Life Cycle Impact Analysis Research Articles

Comparative Life Cycle Environmental Impact Analysis of Lithium-Ion (LiIo) and Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) Batteries

Batteries have been extensively used in many applications; however, very little is explored regarding the possible environmental impacts for their whole life cycle, even though a lot of studies have been carried out for augmenting performance in many ways. This research paper addresses the environmental effects of two different types of batteries, lithium-ion (LiIo) and nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries, in terms of their chemical constituents. Life cycle impact analysis has been carried out by the CML, ReCiPe, EcoPoints 97, IPCC, and CED methods. The impacts are considered in categories such as global warming, eutrophication, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity, human toxicity, marine aquatic ecotoxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity. The results reveal that there is a significant environmental impact caused by nickel-metal hydride batteries in comparison with lithium-ion batteries. The reason behind these impacts is the relatively large amount of toxic chemical elements which are present as constituents of NiMH batteries. It can be anticipated that a better environmental performance can be achieved through optimization, especially by cautiously picking the constituents, taking into account the toxicity aspects, and by minimizing the impacts related to these chemicals.

Environmental Impact and Life Cycle Assessment of Economically Optimized Thermal Insulation Materials for Different Climatic Region in Iraq

Environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems facing the world, even it is the most dangerous. Therefore, it becomes necessary to combine all efforts to reduce or eliminate it. Iraq is at the forefront of countries that suffer from major environmental problems. The present study aims to perform a comparative environmental assessment for three commonly available thermal insulation materials in Iraq namely expanded polystyrene (EPS), extruded polystyrene (XPS), and rock wool (RW) to select least environmental impact material. A cradle to gate life cycle assessment is performed to assess the environmental impact of each insulation material taking into account manufacturing, transportation, and installation and disposal stages. A life cycle assessment program SimaPro is used to model thermal insulation materials during its life cycle. A life cycle impact analysis method CML 2001 has been selected to assess the environmental aspects associated with two global damage categories as ozone layer depletion and global warming and two regional damage categories as acidification and eutrophication. Economically optimized amount of each insulation material is selected to represent the functional unit of life cycle assessment. The results illustrate that the EPS has the lower contribution in all environmental impact categories for all climatic regions. So, the EPS can be select as a proper thermal insulation material for the building sector from an economic and environmental perspective. The results of LCA are used to determine the amount of CO2 can be reduced per meter square of the exterior wall by using the economical amount of EPS during the lifetime of insulation material. The environmental impact results show that using EPS will contribute in CO2 emission reduction at about 81.5 % in all climatic regions in Iraq.

Contribution Analysis of Life Cycle Assessment Factors for Potential Environmental Impact of Wastewater Treatment Process

Pollutant removal efficiency and installation cost are important factors to consider wastewater treatment process. However, practically during its operation, the input sources such as chemical use, amount of electricity used, waste sludge and so on are different according to characteristic of wastewater treatment process. Furthemore negative environmental influence such as resource depletion, energy consumption, air contaminant when generating electric-power were not considered as assessment factor to select the treatment process. This study analyzed environmental impact of MAR and A2O process using LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) in order to estimate contribution of potential environmental effects between A2O process and MBR process of sewage plant in Korea. Each process was set as system boundary and LCIA (Life Cycle Impact Analysis) by inputs and outputs was carried on. Specialized extruded values were obtained with the results of LCIA. A2O process has slightly higher environment load then MBR process with EP (Eutrophicaiton Potential) value of 7.09E-03 (kg PO4 3-eq/kg) for the fomer and 7.26E-03 (kg PO4 3-eq/kg) for the later. This was understood as treatment efficiency of MBR process has more higher then A2O process. However, MBR process showed its GWP of 9.13E-01 (kg CO2 eq/kg) which is approximately 5 time larger than of A2O process showing 1.60E-01 (kg CO2 eq/kg). For an analysis based on each influence category, contribution rate of water pollutant process about both processes had over 95% on EP, however, it is showed that A2O process had 85%, MBR process had over 96% on electricity related to global warming on GWP. As the results represented, it is concluded to allow for electricity consumption and water pollutant based on treatment process are Key contributor on WWTP. Sewage treatment process has been evaluated by treatment efficiency, cost of maintenance, etc., however, negative environmental effect of global warming can be passing out easily if electricity is only concerned on maintenance cost of WWTP. That is understood as a way that leads sustainable improvement in the waste water treatment which is one of national base facility with evaluating process efficiency as well as environmental anlaysis on LCA.

