Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Complex Heavy-Duty Off-Road Equipment

Author(s):  
Minjung Kwak ◽  
Louis Kim ◽  
Harrison M. Kim ◽  
Peter Finamore ◽  
Herb Hazewinkel

This paper presents a method for comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) of two distinctively different systems based on industrial heavy-duty off-road equipment. The study demonstrates how to compare the environmental impact performance of two different machines when they perform the same types of operations, but have different levels of operational productivity. Considering the entire life cycle of a machine from material extraction to end-of-life treatment, the two machines are analyzed and compared in terms of their life cycle impact score. To make a fair comparison between the two machines, the impact generated by the same amount of production is used as the basis for comparison. The results of the study can quantify the relative life cycle impact across different machine architectures for design and market support purposes.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentin Klug ◽  
Josef-Peter Schöggl ◽  
Doris Dallinger ◽  
Clemens Stueckler ◽  
Andreas Steiner ◽  
...  

This study provides a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) of four different polyurethane dispersion production processes from cradle-to-gate. The environmental performances of the NMP process, the acetone process, the melt process, and a conceptualized continuous flow process were evaluated and compared following the CML 2001 methodology. The LCA revealed that the conceptualized flow process exhibits the lowest environmental impact in all investigated impact categories. Depending on the impact category, the melt process or the acetone process rank second. The NMP process was observed to have the highest impact in all categories. Consequently, the flow process has the lowest carbon footprint (1.13 kg CO2-eq), according to the global warming potential (100 years), followed by the melt (1.45 kg CO2-eq), the acetone (1.95 kg CO2-eq) and the NMP process (3.11 kg CO2-eq).


Author(s):  
Minjung Kwak ◽  
Louis Kim ◽  
Obaid Sarvana ◽  
Harrison M. Kim ◽  
Peter Finamore ◽  
...  

This paper presents a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) study of heavy duty off-road equipment. The machine studied here is a typical piece of diesel construction machinery equipped with the iT4 (interim Tier 4) certified diesel engine. Two life cycle impact assessment methods, Eco-Indicator 99 and IPCC 2007, are used to calculate the environmental impact and global warming potential associated with the machine’s life cycle, from material extraction to end-of-life recycling and disposal. Due to fuel consumption and emissions, machine utilization during the usage phase is expected to account for most of the total environmental impact. However, the impact from usage can vary greatly, depending on how customers use the machine. To take into account various machine usage patterns, this LCA study performs two sensitivity analyses, varying the load factor and varying the fuel consumption rate, respectively.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2 esp.) ◽  
pp. 66-81
Author(s):  
Cássia Maria Lie Ugaya ◽  
Alexandre Monteiro Souza ◽  
Sueli Aparecida de Oliveira ◽  
Jaylton Bonacina De Araújo

