1 http://www.dantes.info/Tools&Methods/Environmentalassessment/enviro_asse_lca.html Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) What it is How to perform one Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) – also called Life-Cycle Analysis – is a tool for examining the total environmental impact of a product through every step of its life – from obtaining raw materials all the way through making it in a factory, shipping it, selling it in a store, using it in the workplace or at home, and disposing of it. (Paul L. Bishop, Pollution Prevention: Fundamentals and Practice, 2000, p. 252) http://www.environment.gov.au
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Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA)
What it isHow to perform one
Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) – also called Life-Cycle Analysis – is a tool for examining the total environmental impact of a product through every step of its life – from obtaining raw materials all the way through making it in a factory, shipping it, selling it in a store, using it in the workplace or at home, and disposing of it.
(Paul L. Bishop, Pollution Prevention: Fundamentals and Practice, 2000, p. 252)
http://ww
w.environm
ent.gov.au
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Steps of an LCA
1. Goal and Scope: Select product or activityDefine purpose of study (comparison? improvement?)Fix boundaries accordingly
2. Inventory Analysis: Identify all relevant inputs and outputsQuantify and add
(At this stage, data are in terms of energy consumed, water usage, greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste produced, and the like.)
3. Impact Analysis: Determine the resulting environmental impacts(At this next stage, the previous data are translated in additional cancer rates, fish kill, habitat depletion, etc.)
4. Interpretation: Use value judgment to assess or decide in relation to the objectives of the study.
Most often, an iteration occurs: Following the first interpretation, the product may be revised or the boundaries modified.
Inventory Analysis
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Life-CycleInventory
HumanHealth
EcologicalHealth
ResourceDepletion
SocialWelfare
Classification
StressorCategories
StressorCategories
StressorCategories
CharacterizationMethods
CharacterizationMethods
CharacterizationMethods
ImpactDescriptors
ImpactDescriptors
ImpactDescriptors
ValuationMethods/Models
Characterization
Valuation
ImprovementAssessment
Impact Analysis
Advantages of performing LCAs:
● Companies can claim one product is better than another.● LCA inventory process helps to narrow in on the area
where the biggest reductions in environmental emissions can be made.● LCA can be used to reduce production costs. ● Results of an LCA may qualify the product for an eco-label.
Drawbacks of LCAs:
● Performing an LCA to compare two products is like comparing apples to oranges.Question: Which among energy consumption and water use imposes
the greater environmental burden?● Recycling adds complexity to and LCA.
Where should the assessment end?
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(Source: http://www.ilea.org/lcas/franklin1992.html - obsolete link now)
Figure 2 - Volume of solid waste per year. Industrial Waste includes waste used to produce the diaper such as raw material production and process, manufacture trimmings, and ash from electricity generation. Post consumer waste refers to substances thrown out: the diaper itself, child waste, and packaging.
Figure 1 - Total energy used by each diaper type in one year. Feedstock and process energy includes energy used through cotton growing, material processing and diaper manufacture. It also includes energy used and embodied in bleach and detergent.
The diaper LCA study by Franklin Associates, Ltd., 1992
The diaper controversy illustrates the importance of
- What impact is being considered: Energy? Water? Solid waste?- Where are the boundaries of the study placed?
When conclusions of an LCA study are easily reversed, it is a close call, and we may consider the alternatives as about equally impacting the environment.
Most LCAs, however, do lead to definite conclusions.
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LCA of women’s polyester blouses
Ways to reduce impact of laundering:
- Design fabric that needs no laundering(silver nanoparticles?)
- Front loading wash machine(using less water and therefore less hot water)
- Cold wash, air dry
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A solution to fiber procurement
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Paper or Plastic?
Comparison of air emissions and energy consumption in the production of paper and polyethylene (“plastic”) grocery sacks (Franklin Associates, Ltd., 1990)
Air emissions Energy consumption(oz/sack) (Btu/sack)
Life cycle stages Paper Plastic Paper Plastic
Materials processing+ product manufacture 0.0516 0.0146 905 464+ product use
Raw materials acquisition 0.0510 0.0045 724 185+ product disposal
Per kg of material, either conventional polystyrene or biomass-derived PHA(PHA = poly-hydroxy-alkanoates)
Polystyrene PHA
Raw materials 1.78 kg petroleum 31,218 kJ
Steam 7.0 kg 2.78 kg
Electricity 0.30 kWh 5.32 kWh
Converted into fossil-fuel equivalent (FFE):
Source: Life Cycle Analysis of a Residential Home in Michigan, report by Steven Blanchard and Peter Reppe, Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan, 1998.
LCA comparison of two private houses
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Construction Use Disposal
Streamlining an LCA
Limit or eliminate life-cycle stages
Focus on specific environmental impacts or issues
Eliminate specific inventory parameters
Do not include small parts (use a mass minimum threshold)