the manufacturing process. It was also observed that the choice of mass or economic allocation has a significant impact on the results. The present study also considered the accounting of biogenic carbon in the climate change impact category which is usually considered neutral and excluded. The final results of climate change were recalculated by applying the International Reference Life Cycle Data System method for the stages of the forest, use and end-of-life. The consideration of biogenic carbon sequestration at the forest influenced significantly the environmental impact of the two products under study. The present study shows the importance of biogenic carbon inclusion in the environmental assessment of forest-based products. Additionally, the obtained results highlight the need for establishment of a common methodology for the calculation of the environmental impacts of cork products in order to apply common guidelines and facilitate the comparison of the obtained results.

Mechanisation of organic fertiliser spreading, choice of fertiliser and crop residue management as solutions for maize environmental impact mitigation

Abstract The environmental impact of crop production is mainly related to fossil fuels consumption and to fertilisers application. Emissions arising from the spreading of organic and mineral fertilisers are important contributors for impact categories such as eutrophication and acidification. The choice of the fertilisers and of the spreading techniques as well as the crop residues management can deeply affect the environmental impact related to crop cultivation. In this study, seven scenarios describing fertilising schemes characterised by different organic and mineral fertilisers and by different mechanisation were compared. The aim is to evaluate, using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, how the environmental performances of grain maize production were affected by these different fertilisers schemes. The study was carried out considering a cradle to farm gate perspective and 1 t grain maize was selected as functional unit. Inventory data were collected on a farm located in Po Valley (Northern Italy) during year 2013 and were processed using the composite method recommended by the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD). The compared scenarios involved organic and mineral fertiliser distribution and were: pig slurry incorporation after >3 days after spreading (BS), fast pig slurry incorporation within 2 h from spreading (AS1), direct soil injection of pig slurry (AS2), pig slurry incorporation (after >3 days) with straw collection (AS3), digestate spreading instead of pig slurry (after >3 days) (AS4), only mineral fertilisers (i.e. urea and superphosphate) distribution (AS5) and only mineral fertilisers (i.e. calcium ammonium nitrate and superphosphate) distribution (AS6). The results were not univocal, since climate and soil conditions as well as physical and chemical fertiliser characteristics differently affected the environmental load, especially for particulate matter formation, terrestrial acidification and terrestrial eutrophication impact categories. AS1 and AS2 showed the most beneficial results for these impact categories (between ↙67% and ↙73% respect to worst scenario). AS6, on the opposite, showed the highest environmental impact for those impact categories mainly affected by energy and fossil fuel consumption (climate change, ozone depletion, human toxicity with carcinogenic effect, particulate matter, freshwater eutrophication, freshwater ecotoxicity and mineral, fossil and renewable resources depletion), categories on which AS3 and AS4 were the best solutions. AS3 was the most impacting for terrestrial acidification and eutrophication A sensitivity analysis was carried out varying grain maize yield (mostly affected: marine eutrophication) and ammonia volatilisation losses due to organic fertilisers (mainly affected: terrestrial acidification and eutrophication). The achieved results can be useful for the development of ⬓spreading rules⬽ that drive the application of organic fertilisers in agricultural areas where there is an intense livestock activity.

Environmental impacts of food consumption in Europe

Food consumption is amongst the main drivers of environmental impacts. On one hand, there is the need to fulfil a fundamental human need for nutrition, and on the other hand this poses critical threats to the environment. In order to assess the environmental impact of food consumption, a lifecycle assessment (LCA)-based approach has been applied to a basket of products, selected as being representative of EU consumption. A basket of food products was identified as representative of the average food and beverage consumption in Europe, reflecting the relative importance of the products in terms of mass and economic value. The products in the basket are: pork, beef, poultry, milk, cheese, butter, bread, sugar, sunflower oil, olive oil, potatoes, oranges, apples, mineral water, roasted coffee, beer and pre-prepared meals. For each product in the basket, a highly disaggregated inventory model was developed based on a modular approach, and built using statistical data. The environmental impact of the average food consumption of European citizens was assessed using the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) methodology. The overall results indicate that, for most of the impact categories, the consumed foods with the highest environmental burden are meat products (beef, pork and poultry) and dairy products (cheese, milk and butter). The agricultural phase is the lifecycle stage that has the highest impact of all the foods in the basket, due to the contribution of agronomic and zootechnical activities. Food processing and logistics are the next most important phases in terms of environmental impacts, due to their energy intensity and the related emissions to the atmosphere that occur through the production of heat, steam and electricity and during transport. Regarding the end-of-life phase, human excretion and wastewater treatments pose environmental burdens related to eutrophying substances whose environmental impacts are greater than those of the agriculture, transports and processing phases. Moreover, food losses which occur throughout the whole lifecycle, in terms of agricultural/industrial and domestic food waste, have also to be taken into consideration, since they can amount to up to 60% of the initial weight of the food products. The results of the study go beyond the mere assessment of the potential impacts associated with food consumption, as the overall approach may serve as a baseline for testing eco-innovation scenarios for impact reduction as well as for setting targets.

Quantifying the environmental impacts of a European citizen through a macro-economic approach, a focus on climate change and resource consumption

As economies in the European Union are ultimately driven by the final consumption of citizens, policy makers need proper indicators to monitor the environmental impacts associated with this consumption. These indicators can be constructed using two different approaches, each having their strengths and limitations. The top-down approach is based on environmentally extended input–output analysis and quantifies the environmental impacts of product groups and services provided by industrial sectors. The bottom-up approach is based on Life Cycle Assessment and quantifies the environmental impacts of a selection of representative products. The bottom-up approach has already been used by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre to calculate the impacts of the final consumption per capita in the European Union in 2006. In this paper, we calculated these impacts through a top-down approach, using the Exiobase database. The covered household activities are food, consumer goods, mobility, shelter and services. The goal was to calculate all the impact categories recommended by the International Reference Life Cycle Data handbook, and compare both approaches. However, the categories ionizing radiation, toxicity and abiotic resource depletion could not be included, as some relevant emissions and resources are not available in Exiobase. To study more profoundly the impact on natural resources, we added the Cumulative Exergy Extraction From the Natural Environment to the impact assessment. When comparing both approaches, it can be concluded that there is a considerable shift in the results. This means that the information obtained by a top-down approach could supplement the information base for policy support.