scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of an NMC Battery for Application to Electric Light-Duty Commercial Vehicles and Comparison with a Sodium-Nickel-Chloride Battery

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1160
Author(s):  
Antonella Accardo ◽  
Giovanni Dotelli ◽  
Marco Luigi Musa ◽  
Ezio Spessa
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Nickel Chloride ◽  
Impact Categories ◽  
Commercial Vehicles ◽  
Light Duty ◽  
Electric Light ◽  
The Impact

This paper presents the results of an environmental assessment of a Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt (NMC) Lithium-ion traction battery for Battery Electric Light-Duty Commercial Vehicles (BEV-LDCV) used for urban and regional freight haulage. A cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) of NMC111 is provided, operation and end-of-life stages are included, and insight is also given into a Life Cycle Assessment of different NMC chemistries. The environmental impacts of the manufacturing stages of the NMC111 battery are then compared with those of a Sodium-Nickel-Chloride (ZEBRA) battery. In the second part of the work, two electric-battery LDCVs (powered with NMC111 and ZEBRA batteries, respectively) and a diesel urban LDCV are analysed, considering a wide set of environmental impact categories. The results show that the NMC111 battery has the highest impacts from production in most of the impact categories. Active cathode material, Aluminium, Copper, and energy use for battery production are the main contributors to the environmental impact. However, when vehicle application is investigated, NMC111-BEV shows lower environmental impacts, in all the impact categories, than ZEBRA-BEV. This is mainly due to the greater efficiency of the NMC111 battery during vehicle operation. Finally, when comparing BEVs to a diesel LDCV, the electric powertrains show advantages over the diesel one as far as global warming, abiotic depletion potential-fossil fuels, photochemical oxidation, and ozone layer depletion are concerned. However, the diesel LDCV performs better in almost all the other investigated impact categories.

scholarly journals Environmental Impact Assessment of Thai Minced Fish Paste (Surimi) Using Life Cycle Assessment Methodology

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 137-153
Author(s):  
Harnpon Phungrassami ◽  
Phairat Usubharatana
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Fuel Consumption ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Impact Categories ◽  
Allocation Method ◽  
The Impact

Environmental impacts of fishery production have resulted in increased concern and awareness. Thailand, as one of the largest global fish exporters, faces challenges related to environmental problems caused by fishery processes. Here, the environmental impact of Thai surimi production was estimated based on life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, focusing specifically on two Thai surimi products made from goatfish and ponyfish caught within the southern region of Thailand. Three impact categories where explored: global warming, acidification and eutrophication. Life cycle impacts were calculated for one kg of product using both mass and economic allocations. Results of this study indicated that goatfish has lower impacts than ponyfish for all the impact categories. Fuel consumption during the fishery phase and electricity consumption during processing were the main parameters leading to most of the considered environmental impacts. The value of Global Warming  Potential(GWP) ranged within 1.3‒3.0 kg CO2eq for goatfish and 2.2‒7.1 kg CO2eq ponyfish depending on the allocation method. The acidification impact of goatfish and ponyfish were revealed at 3.2‒7.3 gSO2eq and 12.7‒39.7 gSO2eq, respectively. The eutrophication of goatfish and ponyfish were 0.7‒1.6 gPO4eq and 2.5‒8.1 gPO4eq, respectively. Sensitivity analysis of fuel consumption, electricity consumption, product yield and allocation method were evaluated.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Characteristics of Environmental Impacts According to the Cut-Off Criteria Applicable to the Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) of Apartment Buildings in South Korea

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2898
Author(s):  
Rakhyun Kim ◽  
Myung-Kwan Lim ◽  
Seungjun Roh ◽  
Won-Jun Park
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Impact Analysis ◽  
Impact Categories ◽  
Environmental Impact Analysis ◽  
Apartment Buildings ◽  
Environmental Impact Categories ◽  
Weight Percentile

