Environmental potential of carbon dioxide utilization in the polyurethane supply chain

Potential environmental benefits have been identified for the utilization of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a feedstock for polyurethanes (PUR). CO2 can be utilized in the PUR supply chain in a wide variety of ways ranging from direct CO2 utilization for polyols as a PUR precursor, to indirect CO2 utilization for basic chemicals in the PUR supply chain. In this paper, we present a systematic exploration and environmental evaluation of all direct and indirect CO2 utilization options for flexible and rigid PUR foams. The analysis is based on an LCA-based PUR supply chain optimization model using linear programming to identify PUR production with minimal environmental impacts. The direct utilization of CO2 for polyols allows for large specific impact reductions of up to 4 kg CO2-eq. and 2 kg oil-eq. per kg CO2 utilized, but the amounts of CO2 that can be utilized are limited to 0.30 kg CO2 per kg PUR. The amount of CO2 utilized can be increased to up to 1.7 kg CO2 per kg PUR by indirect CO2 utilization in the PUR supply chain. Indirect CO2 utilization requires hydrogen (H2). The environmental impacts of H2 production strongly affect the impact of indirect CO2 utilization in PUR. To achieve optimal environmental performance under the current fossil-based H2 generation, PUR production can only utilize much less CO2 than theoretically possible. Thus, utilizing as much CO2 in the PUR supply chain as possible is not always environmentally optimal. Clean H2 production is required to exploit the full CO2 utilization potential for environmental impact reduction in PUR production.

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The Environmental Benefits of Repurposing Tubular Steel from North Sea Oil and Gas Fields

10.2118/205468-ms ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Rob William John Holdway ◽

Mark Patrick Dowling ◽

Iain Bell ◽

Iain Laing

Keyword(s):

Environmental Impacts ◽

North Sea ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Environmental Indicators ◽

Environmental Benefits ◽

Oil And Gas Fields ◽

Impact Reduction ◽

The Uk ◽

Gas Fields ◽

The Impact

Abstract The purpose of conducting this LCA was to calculate the potential environmental impacts of the repurposing of John Lawrie Tubulars products sourced from North Sea Oil and Gas fields and to compare repurposed steel tubulars to those made from prime steel1throughout their lifecycle. The analysis includes multiple environmental characterization indicators associated with the material processing, on-site operations, and supply chain. The benefits of repurposed tubulars are consistently beneficial across all environmental indicators when compared to prime steel tubulars. The life cycle analysis results show that for every tonne of steel tubular repurposed there is a 97.21% saving of carbon emissions over a prime steel seamless equivalent and is 97.78% for welded steel tubulars (cradle to gate). Further characterization analysis (cradle to site) showed that distribution presented the highest impact (47%) with materials (26%) and material transportation (15%). The average delivery in the UK adds 56.53kgCO2eto John Lawrie's tubular steel giving a cradle to delivery at the customers gate of 118.53kgCO2eper tonne2. The combined material and distribution carbon footprint of repurposed tubular products (cradle to site) has ~6% of the impact of those made from prime steel. With growing pressure on the construction industry amongst others to be more resource efficient, and to lower embodied carbon, material reuse strategies are critical to meet targets. Considering the potential of the results for environmental impact reduction there is the need to further develop and promote the application of repurposed steel tubulars. This data can be used to demonstrate the environmental impacts and benefits of refurbished tubulars and supports the efficacy of environmental claims and contribution to circular economy. With both the construction and energy industries focused on finding innovative ways in which to reduce their emissions and support the Scottish and UK Governments in bringing all greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) to net zero by 2050, this study details one way these industries can help drive the changes required.

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

Resources ◽

10.3390/resources8020060 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 60 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

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.