Life Cycle Assessment of a Buoy-Rope-Drum Wave Energy Converter

This study presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) study for a buoy-rope-drum (BRD) wave energy converter (WEC), so as to understand the environmental performance of the BRD WEC by eco-labeling its life cycle stages and processes. The BRD WEC was developed by a research group at Shandong University (Weihai). The WEC consists of three main functional modules including buoy, generator and mooring modules. The designed rated power capacity is 10 kW. The LCA modeling is based on data collected from actual design, prototype manufacturing, installation and onsite sea test. Life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis and life cycle impact analysis (LCIA) were conducted. The analyses show that the most significant environmental impact contributor is identified to be the manufacturing stage of the BRD WEC due to consumption of energy and materials. Potential improvement approaches are proposed in the discussion. The LCI and LCIA assessment results are then benchmarked with results from reported LCA studies of other WECs, tidal energy converters, as well as offshore wind and solar PV systems. This study presents the energy and carbon intensities and paybacks with 387 kJ/kWh, 89 gCO2/kWh, 26 months and 23 months respectively. The results show that the energy and carbon intensities of the BRD WEC are slightly larger than, however comparable, in comparison with the referenced WECs, tidal, offshore wind and solar PV systems. A sensitivity analysis was carried out by varying the capacity factor from 20–50%. The energy and carbon intensities could reach as much as 968 kJ/kWh and 222 gCO2/kWh respectively while the capacity factor decreasing to 20%. Limitations for this study and scope of future work are discussed in the conclusion.

Beyond the RfD: Broad Application of a Probabilistic Approach to Improve Chemical Dose-Response Assessments for Noncancer Effects.

Background:The National Academies recommended risk assessments redefine the traditional noncancer Reference Dose (RfD) as a probabilistically derived risk-specific dose, a framework for which was recently developed by the World Health Organization (WHO).Objectives:Our aim was to assess the feasibility and implications of replacing traditional RfDs with probabilistic estimates of the human dose associated with an effect magnitude M and population incidence I ().Methods:We created a comprehensive, curated database of RfDs derived from animal data and developed a standardized, automated, web-accessible probabilistic dose–response workflow implementing the WHO framework.Results:We identified 1,464 RfDs and associated endpoints, representing 608 chemicals across many types of effects. Applying our standardized workflow resulted in 1,522 values. Traditional RfDs are generally within an order of magnitude of the lower confidence bound for and M values commonly used for benchmark doses. The greatest contributor to uncertainty was lack of benchmark dose estimates, followed by uncertainty in the extent of human variability. Exposure at the traditional RfD frequently implies an upper 95% confidence bound of several percent of the population affected. Whether such incidences are considered acceptable is likely to vary by chemical and risk context, especially given the wide range of severity of the associated effects, from clinical chemistry to mortality.Conclusions:Overall, replacing RfDs with estimates can provide a more consistent, scientifically rigorous, and transparent basis for risk management decisions, as well as support additional decision contexts such as economic benefit–cost analysis, risk–risk tradeoffs, life-cycle impact analysis, and emergency response. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3368

Environmental profile evaluations of piezoelectric polymers using life cycle assessment

Piezoelectric materials are indispensable to produce electricity, harvesting ambient mechanical energy through motion for sectors and products, from sensors, to biomedical systems, to tiny electronics. Nylon 66 and tetrafluoroethylene dominate the market among thousands of piezoelectric materials to provide an autonomous power supply. Emphasis has been given on investigating the environmental impacts of both materials due to the growing consciousness of the ecological and health risks of piezoelectric polymers. The fabrication steps of these polymers from raw materials are extremely hazardous to the environment in terms of toxicity and human health effects. However, no quantification of the possible environmental impacts for the manufacturing of nylon 66 and tetrafluoroethylene exists. This research paper addresses their comparative environmental effects, in terms of chemical constituents. Life cycle impact analysis has been carried out by ReCipe 2016 Endpoint, Ecopoints 97, Raw material flows and CML-IA baseline methods, using Australasian life cycle inventory database and SimaPro software. The impacts are considered in categories like global warming, eutrophication, terrestrial ecotoxicity, human carcinogenic toxicity, fine particulates, and marine ecotoxicity. The results show that there is a significant environmental impact caused by tetrafluoroethylene in comparison with nylon 66 polymer during the manufacturing process. These impacts occur due to the quantity of toxic chemical elements present as constituents of tetrafluoroethylene raw material and its fabrication periods. It can be anticipated that a better ecological performance can be attained through optimization, especially by cautiously picking substitute materials and machines, taking into account the toxicity aspects, and by minimizing the impacts related to designs, fabrication processes and usage.

