Application of a harmonized life cycle assessment method for supplementary cementitious materials in structural concrete

2022 ◽  
Vol 316 ◽  
pp. 125850
Author(s):  
Quddus Tushar ◽  
Muhammed A Bhuiyan ◽  
Guomin Zhang ◽  
Tariq Maqsood ◽  
Tamina Tasmin
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Quéheille ◽  
Michel Dauvergne ◽  
Anne Ventura

Pyrometallurgical nickel industry in New Caledonia produces several tons of slag per year, which is stocked on site. There is no valorization today, except for a small transformation into sand. Pyrometallurgy highly consumes fossil-fuel energy and electricity for ore pre-treatment and nickel extraction inside electrical furnaces, which produces significant CO2 emissions. A new valorization approach is suggested to use these two local productions (slag and CO2) to mineralize slag and produce silico-magnesian cement for the construction sector. In order to ensure suitable environmental performances, many questions arise about the target valorized product: where and how to capture CO2 and produce cement, what constraints should be targeted for the mineralization process, can products be exported and where? Moreover, New Caledonia aims to develop renewable energies for electricity grid, which would mitigate local industries impacts in the future. A prospective Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used to define constraints on future product development. Two hundred scenarios are defined and compared as well as electricity grid evolution, using Brightway software. Thirteen scenarios can compete with traditional Portland cement for 12 of the 16 impacts of the ILCD midpoint method. The evolution of electricity grid slightly affects the performance of the scenarios by a mean of less than+/−25%, bringing a small difference on the number of acceptable scenarios. The main constraint requires improving the mineralization process by considerably reducing electricity consumption of the attrition-leaching operation. To be in line with scenarios concerning carbon neutrality of the cement industry by 2050, a sensitivity analysis provides the maximum energy consumption target for the mineralization process that is 0.9100 kWh/kg of carbonated slag, representing a 70% reduction of the current energy measured at lab scale. Valorization of nickel slag and CO2 should turn to carbon capture and utilization technology, which allows for the production of supplementary cementitious materials, another product for the construction sector. It will be the topic of a next prospective study.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 3612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanmei Li ◽  
Ningning Ha ◽  
Tingting Li

To study the impact of the promotion of electric vehicles on carbon emissions in China, the full life carbon emissions of electric vehicles are studied on the basis of considering such factors as vehicle weight and grid mix composition, and fuel vehicles are added for comparison. In this paper, we collect data for 34 domestic electric vehicles, and linear regression analysis is used to model the relationship between vehicle weight and energy consumption. Then, a Hybrid Life Cycle Assessment method is used to establish the life cycle carbon emission calculation model for electric vehicles and fuel vehicles. Finally, the life cycle carbon emissions of electric vehicles and fuel vehicles under different electrical energy structures are discussed using scenario analysis. The results show that under the current grid mix composition in China, the carbon emissions of electric vehicles of the same vehicle weight class are 24% to 31% higher than that of fuel vehicles. As the proportion of clean energy in the grid mix composition increases, the advantages of electric vehicles to reduce carbon emissions will gradually emerge.


Resources ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela D’Eusanio ◽  
Monica Serreli ◽  
Luigia Petti

An increasing global focus on sustainability has affected the jewellery industry by raising questions about its environmental and social impacts and ethics due to the negative impacts of gold mining. It is essential to consider the social aspects of mining activities on the socio-economic environment and the affected individuals in order to understand the sustainability of the jewellery industry in a better way. Nonetheless, this is a gap in the evaluation of the issues of jewellery in the other phases of the life cycle, observed in the literature. For these reasons, the goal of this study is to assess the social and socio-economic aspects of a piece of jewellery from the artisan’s point of view by considering the relationship between a piece of jewellery and the local community. The United National Environmental Programme/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (UNEP/SETAC) Guidelines on Social Life-Cycle Assessment, the UNEP/SETAC Methodological Sheets and the Subcategory Assessment Method were implemented. The findings show that a piece of jewellery can play an important role in supporting the local cultural heritage by innovating the traditional product, and promoting educational activities related to the history of the product and the territory. Consequently, the local community with its historical background gives an added value to the piece of jewellery. Further research on this topic is desirable in order to improve the knowledge of this particular sector and to identify other social issues that can be involved in this product.


2010 ◽  
Vol 650 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Xue Sun ◽  
Zuo Ren Nie ◽  
Yu Liu ◽  
Zhi Hong Wang ◽  
Xian Zheng Gong

The primary problem of eco-materials is how to judge whether a material is environmentally friendly or not, and the method of life cycle assessment is usually used to evaluate it. The depletion of mineral resources is a very important indicator of LCA, but its characterization is still filled with dispute. At present, the most commonly used method is CML, which is put forward by Leiden University, and its core idea is that using the ratio of exploitation amount and reserves of mineral resources as the degree of scarcity. Although being accepted by most of the scholars at work on LCA, CML doesn’t grasp the essence of the depletion of mineral resources. Recently, a new assessment method, injecting new ideas to the conventional life cycle assessment, combines exergy with LCA is arising, which can be used to solve some specific problems of LCA especially the depletion of mineral resources. In this paper, two results of elements’ exergy calculated by Rivero and Szargut respectively are compared, and the exergy of some natural minerals, which can be used in LCA and other minerals-related research, is calculated based on the data of Chinese mineral resources.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4604
Author(s):  
Jan Matuštík ◽  
Vladimír Kočí

Electronic shopping is getting more and more popular, and it is not only clothes and electronics that people buy online, but groceries and household products too. Based on real-life data from a major cosmetics and household products retailer in the Czech Republic, this study set to assess the life cycle environmental impact of parcel delivery. Two archetype parcels containing common household and hygiene products were designed and packed in two distinct ways, and the environmental impact was quantified using the Life Cycle Assessment method. It showed that it is environmentally beneficial to use plastic cushions to insulate the goods instead of paper. However, the most important process contributing to the environmental burden was found to be electricity consumption in the logistics center. Hence, the importance of energy efficiency and efficient space utilization was demonstrated on alternative scenarios. Since the cardboard box the goods are packed in turned out to be another important contributor, an alternative scenario was designed where a reusable plastic crate was used instead. Even though the scenario was based on several simplistic assumptions, it showed a clear potential to be environmentally beneficial. In the study, contribution of other processes was scrutinized, as well as sensitivity to variation of parameters, e.g. transportation distances. The main scientific contribution of this work is to show the importance of logistics and distribution of products to end customers in the rapidly developing field of electronic retail of household products.


2015 ◽  
Vol 752-753 ◽  
pp. 715-719
Author(s):  
Young Jin Bok ◽  
Sung Ho Tae ◽  
Taeh Young Kim ◽  
Keun Hyeok Yang

In the present study, a concrete life-cycle assessment system (CLAS) is developed that can easily and quantitatively assess green-house gas emissions during the production of concrete by applying life-cycle assessment techniques. The CLAS is divided into simple and detailed assessment methods; a database (DB) of a standard mix design and energy consumption amount, and basic green-house units applicable to each method, was constructed. A case assessment using the developed system showed that the green-house gas emission determined by the detailed assessment method differed from that by the simple assessment method by approximately 10%. These results show that the proposed method is suitable for estimating green-house gas emissions related to concrete.


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