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Supply Chain Simulation and Economical Evaluation of Forged Titanium Discs for Aircraft Engines

Volume 2: Turbo Expo 2005 ◽

10.1115/gt2005-68310 ◽

2005 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Christopher Boll ◽

Stephan Staudacher ◽

Stefan Spieler ◽

Dirk Gebser

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Economic Evaluation ◽

Future Scenarios ◽

Aircraft Engines ◽

Evaluation Tool ◽

Supply Chain Optimization ◽

Economical Evaluation ◽

Supply Chain Simulation ◽

Value Add ◽

The Impact

A top level investigation of the supply chain of forged titanium discs resulted in the fact that about 60% of the value-add and about 50% of the time used up in the supply-chain result from the titanium forgers. Engine manufacturers should focus on these companies when optimising their supply chain. The tool factory simulation with an attached economic evaluation tool is able to contribute to this supply chain optimization. It is presented and discussed on the basis of a titanium supply chain optimization from the view of an engine OEM. Two examples show the ability of this approach to predict the impact of future scenarios. Opportunities and weaknesses of this approach are discussed as well as ways and possibilities to bring a forging factory as well as the supply chain closer to optimal performance are evaluated and explained.

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Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Valuation of Biochar Production: Two Case Studies in Belgium

Energies ◽

10.3390/en12112166 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (11) ◽

pp. 2166 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Sara Rajabi Hamedani ◽

Tom Kuppens ◽

Robert Malina ◽

Enrico Bocci ◽

Andrea Colantoni ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Production Systems ◽

Point Of View ◽

Environmental Benefits ◽

Pig Manure ◽

Future Research ◽

Life Cycle Perspective ◽

The Impact

It is unclear whether the production of biochar is economically feasible. As a consequence, firms do not often invest in biochar production plants. However, biochar production and application might be desirable from a societal perspective as it might entail net environmental benefits. Hence, the aim of this work has been to assess and monetize the environmental impacts of biochar production systems so that the environmental aspects can be integrated with the economic and social ones later on to quantify the total return for society. Therefore, a life cycle analysis (LCA) has been performed for two potential biochar production systems in Belgium based on two different feedstocks: (i) willow and (ii) pig manure. First, the environmental impacts of the two biochar production systems are assessed from a life cycle perspective, assuming one ton of biochar as the functional unit. Therefore, LCA using SimaPro software has been performed both on the midpoint and endpoint level. Biochar production from willow achieves better results compared to biochar from pig manure for all environmental impact categories considered. In a second step, monetary valuation has been applied to the LCA results in order to weigh environmental benefits against environmental costs using the Ecotax, Ecovalue, and Stepwise approach. Consequently, sensitivity analysis investigates the impact of variation in NPK savings and byproducts of the biochar production process on monetized life cycle assessment results. As a result, it is suggested that biochar production from willow is preferred to biochar production from pig manure from an environmental point of view. In future research, those monetized environmental impacts will be integrated within existing techno-economic models that calculate the financial viability from an investor’s point of view, so that the total return for society can be quantified and the preferred biochar production system from a societal point of view can be identified.

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Environmental Benefits of Cold-in-Place Recycling

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/0361198118758691 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2672 (24) ◽

pp. 11-19 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Angela Pakes ◽

Tuncer Edil ◽

Morgan Sanger ◽

Renee Olley ◽

Tyler Klink

Keyword(s):

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Energy Consumption ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽

Environmental Benefits ◽

Water Usage ◽

Aggregate Consumption ◽

Environmental Savings ◽

Lca Results

The conventional highway resurfacing technique of mill and overlay (M&O) partially removes the existing pavement and replaces it with asphalt derived from some recycled but mostly virgin materials. Cold-in-place recycling (CIR) is an alternative highway resurfacing method that partially mills the existing pavement and uses it beneath a thinner layer of new asphalt. CIR has become widely used for convenience and cost benefits, but the environmental impacts are poorly quantified. The objective of this study was to quantify the environmental life cycle benefits of using CIR for highway resurfacing instead of M&O. Material quantities and equipment used for CIR and what would have been used in M&O for the same project were provided by contractors for nine highway resurfacing projects in Wisconsin. With this information, a life cycle assessment (LCA) tool was used to determine the relative environmental impacts of the two methods, with energy consumption, water usage, and carbon dioxide emissions chosen as the metrics of the LCA. Results show average environmental savings of 23% in energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions and 20% in water consumption when using CIR instead of M&O for highway resurfacing. Additionally, CIR reduced virgin aggregate consumption by 37%. Environmental savings achieved by using CIR were found to be directly related to the reduction in volume of new hot mix asphalt (HMA) used, and to the reduction in transportation of materials to and from the site. Linear correlations that can be used to estimate savings of future CIR projects were projected.