Environmental impact assessment of european non-ferro mining industries through life-cycle assessment

European mining industries are the vast industrial sector which contributes largely on their economy which constitutes of ferro and non-ferro metals and minerals industries. The non-ferro metals extraction and processing industries require focus of attention due to sustainability concerns as their manufacturing processes are highly energy intensive and impacts globally on environment. This paper analyses major environmental effects caused by European metal industries based on the life-cycle impact analysis technologies. This research work is the first work in considering the comparative environmental impact analysis of European non-ferro metal industries which will reveal their technological similarities and dissimilarities to assess their environmental loads. The life-cycle inventory datasets are collected from the EcoInvent database while the analysis is done using the CML baseline and ReCipe endpoint method using SimaPro software version 8.4. The CML and ReCipe method are chosen because they are specialized impact assessment methods for European continent. The impact categories outlined for discussion here are human health, global warming and ecotoxicity. The analysis results reveal that the gold industry is vulnerable for the environment due to waste emission and similar result retained by silver mines a little bit. But copper, lead, manganese and zinc mining processes and industries are environment friendly in terms of metal extraction technologies and waste emissions.

Cradle-to-Gate Life-Cycle Impact Analysis of Glued-Laminated (Glulam) Timber: Environmental Impacts from Glulam Produced in the US Pacific Northwest and Southeast*

Abstract This study was an update on the 2000 life-cycle inventory data on material and energy inputs associated with the production of 1 m3 of glued-laminated (glulam) timbers produced in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and the Southeast (SE) regions of the United States. This article looks at the cradle to gate for the entire glulam production processes, which include forest harvest, lamstock production, and glulam beam production. Data collected from glulam beam manufacturers in 2013 allowed for the development of a life-cycle assessment utilizing the product category rules for North American Structural and Architectural Wood Products so that the results from these analyses can be used for the development of environmental product declarations of glulam beams produced in the United States. Comparing the results of this study with the life-cycle assessment based on the 2000 survey data shows 30 percent reductions in global warming potential of glulam beams produced in both the PNW and the SE and reductions in the use of energy derived from fossil fuels by 40 percent in the PNW and SE. The overall net carbon sequestered in 1 m3 of PNW glulam is equivalent to 938 kg of CO2 and 1,038 kg of CO2 in the SE. Utilizing techniques that reduced the use of electricity and minimizing the transportation distances of the raw materials and resins to the mill could help to further reduce the carbon footprint of the glulam beam manufacturing process.

Techno-economic and life cycle environmental performance analyses of a solar photovoltaic microgrid system for developing countries

This paper presents detailed techno-economic and environmental analyses of a SPM (solar photovoltaic microgrid) for remote communities. The SPM is modeled to support a yearly load growth of 2% over a project life of 25 years, with a base case demand of 63,875 kWh/yr. The PV and the battery performances are carefully evaluated. We use the unmet demand, loss of energy probability and the availability indices to determine the system reliability. LCC (Life cycle cost) and LCI (life cycle impact) analyses are used to assess the economic and the environmental performances of the SPM. A small community in Gusau, Zamfara State, Nigeria is used as a case study, and we obtained SPM capacities of 55–82.5 kW with availability values of 96.86–98.74%. The life cycle costs of the SPMs range from 425,500 to $ 470,472, which is about 47–50% of the values obtained for the diesel power system. The emission rate of 56.7 gCO2-eq/kWh is obtained, which is 8.15–9.84% of the emission rates of the diesel system. The global warming potential of the SPM systems ranges from 5178 to 7765 kgCO2-eq, while the energy payback time and the energy return on investment are ∼1.46 years and 17, respectively. These results can be useful for conceptualizing and planning PV microgrids in developing countries.

