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Introducing Life Cycle Impact Assessment
Abstract
This chapter serves as an introduction to the presentation of the many aspects of life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) in this volume of the book series ‘LCA Compendium’. It starts with a brief historical overview of the development of life cycle impact assessment driven by numerous national LCIA methodology projects and presents the international scientific discussions and methodological consensus attempts in consecutive working groups under the auspices of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) as well as the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, and the (almost) parallel standardisation activities under the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). A brief introduction is given on the purpose and structure of LCIA. As a common background for the 11 chapters dealing with the characterisation modelling of the most common impact categories, the chapter concludes with an introduction of the general principles and features of characterisation.
... Specifically, the environmental impacts are assessed with the ReCiPe method, which provides harmonized characterization factors at midpoint and endpoint levels. The midpoint approach has been widely used and has a stronger relation to the environmental flows and relatively low uncertainty; while the endpoint approach has simple and easy-to-understand damage categories, in addition to providing better information on the environmental relevance of the environmental flows, but is also more uncertain than the midpoint characterization factors (Hauschild and Huijbregts, 2015;Yi et al., 2014). This approach allows quantifying several environmental impact categories to generate a major data availability and broader assessment than existing literature to support decision-making related to recycling systems for textile residues, extending and complementing our previous work (Espinoza et al., 2022). ...
... Furthermore, the midpoint approach has been widely used and has the broadest set of midpoint impact categories compared with other methods (Powar, 2023). Additionally, the endpoint approach has advantages as it can provide easy-tounderstand results by considering the damage, and it provides a more concise way to interpret the LCA results (Hauschild and Huijbregts, 2015;Yi et al., 2014;Dong and Ng, 2014). Fig. 2a shows the Midpoint (1.04) analysis results for the 18 categories that include the methodology for both recycling processes. ...
... Monetary valuation is the practice of converting measures of social and biophysical impacts into monetary units and is used to determine the economic value of non-market goods, i.e. goods for which no market exists Table 1 validity, while the endpoint indicators are more understandable because they show the outcomes of the environmental impacts. Both approaches can be expressed with monetary value or a single score [18,19]. The construction of the comprehensive environmental impact assessment framework proceeded according to the following stages: (i) The definition of the comprehensive environmental impact assessment; ...
As an important part of textile production, the dyeing process not only makes the greatest contribution to water consumption and wastewater discharge, but its use of synthetic dyestuffs has a negative impact on all forms of life. To assess the environmental impact of textile production, it is necessary to assess the environmental impact of the dyeing process. Comprehensive assessment methods can convert multi-dimensional environmental impacts into unified quantitative indicators and enable comparisons between different products or environmental impact categories. In this study, five comprehensive assessment methods (i.e., ReCiPe, Eco-Indicator 99, Nike MSI, Environmental Price, and Environmental Profit & Loss) were applied to evaluate the environmental impact of the cotton fabric dyeing process. Furthermore, a preliminary assessment framework was constructed which could provide a reference for industry experts to establish uniform environmental assessment standards. The results indicate that diverse methods are recommended to be applied in parallel to analyse the environmental impact of textile products, and the use of individual comprehensive environmental assessment methods has its limitations and characteristics. Among the five methods, the ReCiPe method stands out as one of the most advanced LCA methodologies with the widest range of midpoint impact categories and a global-scale calculation mechanism. The scoring method offers sufficient possibilities to compare the severity of different environmental impacts caused by the dyeing process, and the monetary value model can be used as a more intuitive tool to characterize environmental impact no matter from the midpoint or endpoint.
... Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool to evaluate environmental impacts (such as marine eutrophication) of a product or process across its lifecycle. In an LCA, life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods can be used to calculate characterization factors that translate quantified inputs and outputs of the product system into potential impacts (Hauschild and Huijbregts 2015). LCIA methods consist of characterization factors (CFs) which are the product of a fate factor (FF), exposure factor (XF), and effect factor (EF). ...
