Standard Life Cycle Assessment Research Articles

Life cycle environmental impact assessment of the “Sindhuja-I” wave energy converter

The life cycle assessment (LCA) is an inevitable part of ocean wave energy systems. This paper presents an LCA of the Sindhuja-I ocean wave energy converter (WEC). The WEC is a point absorber type WEC tested at the Tuticorin port in India. This study utilized the ISO 14044 standard and SimaPro LCA software to assess the environmental impact of the WEC in comparison to a coal power plant, offshore wind, and tidal energy devices. The functional unit considered is the generation of 1 kWh of electricity. The WEC has a global warming potential of 174 gCO2-eq/kWh, showcasing an impressive 81.9% reduction in emissions compared to coal power plants. Stainless steel contributes significantly to emissions, accounting for 93.7%, 94.6%, 99.4%, and 94.1% of total CO2, NOx, SO2, and PM2.5 emissions, respectively. The paper emphasizes the potential environmental benefits of recycling WEC materials at the end of their lifespan. Furthermore, the study suggests that the longevity of a point absorber device can positively impact its overall environmental footprint, given its minimal moving parts and low maintenance requirements. The WEC has a promising environmental footprint of ocean wave energy conversion, particularly compared to traditional fossil fuel-based power generation.

A multi-life cycle assessment of external wall insulation strategies in an Irish domestic retrofit

European Union (EU) policy and initiatives are driving both building renovation and the uptake of low-embodied carbon and circular design in the construction sector. The European Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) recast (2021) introduces global warming potential (GWP) methodology, and the future state will likely be embodied carbon targets for which life cycle assessment (LCA) of buildings will be required. External wall insulation (EWI) will have an important role to play in meeting targets. In this context, this paper compares the carbon emission payoff of three alternative EWI strategies that address conventional, low-carbon and circular solutions to EWI respectively, in the retrofit of an existing dwelling. The circular strategy is based on design for disassembly (DfD). Whereas standard LCA is based on a single building life cycle, the literature reviewed shows that the environmental impact assessment of DfD requires a multi-life cycle approach. In the absence of standardised methods for assessment, four multi-cycle LCA methods are selected and applied holistically in a case study investigation. Three allocation methods, 100:0, linear degressive (LD) and enhanced linear degressive (CELD), provide a range of emissions from ‘conservative’ to ‘best case’ over three building life cycles and the fourth method, the Van Gulck method, assesses the benefits of circularity through the concept of ‘multi-cycling’ based on one building life cycle. As each method of assessment will deliver different results, carbon emission payoff is not a fixed value. Findings show that with multiple use, the circular strategy pays off due to avoided production emissions and benefits from end-of-life (EoL) processes that DfD facilitates, that the upfront carbon cost of the circular strategy is minor relative to the carbon emission savings that reuse brings, and that the margin of improvement relative to the alternative strategies increases with each subsequent reuse.

Exploring the Environmental Impact of Telemedicine: A Life Cycle Assessment.

Telemedicine has emerged as a potential solution to mitigate the significant greenhouse gas emissions of the healthcare sector. A comprehensive evaluation is required to quantify the environmental benefits of its implementation. The study aims to compare the environmental sustainability of in-person and virtual examinations for heart failure patients. A standard life cycle assessment has been applied to quantify the equivalent CO2 of direct and indirect activities required to release a medical examination (virtual or physical) for a patient in an Italian hospital. Inputs of the analysis include electronic devices of hospital and patients, energy consumption, wastes, internet usage and patient travel. Depending on the type of visit (virtual or physical), inputs have been processed differently, considering actual consumption and utilization. Televisit reduces emissions from 9.77 kgCO2e to 0.41 kgCO2e. Transport and internet data use are key inputs for in-person (i.e., 98%) and telemedicine visits (i.e., 72%), respectively. Given the frequent car travels, telemedicine emerges as a tool to improve environmental benefits and reduce time for patients and caregivers.