Life cycle assessment and economic efficiency analysis of integrated management of wastewater treatment plants

This paper evaluates several Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) processes, an integrated sludge management system, and waste sludge disposal methods in a large city based on life cycle analysis (LCA) and economic efficiency analysis (EEA) together. Among the three WWTP processes considered, the A2O process (S-WWTP) showed the lowest eutrophication potential (EP) and global warming potential (GWP), but the highest acidification potential (AP) and human toxicity potential (HTP). Simple integration of sludge treatment by combining two sludge treatment lines resulted in enhanced anaerobic digestion and production of less sludge. For final sludge disposal, incineration with integrated sludge management showed the highest reduction of life cycle impact analysis (LCIA) in all four categories. The simple integration of sludge management could reduce the sludge handling cost by 6.1%. As a final sludge disposal method, incineration with integration of sludge management was the most economic: reducing operation and management (O&M) cost by 33%. These results demonstrated that application of LCA and EEA would be a useful tool for optimizing an integrated sludge-management system. The proposed integrated sludge-management alternatives could provide a valuable example for managing several WWTPs in a large city.

LCA for open systems: a review of the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors on aquaculture systems

Life cycle assessment (LCA) studies in the aquaculture sector have included marine fish, freshwater fish, and shellfish species within closed (CAS), semiclosed (SCAS), and open aquaculture systems (OAS). The absence of a physical boundary separating open aquaculture systems from natural ecosystems has caused complications in determining the actual environmental conditions of individual aquaculture systems and has resulted in questionable LCA impact analysis results. This paper reviews how natural and anthropogenic factors were managed in the previous LCA studies for aquaculture systems. Ten recent peer-reviewed documents on the LCA study of various aquaculture systems have been selected for content analysis. The disparities between OAS, SCAS, and CAS were outlined. Natural and anthropogenic factors were then identified and analyzed to ascertain their impact on the LCA process. Natural factors such as seasonal variations, biological interactions, and flooding were indicated in the OAS, SCAS, and CAS. For anthropogenic factors, industrial energy inputs and human activities were stated in SCAS and OAS. None of the anthropogenic factors were considered in CAS as these systems are isolated distinctly from natural ecosystems. LCA studies of the OAS have a few approaches: the development of the virtual boundary, a longer period of data collection, harmonization with other environmental management tools, and the need to diversify the LCA study in various regions. For SCAS and OAS, the interaction between the aquaculture system and flood hazards, temporal changes, dilution effects due to the seasonal variation, disease, and local anthropogenic activities can be studied further. An LCA study of OAS will be more reliable if natural and anthropogenic factors are seen as supportive variables in determining the life cycle impact analysis.

Life-cycle impacts from novel thorium–uranium-fuelled nuclear energy systems

Electricity generated from nuclear power plants is generally associated with low emissions per kWh generated, an aspect that feeds into the wider debate surrounding nuclear power. This paper seeks to investigate how life-cycle emissions would be affected by including thorium in the nuclear fuel cycle, and in particular its inclusion in technologies that could prospectively operate open Th–U-based nuclear fuel cycles. Three potential Th–U-based systems operating with open nuclear fuel cycles are considered: AREVA’s European Pressurised Reactor; India’s Advanced Heavy Water Reactor; and General Atomics’ Gas-Turbine Modular Helium Reactor. These technologies are compared to a reference U-fuelled European Pressurised Reactor. A life-cycle analysis is performed that considers the construction, operation, and decommissioning of each of the reactor technologies and all of the other associated facilities in the open nuclear fuel cycle. This includes the development of life-cycle analysis models to describe the extraction of thorium from monazitic beach sands and for the production of heavy water. The results of the life-cycle impact analysis highlight that the reference U-fuelled system has the lowest overall emissions per kWh generated, predominantly due to having the second-lowest uranium ore requirement per kWh generated. The results highlight that the requirement for mined or recovered uranium (and thorium) ore is the greatest overall contributor to emissions, with the possible exception of nuclear energy systems that require heavy water. In terms of like-for-like comparison of mining and recovery techniques, thorium from monazitic beach sands has lower overall emissions than uranium that is either conventionally mined or recovered from in-situ leaching. Although monazitic beach sands (and equivalent placer deposits) only form 30% of the overall known thorium ore deposits, it is expected that such deposits would generally be utilised first if thorium becomes a viable nuclear fuel. Overall, for these four nuclear energy technologies, the range of CO2(eq) emissions per kWh generated (6.60–13.2 gCO2(eq)/kWh) appears to be low in comparison to the majority of electricity-generating technologies.