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Life Cycle Sustainability Assessments of an Innovative FRP Composite Footbridge

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su132313000 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (23) ◽

pp. 13000

Author(s):

Timothy Jena ◽

Sakdirat Kaewunruen

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

End Of Life ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Environmental Benefits ◽

Raw Material ◽

Suitable Alternative ◽

Frp Composite ◽

Reinforced Plastic ◽

The Impact ◽

Whole Life Cycle

Sustainable construction and the design of low-carbon structures is a major concern for the UK construction industry. FRP composite materials are seen as a suitable alternative to traditional construction materials due to their high strength and light weight. Network Rail has developed a prototype for a new innovative footbridge made entirely from FRP with the aim of replacing the current steel design for footbridges. This study conducted a life cycle analysis of this novel composite footbridge design to quantify the cost and environmental benefits. An LCA and LCC analysis framework was used to analyse the environmental impacts and cost savings of the bridge throughout its lifespan from raw material extraction to its end of life. From the results of the LCA and LCC, the FRP footbridge sustainability was reviewed and compared to a standard steel footbridge. Due to the uncertainty of the fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) structure’s lifespan, multiple scenarios for longevity at the assets-use stage were studied. The study revealed that the FRP bridge offered substantial economic savings whilst presenting potentially worse environmental impacts, mainly caused by the impact of the production of FRP materials. However, our study also demonstrated the influences of uncertainties related to the glass-fibre-reinforced plastic (GFRP) material design life and end-of-life disposal on the whole life cycle analyses. The results show that if the FRP footbridge surpasses its original estimation for lifespan, the economic savings can be increased and the environmental impacts can be reduced substantially.

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An Environmental Evaluation of the Cut-Flower Supply Chain (Dendranthema grandiflora) Through a Life Cycle Assessment

Revista EIA ◽

10.24050/reia.v16i31.747 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (31) ◽

pp. 27-42 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Carmen Alicia Parrado Moreno ◽

Ricardo Esteba Ricardo Hernández ◽

Héctor Iván Velásquez Arredondo ◽

Sergio Hernando Lopera Castro ◽

Christian Hasenstab --

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Supply Chain ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Raw Material ◽

Cut Flowers ◽

Environmental Evaluation ◽

Fertilizer Use ◽

Transport Phase

Colombia is a major flower exporter of a wide variety of species, among which the chrysanthemum plays a major role due to its exporting volume and profitability on the international market. This study examines the major environmental impacts of the chrysanthemum supply chain through a life cycle assessment (LCA). One kg of stems export quality was used as the functional unit (FU). The study examines cut-flowers systems from raw material extraction to final product commercialization for two markets (London and Miami) and analyzes two agroecosystems: one certified system and one uncertified system. The transport phase to London resulted in more significant environmental impacts than the transport phase to Miami, and climate change (GWP100) category was significant in both cities, generating values of 9.10E+00 and 2.51E+00 kg CO2-eq*FU for London and Miami, respectively. Furthermore, when exclusively considering pre-export phases, the uncertified system was found to have a greater impact than the certified system with respect to fertilizer use (certified 1,448E-02 kg*FU, uncertified 2.23E-01 kg*FU) and pesticide use (certified 1.24 E-04 kg*FU, uncertified 2.24E-03 kg*FU). With respect to the crop management, eutrophication (EP) and acidification (AP) processes imposed the greatest level of environmental impact. Strategies that would significantly reduce the environmental impact of this supply chain are considered, including the use of shipping and a 50% reduction in fertilizer use.