Modelos de Avaliação de Impacto do Ciclo de Vida Social (AICV-S) podem ser classificados em três tipos, dependendo da forma como o inventário é associado: (I) às partes interessadas; (II) por meio de cadeia de causa-efeito e, (III) com o uso de correlações entre variáveis macroeconômicas. Com o surgimento de modelos, o presente estudo tem como objetivo propor critérios para avaliá-los, baseados na UNEP e SETAC (2009), na JRC (2011) e em Ugaya et al. (2016). Após brainstorming entre os participantes do subgrupo de Avaliação de Impacto do Grupo de Trabalho de Avaliação Social do Ciclo de Vida (GTACV-S), três critérios foram selecionados: a abrangência do escopo (tipo, diferenciação espacial, inclusão de questões temporais, partes interessadas e subcategorias incluídas, robustez científica (reconhecimento pela comunidade internacional, apresentação de cadeia de causa e efeito, transparência e acessibilidade, disponibilidade de fator de caracterização (FC), possibilidade de regionalização e, FC nacional (existência e viabilidade de obtenção). Cada um dos subcritérios foi classificado (melhor, mediano e pior). Por exemplo, para atender o escopo das partes interessadas e subcategorias, o modelo deveria incluir 5 partes interessadas e 31 subcategorias para receber a melhor classificação). Os critérios foram aplicados parcialmente em 6 artigos e os resultados preliminares demonstram que é possível fazer a diferenciação entre os modelos. Como próximos passos, os critérios serão aplicados para outros artigos levantados na revisão sistemática, a partir da qual será recomendado um modelo para AICV-S.  Palavras-chave: Avaliação Social do Ciclo de Vida. Critérios. Avaliação dos Impactos do Ciclo de Vida Social.ResumenLos modelos de análisis de impacto social del ciclo de vida (AICV-S) pueden clasificarse en tres tipos, dependiendo de cómo se asocie el inventario: (I) a las partes interesadas; (II) por medio de cadena de causa-efecto y, (III) con el uso de correlaciones entre variables macroeconómicas. Con el surgimiento de modelos, el presente estudio tiene como objetivo proponer criterios para evaluarlos, basados en UNEP y SETAC (2009), en la JRC (2011) y en Ugaya et al. (2016). Después de brainstorming entre los participantes del subgrupo de Evaluación de Impacto del Grupo de Trabajo de Análisis Social del Ciclo de Vida (GTACV-S), se seleccionaron tres criterios: la cobertura del alcance (tipo de AICV-S, diferenciación espacial, inclusión de cuestiones temporales, partes interesadas y las subcategorías incluidas, robustez científica (reconocimiento por la comunidad internacional, presentación de cadena de causa y efecto, transparencia y accesibilidad, disponibilidad de factor de caracterización (FC), posibilidad de regionalización del FC y, existencia y viabilidad de obtención de FC nacional. Cada uno de los subcriterios fue clasificado (mejor, mediano y peor). Por ejemplo, para atender el alcance de las partes interesadas y subcategorías, el modelo debería incluir 5 partes interesadas y 31 subcategorías para recibir la mejor clasificación). Los criterios se aplicaron parcialmente en 6 artículos y los resultados preliminares demuestran que es posible distinguir entre los modelos. En los próximos pasos, los criterios se aplican a otros modelos.  Palabras clave: Valoración Social del Ciclo de Vida. Criterios. Evaluación del Impacto del Ciclo de Vida Social.AbstractSocial Life Cycle Impact Assessment Models (S-LCIA) may be classified into three types, depending on the linkage of the inventory to impacts: (I) to stakeholders; (II) through cause-effect chains and, (III) through correlations between macroeconomic variables. With the emergence of models, the present study aims to propose criteria to evaluate them, based on UNEP and SETAC (2009), JRC (2011) and Ugaya et al. (2016). A brainstorming was performed involving the participants of the Impact Assessment subgroup of the Working Group on Social Life Cycle Assessment (GTACV-S) which resulted in three criteria: the scope (type of S-LCIA, spatial differentiation, inclusion of temporal aspects, stakeholders and subcategories included, scientific robustness (recognition by the international community, presentation of the cause-effect chain, transparency and accessibility), availability of characterization factor (CF), possibility of regionalization of the CF and the existence and feasibility of obtaining national CF. Each of the subcriteria was classified in three levels (best, medium and worst). For example, to meet the scope of stakeholders and subcategories, the model should include 5 stakeholders and 31 subcategories to receive the best rating. The criteria were applied partially in 6 papers and the preliminary results showed that it is possible to differentiate between the models. As a next step, the criteria will be applied to other.  Keywords: Social Life Cycle Assessment. Criteria. Social Life Cycle Impact Assessment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentin Klug ◽  
Josef-Peter Schöggl ◽  
Doris Dallinger ◽  
Clemens Stueckler ◽  
Andreas Steiner ◽  
...  

This study provides a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) of four different polyurethane dispersion production processes from cradle-to-gate. The environmental performances of the NMP process, the acetone process, the melt process, and a conceptualized continuous flow process were evaluated and compared following the CML 2001 methodology. The LCA revealed that the conceptualized flow process exhibits the lowest environmental impact in all investigated impact categories. Depending on the impact category, the melt process or the acetone process rank second. The NMP process was observed to have the highest impact in all categories. Consequently, the flow process has the lowest carbon footprint (1.13 kg CO2-eq), according to the global warming potential (100 years), followed by the melt (1.45 kg CO2-eq), the acetone (1.95 kg CO2-eq) and the NMP process (3.11 kg CO2-eq).