Comparative life cycle assessment of flooring options for sustainable buildings

Purpose This study aims to quantify and compare the environmental impacts of Marble-stone and Kota-stone flooring options widely used for buildings in India. The study discusses the possibility of carbon sequestration through Bamboo cultivation in India. Design/methodology/approach The study has followed a standard life cycle assessment (LCA) framework based on ISO 14040 guidelines. Three distinct phases have been compared on midpoint and endpoint assessment categories – raw material, polishing and disposal. Primary data has been collected from the construction site in India, and secondary data has been collected from the Ecoinvent 3.0 database. Previous studies have been referred to discuss and calculate the area of bamboo cultivation required to sequestrate the generated carbon from the flooring. Findings The study has found that endpoint category damage to resources, and midpoint categories of climate change, metal depletion and agricultural land use are highly impacted in building floorings. The study has also found that the Marble-stone floor generates higher environmental impacts than the Kota-stone floor in most of the midpoint and endpoint impact categories. This difference is significant in the raw material phase due to the different compositions of stones. The study also found that Bamboo has excellent potential to act as a carbon sink and mitigate the generated carbon. Research limitations/implications This study excludes human labour, cutting and distribution of floor tiles made of Marble-stone and Kota-stone. The researcher can use the study to evaluate, compare and benchmark the various building flooring options from the environmental perspective. The study aids to the body of knowledge available on the various building flooring options by presenting the LCA or the environmental impacts generated by two flooring options. It is expected that the architects and builders can use these results to develop carbon-neutral buildings. This study provides a methodology for governments, constructors, builders and individuals to evaluate, compare and benchmark the various construction materials from the environmental perspective by computing the environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of the materials. Originality/value This study compares two widely used building flooring options using the LCA methodology and evaluates the potential of bamboo cultivation near the buildings for carbon sinks. The study is unique because it shows the environmental impacts of two flooring options and the carbon sequestration method to mitigate/absorb the generated environmental impacts in or around the building itself through bamboo cultivation. This study may set the foundation for carbon-neutral buildings.

A proposed framework to develop nutrient profiling algorithms for assessments of sustainable food: the metrics and their assumptions matter

PurposeTo holistically assess the sustainability of our global and local food systems, we need methods that combine environmental and nutritional/health dimensions. One option is nutritional life cycle assessment in which a nutrient or health metric is incorporated into standard environmental life cycle assessment. Measuring nutritional and environmental outcomes in tandem can help elucidate new results that can aid farmers, policymakers, industry, and consumers in transitioning to a food system that is more beneficial for our planet and our health. However, the development of nutrient profiling metrics is still ongoing; thus, we develop and test, with case studies, the “points of differentiation” framework to guide the use of these algorithms in sustainability analyses.MethodsFor each of these “points” in the framework, we provide the current state-of-the-art based on the literature and then offer new insights and recommendations for their use; we do this for different food levels (i.e., production systems, food items, and diets/food supply). We provide an explicit framework for nutrient adequacy metrics, while discussing the framework’s relevance to nutrient diversity and quality metrics. We also test the “points” in this framework using case studies that examine select foods representative of a diet.ResultsBased on our review, the “points” in this framework to consider include capping, weighting, energy standardization, across-the-board versus group-specific, dietary- and/or context-specific, validation, disqualifying nutrients (e.g., saturated fat), reference amount, processing quality, selection of nutrients/ingredients, interpretation, and data quality. Based on changes in nutrient density scores and rankings, Spearman rank correlations, and Wilcoxon signed rank p-values, the “points” that have the largest effect are energy standardization, dietary specificities when assessing nutrient indices in isolation, as well as capping and disqualifying nutrients, depending on how these are applied. We hope our proposed “points of differentiation” framework can provide new insights into this quickly evolving space by offering structure to improve standardization and transparency.ConclusionThe framework provides recommendations for select “points;” nevertheless, there are still many open areas in nutritional life cycle assessment, including food functionality (e.g., processing effects, interaction factors, and bioavailability) and methodological questions related to the use of disqualifying nutrients and interpretation. Moreover, future work should focus on the role of “points” with respect to validation and differences within food groups.

Life Cycle Assessment of Metal–Organic Frameworks: Sustainability Study of Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-67

The transition to a more sustainable model for the US energy system has recently received significant focus in the energy transition. One of the technologies that best represent the exploration to aid in this transition is metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). MOFs have historically shown a direct use in adsorption-driven applications. Nonetheless, for a technology with more than 20 years in development, some challenges and gaps decrease the speed of implementation associated with safety and sustainability. This article focuses on identifying and studying the sustainability of MOF technology, specifically through the potential industrial production at a large scale. This work is the conclusion of a novel life cycle assessment (LCA) of MOF production, which is part of a multiscale framework for emerging technologies. The LCA applied to the case study of zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) is a comparative study of four different synthesis routes with the potential for industrial implementation. Mainly the traditional solvothermal technique is compared with the proposed reactive extrusion synthesis. By comparing the production of 1 kg ZIF-67, reactive extrusion is several orders of magnitude (∼3–5) lower than the solvothermal reaction in terms of environmental and health impacts. Using standard LCA methodology with the openLCA software, this research serves as an insightful source for MOFs and similar compounds at an early stage of development using data, information, tools, and standards.

