Environmental Impacts Associated to Different Stages Spanning from Harvesting to Industrialization of Pineapple through Life Cycle Assessment

In this research, environmental impacts associated with the harvest and processing of pineapple (fresh-packed, in syrup, and dehydrated) were determined using the life cycle assessment (LCA) tool and specialized software SimaPro® (version 8.4), according to ISO14040:2006 and ISO14044:2006 standards. The information used to develop inventory included field interviews and industrial visits within the study area. The functional unit was defined as one kilogram of fruit. The selected impact categories were carbon footprint, water footprint, and energy footprint; the results obtained for the agronomic stage were 0.47 kg CO2 eq (equivalent), 78 L of water, and 9.09 MJ, respectively. The growth stage of the pineapple plant was found to be the one that generates greatest environmental impacts for all three categories. For packaged fruit, 0.58 kg CO2 eq, 82 L of water, and 11.03 MJ were quantified; for pineapples in syrup it was 1.12 kg CO2 eq, 103 L of water, and 19.28 MJ; and for dehydrated fruit, it was 5.12 kg CO2 eq, 782 L of water and 97.04 MJ. This concludes that the most significant environmental impact occurred in all cases during the pineapple cultivation stage.

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Analysis of the Characteristics of Environmental Impacts According to the Cut-Off Criteria Applicable to the Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) of Apartment Buildings in South Korea

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13052898 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 2898

Author(s):

Rakhyun Kim ◽

Myung-Kwan Lim ◽

Seungjun Roh ◽

Won-Jun Park

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Impact Analysis ◽

Impact Categories ◽

Environmental Impact Analysis ◽

Apartment Buildings ◽

Environmental Impact Categories ◽

Weight Percentile

This study analyzed the characteristics of the environmental impacts of apartment buildings, a typical housing type in South Korea, as part of a research project supporting the streamlined life cycle assessment (S-LCA) of buildings within the G-SEED (Green Standard for Energy and Environmental Design) framework. Three recently built apartment building complexes were chosen as study objects for the quantitative evaluation of the buildings in terms of their embodied environmental impacts (global warming potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, ozone layer depletion potential, photochemical oxidant creation potential, and abiotic depletion potential), using the LCA approach. Additionally, we analyzed the emission trends according to the cut-off criteria of the six environmental impact categories by performing an S-LCA with cut-off criteria 90–99% of the cumulative weight percentile. Consequently, we were able to present the cut-off criterion best suited for S-LCA and analyze the effect of the cut-off criteria on the environmental impact analysis results. A comprehensive environmental impact analysis of the characteristics of the six environmental impact categories revealed that the error rate was below 5% when the cut-off criterion of 97.5% of the cumulative weight percentile was applied, thus verifying its validity as the optimal cut-off criterion for S-LCA.

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Life Cycle Assessment of viticultural technical management routes (TMRs): comparison between an organic and an integrated management route

OENO One ◽

10.20870/oeno-one.2016.50.2.783 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Anthony Rouault ◽

Sandra Beauchet ◽

Christel Renaud-Gentie ◽

Frédérique Jourjon

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metal ◽

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Plant Protection ◽

Resource Depletion ◽

Impact Categories ◽

Nitrogen Emissions ◽

Technical Management ◽

Lca Results

Aims: Using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), this study aims to compare the environmental impacts of two different viticultural technical management routes (TMRs); integrated and organic) and to identify the operations that contribute the most to the impacts.Methods and results: LCA impact scores were expressed in two functional units: 1 ha of cultivated area and 1 kg of collected grape. We studied all operations from field preparation before planting to the end-of-life of the vine. Inputs and outputs were transformed into potential environmental impacts thanks to SALCA™ (V1.02) and USETox™ (V1.03) methods. Plant protection treatments were a major cause of impact for both TMRs for fuel-related impact categories. For both TMRs, the main contributors to natural resource depletion and freshwater ecotoxicity were trellis system installation and background heavy metal emissions, respectively.Conclusion: This study shows that the studied organic TMR has higher impact scores than the integrated TMR for all the chosen impact categories except eutrophication. However, the chosen TMRs are only typical of integrated and organic viticulture in Loire Valley and some emission models (heavy metal, fuel-related emissions, and nitrogen emissions) have to be improved in order to better assess the environmental impacts of viticulture. Soil quality should also be integrated to LCA results in viticulture because this lack may be a disadvantage for organic viticulture.Significance and impact of study: This study is among the first to compare LCA results of an integrated and an organic TMR.

