scholarly journals Environmental impacts of paper handouts vs. Online handouts-from a life cycle assessment prospective

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Arango
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Hard Copy ◽  
Paper Production ◽  
Product Use ◽  
Production Processes

<p class="p1"><span class="s1">T</span>he purpose of this study was to address the concerns about sustainability between the uses of hard copy reference documents versus online copies. This project presents a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study comparing the production and use of a hard copy handout versus an online handout. For the purpose of this study, paper handouts and online handouts are two different and independent processes. This means that they not only have different outputs but also have different manufacturing stages in order to get to the final result. The scope of this study is “cradle to grave,” starting with the extraction of the raw materials, followed by paper and computer production processes, transportation, product use and disposal/recovery. Results indicate that under the made assumptions, the use of a paper handout has more environmental impacts. At the same time among the evaluated processes, paper production has higher environmental impacts.</p>

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of Wood Pellet Production in Thailand

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 6996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piyarath Saosee ◽  
Boonrod Sajjakulnukit ◽  
Shabbir Gheewala
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Wood Pellets ◽  
Wood Pellet ◽  
Pellet Production ◽  
Production Processes

Thailand has increased wood pellet production for export and domestic use. The variations in production processes, raw materials, and transportation related to wood pellet production make it necessary to evaluate the environmental impacts assessment. The objective of this study was to compare via Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), eight different cases of wood pellet production varying in terms of raw materials, production processes, energy use, and the format of transportation and to compare LCA of electricity production from wood pellets and fossil fuels. The comparison results show that leucaena is better as a feedstock for wood pellet production than acacia due to shorter harvest cycle and lesser use of resources. Pellet production consumes the most energy contributing significantly to the environmental impacts. The use of fossil fuels in wood pellet production and transportation also has a major contribution to the environmental impacts. Using wood pellets for electricity production is better than lignite in terms of human health, ecosystem quality and resource scarcity. Recommendations from this study include increasing yield of feedstock plants, shortening harvest cycle, reducing overuse of fertilizers and herbicides, pollution control, reducing fossil fuel use in the supply chain, good logistics, feedstock access, and offering incentives considering the externality cost.

scholarly journals Energy and Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Sustainable Pavement Materials and Technologies for Urban Roads

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo G. Praticò ◽  
Marinella Giunta ◽  
Marina Mistretta ◽  
Teresa Maria Gulotta
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Crumb Rubber ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Cycle Phase ◽  
Reference Case ◽  
Recycled Materials ◽  
Bituminous Mixtures

Recycled and low-temperature materials are promising solutions to reduce the environmental burden deriving from hot mix asphalts. Despite this, there is lack of studies focusing on the assessment of the life-cycle impacts of these promising technologies. Consequently, this study deals with the life cycle assessment (LCA) of different classes of pavement technologies, based on the use of bituminous mixes (hot mix asphalt and warm mix asphalt) with recycled materials (reclaimed asphalt pavements, crumb rubber, and waste plastics), in the pursuit of assessing energy and environmental impacts. Analysis is developed based on the ISO 14040 series. Different scenarios of pavement production, construction, and maintenance are assessed and compared to a reference case involving the use of common paving materials. For all the considered scenarios, the influence of each life-cycle phase on the overall impacts is assessed to the purpose of identifying the phases and processes which produce the greatest impacts. Results show that material production involves the highest contribution (about 60–70%) in all the examined impact categories. Further, the combined use of warm mix asphalts and recycled materials in bituminous mixtures entails lower energy consumption and environmental impacts due to a reduction of virgin bitumen and aggregate consumption, which involves a decrease in the consumption of primary energy and raw materials, and reduced impacts for disposal. LCA results demonstrate that this methodology is able to help set up strategies for eco-design in the pavement sector.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of Nitrate and Compound Fertilizers Production—A Case Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
Georgios Gaidajis ◽  
Ilias Kakanis
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Total Production ◽  
Production Processes ◽  
Water Eutrophication ◽  
Production Industry ◽  
Freshwater Eutrophication

The production and utilization of fertilizers are processes with known and noteworthy environmental impacts. Direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a high contribution to water eutrophication due to the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) derivatives are some of the most crucial impacts derived from the overall life cycle of fertilizer use. The life cycle assessment (LCA) has been reliable and analytical tool for the identification, quantification, and evaluation of potential environmental impacts of fertilizers related to the products, production processes, or activities throughout their lifecycle. In this paper, a gate-to-gate LCA approach was applied in order to identify and evaluate the impacts derived from the production processes of nitrate and compound fertilizers the production industry in Northeastern Greece. The results from this study prove that compound fertilizers have a greater impact compared with nitrate fertilizers, contributing up to 70% of the total production impacts. Furthermore, climate change, freshwater eutrophication, and fossil fuel depletion were identified as the most crucial impact categories. Finally, a comparison with relevant LCA studies was conducted, in order to identify the possibility of a consistency pattern of the fertilizer production impacts in general.

scholarly journals Application of life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology and economic evaluation for construction and demolition waste: a Colombian case study

