scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment to Study the Carbon Footprint of System Components for Colorado Blue Spruce Field Production and Use

2013 ◽  
Vol 138 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewayne L. Ingram
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
C Sequestration ◽  
The United States ◽  
Blue Spruce ◽  
System Components ◽  
One Year ◽  
Field Production

The contributions of interrelated production system components of a field-grown, 2-m-tall, 5-cm-caliper Picea pungens (colorado blue spruce) in the upper midwestern (liner) and lower midwestern (finished tree) regions of the United States to its carbon footprint were analyzed using life cycle assessment protocols. The seed-to-landscape carbon footprint was 13.558 kg carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), including sequestration of 9.14 kg CO2e during production. The global warming potential (GWP) from equipment use was the dominant contributor to the carbon footprint of production. Seventy-six percent of the GWP investments during field production occurred at harvest. Querying the model, among other things, revealed that adding one year to the field production phase would add less than 3% to the seed-to-landscape GWP of the product. The weighted positive impact of carbon (C) sequestration during a 50-year life was 593 kg CO2e. After its useful life, takedown and disposal would result in emissions of 148 kg CO2e, resulting in a net positive, life cycle impact on atmospheric CO2 of ≈431 kg CO2e.

scholarly journals Analysis of Production System Components of Container-grown Chrysanthemum for Their Impact on Carbon Footprint and Variable Costs Using Life Cycle Assessment

HortScience ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (8) ◽  
pp. 1139-1142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewayne L. Ingram ◽  
Charles R. Hall ◽  
Joshua Knight
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Production System ◽  
The United States ◽  
The North ◽  
System Components ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Consumptive Water

Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to analyze the production system components of a 20-cm Chrysanthemum grown for the fall market in the north Atlanta region of the United States. The model system consisted of 2 weeks of mist in a greenhouse followed by 9 weeks on an outdoor gravel bed equipped with drip irrigation. The carbon footprint, or global warming potential (GWP), was calculated as 0.555 kg CO2e and the variable costs incurred during the modeled production system (from rooting purchased cuttings to loading the truck for shipment) totaled $0.846. Use of plastics was important in terms of GWP and variable costs with the container contributing 26.7% of the GWP of the product and 12.2% of the variable costs. The substrate accounted for 44.8% of the GWP in this model but only 12.1% of the variable costs. Consumptive water use during misting was determined to be 3.9 L per plant whereas water use during outdoor production was 34.8 L. Because propagation is handled in various ways by Chrysanthemum growers, the potential impact of alternative propagation scenarios on GWP and variable costs, including the purchase of plugs, was also examined.

scholarly journals Carbon Footprint and Related Production Costs of System Components for a Field-Grown Viburnum × juddi Using Life Cycle Assessment

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 175-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewayne L. Ingram ◽  
Charles R. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Model System ◽  
Model Material ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
System Components ◽  
Co2 Equivalent ◽  
Field Production

Life cycle assessment was used to analyze the global warming potential (GWP) and variable costs of input materials, equipment use and labor of a model system for field production of a balled and burlapped, 0.9 m (36 in) Judd viburnum (Viburnum × juddi Rehder) shrub in the lower Midwest. The model system was defined using information obtained through interviews with nursery managers in the region. The propagation-to-gate GWP of the shrub was determined to be 0.705 kg CO2 equivalent (CO2e), after subtracting 0.916 kg CO2e, the weighted impact of carbon sequestered during production. Estimates for propagation-to-landscape GWP (3.156 kg CO2e) and variable costs ($9.19) were also calculated for the model. Material inputs during field production contributed 1.063 kg CO2e to the propagation-to-gate GWP and $0.89 of the variable costs while equipment use contributed 0.558 kg CO2e and $0.32 to variable costs.

scholarly journals Modeling Container-grown Euphorbia pulcherrima Production System Components: Impacts on Carbon Footprint and Variable Costs Using a Life Cycle Assessment

HortScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 262-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewayne L. Ingram ◽  
Charles R. Hall ◽  
Joshua Knight
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Best Management Practices ◽  
Production System ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
The United States ◽  
Model System ◽  
Euphorbia Pulcherrima