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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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Environmental Impacts of Charging Concepts for Battery Electric Vehicles: A Comparison of On-Board and Off-Board Charging Systems Based on a Life Cycle Assessment

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13246508 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (24) ◽

pp. 6508

Author(s):

Mona Kabus ◽

Lars Nolting ◽

Benedict J. Mortimer ◽

Jan C. Koj ◽

Wilhelm Kuckshinrichs ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Electric Vehicles ◽

Economic Effects ◽

System Level ◽

Impact Categories ◽

Dc System ◽

Battery Electric Vehicles

We investigate the environmental impacts of on-board (based on alternating current, AC) and off-board (based on direct current, DC) charging concepts for electric vehicles using Life Cycle Assessment and considering a maximum charging power of 22 kW (AC) and 50 kW (DC). Our results show that the manufacturing of chargers provokes the highest contribution to environmental impacts of the production phase. Within the chargers, the filters could be identified as main polluters for all power levels. When comparing the results on a system level, the DC system causes less environmental impact than the AC system in all impact categories. In our diffusion scenarios for electric vehicles, annual emission reductions of up to 35 million kg CO2-eq. could be achieved when the DC system is used instead of the AC system. In addition to the environmental assessment, we examine economic effects. Here, we find annual savings of up to 8.5 million euros, when the DC system is used instead of the AC system.

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A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Energy Use in Major Agro-processing Industries in Nigeria

Journal of Energy Research and Reviews ◽

10.9734/jenrr/2019/v3i430102 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hammed Adeniyi Salami

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Energy Use ◽

Functional Unit ◽

Palm Kernel ◽

Oil Production ◽

Impact Categories ◽

Palm Kernel Oil ◽

Kernel Oil ◽

Cashew Nut

A comparative assessment of environmental impacts associated with the energy use in palm kernel oil production and cashew nut processing industries was carried out using life cycle assessment. One Kg of products from both industries was chosen as the functional unit. The gate – to – gate life cycle assessment results indicated that the total contribution per functional unit to global warming potential (GWP), abiotic depletion potential (ADP) and acidification potential (AP) were 50.2809 g of CO2 equivalents, 0.1524 g antimony equivalents and 0.1280 g of SO2 equivalents respectively for palm kernel oil production and 39.8350 g of CO2 equivalents, 0.1209 g antimony equivalents and 0.0957 g of SO2 equivalents respectively for cashew nut processing. The scenario-based results indicated substantial reductions for all the considered impact categories; approximately 18, 28 and 94% reductions were achieved for ADP, GWP and AP respectively for both industries when public power supply from the natural grid was the main energy source for agricultural production. Increasing the thermal efficiency of the nation’s existing power architecture resulted into 62 and 56% reductions for GWP and ADP respectively for the two industries, while additional 6 and 7% reductions were achieved for both impact categories when the transmission and distribution loss was maintained at 5%. The widespread adoption of clean and renewable energy sources, instead of over-reliance on electricity supply from the diesel-powered generator, has been identified as a feasible alternative towards achieving sustainability in the agro-processing industry.

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Disposable Medical Masks: Environmental Costs

10.21203/rs.3.rs-647486/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

BURÇİN ATILGAN TÜRKMEN

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Global Warming ◽

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Global Warming Potential ◽

Functional Unit ◽

Environmental Costs ◽

Inventory Data

Abstract A massive increase in the use and production of masks worldwide has been seen in the current COVID-19 pandemic, which has contributed to reducing the transmission of the virus globally. This paper aims to evaluate the environmental impacts of disposable medical masks using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, first for the selected functional unit related to the manufacturing of one disposable medical mask and then for the global manufacturing of this type of mask in 2020. The inventory data was constructed directly from the industry. The system boundaries include the fabric, nose wire, and ear loops parts, transportation of materials, body making, ultrasonic vending, and packaging steps. The results suggest that the global warming potential of a disposable medical mask is 0.02 g CO2-Eq. for which the main contributor is the packaging step (44%) followed by the life cycle of fabric (27%), and nose wire (14%) parts. In total, 52 billion disposable medical masks used worldwide consumes 25 TJ of energy in 2020. The global warming potential of disposable medical masks supplied in a year of the COVID-19 pandemic is 1.1 Mt CO2 eq., equivalent to around 1.3 billion return flights from Istanbul to New York. This paper assessed the hotspots in the medical mask, allowing for a significant reduction in the environmental impact of mask use. This can be used as a roadmap for future mask designs.

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Environmental Performance of Emerging Photovoltaic Technologies: Assessment of the Status Quo and Future Prospects Based on a Meta-Analysis of Life-Cycle Assessment Studies

Energies ◽

10.3390/en12224228 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (22) ◽

pp. 4228 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Steffi Weyand ◽

Carolin Wittich ◽

Liselotte Schebek

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Environmental Performance ◽

Functional Unit ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Status Quo ◽

Future Prospects ◽

The Status ◽

Photovoltaic Technologies

Emerging photovoltaic technologies are expected to have lower environmental impacts during their life cycle due to their extremely thin-film technology and resulting material savings. The environmental impacts of four emerging photovoltaics were investigated based on a meta-analysis of life-cycle assessment (LCA) studies, comprising a systematic review and harmonization approach of five key indicators to describe the environmental status quo and future prospects. The status quo was analyzed based on a material-related functional unit of 1 watt-peak of the photovoltaic cell. For future prospects, the functional unit of 1 kWh of generated electricity was used, including assumptions on the use phase, notably on the lifetime. The results of the status quo show that organic photovoltaic technology is the most mature emerging photovoltaic technology with a competitive environmental performance, while perovskites have a low performance, attributed to the early stage of development and inefficient manufacturing on the laboratory scale. The results of future prospects identified improvements of efficiency, lifetime, and manufacturing with regard to environmental performance based on sensitivity and scenario analyses. The developed harmonization approach supports the use of LCA in the early stages of technology development in a structured way to reduce uncertainty and extract significant information during development.