Environmentally-extended input-output analyses efficiently sketch large-scale environmental transition plans: Illustration by Canada's road industry

Industries struggle to build robust environmental transition plans as they lack the tools to quantify their ecological responsibility over their value chain. Companies mostly turn to sole greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting or time-intensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), while Environmentally-Extended Input-Output (EEIO) analysis is more efficient on a wider scale. We illustrate EEIO analysis' usefulness to sketch transition plans on the example of Canada's road industry: estimation of national environmental contributions, most important environmental issues, main potential transition levers of the sector, and metrics prioritization for green purchase plans. To do so, openIO-Canada, a new Canadian EEIO database, coupled with IMPACT World+ v1.30–1.48 characterization method, provides a multicriteria environmental diagnosis of Canada's economy. The construction sector carries the second-highest environmental impacts of Canada (8–31% depending on the indicator) after the manufacturing industry (20–54%). The road industry generates a limited impact (0.5–1.8%), and emits 1.0% of Canadians' GHGs, mainly due to asphalt mix materials (28%), bridges and engineering structures materials (24%), and direct emissions (17%). The industry must reduce the environmental burden from material purchases - mainly concrete and asphalt products - through green purchase plans and eco-design and invest in new machinery powered with cleaner energies such as low-carbon electricity or bioenergies. EEIO analysis also captures impacts often neglected in process-based pavement LCAs - amortization of capital goods, staff consumptions, and services – and shows some substantial impacts advocating for enlarging system boundaries in standard LCA. Yet, pavement construction and maintenance only explain 5% of the life cycle carbon footprint of Canada's road network, against 95% for the roads' usage (72% from vehicle tailpipes releases, 23% for manufacturing vehicles). Thereby, a carbon-neutral pathway for the road industry must first focus on reducing vehicle consumption and wear through better design and maintenance of roads. Finally, EEIO databases and analysis must be developed further as a powerful tool to fight planet degradation, and openIO-Canada must be specifically expanded and refined to allow for more robust and larger multicriteria assessments.

Applying life cycle assessment with minimal information to support early-stage material selection

Traditional life cycle assessment (LCA) is too data intensive and time consuming to be used during typical building design processes. Conducting an LCA during the building design process therefore requires simplifications and assumptions. Such “screening LCAs” are quicker and can be used with less data but introduce greater uncertainty. Unfortunately, uncertainty is not reflected in standard deterministic LCA calculations, which produce single-point values in LCA results. Thus, in this study, data quality scoring has been incorporated into a screening LCA to produce probabilistic predictions of environmental performance based on limited data. The approach has been applied during the design process of a bio-based wall panel designed for a circular economy. A combination of ecoinvent and material data sheets were used to analyse a wide range of novel bio-based insulation materials. The screening LCA analysed global warming potential and identified a short-list of promising materials that were then subjected to a detailed LCA for further consideration in the design. The method uses publicly available information and can be applied at material or building-element level. The method thus helps designers estimate environmental impacts without hindering the design process.

Environmental Impacts of Large-Scale Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) Production in Hellisheidi Geothermal Park Iceland: Life Cycle Assessment