Purpose
Nitrogen emissions from human activities are contributing to elevated levels of eutrophication in coastal ecosystems. Mechanisms involved in marine eutrophication show strong geographical variation. Existing life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) and absolute environmental sustainability assessment (AESA) methods for marine eutrophication do not adequately represent this variability, do not have a full global coverage, and suffer from other limitations, such as poor estimation of coastal residence times. This study aims to advance LCIA and AESA for marine eutrophication.
Methods
We aligned and combined recent advancements in marine eutrophication LCIA and AESA methods into one method. By re-running models underlying the combined methods and incorporating additional data sources, we included marine regions missing in previous methods and improved fate modeling, with the inclusion of denitrification and plant uptake in the air emission-terrestrial deposition pathway. To demonstrate and validate our method, we applied it in a case study.
Results
The developed method allows the assessment of marine eutrophication impacts from emissions to soil, freshwater, and air at high resolution (0.083° and 2° × 2.5° for inland and air emissions, respectively) and spatial coverage (all ice-free global continents). In the case study, we demonstrate the added value of our method by showing that the now quantified spatial variability within spatial units, e.g., river basins, can be large and have a strong influence on the modeled marine eutrophication from the case study. Compared to existing methods, our method identifies larger occupations of safe operating space for marine eutrophication, mainly due to the high resolution of the coastal compartment, reflecting a more realistic areal extent of marine eutrophication impacts.
Conclusions
Although limited by factors such as simulations based on a single reference year for modeling inland and air fate, our method is readily applicable to assess the marine eutrophication impact of nitrogen emitted to any environmental compartment and relate it to the safe operating space. With substantial advancement of existing approaches, our method improves the basis for decision-making for managing nitrogen and reducing emissions to levels within the safe operating space.
... The French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME) uses 16 specific indicators as defined by Fazio et al., including the above [20], which Soler et al. classify into 4 categories (climate, biodiversity, environmental health and resources) based on their main impact [52]. These indicators are used during Life Cycle Assessment analysis (LCA) and are not specific to the food system [27]. In this article, we focus on three of these indicators, which also match planetary boundaries: climate change (due to GHG emissions), global freshwater use, and land system change. ...
It can be difficult to extrapolate how decisions made in our daily lives impact the environment in the long term. While rich data and many calculator tools are freely available, comparing how different choices add up over time remains a complex and tedious task. In this paper, we focus on the specific case of dietary habits and explore how long-term consequences of different dietary choices may be communicated using a mini-world as a proxy, where decisions of one person affect the entire mini-world. We focus on three planetary boundaries: climate change, global freshwater use and land system change. After describing the prototype, we report insights from interviews conducted with three experts who tested it. The results suggest that the mini-world has potential for facilitating the comparison of environmental consequences linked to dietary habits. At the same time, numerous improvements have also been proposed.
... The concept of PEM uses strategies such as waste reduction, pollution prevention, and resource conservation to identify and prevent potential risks to the environment [31]. PEM is a cost reduction tool which assists organizations in reducing risks to liability through compliance [32], it is implemented through strategies such as environmental management, life cycle assessment (LCA), environmental performance indicators, green procurement, environmental risk assessment and environmental monitoring systems [33]. The initiative of zero manufacturing waste to landfills by Procter and Gamble's aimed at eradicating waste from manufacturing processes and the ecomagination program by General Electric which focused on the development of products and services which are environmentally friendly are all typical practices of PEM [34]. ...