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Life Cycle Assessment of an NMC Battery for Application to Electric Light-Duty Commercial Vehicles and Comparison with a Sodium-Nickel-Chloride Battery

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11031160 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 1160

Author(s):

Antonella Accardo ◽

Giovanni Dotelli ◽

Marco Luigi Musa ◽

Ezio Spessa

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Nickel Chloride ◽

Impact Categories ◽

Commercial Vehicles ◽

Light Duty ◽

Electric Light ◽

The Impact

This paper presents the results of an environmental assessment of a Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt (NMC) Lithium-ion traction battery for Battery Electric Light-Duty Commercial Vehicles (BEV-LDCV) used for urban and regional freight haulage. A cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) of NMC111 is provided, operation and end-of-life stages are included, and insight is also given into a Life Cycle Assessment of different NMC chemistries. The environmental impacts of the manufacturing stages of the NMC111 battery are then compared with those of a Sodium-Nickel-Chloride (ZEBRA) battery. In the second part of the work, two electric-battery LDCVs (powered with NMC111 and ZEBRA batteries, respectively) and a diesel urban LDCV are analysed, considering a wide set of environmental impact categories. The results show that the NMC111 battery has the highest impacts from production in most of the impact categories. Active cathode material, Aluminium, Copper, and energy use for battery production are the main contributors to the environmental impact. However, when vehicle application is investigated, NMC111-BEV shows lower environmental impacts, in all the impact categories, than ZEBRA-BEV. This is mainly due to the greater efficiency of the NMC111 battery during vehicle operation. Finally, when comparing BEVs to a diesel LDCV, the electric powertrains show advantages over the diesel one as far as global warming, abiotic depletion potential-fossil fuels, photochemical oxidation, and ozone layer depletion are concerned. However, the diesel LDCV performs better in almost all the other investigated impact categories.

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Life Cycle Assessment of Different Prefabricated Rates for Building Construction

Buildings ◽

10.3390/buildings11110552 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (11) ◽

pp. 552

Author(s):

Shaozhe Wang ◽

Rajib Sinha

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Carbon Footprint ◽

Water Footprint ◽

Influencing Factor ◽

Construction Sector ◽

Transport Distance ◽

Terrestrial Ecotoxicity ◽

Energy Footprint ◽

The Impact

In recent years, Sweden has promoted prefabricated buildings supporting the increasing of prefabricated rates in buildings with precast components, in order to reduce the environmental problems caused by the construction sector. This study, focusing on the construction activities, examines how the increasing prefabricated rate could influence the environmental impacts of the construction sector. This study conducts a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) of a reference building with a prefabricated rate of 26% in the Stockholm Royal Seaport, and compares nine scenarios with prefabricated rates, ranging from 6% to 96%. The results indicate the water footprint decreases, but the total energy footprint and carbon footprint increase as the prefabricated rate increases. Among other impacts, terrestrial ecotoxicity shows the biggest increase with an increase of the prefabricated rate. This study reveals that material extraction is the largest influencing factor, causing a water footprint when the prefabricated rate increases. The impact changes in the energy footprint, carbon footprint, and terrestrial ecotoxicity, and are primarily determined by transport and are sensitive to transport distance and vehicle types.

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Life Cycle Assessment of Heaven Mushroom Product

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202122802003 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 228 ◽

pp. 02003

Author(s):

Phatcharapron Sukkanta ◽

Krittaphas Mongkolkoldhumrongkul

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Energy Consumption ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Functional Unit ◽

Assessment Method ◽

Cradle To Gate ◽

Impacts Of Climate Change

Climate change affects all regions around the world, so efforts to minimize the environmental impacts of climate change have high importance. The aim of this study is to evaluate the environmental impacts on the production of heaven mushroom product at the Ban Tai Khod community in Rayong, Thailand. In this study, cradle to gate was selected as the system boundary and functional unit from the life cycle assessment method. The results found that the process of building a mushroom house has the highest greenhouse gas emissions of 1, 496.609 kgCO2eq. The mushroom cubes mixing process has the highest energy consumption throughout the production process, requiring an energy consumption of 5.595 kWh. The greenhouse gas is released amount 3, 588.362 kgCO2eq. throughout this process. Additionally, the payback period of the heaven mushroom product is 0.92 years.

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