scholarly journals A Review of Life Cycle Assessment Studies of Electric Vehicles with a Focus on Resource Use

Resources ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iulia Dolganova ◽  
Anne Rödl ◽  
Vanessa Bach ◽  
Martin Kaltschmitt ◽  
Matthias Finkbeiner
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Electric Vehicles ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Combustion Engine ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
Mobility Patterns ◽  
Lca Case Studies ◽  
Potential Risks

Changes in the mobility patterns have evoked concerns about the future availability of certain raw materials necessary to produce alternative drivetrains and related batteries. The goal of this article is to determine if resource use aspects are adequately reflected within life cycle assessment (LCA) case studies of electric vehicles (EV). Overall, 103 LCA studies on electric vehicles from 2009 to 2018 are evaluated regarding their objective, scope, considered impact categories, and assessment methods—with a focus on resource depletion and criticality. The performed analysis shows that only 24 out of 76 EV LCA and 10 out of 27 battery LCA address the issue of resources. The majority of the studies apply one of these methods: CML-IA, ReCiPe, or Eco-Indicator 99. In most studies, EV show higher results for mineral and metal resource depletion than internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEV). The batteries analysis shows that lithium, manganese, copper, and nickel are responsible for the highest burdens. Only few publications approach resource criticality. Although this topic is a serious concern for future mobility, it is currently not comprehensively and consistently considered within LCA studies of electric vehicles. Criticality should be included in the analyses in order to derive results on the potential risks associated with certain resources.

scholarly journals Life-Cycle Assessment of the Breezhaler® Breath-Actuated Dry Powder Inhaler

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6657
Author(s):  
Brett Fulford ◽  
Karen Mezzi ◽  
Andy Whiting ◽  
Simon Aumônier
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Dry Powder Inhaler ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
Life Cycle Stage ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Dry Powder ◽  
The Impact

The Breezhaler® dry powder inhaler (DPI) has a low carbon footprint compared with other inhalation therapies, consistent with the literature on other DPIs. This life-cycle assessment was conducted in France, Germany, the UK, and Japan using a “cradle-to-grave” technique to evaluate six environmental impact categories (global warming potential; acidification; ozone depletion; use of resource, minerals, and metals; eco-toxicity; and freshwater use) associated with the use of the Breezhaler®. Three variants of the Breezhaler® (30-day packs with and without the digital companion and a 90-day pack without the digital companion) were evaluated to identify major hotspots in the device life-cycle and to provide realistic solutions to reduce the environmental impact. Although no single life-cycle stage dominated the climate change impact of the 30-day device with the digital companion, the inhaler’s raw materials and packaging contributed to 96% of the resource depletion impact for the 30-day device without the digital companion. For the 90-day device without the digital companion, packaging contributed 42–62% of the impact across all categories. Overall, the Breezhaler® inhaler with the 90-day pack had the lowest environmental impact. The environmental impact of the device did not vary significantly among the considered markets. Further studies are needed to assess the impact of active pharmaceutical ingredients and improvement in clinical outcomes on the environment.

scholarly journals Comparative environmental impacts of Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles with Hybrid Vehicles and Electric Vehicles in China—Based on Life Cycle Assessment

2019 ◽  
Vol 118 ◽  
pp. 02010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ningning Ha
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Internal Combustion Engine ◽  
Electric Vehicles ◽  
Combustion Engine ◽  
Internal Combustion ◽  
Hybrid Vehicles ◽  
Comparison Results ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Whole Life Cycle

In China, the growth of new energy vehicles is especially rapid and the explosive growth of the automobile brought an increasing impact on the environment. This paper selected Electric Vehicles, Hybrid Vehicles and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles of the same model of BYD as the object. We established a Life Cycle Assessment with GaBi6 software and CML2001 model. The results show that in the whole life cycle, the influences of ADP, GWP and ODP of Electric Vehicles are less than that of Hybrid Vehicles and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles. The impact of Electric Vehicles are 39%, 50%, and 4% of the Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles and the Hybrid Vehicles’ impact are 65%, 78% and 85% of the Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles. Electric Vehicles and Hybrid Vehicles have a clear improvement in these three types of impacts. The comparison results of AP, EP, FAETP, MAETP and POCP show that the potential impact of Electric Vehicles is greater than that of Hybrid Vehicles and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles. At present, improving production technology and reducing the consumption of energy during production phase are effective measures to reduce the environmental impact of Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles and Hybrid Vehicles of China.