A model production system for a 15.2-cm poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) in the north Atlantic region of the United States was developed through grower interviews and best management practices and analyzed using a life cycle assessment (LCA). The model system involved direct sticking of unrooted cuttings. The propagation phase was 4 weeks, followed by 9 weeks of irrigation using a boom system and 4 weeks of flood-floor irrigation. The carbon footprint, or global warming potential (GWP), for the plant was calculated as 0.474 kg carbon dioxide equivalent (kg CO2e), with a variable cost of $1.030. Major contributors to the GWP were the substrate and filling pots, fertilization, the container, irrigation, and overhead electricity. The major contributors to variable costs were the unrooted cuttings and labor to prepare and stick ($0.471). Furthermore, the substrate and filling containers and irrigation were notable contributors. Material inputs accounted for 0.304 kg CO2e, whereas equipment use was estimated to be 0.163 kg CO2e, which comprised 64.2% and 35.8% of total GWP, respectively. Material inputs accounted for $0.665 (64.6%) of variable costs, whereas labor accounted for 19.6% of variable costs for this model. Water use per plant was 77.2 L with boom irrigation for the 9 weeks during production spacing (32.8 plant/m2) and represented 64% of the total water use. LCA was an effective tool for analyzing the components of a model system of greenhouse-grown, flowering, potted plants. Information gained from this study can be used by growers considering system alterations to improve efficiency.

scholarly journals Reducing the Environmental Impact of Sterilization Packaging for Surgical Instruments in the Operating Room: A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable versus Reusable Systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 430
Author(s):  
Herman J. Friedericy ◽  
Cas W. van Egmond ◽  
Joost G. Vogtländer ◽  
Anne C. van der Eijk ◽  
Frank Willem Jansen
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Indicator System ◽  
Surgical Instruments ◽  
Point Of Use ◽  
Break Even Point

The widespread use of single-use polypropylene packaging for sterilization of surgical instruments (blue wrap) results in enormous environmental pollution and plastic waste, estimated at 115 million kilograms on a yearly basis in the United States alone. Rigid sterilization containers (RSCs) are a well-known alternative in terms of quality and price. This paper deals with two research questions investigating the following aspects: (A) the environmental advantage of RCS for high volumes (5000 use cycles) in big hospitals, and (B) the environmental break-even point of use-cycles for small hospitals. An in-depth life cycle assessment was used to benchmark the two systems. As such a benchmark is influenced by the indicator system, three indicator systems were applied: (a) carbon footprint, (b) ReCiPe, and (c) eco-costs. The results are as follows: (1) the analyzed RSC has 85% less environmental impact in carbon footprint, 52% in ReCiPe, and 84.5% in eco-costs; and (2) an ecological advantage already occurs after 98, 228, and 67 out of 5000 use cycles, respectively. Given these two alternative packaging systems with comparable costs and quality, our results show that there are potentially large environmental gains to be made when RSC is preferred to blue wrap as a packaging system for sterile surgical instruments on a global scale.

scholarly journals Life-Cycle Assessment of Carbon Footprint of Bike-Share and Bus Systems in Campus Transit

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 158
Author(s):  
Sishen Wang ◽  
Hao Wang ◽  
Pengyu Xie ◽  
Xiaodan Chen
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Co2 Emission ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Two Systems ◽  
Bus System ◽  
Bike Share

Low-carbon transport system is desired for sustainable cities. The study aims to compare carbon footprint of two transportation modes in campus transit, bus and bike-share systems, using life-cycle assessment (LCA). A case study was conducted for the four-campus (College Ave, Cook/Douglass, Busch, Livingston) transit system at Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ). The life-cycle of two systems were disaggregated into four stages, namely, raw material acquisition and manufacture, transportation, operation and maintenance, and end-of-life. Three uncertain factors—fossil fuel type, number of bikes provided, and bus ridership—were set as variables for sensitivity analysis. Normalization method was used in two impact categories to analyze and compare environmental impacts. The results show that the majority of CO2 emission and energy consumption comes from the raw material stage (extraction and upstream production) of the bike-share system and the operation stage of the campus bus system. The CO2 emission and energy consumption of the current campus bus system are 46 and 13 times of that of the proposed bike-share system, respectively. Three uncertain factors can influence the results: (1) biodiesel can significantly reduce CO2 emission and energy consumption of the current campus bus system; (2) the increased number of bikes increases CO2 emission of the bike-share system; (3) the increase of bus ridership may result in similar impact between two systems. Finally, an alternative hybrid transit system is proposed that uses campus buses to connect four campuses and creates a bike-share system to satisfy travel demands within each campus. The hybrid system reaches the most environmentally friendly state when 70% passenger-miles provided by campus bus and 30% by bike-share system. Further research is needed to consider the uncertainty of biking behavior and travel choice in LCA. Applicable recommendations include increasing ridership of campus buses and building a bike-share in campus to support the current campus bus system. Other strategies such as increasing parking fees and improving biking environment can also be implemented to reduce automobile usage and encourage biking behavior.

scholarly journals Detailed life cycle assessment of Bounty® paper towel operations in the United States

2016 ◽  
Vol 131 ◽  
pp. 509-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley Ingwersen ◽  
Maria Gausman ◽  
Annie Weisbrod ◽  
Debalina Sengupta ◽  
Seung-Jin Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
The United States ◽  
Paper Towel
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