Review of life cycle assessment towards sustainable product development

Nowadays, environmental problems have aroused public awareness about the trade-off between economic growth and environmental conservation. In this regard, sustainable development plays a crucial role in striking a balance between the demands of social productivity and the reserves of natural resources. In the realm of sustainable development, life cycle assessment (LCA) is an important tool to assist in ensuring proper sustainability through assessing the environmental impacts of product designs. Unlike previous reviews, which mainly focus on LCA methodology, this paper presents LCA related studies from the perspective of product development applications. In this article, the approach on how LCA can be used in product development is introduced step by step, from concept design, part design, and process design to decision making. The applications of LCA come in different forms such as impact assessment, selection, classification and decision support. The issues or challenges with respect to the four steps of LCA (i.e. goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory, life cycle impact analysis, and interpretation) have been examined and investigated. Corresponding models and theories for coping with these challenges are reviewed. In particular, widespread and popular analytical tools are identified and highlighted. Considering the vague measurement of environmental impact in an agile manufacturing system, it is suggested that the development of LCA should keep pace with the advancing complex product development system. Overall, this article sheds light on the trend of LCA applications in sustainable product development and provides the prospect of promising research directions for LCA researchers and practitioners.

Life cycle impact analysis of tertiary treatment alternatives to treat secondary municipal wastewater for reuse in cooling systems

Life cycle impacts have been evaluated to compare and assess six tertiary treatment alternatives for secondary treated municipal wastewater for reuse in thermo‐electric power plant cooling systems. Impacts during construction and operation of tertiary treatment processes using databases and characterization tools embedded in the process‐based life cycle assessment (LCA) software, Simapro v7.3, and the Carnegie Mellon economic input–output LCA (EIO‐LCA) 2002 model were estimated. Infrastructure cost estimates from life cycle cost analysis were used as inputs to the EIO‐LCA model. Inputs to the process‐based analysis included chemical doses added during and after tertiary treatment, approximate transport distance of chemicals from producer to treatment site, and energy generation to operate major equipment during treatment. Impacts considered included global warming potential (in kg CO2 eq.), acidification (in kg SO2 eq.), eutrophication (in kg N eq.) and ecotoxicity (in kg 2,4‐D eq.)—estimated using TRACI model characterization factors. The environmental impacts analysis showed that manufacture of chemicals for tertiary treatment and conditioning, and electric power generation were the main processes that contribute to environmental impacts. Thus, alternatives with no or less tertiary treatment are recommended from an environmental impact perspective for reuse of secondary treated wastewater in cooling systems. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 34: 178–187, 2015

Recycle or Dispose Off? Lifecycle Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Paint Recycling Process

People are so metimes confronted with the need to decide whether a product should be recycled or disposed off. The purpose of this project was to assess whether it is more environ mentally sustainable to recycle paint than to dispose it off in a landfill or not. Lifecycle assessment method was used to analyze potential environ mental costs and benefits associated with paint recycling. Data used for the analyses were collected from a recycled paint manufacturing company, literature, and a database. The lifecycle impact analyses of the paint recycling p rocess were based on monthly production of a recycled latex paint brand. Results of the analyses revealed that the process have a monthly 122760.8kg CO2-eq global warming potential (GWP), 1481.6 max kg O2-eq eutrophication potential (EP), and 106.8kg C2H4-eq photochemical o zone creat ion potential (POCP). The LCA results showed an environ mental benefit of eliminating 31,237.29kg CO2-eq GWP, 0.02kg CFC-11eq Ozone depletion potential (ODP), 5943.58kg C2H4 eq POCP and 197.83 max kg O2 eq EP by recycling latex paint rather than disposing it off in the landfill and producing equal amount of latex paint to replace it . Results also revealed that recycling of paint containers and plastics reduces the GWP by 25.34%, ODP by 29.79%, POCP by 15.39%, and EP by 12.47%. Paint recycling is therefore not only econo mically wise but it is also ecologically sustainable.