This study analyzed the characteristics of the environmental impacts of apartment buildings, a typical housing type in South Korea, as part of a research project supporting the streamlined life cycle assessment (S-LCA) of buildings within the G-SEED (Green Standard for Energy and Environmental Design) framework. Three recently built apartment building complexes were chosen as study objects for the quantitative evaluation of the buildings in terms of their embodied environmental impacts (global warming potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, ozone layer depletion potential, photochemical oxidant creation potential, and abiotic depletion potential), using the LCA approach. Additionally, we analyzed the emission trends according to the cut-off criteria of the six environmental impact categories by performing an S-LCA with cut-off criteria 90–99% of the cumulative weight percentile. Consequently, we were able to present the cut-off criterion best suited for S-LCA and analyze the effect of the cut-off criteria on the environmental impact analysis results. A comprehensive environmental impact analysis of the characteristics of the six environmental impact categories revealed that the error rate was below 5% when the cut-off criterion of 97.5% of the cumulative weight percentile was applied, thus verifying its validity as the optimal cut-off criterion for S-LCA.

scholarly journals Environmental Impact for 3D Bone Tissue Engineering Scaffolds Life Cycle: An Assessment

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 6504-6515
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Bone Tissue Engineering ◽  
Bone Tissue ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Tissue Engineering Scaffolds ◽  
Industrial Soil ◽  
The Impact

With the development of additive manufacturing technology, 3D bone tissue engineering scaffolds have evolved. Bone tissue engineering is one of the techniques for repairing bone abnormalities caused by a variety of circumstances, such as injuries or the need to support damaged sections. Many bits of research have gone towards developing 3D bone tissue engineering scaffolds all across the world. The assessment of the environmental impact, on the other hand, has received less attention. As a result, the focus of this study is on developing a life cycle assessment (LCA) model for 3D bone tissue engineering scaffolds and evaluating potential environmental impacts. One of the methodologies to evaluating a complete environmental impact assessment is life cycle assessment (LCA). The cradle-to-grave method will be used in this study, and GaBi software was used to create the analysis for this study. Previous research on 3D bone tissue engineering fabrication employing poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) soaked in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and diphenyl (2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) phosphine oxide (TPO) as a photoinitiator will be reviewed. Meanwhile, digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing is employed as the production technique. The GaBi program and the LCA model developed to highlight the potential environmental impact. This study shows how the input and output of LCA of 3D bone tissue engineering scaffolds might contribute to environmental issues such as air, freshwater, saltwater, and industrial soil emissions. The emission contributing to potential environmental impacts comes from life cycle input, electricity and transportation consumption, manufacturing process, and material resources. The results from this research can be used as an indicator for the researcher to take the impact of the development of 3D bone tissue engineering on the environment seriously.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of Maize-Germ Oil Production and The Use of Bioenergy to Mitigate Environmental Impacts: A Gate-To-Gate Case Study

Resources ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattias Gaglio ◽  
Elena Tamburini ◽  
Francesco Lucchesi ◽  
Vassilis Aschonitis ◽  
Anna Atti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Impact Categories ◽  
Industrial Processing ◽  
The Impact

The need to reduce the environmental impacts of the food industry is increasing together with the dramatic increment of global food demand. Circulation strategies such as the exploitation of self-produced renewable energy sources can improve ecological performances of industrial processes. However, evidence is needed to demonstrate and characterize such environmental benefits. This study assessed the environmental performances of industrial processing of maize edible oil, whose energy provision is guaranteed by residues biomasses. A gate-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach was applied for a large-size factory of Northern Italy to describe: (i) the environmental impacts related to industrial processing and (ii) the contribution of residue-based bioenergy to their mitigation, through the comparison with a reference system based on conventional energy. The results showed that oil refinement is the most impacting phase for almost all the considered impact categories. The use of residue-based bioenergy was found to drastically reduce the emissions for all the impact categories. Moreover, Cumulative Energy Demand analysis revealed that the use of biomass residues increased energy efficiency through a reduction of the total energy demand of the industrial process. The study demonstrates that the exploitation of residue-based bioenergy can be a sustainable solution to improve environmental performances of the food industry, while supporting circular economy.