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaobo Xue Romeiko

Using reclaimed water from treated wastewater as an irrigation source is gaining popularity in arid and semi-arid areas. However, life cycle assessment studies, utilizing experimental data to analyze the environmental and health impacts of crops irrigated with reclaimed water, are lacking. This study presents the first comparative life cycle assessment of corn, soybean and wheat systems irrigated with groundwater and reclaimed water in Northern China. While the life cycle foreground inventory was based on a combination of experimental and modeling datasets, the life cycle background inventory was compiled with commercially available data packages augmented with Chinese electricity mix data. The life cycle impact analyses were based on the characterization factors from state-of-art life cycle impact assessment models. The analyses indicated that the life cycle global warming impacts of the crop systems ranged from 0.37 to 0.64 kg CO2-eq/kg grain, with reclaimed water irrigated soybean and ground water irrigated wheat exhibiting, respectively, the lowest and highest global warming impacts. Irrigation, farming equipment operation, on-field emissions and fertilizer production ranked as top contributors to the life cycle impacts for corn, soybean, and wheat. The comparative analyses of irrigation sources suggested that significant environmental tradeoffs existed. Replacing groundwater with reclaimed water as the irrigation source significantly decreased life cycle global warming, acidification, ozone depletion, smog formation, and respiratory impacts of corn, soybean and wheat systems. However, replacing groundwater with reclaimed water increased the life cycle noncancer impacts of those systems. Coordinating policies within the water–food–health nexus is required, in order to minimize the environmental tradeoffs, while maximizing the benefits of irrigation with reclaimed water.


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 ◽  
...  

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.


Author(s):  
M. von der Thannen ◽  
S. Hoerbinger ◽  
C. Muellebner ◽  
H. Biber ◽  
H. P. Rauch

AbstractRecently, applications of soil and water bioengineering constructions using living plants and supplementary materials have become increasingly popular. Besides technical effects, soil and water bioengineering has the advantage of additionally taking into consideration ecological values and the values of landscape aesthetics. When implementing soil and water bioengineering structures, suitable plants must be selected, and the structures must be given a dimension taking into account potential impact loads. A consideration of energy flows and the potential negative impact of construction in terms of energy and greenhouse gas balance has been neglected until now. The current study closes this gap of knowledge by introducing a method for detecting the possible negative effects of installing soil and water bioengineering measures. For this purpose, an environmental life cycle assessment model has been applied. The impact categories global warming potential and cumulative energy demand are used in this paper to describe the type of impacts which a bioengineering construction site causes. Additionally, the water bioengineering measure is contrasted with a conventional civil engineering structure. The results determine that the bioengineering alternative performs slightly better, in terms of energy demand and global warming potential, than the conventional measure. The most relevant factor is shown to be the impact of the running machines at the water bioengineering construction site. Finally, an integral ecological assessment model for applications of soil and water bioengineering structures should point out the potential negative effects caused during installation and, furthermore, integrate the assessment of potential positive effects due to the development of living plants in the use stage of the structures.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 3820
Author(s):  
Noelia Llantoy ◽  
Gabriel Zsembinszki ◽  
Valeria Palomba ◽  
Andrea Frazzica ◽  
Mattia Dallapiccola ◽  
...  

With the aim of contributing to achieving the decarbonization of the energy sector, the environmental impact of an innovative system to produce heating and domestic hot water for heating demand-dominated climates is assessed is evaluated. The evaluation is conducted using the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology and the ReCiPe and IPCC GWP indicators for the manufacturing and operation stages, and comparing the system to a reference one. Results show that the innovative system has a lower overall impact than the reference one. Moreover, a parametric study to evaluate the impact of the refrigerant is carried out, showing that the impact of the overall systems is not affected if the amount of refrigerant or the impact of refrigerant is increased.


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