scholarly journals The Life Cycle Assessment for Polylactic Acid (PLA) to Make It a Low-Carbon Material

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1854
Author(s):  
Erfan Rezvani Rezvani Ghomi ◽  
Fatemeh Khosravi ◽  
Ali Saedi Saedi Ardahaei ◽  
Yunqian Dai ◽  
Rasoul Esmaeely Neisiany ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Polylactic Acid ◽  
Carbon Material ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Life Cycle Assessments ◽  
Global Concern ◽  
Materials Used ◽  
Whole Life Cycle

The massive plastic production worldwide leads to a global concern for the pollution made by the plastic wastes and the environmental issues associated with them. One of the best solutions is replacing the fossil-based plastics with bioplastics. Bioplastics such as polylactic acid (PLA) are biodegradable materials with less greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. PLA is a biopolymer produced from natural resources with good mechanical and chemical properties, therefore, it is used widely in packaging, agriculture, and biomedical industries. PLA products mostly end up in landfills or composting. In this review paper, the existing life cycle assessments (LCA) for PLA were comprehensively reviewed and classified. According to the LCAs, the energy and materials used in the whole life cycle of PLA were reported. Finally, the GHG emissions of PLA in each stage of its life cycle, including feedstock acquisition and conversion, manufacturing of PLA products, the PLA applications, and the end of life (EoL) options, were described. The most energy-intensive stage in the life cycle of PLA is its conversion. By optimizing the conversion process of PLA, it is possible to make it a low-carbon material with less dependence on energy sources.

scholarly journals A Review on the Life Cycle Assessment of Cellulose: From Properties to the Potential of Making It a Low Carbon Material

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 714
Author(s):  
Firoozeh Foroughi ◽  
Erfan Rezvani Ghomi ◽  
Fatemeh Morshedi Dehaghi ◽  
Ramadan Borayek ◽  
Seeram Ramakrishna
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Material ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Environmental Aspects ◽  
Plastic Pollution ◽  
Cellulose Production ◽  
Life Cycle Assessments ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
By Products

The huge plastic production and plastic pollution are considered important global issues due to environmental aspects. One practical and efficient way to address them is to replace fossil-based plastics with natural-based materials, such as cellulose. The applications of different cellulose products have recently received increasing attention because of their desirable properties, such as biodegradability and sustainability. In this regard, the current study initially reviews cellulose products’ properties in three categories, including biopolymers based on the cellulose-derived monomer, cellulose fibers and their derivatives, and nanocellulose. The available life cycle assessments (LCA) for cellulose were comprehensively reviewed and classified at all the stages, including extraction of cellulose in various forms, manufacturing, usage, and disposal. Finally, due to the development of low-carbon materials in recent years and the importance of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, the proposed solutions to make cellulose a low carbon material were made. The optimization of the cellulose production process, such as the recovery of excessive solvents and using by-products as inputs for other processes, seem to be the most important step toward making it a low carbon material.

scholarly journals Comprehensive Evaluation of Carbon Emissions for the Development of High-Rise Residential Building

Buildings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Yim ◽  
S. Ng ◽  
M. Hossain ◽  
James Wong
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Residential Housing ◽  
High Rise ◽  
Whole Life Cycle

Despite the fact that many novel initiatives have been put forward to reduce the carbon emissions of buildings, there is still a lack of comprehensive investigation in analyzing a buildings’ life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially in high-density cities. In addition, no studies have made attempt to evaluate GHG emissions by considering the whole life cycle of buildings in Hong Kong. Knowledge of localized emission at different stages is critical, as the emission varies greatly in different regions. Without a reliable emission level of buildings, it is difficult to determine which aspects can reduce the life cycle GHG emissions. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the life cycle GHG emissions of buildings by considering “cradle-to-grave” system boundary, with a case-specific high-rise residential housing block as a representative public housing development in Hong Kong. The results demonstrated that the life cycle GHG emission of the case residential building was 4980 kg CO2e/m2. The analysis showed that the majority (over 86%) of the emission resulted from the use phase of the building including renovation. The results and analysis presented in this study can help the relevant parties in designing low carbon and sustainable residential development in the future.

Design of the Low-Carbon and Ecological Kindergarten

2011 ◽  
Vol 99-100 ◽  
pp. 617-623
Author(s):  
Yan Li ◽  
Kai Xie
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Dissipation ◽  
Energy Conservation ◽  
Emission Reduction ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
The Public ◽  
Conservation Technology ◽  
Geographical Position ◽  
Whole Life Cycle ◽  
Reasonable Energy

The public in China have a vague notion of architecture energy conservation, additionally the various and complex geographical position and climate, so the problem of architectural energy dissipation has deteriorated. In terms of architectural energy conservation, this design wholly considered energy conservation and emission reduction in the whole life cycle. The theory of “nonexistence-existence-nonexistence” should be carried out practically and low-carbon, ecological kindergarten will be founded in Huainan by studying and taking advantage all kinds of reasonable energy conservation technology. We should exert a subtle influence on cultivating children’s sense of energy conservation and emission reduction in order to make it be popular in the society which treats children as center.

scholarly journals Thermal system-specific and net-zero carbon least-cost design of new houses in Canadian cold climates

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon Wilbur
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Heat Pump ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Heating System ◽  
Carbon Intensity ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Zero Carbon