Spirulina algae (Spirulina platensis) cultivated in geothermally powered photobioreactors is here proposed as a potentially resource efficient, zero-carbon, and nutritious alternative to conventional beef meat. Employing a standard life cycle assessment, environmental impacts of large-scale Spirulina production in this facility are calculated. The production facility is sited in Orka náttúrunnar (ON Power) Geothermal Park, Iceland, and benefits from resource streams accessible through Hellisheiði (Hellisheidi) power station, including renewable electricity for illumination and power usage, hot and cold water streams for thermal management, freshwater for cultivation, and CO2 for biofixation. During cultivation, GHG-intensive ammonia-based fertilizers are replaced with macronutrients sourced from natural open mines. LCA results show that production of 1 kg of wet edible biomass in this facility requires 0.0378 m2 non-arable land, 8.36 m3 fresh water and is carbon neutral with − 0.008 CO2-eq GHG emissions (net zero). Compared with conventionally produced meat from beef cattle, Spirulina algae cultured in the ON Power Geothermal Park, referred to in this study as GeoSpirulina, requires less than 1% land and water and emits less than 1% GHGs. Considering food and nutritional security concerns, cultivation in a controlled environment agriculture system assures consistent nutritional profile year-round. Moreover, GeoSpirulina biomass assessed in this study contains all essential amino acids as well as essential vitamins and minerals. While keeping a balanced nutrition, for every kg beef meat replaced with one kg GeoSpirulina, the average consumer can save ~ 100 kg CO2-eq GHGs. It is concluded that environmental impacts of GeoSpirulina production in the Hellisheidi facility are considerably lower than those of conventionally produced ruminants.Graphical abstract

Life cycle assessment of environmental impact of disposable drinking straws: A trade-off analysis with marine litter in the United States

Sound environmental management to control marine plastic pollution requires a careful assessment of environmental costs and benefits of replacing single-use plastics with their biodegradable counterparts. This research employs the standard life cycle assessment (LCA) approach to assess and compare the environmental impact of plastic straws made from polypropylene (PP), and its biodegradable alternatives made from polylactic acid (PLA) and paper (PA) in the United States. Eight environmental impact categories, not including marine litter, were analyzed and a composite relative environmental impact index (REI) was derived for quantitative comparison. The results show that US daily consumption of disposable drinking straws (500 million straws daily) may carry significant environmental burdens regardless of straw types, with the feedstock manufacture stage of the life cycle creating most of the contribution. The REI index values were 2.4 for PP straws, 6.4 for PLA straws, and 5.1 for PA straws with landfill and 3.2 for PP straws, 6.8 for PLA straws, and 4.9 for PA straws with incineration. A sensitivity analysis did not show much change in REI with increasing marine litter rate, demonstrating that replacing PP straws with PLA or PA straws for controlling marine plastic pollution would come with environmental costs in other categories. The trade-off can be quantitatively represented by the difference in REI between PP straws and PA or PLA straws. Our analysis also indicates close-loop recycling can greatly reduce the environmental impact of PP straws, serving as a technological development to control plastic pollution. While disposable straws were used as a case study in this work, the findings are extensive to other single-use products.

Life Cycle Assessment Model for Biomass Fuel Briquetting

Previous Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies of biomass briquetting have shown wide variations in the LCA outcomes as a result of variations in LCA methodological parameters and briquetting technological parameters. An LCA model of biomass briquetting was therefore developed to enable transparent comparison of life cycle environmental impacts of briquetting with individual or blends of biomass feeds with a variety of technological options. The model was developed according to the standard LCA procedure of ISO14044. A comparative approach was utilised, and a set of integrated excel worksheets that describe process flows of material, energy and emissions across different units of the briquetting process was used in developing the model components. The main model components include materials and process inventory databases derived from standard sources, main process calculations, user inputs and results sections. The model is open-access in a user accessible format (Microsoft Excel). A representative case study with mixed rice husks and corn cobs was used in validating the model. Results showed that the briquetting unit made the largest contribution, 42%, to the total life cycle operational energy of the briquetting system. For all the blends of rice husks and corn cobs explored in this study, the total life cycle energy of briquetting was in the range 0.2 to 0.3 MJ/MJ. For the same blend ratios, a total life cycle energy of briquetting in the range 0.2 to 1.7 MJ/MJ was also obtained with change in other LCA input parameters, in a sensitivity test. An increase in rice husk content of the blend increased the environmental impact of briquetting in terms of global warming potential (kg CO2-eq), acidification potential (kg SO2-eq), human toxicity (kg 1,4-DB-eq), ozone layer depletion (kg CFC-11-eq), and terrestrial ecotoxicity (kg 1,4-DB-eq) per MJ briquette energy content, as it was associated with a lower briquette density, which increased the energy required for handling.