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-351
Author(s):  
Sindy Sofía Suárez Silgado ◽  
Lucrecia Janneth Calderon Valdiviezo ◽  
Leandro Fernando Mahecha Vanegas
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Construction And Demolition Waste ◽  
Lca Methodology ◽  
Environmental Implications ◽  
Demolition Waste ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Management Processes

The construction industry consumes more raw materials and energy than any other economic activity and generates the largest fraction of waste, known as construction and demolition waste (CDW). This waste has significant environmental implications, most notably in South American countries such as Colombia, where it is handled inappropriately. This study evaluated the management processes currently used for fractions of construction and demolition waste generated in Ibagué (Colombia). The environmental impacts of the management of 1 kg of CDW were also calculated. Other CDW management alternatives were evaluated. The percentage of the fraction of the waste and the treatment or management processes used were modified to determine its environmental and economic viability. The information was obtained through telephone interviews and visits to recycling plants, construction companies, quarries, government entities, and inert landfills. It was completed with secondary sources and the Ecoinvent v.2.2 databases. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology and the SimaPro 8 software were used to calculate the environmental impacts. An economic study of each management process and each alternative was also carried out. A comparison of the other options revealed the current choice contributes most to the environmental impacts in all categories. This study indicates that the most beneficial alternative in environmental and economic terms in Ibagué (Colombia) is where 100% of the metals are recovered, 100% of excavated earth is reused, and 100% of the stone waste is recycled (alternative 3). This alternative remained the most favorable when a sensitivity analysis was carried out with different distances (30 km and 50 km).

scholarly journals Life cycle assessment of seabass and meagre in marine cage farming: From feeding plant to harvesting

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
EVANGELOS KONSTANTINIDIS ◽  
COSTAS PERDIKARIS ◽  
KONSTANTINOS GANIAS
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Fish Feed ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Impact Indicators ◽  
Fish Feeds ◽  
Environmental Impact Indicators

Aquaculture is related to environmental impacts locally and globally. The purpose of this study was to identify environmental hotspots in fish feeds of various granulations in seabass and meagre farming, by using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), given that recent studies suggested fish feed as the predominant factor affecting environmental impacts in marine fish farming. This, in turn enabled a detailed comparison of the environmental performance throughout the rearing cycle, in both species. LCA was applied on the production process of fish feeds taking into account the amount of raw materials, heat and energy needed for the production of feed. Similarly, LCA was applied in cage farms in Greece, involving the amount of feeds per size class, energy and fuel needed for the production of one tonne of seabass and meagre, respectively. The smaller size feed (SSF) class distributed to the fry, performed better compared to medium (MSF) and large size feed (LSF) classes provided to juveniles/adults, in relation to various environmental impact indicators. In medium and large size feeds, the main negative contributor was the use of sunflower meal, while small size feed affected these indicators through higher electricity demands and the inclusion of higher fishmeal level. The comparison between seabass and meagre revealed that meagre had significantly lower impact in all eighteen environmental impact indicators. This should be attributed to the reduced feed conversion ratio and the lower fry requirements compared to seabass. Improvements in cultivation methods of raw materials, optimized reductions in the inclusion of marine origin raw materials and improved feeding management could contribute to the overall ecological sustainability of the sector.

Life Cycle Assessment and Eco-Design of a Wireless TV/VCR Remote

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Hu ◽  
Gaurav Ameta
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Waste Treatment ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
The United States ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Alkaline Batteries ◽  
Improve Product

The focus of this paper is to present life-cycle assessment (LCA) of a TV/VCR remote, including alkaline batteries, and to compare the environmental impacts with a redesigned remote consisting of a solar cell. LCA is a very helpful tool in identifying the most important factors for improving product sustainability. The remote considered in this study can control both television and video cassette recorder. This remote is manufactured in Malaysia and exported to the United States. Its life-cycle system includes raw material, parts, shipment, use phase and waste treatment; its life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) is performed using SimaPro 7.1 and employing the TRACI method. LCA uncertainty analyzing is performed for both remotes utilizing Monte Carlo simulation in SimaPro 7.1. LCA result shows use of alkaline battery affects most obviously in environmental impacts. In Eco-design remote model, both energy type and raw materials changed. Environmental impacts reduce in five categories in redesigned remote. This paper: 1) presents a prototype design for product using solar cell; 2) presents a novel method for designers to determine raw materials to improve product sustainability in designing stage; 3) provides suggestions for manufacturers to improve product sustainability through reuse of solar cell or a leasing strategy.

scholarly journals Life-Cycle Assessment of Dairy Products—Case Study of Regional Cheese Produced in Portugal

Processes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 1182
Author(s):  
Óscar Soares Nunes ◽  
Pedro Dinis Gaspar ◽  
José Nunes ◽  
Paula Quinteiro ◽  
Ana Cláudia Dias ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Animal Feed ◽  
Enteric Fermentation ◽  
Land Preparation ◽  
Sheep Milk ◽  
Production Processes ◽  
Regional Product ◽  
The Impact