Whole-building model optimizations have been performed for a single-detached house in 5 locations with varying climates, electricity emissions factors, and energy costs. The multi-objective optimizations determine the life-cycle cost vs. operational greenhouse gas emissions Pareto front to discover the 30-year life-cycle least-cost building design heated 1) with natural gas, and 2) electrically using a) central air-source heat pump, b) ductless mini-split heat pump c)ground-source heat pump, and d) electric baseboard, accounting for both initial and operational energy-related costs. A net-zero carbon design with grid-tied photovoltaics is also optimized. Results indicate that heating system type influences the optimal enclosure design, and that neither building total energy use, nor space heating demand correspond to GHG emissions across heating system types. In each location, at least one type of all-electric design has a lower life-cycle cost than the optimized gas-heated model, and such designs can mitigate the majority of operational GHG emissions from new housing in locations with a low carbon intensity electricity supply.

CO2 Emission Analysis of Light Aggregate Concrete Block in China

2017 ◽  
Vol 898 ◽  
pp. 1963-1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Qiong Sun ◽  
Yu Liu ◽  
Su Ping Cui
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Concrete Block ◽  
Emission Analysis ◽  
Cement Production ◽  
Aggregate Concrete ◽  
Concrete Blocks ◽  
Cradle To Gate ◽  
Whole Life Cycle

The development and application of light aggregate concrete blocks are considered as one of the key issue that promote the energy saving and emission reduction in construction and building materials industries. In this paper, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of light aggregate concrete blocks during the whole life cycle were analyzed based on life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The results demonstrated that the amount of GHG emissions of the light aggregate concrete block was 174 kg/m3 in the system boundary of ‘from cradle to gate’. The direct GHG emissions was 51.31 kg/m3 accounting for 28.46% of the aggregate emission, while the indirect GHG emissions was 124 kg/m3. The cement production and the concrete block production were the main contributors to the total emissions. According to the sensitivity analysis, the GHG emissions amount was quite sensitive to the amount of cement and ceramsite consumption.

A Study for the Measurement of Environmental Impact Resulting From Railway Construction

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasutomo Morita ◽  
Kenji Shimizu ◽  
Hirokazu Kato ◽  
Naoki Shibahara ◽  
Toshihiro Yamasaki
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Co2 Reduction ◽  
Environmentally Friendly ◽  
Rail Transport ◽  
Transportation Mode ◽  
Co2 Gas ◽  
Low Emission ◽  
Global Concern ◽  
Whole Life Cycle

This study shows how to measure CO2 emissions caused by railways during its life span from construction to disposal. It is now a common global concern that CO2 reduction is vital for conserving the global environment. Amidst this growing awareness, rail transport has attracted significant attention as an environmentally-friendly transportation mode due to its low emission of CO2 gas. But in many studies the amount of CO2 is calculated only during operation and doesn’t include emissions during the phase of construction of related infrastructure and rolling stocks. Rail transport can not be a truly environmentally-friendly transportation mode if it isn’t proven to emit less gases compared with other modes during a modes whole life cycle. In this paper, we introduce the method to calculate CO2 emission from the construction of infrastructure with the application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and the result of a case study.

scholarly journals Willow Biomass Crops Are a Carbon Negative or Low-Carbon Feedstock Depending on Prior Land Use and Transportation Distances to End Users

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 4251
Author(s):  
Sheng Yang ◽  
Timothy Volk ◽  
Marie-Odile Fortier
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Biomass Production ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Energy Return On Investment ◽  
Growing Conditions ◽  
Low Carbon Energy

Few life cycle assessments (LCAs) on willow biomass production have investigated the effects of key geographically specific parameters. This study uses a spatial LCA model for willow biomass production to determine spatially explicit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy return on investment (EROI), including land use conversion from pasture and cropland or grassland. There were negative GHG emissions on 92% of the land identified as suitable for willow biomass production, indicating this system’s potential for climate change mitigation. For willow planted on cropland or pasture, life cycle GHG emissions ranged from −53.2 to −176.9 kg CO2eq Mg-1. When willow was grown on grassland the projected decrease in soil organic carbon resulted in a slightly positive GHG balance. Changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) associated with land use change, transportation distance, and willow yield had the greatest impacts on GHG emissions. Results from the uncertainty analysis exhibited large variations in GHG emissions between counties arising from differences in these parameters. The average EROI across the entire region was 19.2. Willow biomass can be a carbon negative or low-carbon energy source with a high EROI in regions with similar infrastructure, transportation distances, and growing conditions such as soil characteristics, land cover types, and climate.

Research on Construction for Sustainable Housing Based on the Whole Life Cycle

2011 ◽  
Vol 224 ◽  
pp. 164-169
Author(s):  
Xia Yun Li ◽  
Shi Qiang Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Paper Analysis ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
Sustainable Housing ◽  
Whole Life Cycle

Under the Sustainable Development Strategy, whether the project's sustainability goals can be achieved for residential building is a serious problem, which is not only related to the improvement of quality of living but also the implementation of the strategy for national energy saving and low-carbon economy. However, building sustainable housing is a new challenge for contractor. Based on the life cycle theory, this paper analysis project objective and achieves condition of sustainable development in explaining the basis of the connotation of sustainable housing, and then discuses the process of building sustainable housing under the guidance of sustainable management theory, which can provides some guidance for the achievement of sustainability goals of residential construction projects.

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