Towards a sustainability facts panel? Life Cycle Assessment data outperforms simplified communication styles in terms of consumer comprehension

To make environment-friendly decisions, consumers need reliable and easy-to understand information. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data addresses the first, but with multiple impact categories displayed in technical units, it struggles to deliver the second. This work investigates strategies to render LCA data more comprehensible, testing in an online experiment how consumers interact with it under missing information and with simplified communication styles. Participants ranked the impacts of six 3-dimensional (water consumption, non-renewable energy use and CO 2 emissions) environmental profiles of coffee. With a 3 × 3 between-subjects design, we analyzed answer accuracy under three communication styles (LCA standard units, values converted to popular references, and standardized units), the positioning of a missing information profile under three data gap patterns, and if common dimensions (those for which all options provide information) are overweighted in the decision. Our results show that: (1) Simplification does not always translate into better comprehension, as both the simplified communication styles were less accurate than LCA standard units. (2) Loss aversion was the dominant force guiding decisions under missing information, leading participants to rank the missing information profile as the least impactful in many cases. This contradicts previous work that suggested that the dominant force was the tendency to see willful deception on information omission. (3) There is no evidence that consumers try to minimize their cognitive efforts to reach a decision by overweighting common dimensions when analyzing environmental information as has been reported for other contexts. These findings suggest the viability for a “sustainability facts panel” based on standard LCA data. They also sound the alarm about the need for a uniform approach to communicate environmental performance.

Life-cycle assessment of decentralized solutions for wastewater treatment in small communities.

This study benchmarks vermifiltration (VF) as secondary wastewater treatment in three nature-based decentralized treatment plants using life-cycle assessment. The comparison is justified by the comparatively easier and cheaper operation of VF when compared to more traditional technologies, including small rate infiltration (SRI), constructed wetlands (CW), and activated sludge (AS). Standard life cycle assessment was used and applied to three case studies located in southern Europe. Material intensity during construction was highest for VF, but impacts during operation were lower, compensating those of the other phases. Impacts during the construction phase far outweigh those of operation and dismantling for facilities using constructed wetlands and activated sludge, when the number of served inhabitants is small, and due to lack of economies of scale. VF used as secondary treatment was shown to contribute to reducing the environmental impacts, mainly in constructed wetlands and activated sludge. The replacement of CW by VF seems to bring important environmental benefits in most impact categories, in particular in the construction phase. The replacement by VF in facilities with SRI seems to result in the improvement of some of the impact categories, in particular in the operation phase. As for dismantling, no conclusive results were obtained.

Comparative life cycle assessment of carbon fiber reinforced compositecomponents for automotive industry

Advanced materials, especially carbon fiber reinforced composites (CFRP), have gained the attention of different industries whichproduce lightweight and high-performance components. The most used manufacturing processes to realize these kinds of products are Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) and vacuum bag molding with autoclave curing. RTM is based on dry fiber technology and it appears the most promising manufacturing process to realized high-quality carbon fiber parts reducing cost and manufacturing time, especially if high pressure variants are employed. On the other hand, vacuum bag molding with autoclave curing is a very consolidated process which is, however, associated with long manufacturing time and costs as well as to low repeatability of the process due to the high labor input. Out-of-autoclave methods, such as pressure bag molding (PBM) have been developed to overcome the issues of vacuum bag molding process. From the environmental point of view, the manufacturing of CFRP components is associated with high environmental loads due to the impacts related to both raw materials and manufacturing processes. For this reason, reducing the energy consumption of production phases can lead to the development of greener CFRP products. In this context, the main scope of the present research is to evaluate and compare the environmental loads of a component for the automotive industry realized exploiting the RTM, the PBM and the bag molding processes to determine which one is eco-friendlier. This analysis has been conducted following the standard Life Cycle Assessment methodology based on a “cradle to gate” approach. In this way, the use phase and the disposal of the CFRP component have not been included in the analysis. Results have been evaluated by comparing the equivalent CO2 related to each manufacturing process.

Designing biomass supply chains within planetary boundaries

AbstractThe design of sustainable supply chains, which recently emerged as an active area of research in process systems engineering, is vital to ensure sustainable development. Despite past and ongoing efforts, the available methods often overlook impacts beyond climate change or incorporate them via standard life cycle assessment metrics that are hard to interpret from an absolute sustainability viewpoint. We here address the design of biomass supply chains considering critical ecological limits of the Earth—planetary boundaries—which should never be surpassed by anthropogenic activities. Our method relies on a mixed‐integer linear program that incorporates a planetary boundaries‐based damage model to quantify absolute sustainability precisely. We apply this approach to the sugarcane‐to‐ethanol industry in Argentina, identifying the optimal combination of technologies and network layout that minimize the impact on these ecological boundaries. Our framework can find applications in a wide range of supply chain problems related to chemicals and fuels production, energy systems, and agriculture planning.