Global environmental pollution presents formidable obstacles to the long-term viability of the planet. This study synthesized current relevant literature with statistical snapshots from pollution statistics and reports and presented feasible recommendations to address the ramifications of global environmental pollution. A central focus is laid on the importance of preventive environmental management (PEM) and the strategic enforcement of environmental policies (EP), with a detailed exploration of history evolution and current application challenges. Specifically, the study centers on the significance of environmental policy and preventive environmental management in combatting global pollution. The examination encompasses an overview of environmental pollution and its implications for the environment and human health. It explores the role of environmental policy in mitigating environmental pollution, scrutinizes the principles underlying preventive environmental management, and evaluates the effectiveness of environmental management systems in curbing pollution. Furthermore, the study identifies and analyzes the challenges of implementing environmental control techniques, offering recommendations to overcome these obstacles. The outcomes of this research contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the potential of environmental control methods in tackling global environmental pollution. The study underscores the crucial nature of robust environmental policies and proactive approaches to prevent pollution and foster sustainable development. Additionally, it offers insights into the necessity for collaboration and cooperation among stakeholders at various levels to attain effective pollution control and environmental management.
Addressing climate change and reducing reliance on fossil fuels necessitates decarbonizing the transportation sector. Biofuels are considered a renewable and cleaner energy source compared to fossil fuels. Biodiesel is a renewable alternative fuel that can be used in automotive vehicles. It is derived from various sources, such as vegetable oils, animal fats, or waste cooking oils (WCOs), and it can be blended with petroleum-derived diesel fuel or used in its pure form, depending on the vehicle and engine specifications. The aviation sector is experiencing significant growth, and as its greenhouse gas emissions contribute to approximately 2% of total global emissions, decarbonization poses an ongoing challenge. Sustainable aviation fuels represent the most viable solution for the aviation industry to address climate change and meet the increasing fuel demand in the sector. Waste feedstocks, such as WCOs, municipal solid waste, and lignocellulosic materials, show promise as valuable feed streams for producing biojet fuel. Although the railway sector is currently the most electrified subsector of transportation, oil accounts for 55% of total energy consumption, and biodiesel shows high potential as an alternative fuel. Finally, as the marine industry is currently exploring and evaluating the technical feasibility and commercial viability of alternative fuels such as ammonia, hydrogen, and methanol, as well as electro-fuels, biodiesel is emerging as an increasingly viable option in the short term that can provide immediate emission reductions. The current chapter highlights the progress and challenges associated with waste-to-biofuel production for the transportation sector, focusing on the automotive, aviation, rail, and maritime industries.
Citation: Cogo Badan, I.; Jung, S.-H.; Singh, R.; Vivekanand, V.; Knappert, J.; Rauh, C.; Lindenberger, C. Life Cycle Assessment of Exopolysaccharides and Phycocyanin Production with Arthrospira platensis. Fermentation 2024, 10, 163. https://doi. Abstract: In the pursuit of sustainable solutions for contemporary environmental challenges arising from the increasing global demand for energy, this study delves into the potential of cyanobacteria, specifically Arthrospira platensis (commonly known as "spirulina"), as a versatile resource. Employing a life cycle assessment (LCA) in accordance with the ISO 14044:2006 standard and employing both midpoint and endpoint indicators, the study comprehensively evaluates environmental impacts. The research explored a range of scenarios, specifically investigating variations in light intensity and harvesting volume. These investigations were carried out using a pilot-scale photobioreactor, specifically an airlift reactor system featuring a horizontal tubular downcomer. The primary focus is on extracting valuable compounds, namely exopolysaccharides and phycocyanin. It emphasized the extraction of value-added products and strategic integration with a biogas plant for process heat, contributing to developing a sustainable supply network and offering insights into environmentally conscious algae cultivation practices with implications for renewable energy and the production of valuable products. The results emphasize the project's potential economic feasibility with minimal energy impact from by-product extraction. The environmental assessment identifies marine ecotoxi-city and fossil resource depletion as principal impacts, predominantly influenced by upstreaming and harvesting stages. After conducting comparisons across various scenarios, it was found that cultivations under higher light intensities have a lower environmental impact than cultivations with low light supply. However, regardless of light intensity, processes with shorter harvesting cycles tend to have a smaller environmental impact compared to processes with longer harvesting cycles. Overall, this research contributes a nuanced and realistic perspective, fostering informed decision-making in sustainable algae cultivation practices, with implications for renewable energy and valuable compound production.