scholarly journals The Commodity Life Cycle Costing Indicator. An Economic Measure of Natural Resource Use in the Life Cycle

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4870
Author(s):  
Giulio Mela ◽  
Maria Leonor Carvalho ◽  
Andrea Temporelli ◽  
Pierpaolo Girardi
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Price Volatility ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
Economic Indicator ◽  
Monte Carlo Analysis ◽  
Life Cycle Costing ◽  
Natural Resource Use

This study defines a methodology for the development of an economic indicator of natural resource use to be applied in the framework of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to integrate the assessment of the environmental performances of products or processes during their life-cycle. The indicator developed-called Commodity Life Cycle Costing (or C-LCC)-is based on market prices, therefore incorporating information from both the demand and supply sides. Monte Carlo analysis is used to take price volatility into account. Alternative versions of the indicator, based on open-source data or calculated considering European Union’s critical raw materials only, are also developed. The study also provides a comparison between the C-LCC indicator and ReCiPe’s Mineral and Fossil Resource Depletion indicators and applies the proposed methodology to several types of batteries for stationary energy storage.

scholarly journals 2-Piece Cork Stoppers as Alternative for Valorization of Thin Cork Planks: Analysis by LCA Methodology

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 873
Author(s):  
Francisco Javier Flor-Montalvo ◽  
Agustín Sánchez-Toledo Ledesma ◽  
Eduardo Martínez Cámara ◽  
Emilio Jiménez-Macías ◽  
Jorge Luis García-Alcaraz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Lca Methodology ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Different Thickness ◽  
Cork Stoppers ◽  
Wine Bottle

Natural stoppers are a magnificent closure for the production of aging wines and unique wines, whose application is limited by the availability of raw materials and more specifically of cork sheets of different thickness and quality. The growing demand for quality wine bottle closures leads to the search for alternative stopper production. The two-piece stopper is an alternative since it uses non-usable plates in a conventional way for the production of quality caps. The present study has analyzed the impact of the manufacture of these two-piece stoppers using different methodologies and for different dimensions by developing an LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), concluding that the process phases of the plate, its boiling, and its stabilization, are the phases with the greatest impact. Likewise, it is detected that the impacts in all phases are relatively similar (for one kg of net cork produced), although the volumetric difference between these stoppers represents a significant difference in impacts for each unit produced.

How eco‐efficient are electric vehicles across Europe? A regionalized life cycle assessment‐based eco‐efficiency analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuri Cihat Onat ◽  
Galal M. Abdella ◽  
Murat Kucukvar ◽  
Adeeb A. Kutty ◽  
Munera Al‐Nuaimi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Electric Vehicles ◽  
Efficiency Analysis

scholarly journals Applying Harmonised Geothermal Life Cycle Assessment Guidelines to the Rittershoffen Geothermal Heat Plant

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3820
Author(s):  
Mélanie Douziech ◽  
Lorenzo Tosti ◽  
Nicola Ferrara ◽  
Maria Laura Parisi ◽  
Paula Pérez-López ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Heat Production ◽  
Hot Spot ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Geothermal Systems ◽  
Geothermal Heat ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

Heat production from a geothermal energy source is gaining increasing attention due to its potential contribution to the decarbonization of the European energy sector. Obtaining representative results of the environmental performances of geothermal systems and comparing them with other renewables is of utmost importance in order to ensure an effective energy transition as targeted by Europe. This work presents the outputs of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) performed on the Rittershoffen geothermal heat plant applying guidelines that were developed within the H2020 GEOENVI project. The production of 1 kWhth from the Rittershoffen heat plant was compared to the heat produced from natural gas in Europe. Geothermal heat production performed better than the average heat production in climate change and resource use, fossil categories. The LCA identified the electricity consumption during the operation and maintenance phase as a hot spot for several impact categories. A prospective scenario analysis was therefore performed to assess the evolution of the environmental performances of the Rittershoffen heat plant associated with the future French electricity mixes. The increase of renewable energy shares in the future French electricity mix caused the impact on specific categories (e.g., land use and mineral and metals resource depletion) to grow over the years. However, an overall reduction of the environmental impacts of the Rittershoffen heat plant was observed.

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