Environmental costs of buildings: monetary valuation of ecological indicators for the building industry

PurposeBuilding life cycle assessment (LCA) draws on a number of indicators, including primary energy (PE) demand and global warming potential (GWP). A method of constructing a composite index of weighted individual indicators facilitates their use in comparisons and optimization of buildings, but a standard for weighting has not been established. This study investigates the use of monetary valuation of building LCA results as a way to weigh, aggregate, and compare results.MethodsA set of six recent German office buildings served as a case study. For these, standard LCA and life cycle cost (LCC) calculations were conducted. Monetary valuation models from the literature were investigated as a basis for evaluation. From these, maximum and minimum valuation was chosen and applied to the LCA results for the embedded impacts of the case study buildings. The buildings’ environmental costs (EC) were thereafter calculated and contributions of single impacts are analyzed. The EC—based on external costs—are subsequently compared with the life cycle costs (LCC)—based on market prices—of the respective buildings.Results and discussionOf the five standard environmental indicators used in Germany, GWP contributes approximately 80 to 95% of the overall EC. Acidification potential (AP) is the second largest contributor with up to 18%. Eutrophication (EP), photochemical oxidization (POCP), and ozone depletion potential (ODP) contribute less than 2.0%, 1.05%, and 2.4E−6% respectively. An additional assessment of the contribution of resource depletion to EC shows an impact at least as large as the impact of GWP. The relation between the EC and LCC strongly depends on the EC model used: if EC are internalized, they add between 1 and 37% to the life cycle costs of the buildings. Varying construction materials for a case study building shows that materials with low GWP have the potential to lower environmental costs significantly without a trade-off in favor of other indicators.ConclusionsDespite their sensitivity to the monetary valuation model used, EC provide an indication that GWP and resource depletion—followed by AP—are the most relevant of the environmental indicators currently considered for the construction industry. Monetary valuation of environmental impacts is a valuable tool for comparisons of different buildings and design options and provides an effective and valuable way of communicating LCA results to stakeholders.

Environmental assessment of large-scale 3D printing in construction: A comparative study between cob and concrete

This paper explores the environmental impacts of large-scale 3D printing (3DP) construction in comparison to conventional construction methods using two different types of construction material: concrete and cob (a sustainable earth-based material). The study uses a standard Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, from cradle to site, to assess the environmental impacts of the construction materials and processes, with a focus on load-bearing walls in small/medium size houses. As expected, cob-based methods (conventional followed by 3DP) show lower overall environmental impacts and global warming potentials than the concrete-based methods. The study also shows that while the overall environmental impacts of 3DP concrete is higher than that of 3DP cob due to higher global warming potential, stratospheric ozone depletion and fine particulate matter formation, it has less impact on marine eutrophication, land use, and mineral resources scarcity. The environmental issues that remain to be overcome in relation to 3DP concrete is its high-cement content, while the issue in 3DP cob rises from the use of electricity for the 3D printing operation. The study indicates that the use of renewable energy resources and innovative material science can greatly increase the potentials of both 3DP cob and 3DP concrete respectively for future construction.

Dietary recommendations in Spain –affordability and environmental sustainability?