Comparative life cycle assessment of beneficial applications for scrap tires

Life cycle assessment is used to determine the most environmentally beneficial alternatives for reuse of scrap tires, based on the concept of industrial ecology. Unutilized scrap tires can be a major source of pollution, and in the past decade Federal and state governments in the United States have encouraged the recycling and reuse of scrap tires in a number of applications, ranging from energy recovery to civil engineering materials to utilization of ground rubber in manufacturing. Life cycle inventory data are collected from primary industry sources as well as published literature, and life cycle impact analysis is performed using the TRACI tool. The results indicate that beneficial reuse of scrap tires, particularly in cement plants and artificial turf, provides reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, air toxics, and water consumption. For example, every metric ton of tire-derived fuel substituted for coal in cement kilns avoids an estimated 543 kg (CO2 equivalent) of direct and indirect GHG emissions. Taking into account the deductible CO2 from natural rubber, the avoided GHG emissions would be 613 CO2 kg eq. per metric ton. The use of scrap tires for fuel in cement plants provides more reductions in most environmental impact categories compared to other scrap tire applications, excluding application in artificial turf. Although the use of ground rubber for artificial turf offers the greatest environmental emission reductions, it has limited potential for large-scale utilization due to the saturated market for artificial turf. Therefore, the use of fuel derived from scrap tires in cement production appears to be an attractive option in view of its large market capacity and significant potential for environmental impact reductions.

Life-Cycle Impact Analysis of Energy Systems for Buildings

Cogeneration systems offer an opportunity to satisfy a building’s electrical and thermal loads, which could result in an overall energy efficiency improvement and lower environmental impact. Hourly energy simulation and a life-cycle assessment framework are used to evaluate the relative environmental impacts and energy efficiencies of the construction and operation of alternative technologies for providing space and domestic water heating, cooling, and electrical power for equipment and lights in buildings. Life-cycle comparisons are presented for current practice (average U.S. power generation mix, electric chillers, and gas-fired boilers), high-efficiency natural gas combined-cycle power generation, and three building-integrated combined heat and power (CHP) technologies. The analysis demonstrates (1) a framework that supports decision making regarding system selection and operational strategies to limit environmental impact; (2) the importance of a life-cycle assessment framework, illustrated by the analysis of global warming potentials and tropospheric ozone potential; and (3) the importance of building load characteristics for the analysis of CHP scenarios.

시비방법별 벼 재배에 따른 전과정평가 방법을 적용한 환경영향 평가

The suitability of the life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to analyze the environmental impact of rice cultivation with different fertilizing systems is investigated. The arst part of an LCA is an inventory of parameters used and emissions released due to the system under investigation. In the following step, the Life Cycle Impact Assessment the inventory data were analyzed and aggregated in order to finally get one index representing the total environmental burden. For the life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) the Eco-indicator 95 method has been chosen because this is well documented and regularly applied impact assessment method. The resulting index is called Eco-indicator value. The higher the Eco-indicator value the stronger is the total environmental impact of an analyzed fertilizing system. The rice field experiment conducted in middle parts of korea was chosen as an example for the life cycle impact analysis. In this experiment the treatments were consisted of none fertilizer plot (NF), standard fertilizer plot (SF) applied chemical fertilizers based on soil chemical analysis before rice transplanting, and efflux fertilized plot (EF) applied with pig wastes fermented as the same rates of SF plot as basis on total nitrogen content. The obtained Eco-indicator values were clearly different among the treatments in the rice trial. The total Eco-indicator values for SF and EF have been observed 58 and 38% relative to the NF, respectively. For all the treatments the environmental effects of eutrophication contributed most to the total Eco-indicator value. The results appeared that the LCA methodology is basically suitable to assess the environmental impact associated with different fertilizer applications for rice cultivation. A comparative analysis of the fertilizing system's contribution to global warming and eutrophication is possible.

Environmental impact assessment and its minimisation in a refinery using life cycle impact analysis approach

Environmental impact assessment and its minimisation in a refinery using life cycle impact analysis approach

Pollution Prevention/Environmental Life Cycle Impact Analyses: Are Your Products Affected?

Pollution prevention is a concern to numerous industries. Aerospace manufacturers have a new challenge in the technical arena known as life cycle environmental engineering. The Department of Defense (DoD) now incorporates these requirements into its acquisition policies and directives. The focus is to minimize or eliminate the use of hazardous materials throughout the life cycle of future DoD products. This new and emerging technology necessitates that another element be added to the design, manufacturing, testing, and maintenance of DoD products. Aerospace industries must incorporate this task into their business objectives if they are to compete in today's defense marketplace. This paper answers questions concerning DoD directives and explains how companies can develop an approach to meeting these environmental life cycle requirements.