scholarly journals Environmental Impacts of Charging Concepts for Battery Electric Vehicles: A Comparison of On-Board and Off-Board Charging Systems Based on a Life Cycle Assessment

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 6508
Author(s):  
Mona Kabus ◽  
Lars Nolting ◽  
Benedict J. Mortimer ◽  
Jan C. Koj ◽  
Wilhelm Kuckshinrichs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Electric Vehicles ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
System Level ◽  
Impact Categories ◽  
Dc System ◽  
Battery Electric Vehicles

We investigate the environmental impacts of on-board (based on alternating current, AC) and off-board (based on direct current, DC) charging concepts for electric vehicles using Life Cycle Assessment and considering a maximum charging power of 22 kW (AC) and 50 kW (DC). Our results show that the manufacturing of chargers provokes the highest contribution to environmental impacts of the production phase. Within the chargers, the filters could be identified as main polluters for all power levels. When comparing the results on a system level, the DC system causes less environmental impact than the AC system in all impact categories. In our diffusion scenarios for electric vehicles, annual emission reductions of up to 35 million kg CO2-eq. could be achieved when the DC system is used instead of the AC system. In addition to the environmental assessment, we examine economic effects. Here, we find annual savings of up to 8.5 million euros, when the DC system is used instead of the AC system.

scholarly journals Sustainability Estimation of Oat:Pea Intercrops from the Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment Perspective

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 2433
Author(s):  
Jaroslav Bernas ◽  
Tereza Bernasová ◽  
Hans-Peter Kaul ◽  
Helmut Wagentristl ◽  
Gerhard Moitzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Farming System ◽  
N Fertilization ◽  
Impact Categories ◽  
Yield Level ◽  
N Yield ◽  
Arable Farming ◽  
The Impact

Winter cereal:legume intercropping is considered a sustainable arable farming system not only in temperate regions but also in Mediterranean environments. Previous studies have shown that with suitable crop stand composition, high grain yield can be achieved. In this study, a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the influence of sowing ratio and nitrogen (N) fertilization on grain nitrogen yield of oat (Avena sativa L.) and pea (Pisum sativum L.) in intercrops was performed to find the optimal design to achieve low environmental impact. This study compared the environmental impact of oat:pea intercrops using agricultural LCA. Monocrops of oat and pea and substitutive intercrops, which were fertilized with different levels of N, were compared. The system boundaries included all the processes from cradle to farm gate. Mass-based (grain N yield) and area-based (land demand for generating the same grain N yield) functional units were used. The results covered the impact categories related to the agricultural LCAs. The ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint and Endpoint characterization model was used for the data expression. According to the results, an unfertilized combination of oat and pea (50%:50%) had the lowest environmental impact in comparison with the other 14 assessed variants and selected impact categories. In the assessed framework, pea monocrops or intensively fertilized oat monocrops can also be considered as alternatives with relatively low impact on the environment. However, an appropriate grain N yield must be reached to balance the environmental impact resulting from the fertilizer inputs. The production and use of fertilizers had the greatest impact on the environment within the impact categories climate change, eutrophication, and ecotoxicity. The results indicated that high fertilizer inputs did not necessarily cause the highest environmental impact. In this respect, the achieved grain N yield level, the choice of allocation approach, the functional unit, and the data expression approach played dominant roles.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Environmental Impact of Cement Production in Algeria Using Life Cycle Assessment

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 79-84
Author(s):  
S. Boughrara ◽  
M. Chedri ◽  
K. Louhab
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Cement Production ◽  
Dry Process ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Inputs And Outputs

The aim of this study is the use of Life Cycle Assessment, to evaluate the impact generated by cement manufactory situated in Sour EL Ghozlane town in Algeria country, which use the dry process to produce cement Portland. The LCA method is used for compiling and examining the inputs and outputs of energy, raw material and environmental impacts directly attributable to the manufacture and functioning of a product throughout its life. It is also used to determine element and energy contributing to each impact evaluated. Potentials impacts are evaluated using the SimaProV.7.1 software and IMPACT2000+ method in this study.

scholarly journals The impact of the consumer’s decision on the life cycle assessment of organic pasta