Global food demand is increasing due to population growth and dietary transitions, resulting from rising incomes, are associated with increased prevalence of non-communicable diseases. Improving the sustainability of the food sector is also critical for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. This study assesses for the first time the greenhouse gases emissions (Carbon Footprint – CF), the water footprint (WF) and the cost of three omnivorous diets recommended in Spain due to their health benefits: the Mediterranean diet (MD), the Southern European Atlantic diet (SEAD) and the Spanish dietary guidelines (NAOS). Analysis was conducted using standard Life Cycle Assessment and WF methods together with current Spanish food price data.The dietary energy recommendation of the SEAD is greater than that of MD and NAOS (11 and 15% respectively), and SEAD also has greater animal source food content than the other two diets. SEAD has a concomitantly higher CF, WF and cost scores in comparison with MD (+30%, +23% and +21% respectively) and NAOS (+15%, +9% and +21% respectively). Adjusting recommendations to meet the suggested Spanish adult dietary energy of 2228 kcal∙capita−1∙day−1 changed the environmental profiles of the diets and the NAOS has the highest environmental impact. However, the isocaloric diets had approximately the same cost. Analysis of the WF of the diets identified the major contribution of precipitation (the green WF) to the overall WF (88% of the total) and the significant contribution of animal-source foods to dietary WF. Regardless of the dietary scenario, better scores were identified for the Spanish recommendations analysed than those reported for other healthy diets identified in Europe. Differences in the recommended intake levels of certain food groups, cooking techniques and the origin of food products are behind these results.Environmental indicators should be considered alongside nutrition and health metrics when defining national dietary guidelines. Supporting citizens to follow healthy and environmentally-friendly dietary recommendations through, among other things, information campaigns and nutritional education programmes is essential.It is recommended the incorporation not only of health, but also of environmental indicators of these dietary options in the national dietary guidelines, as well as implementation of information campaigns and nutritional education programs among citizens to promote their adhesion since balanced dietary habits rich on plant-based products and low on animal-based ones involve multiple health and environmental benefits.

Life cycle assessment of emerging technologies: A review

AbstractIn recent literature, prospective application of life cycle assessment (LCA) at low technology readiness levels (TRL) has gained immense interest for its potential to enable development of emerging technologies with improved environmental performances. However, limited data, uncertain functionality, scale up issues and uncertainties make it very challenging for the standard LCA guidelines to evaluate emerging technologies and requires methodological advances in the current LCA framework. In this paper, we review published literature to identify major methodological challenges and key research efforts to resolve these issues with a focus on recent developments in five major areas: cross‐study comparability, data availability and quality, scale‐up issues, uncertainty and uncertainty communication, and assessment time. We also provide a number of recommendations for future research to support the evaluation of emerging technologies at low technology readiness levels: (a) the development of a consistent framework and reporting methods for LCA of emerging technologies; (b) the integration of other tools with LCA, such as multicriteria decision analysis, risk analysis, technoeconomic analysis; and (c) the development of a data repository for emerging materials, processes, and technologies.

A Scale-up of Energy-Cycle Analysis on Processing Non-Woven Flax/PLA Tape and Triaxial Glass Fibre Fabric for Composites

In the drive towards a sustainable bio-economy, a growing interest exists in the development of composite materials using renewable natural resources. This paper explores the life cycle assessment of processing of Flax fibre reinforced polylactic acid (PLA), with a comparison of glass fibre triaxial fabric in the production process. The use of hydrocarbon fossil resources and synthetic fibres, such as glass and carbon, have caused severe environmental impacts in their entire life cycles. Whereas, Flax/PLA is one of the cornerstones for the sustainable economic growth of natural fibre composites. In this study, the manufacturing processes for the production of Flax/PLA tape and triaxial glass fibre were evaluated through a gate-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA). The assessment was based on an input-output model to estimate energy demand and environmental impacts. The quality of the natural hybrid composite produced and cost-effectiveness of their LCA was dependent on their roving processing speeds and temperature applied to both the Flax/PLA tape and triaxial glass fabrics during processing. The optimum processing condition was found to be at a maximum of 4 m/min at a constant temperature of 170 °C. In contrast, the optimum for normal triaxial glass fibre production was at a slower speed of 1 m/min using a roving glass fibre laminating machine. The results showed that when the Flax and PLA were combined to produce new composite material in the form of a flax/PLA tape, energy consumption was 0.25 MJ/kg, which is lower than the 0.8 MJ/kg used for glass fibre fabric process. Flax/PLA tape and glass fibre fabric composites have a carbon footprint equivalent to 0.036 kg CO2 and 0.11 kg CO2, respectively, under the same manufacturing conditions. These are within the technical requirements in the composites industry. The manufacturing process adopted to transform Flax/PLA into a similar tape composite was considerably quicker than that of woven glass fibre fabric for composite tape. This work elucidated the relationship of the energy consumptions of the two materials processes by using a standard LCA analytical methodology. The outcomes supported an alternative option for replacement of some conventional composite materials for the automotive industry. Most importantly, the natural fibre composite production is shown to result in an economic benefit and reduced environmental impact.