Purpose: This study analyzes the influence of value choices in impact assessment models for human health, such as the choice of time horizon, on life cycle assessment outcomes. Methods: For 756 products, the human health damage score is calculated using three sets of characterization factors (CFs). The CFs represent seven human health impact assessment categories: water scarcity, tropospheric ozone formation, particulate matter formation, human toxicity, ionizing radiation, stratospheric ozone depletion, and climate change. Each set of CFs embeds a combination of value choices following the Cultural Theory, and reflects the individualist, hierarchist, or egalitarian perspective. Results: We found that the average difference in human health damage score goes from 1 order of magnitude between the individualist and hierarchist perspectives to 2.5 orders of magnitude between the individualist and egalitarian perspectives. The difference in damage score of individual materials among perspectives depends on the combination of emissions driving the impact of both perspectives and can rise up to 5 orders of magnitude. Conclusions: The value choices mainly responsible for the differences in results among perspectives are the choice of time horizon and inclusion of highly uncertain effects. A product comparison can be affected when the human health damage score of two products differ less than a factor of 5, or the comparing products largely differ in their emitted substances. Overall, our study implies that value choices in impact assessment modeling can modify the outcomes of a life cycle assessment (LCA) and thus the practical implication of decisions based on the results of an LCA.
As yet, the application of an uncertainty and variability analysis is not common practice in LCAs. A proper analysis will
be facilitated when it is clear which types of uncertainties and variabilities exist in LCAs and which tools are available
to deal with them. Therefore, a framework is developed to classify types of uncertainty and variability in LCAs. Uncertainty
is divided in (1) parameter uncertainty, (2) model uncertainty, and (3) uncertainty due to choices, while variability covers
(4) spatial variability, (5) temporal variability, and (6) variability between objects and sources. A tool to deal with parameter
uncertainty and variability between objects and sources in both the inventory and the impact assessment is probabilistic simulation.
Uncertainty due to choices can be dealt with in a scenario analysis or reduced by standardisation and peer review. The feasibility
of dealing with temporal and spatial variability is limited, implying model uncertainty in LCAs. Other model uncertainties
can be reduced partly by more sophisticated modelling, such as the use of non-linear inventory models in the inventory and
multi media models in the characterisation phase.
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Short Description
The first book of its kind, the LCA Handbook will become an invaluable resource for environmentally progressive manufacturers and suppliers, product and process designers, executives and managers, and government officials who want to learn about this essential component of environmental sustainability.
Audience
Engineers, managers, economists, government policy makers, and scientists throughout industry and economists and engineers working in sustainability, whether in industry or research.
Description
As the last several decades have seen a dramatic rise in the application of LCA in decision making, the interest in the life cycle concept as an environmental management and sustainability tool continues to grow. The LCA Handbook offers a look at the role that life cycle information, in the hands of companies, governments and consumers, may have in improving the environmental performance of products and technologies. It concisely and clearly presents the various aspects of LCA in order to help the reader better understand the subject.
The content of the book was designed with a certain flow in mind. After a high level overview to describe current views and state-of-the-practice of LCA, it presents chapters that address specific LCA methodological issues including creating life cycle inventory, life cycle impact assessment, and capturing eco-systems services. These are followed by example applications of LCA in the agri-food industry; sustainable supply chain management; solid waste management; mining and mineral extraction; forest products; buildings; product innovation; and sustainable chemistry and engineering.
The international success of the sustainability paradigm needs the participation of many stakeholders, including citizens, corporations, academia, and NGOs. The handbook links LCA and responsible decision making and how the life cycle concept is a critical element in environmental sustainability. It covers issues such as building capacity in developing countries and emerging economies so that they are more capable of harnessing the potential in LCA for sustainable development. Governments play a very important role with the leverage they have through procurement, regulation, international treaties, tax incentives, public outreach, and other policy tools. This compilation of points to the clear trend for incorporating life cycle information into the design and development processes for products and policies, just as quality and safety concerns are now addressed throughout product design and development.