Nowadays, there is a growing promotion to label products ecologically in European markets. Knowing that daily products have relevant environmental impact associated with their production, it is of utmost importance to analyse all the related production processes for a better understanding of each process impact. The present study analysed the potential environmental impacts of a Portuguese regional product, the Beira Baixa cheese, coming from the largest national sheep milk region. So, a life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology is used from -cradle-to -gate, including the supplying of the animal feedstock. Impact calculations are performed using the ReCiPe midpoint 2008 method, allowing an analysis of the environmental impacts contributing to climate change, terrestrial acidification, freshwater and marine eutrophication of all productive processes. The results have shown that the greatest impacts occur within the milk production process for all four selected impact categories. This happens mainly due to the fodder cultivation process, also necessary to produce animal feed, which contain processes of fertilization and land preparation. The enteric fermentation and manure management processes have also shown relevant contributions. The impact assessment also showed that the cheesemaking industry has practically insignificant impacts. Nonetheless, the cheesemaking industry can promote their business with these results, by advertising and marketing their product as environmentally friendly, with production processes causing reduced impacts, and therefore also their products.

scholarly journals Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Thermal Insulation Tiles for Flat Roofs

Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 2595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raul Gomes ◽  
José D. Silvestre ◽  
Jorge de Brito
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Environmental Costs ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Life Cycle Stages ◽  
Cradle To Gate ◽  
Flat Roofs

Envelope insulation and protection is an important technical solution to reduce energy consumption, exterior damage, and environmental impacts in buildings. Thermal insulation tiles are used simultaneously as thermal insulation of the building envelope and protection material of under layers in flat roofs systems. The purpose of this research is to assess the environmental impacts of the life cycle of thermal insulation tiles for flat roofs. This research presents the up-to-date “cradle to gate” environmental performance of thermal insulation tiles for the environmental categories and life-cycle stages defined in European standards on environmental evaluation of building. The results presented in this research were based on site-specific data from a Portuguese factory and resulted from a consistent methodology that is here fully described, including the raw materials extraction and production, and the modelling of energy and transport processes at the production stage of thermal insulation tiles. These results reflect the weight of the raw-materials within the production process of thermal insulation tiles in all environmental categories and show that some life cycle stages, such as transportation of raw materials (A2) and packaging and packaging waste (A3.1 and A3.3, respectively), may not be discarded in a cradle to gate study of a construction material because they can make a significant contribution to some environmental categories. Moreover, complementary results regarding the economic, environmental, and energy performance Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of flat roofs solutions incorporating the thermal insulation tiles studied showed that the influence of the economic costs on the total aggregated costs of these solutions is much higher than that of the environmental costs due to the lower environmental costs of the thermal insulation tiles at the product stage (A1–A3). These costs influenced the corresponding percentage of the environmental costs (between 14% and 18%) and the percentage of the economic costs (between 70% and 75%) in the total aggregated (environmental, economic, and energy) net present value (NPV). Finally, a complementary “cradle to cradle” environmental LCA discussion is presented including the following additional life cycle stages: maintenance and replacement (B2–B4), operational energy use (B6), and end-of-life stage and benefits and loads beyond the system boundary (C1–C4 and D).

Environmental Impacts Assessment of Liquid Crystal Extraction From Wasted LCD Panels

2014 ◽  
Vol 496-500 ◽  
pp. 55-62
Author(s):  
Yu Lin Wang ◽  
Hai Juan Hu ◽  
Sen Qi ◽  
Guang Fu Liu
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Recovery Rate ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Consumption Energy

In view of the extraction of liquid crystal from the wasted LCD panels, this paper aims to analyze the raw materials consumption, energy consumption and emissions to the environment in the extracting process based on the method of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The environmental impacts of the recycling procedure are assessed with the aid of LCIA（Life Cycle Inventory Assessment）method and CML2001 method provided by LCA analyzing software Gabi 4. Two ways of liquid crystal extraction mentioned in the paper are supercritical method and distilling method. The assessment results indicate: the supercritical method’s LCIA result is 3 times higher than the distilling method, but the liquid crystal extracting rate can reach 95% with a lower raw materials consumption; the environmental impacts of distilling method is lower than supercritical method, but its extracting rate of liquid crystal can only get to 50%. For industrial applications, supercritical method has greater advantages and there are more crafts to perfect for distilling method in improving the recovery rate of liquid crystal.

Life Cycle Assessment of Membrane System for Wastewater Treatment: A Review and Further Research

2013 ◽  
Vol 315 ◽  
pp. 186-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salwa Mahmood ◽  
Muhamad Zameri Mat Saman ◽  
Mohd Yusof Noordin
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Product Development ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Membrane System ◽  
Research Direction ◽  
High Demand ◽  
Medium Enterprise

Membrane technology has received increasing attention for the treatment of wastewaters lately. The use of membrane system showed high demand in industries. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) will be used to evaluate the environmental impacts of membrane system from raw materials, continues with product development and manufacturing, and finally ends when all materials are returned to earth. This paper presents a review of researchers on LCA, membrane manufacture and application to suggest corresponding further research direction. A methodology for sustainable assessment will be developed for membrane system for wastewater treatment for small and medium enterprise (SME).

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