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A comparative analysis of environmental and economic costs of PV solar imports and manufacturing for Ontario

10.32920/ryerson.14664546.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Elizabeth Bich Ngoc Nguyen

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Primary Energy ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Environmental Benefits ◽

Solar Photovoltaic ◽

Economic Costs ◽

Carbon Policy ◽

Energy Technologies ◽

Energy Demands

This research focuses on the environmental impacts related to the manufacturing of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology. The life cycle assessment (LCA) method was used to assess the environmental impacts for a CS6XVP module. The current supply chain, based in China, was compared to a hypothetical Ontario based supply chain to determine environmental and economic costs. LCA results showed that the manufacturing of modules in Ontario reduced primary energy demands by 22% and GHG emission by 88%. Moreover, the carbon difference between supply chains equated to $5.84 per module. This leads to the conclusion that there are clear environmental benefits to manufacturing PV technology in Ontario; however, the economic benefits of carbon costing are not significant enough to encourage a complete shift in the current supply chain. It is suggested that a change in carbon policy could help to support the development of PV manufacturing and other renewable energy technologies in Ontario.

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Pricing and Coordination Strategies in a Dual Channel Supply Chain with Green Production under Cap and Trade Regulation

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su132112232 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (21) ◽

pp. 12232

Author(s):

Ata Allah Taleizadeh ◽

Milad Shahriari ◽

Shib Sankar Sana

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Green Technology ◽

Environmental Benefits ◽

Chain Model ◽

Cap And Trade ◽

Trade Regulation ◽

Dual Channel ◽

Green Production ◽

Dual Channel Supply Chain ◽

The Impact

In this paper, we consider a two level dual channel green supply chain consisting of a retailer and a manufacturer with a separate sales channel for the manufacturer. The manufacturer uses green technology in its production and is required to produce in accordance with the cap and trade regulation. Using game theory, we compare cases where members decide to compete or cooperate with each other in terms of pricing and production. Our main contributions are studying the dual channel supply chain model where a manufacturer is regulated by the cap and trade system, using green production and also on their decision as to whether to compete or cooperate with a value-adding retailer. We also investigated the impact of green production on lowering the amount of carbon emissions produced. In the present study, supply chain members are advised to cooperate with each other in order to achieve the environmental benefits of the cap and trade system and, to avoid market failure, we further recommend that manufacturers should invest in green technologies for their production.

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Consideration of food wastage along the supply chain in lifecycle assessments: A mini-review based on the case of tomatoes

Waste Management & Research ◽

10.1177/0734242x16666945 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 35 (1) ◽

pp. 29-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Anna Karin Bernstad ◽

Alba Cánovas ◽

Rogerio Valle

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Supply Chain ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Food Production ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Environmental Benefits ◽

Food Supply Chain ◽

Total Contribution ◽

Lca Case Studies ◽

Food Wastage

In recent years, increased light has been shed on the large amounts of food wasted along the food supply chain (FSC). As lifecycle assessments (LCAs) are commonly used for estimations of environmental impacts from food production, it is relevant to investigate and discuss how such wastage is reflected in foodstuff LCAs. The objective of the present paper is to review a larger set of LCAs of foodstuff in order to (1) investigate if and how wastage along the FSC is addressed and (2) explore the importance of including wastage accumulated along the FSC in terms of environmental impacts. Twenty-eight LCA case studies and two review papers, focusing on tomatoes, were reviewed and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions chosen as indicator for the second objective. Only one third of the studies consider wastage at some part of the supply chain, in many cases in an inconsistent manner, and only in nine cases were GHG emissions from wastage included in overall systems GHG emissions. In these, wastage accounts for between 2 and 33% of total contribution to climate change. Omitting wastage when conducting LCA of foodstuff could result in underestimations of environmental impacts. Occurrence of wastage along all phases of the supply chain should be acknowledged in order to estimate environmental benefits from prevention and to identify areas where strategies with the aim of reducing wastage could be most efficient.

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