Life Cycle Assessment of a milk protein fractionation process: Contribution of the production and the cleaning stages at unit process level

This study assesses the life-cycle impacts of palm oil biodiesel value chain in order to provide insights toward holistic sustainability awareness on the current development of bio-based energy policy. The assessment methodology was performed under a hybrid approach combining ISO-14040 Life Cycle Assessment (ISO-LCA) technique and Ecologically-based Life Cycle Assessment (Eco-LCA) methodology. The scope of this study covers all stages in palm oil biodiesel value chain or is often referred to as “cradle-to-grave” analysis. The functional unit to which all inputs and outputs were calculated is the production of 1 ton of biodiesel. For the analysis, life cycle inventory data were collected from professional databases and from scholarly articles addressing global palm oil supply chains. The inventory analysis yields a linked flow associating the land used, fresh fruit bunch (FFB), crude palm oil (CPO), per functional unit of 1 kg of palm oil biodiesel (POB). The linked flow obtained in the inventory analysis were then normalized and characterized following the characterization model formulated inISO-LCA guidelines. The aggregation of ecological inputs was classified based on the mass and energy associated to each unit process in the value chain, which are cultivation, extraction, conversion, and utilization. It is noted that compared to other unit processes, cultivation is the most crucial unit process within the whole palm oil biodiesel value chain. This study serves as a big picture about the current state of palm oil biodiesel value chain, which will be beneficial for further improving oversight of the policy making and service toward sustainable development.

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Estimation of Unit Process Data for Life Cycle Assessment Using a Decision Tree-Based Approach

Environmental Science & Technology ◽

10.1021/acs.est.0c07484 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Bu Zhao ◽

Chenyang Shuai ◽

Ping Hou ◽

Shen Qu ◽

Ming Xu

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Decision Tree ◽

Process Data ◽

Unit Process

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Value Chain Analysis of Palm Oil Biodiesel through a Hybrid (ISO-Eco) Life Cycle Assessment Approach

KnE Engineering ◽

10.18502/keg.v0i0.514 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Yosef Manik

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Palm Oil ◽

Value Chain ◽

Functional Unit ◽

Hybrid Approach ◽

Inventory Analysis ◽

Fresh Fruit Bunch ◽

Unit Process ◽

Palm Oil Biodiesel

This study assesses the life-cycle impacts of palm oil biodiesel value chain in order to provide insights toward holistic sustainability awareness on the current development of bio-based energy policy. The assessment methodology was performed under a hybrid approach combining ISO-14040 Life Cycle Assessment (ISO-LCA) technique and Ecologically-based Life Cycle Assessment (Eco-LCA) methodology. The scope of this study covers all stages in palm oil biodiesel value chain or is often referred to as “cradle-to-grave” analysis. The functional unit to which all inputs and outputs were calculated is the production of 1 ton of biodiesel. For the analysis, life cycle inventory data were collected from professional databases and from scholarly articles addressing global palm oil supply chains. The inventory analysis yields a linked flow associating the land used, fresh fruit bunch (FFB), crude palm oil (CPO), per functional unit of 1 kg of palm oil biodiesel (POB). The linked flow obtained in the inventory analysis were then normalized and characterized following the characterization model formulated inISO-LCA guidelines. The aggregation of ecological inputs was classified based on the mass and energy associated to each unit process in the value chain, which are cultivation, extraction, conversion, and utilization. It is noted that compared to other unit processes, cultivation is the most crucial unit process within the whole palm oil biodiesel value chain. This study serves as a big picture about the current state of palm oil biodiesel value chain, which will be beneficial for further improving oversight of the policy making and service toward sustainable development.

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A Practical Approach for Social Life Cycle Assessment in the Automotive Industry

Resources ◽

10.3390/resources8030146 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 146 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Karlewski ◽

Lehmann ◽

Ruhland ◽

Finkbeiner

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Supply Chains ◽

Automotive Industry ◽

Social Life ◽

Data Availability ◽

Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Social Data ◽

First Case ◽

Process Level

Identifying social impacts along the life cycle of their products is becoming increasingly important for companies. Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) as a possible tool has not been conducted so far within industries with complex international supply chains using mainly company-specific data. As a novelty, this work presents a practical SLCA approach along with the first case studies for the automotive industry, based on a previously developed indicator set and an extensive data collection. Social data was collected from companies along the life cycle of two specific car components, while analyzing data availability, validity and comparability. To obtain product references, both a top-down and a bottom-up approach for quantitative indicators based on time effort and data availability on the process level were devised. Also, two options were developed for how qualitative indicators (e.g., written principles for Corruption) can be applied together with quantitative performance indicators (e.g., number of accidents). The general practical applicability of the approach could be demonstrated by four quantitative and seven qualitative indicators. It is a first step towards analyzing the social performance of products with complex supply chains on a company level. Remaining challenges/limitations include social data availability and quality and obtaining data at the process level (allocation) and should be addressed in future studies.

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