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Elisabeth Gnielka ◽  
Christof Menzel
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Grocery Store ◽  
Impact Categories ◽  
Freshwater Ecotoxicity ◽  
Last Mile ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Freshwater Eutrophication

AbstractEvery consumer’s decision has an impact on the environment, and even basic food products such as pasta have an impact due to their high consumption rates. Factors that can be influenced by the consumer include the preparation (cooking), last mile and packaging phases. The last mile has not been considered in most studies but contributes considerably to the environmental impact of pasta. The three phases and their environmental impact on the life cycle of pasta are analyzed in this cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment. The focus of the study lies on the impact categories climate change, agricultural land occupation, fossil depletion, water depletion, freshwater eutrophication and freshwater ecotoxicity. Inventory data were taken from other studies, were collected in cooperation with a zero-packaging organic grocery store in Germany or were gained in test series. Our results show that the preparation of pasta has the greatest environmental impact (over 40% in the impact categories climate change and fossil depletion and over 50% in the impact category freshwater eutrophication), followed by the last mile (over 20% in the impact categories climate change and fossil depletion) and lastly the packaging (nearly 9% in the impact categories freshwater eutrophication and freshwater ecotoxicity). Based on our study´s results, we provide some recommendations for minimizing the environmental impacts of pasta.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of an Office Building Based on Site-Specific Data

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (13) ◽  
pp. 2588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Ylmén ◽  
Diego Peñaloza ◽  
Kristina Mjörnell
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Impact Categories ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Specific Data ◽  
Environmental Impact Categories ◽  
The Impact

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an established method to assess the various environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a building. The goal of this project was to calculate the environmental releases for a whole office building and investigate the contribution in terms of environmental impact for different parts of the building, as well as the impact from different stages of the life cycle. The construction process was followed up during production and the contractors provided real-time data on the input required in terms of building products, transport, machinery, energy use, etc. The results are presented for five environmental impact categories and, as expected, materials that constitute the main mass of the building and the energy used during operation contribute the largest share of environmental impact. It is usually difficult to evaluate the environmental impact of the materials in technical installations due to the lack of data. However, in this study, the data were provided by the contractors directly involved in the construction and can, therefore, be considered highly reliable. The results show that materials for installations have a significant environmental impact for four of the environmental impact categories studied, which is a noteworthy finding.

scholarly journals Sustainable Wine Scoring System (SWSS): A life cycle assessment (LCA) multivariable approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 03016 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.E. Valero ◽  
J.A. Howarter ◽  
J.W. Sutherland
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Ozone Depletion ◽  
Scoring System ◽  
Impact Categories ◽  
Reference Region ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Environmental Impact Categories ◽  
The Impact

Sustainable practices have become accepted by a large part of the wine community as a necessary step to face climate change challenges and natural resources depletion. Also, in recent years, there is a rising influence of sustainability on consumer’s buying decision. However, buyers fail to distinguish sustainable attributes from wine that is promoted under different sustainability labels. Moreover, wineries find it challenging to quantify the improvement of their environmental impact when following a specific sustainable practice. The objective of this study is to evaluate the methodology for the development of a Sustainable Wine Scoring System (SWSS). The SWSS aims to be a single numeric index of the sustainable attribute of a bottle of wine, constituted by multiple normalized indicators. Our initial approach for the SWSS is to quantify different environmental impact categories following a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), to then normalizes and weighs the result regarding a reference region. We used as a case of study “Craft Wineries” in Indiana in the USA, as a non-traditional winemaking area. The impact assessment was conducted using SimaPro8.5 in accordance to TRACI2.1 for the USA. As result of our LCA, grape growing is the process that contributes the most to the ecotoxicity, non-carcinogenic, and eutrophication impact categories, while transportation stages contribute the most to global warming potential, smog, and ozone depletion. The calculated SWSS results vary from 279 for the scenario with the highest environmental impact to 350 for the best performance scenario. The SWSS has the potential to represent sustainable attributes of wine in a more suitable way than a single isolated indicator such as carbon footprint.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document