scholarly journals Are Renewables as Friendly to Humans as to the Environment?: A Social Life Cycle Assessment of Renewable Electricity

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shutaro Takeda ◽  
Alexander Keeley ◽  
Shigeki Sakurai ◽  
Shunsuke Managi ◽  
Catherine Norris

The adoption of renewable energy technologies in developing nations is recognized to have positive environmental impacts; however, what are their effects on the electricity supply chain workers? This article provides a quantitative analysis on this question through a relatively new framework called social life cycle assessment, taking Malaysia as a case example. Impact assessments by the authors show that electricity from renewables has greater adverse impacts on supply chain workers than the conventional electricity mix: Electricity production with biomass requires 127% longer labor hours per unit-electricity under the risk of human rights violations, while the solar photovoltaic requires 95% longer labor hours per unit-electricity. However, our assessment also indicates that renewables have less impacts per dollar-spent. In fact, the impact of solar photovoltaic would be 60% less than the conventional mix when it attains grid parity. The answer of “are renewables as friendly to humans as to the environment?” is “not-yet, but eventually.”

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. 5533-5542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Martín-Gamboa ◽  
Ana Cláudia Dias ◽  
Luis Arroja ◽  
Diego Iribarren

Social life cycle assessment of a bioelectricity system encompassing more than 400 processes within seven tiers of the supply chain.


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.


2017 ◽  
pp. 171-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosana Adami Mattioda ◽  
Pâmela Teixeira Fernandes ◽  
José Luiz Casela ◽  
Osiris Canciglieri Junior

Author(s):  
César Terán

A pesquisa apresenta um estudo de caso de identificação e avaliação de impactos sociais na produção de aspargos brancos frescos no Peru, com a participação de uma empresa líder do setor de agroexportação. A técnica utilizada foi a Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida Social (S-LCA), considerando apenas a etapa de processamento, em que várias atividades são concluídas para transformar a matéria-prima em produto acabado. Desta forma, a equipe de pesquisa definiu três categorias de atores, 15 subcategorias e 67 indicadores específicos, para os quais foram coletadas informações de fontes primárias e secundárias. Uma metodologia existente, baseada na avaliação do desempenho e na avaliação do impacto de cada subcategoria, foi adaptada para a avaliação de impacto. Os resultados da avaliação determinam que a empresa demonstre níveis satisfatórios de responsabilidade social corporativa, gerando, na maioria dos casos, impactos positivos sobre seus stakeholders.  Palavras-chave: Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida Social (S-LCA). Avaliação de Impacto Social. Aspargos.ResumenLa investigación presenta un caso de estudio de identificación y evaluación de impactos sociales en la producción del espárrago blanco fresco en Perú, contando com la participación de una empresa representativa del rubro agroexportador. Se utilizo la técnica Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA), considerando solamente la etapa de procesamiento, en la cual se presentan diversas actividades orientadas a transformar la materia prima en producto terminado. En ese sentido, se definieron 3 categorías de stakeholders, 15 subcategorías y 67 indicadores específicos, para los cuales se recolectó información de fuentes secundarias y primarias. Para la evaluación de impactos se adaptó una metodología existente, basada en la evaluación del desempeño y la evaluación de impactos de cada subcategoría. Los resultados de análisis determinan que la empresa muestra niveles satisfactorios en materia de responsabilidad social empresarial, generando, en la mayoría de casos, impactos positivos en sus grupos de interés. Palabras clave: Análisis del Ciclo de Vida Social (S-ACV). Evaluación de Impactos Sociales. Espárrago.AbstractThe research presents a case study of identification and evaluation of social impacts in the production of fresh white asparagus in Peru, with the participation of a leader company of the agro-export sector. The technique used was Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA), considering only the processing stage, in which several activities are completed in order to transform the raw material into finished product. Accordingly, the research team defined 3 categories of stakeholders, 15 subcategories and 67 specific indicators, for which information was collected from secondary and primary sources. An existing methodology, based on performance evaluation and impact assessment of each subcategory, was adapted for the impact assessment. The results of the assessment determine that the company shows satisfactory levels of corporate social responsibility, generating, in most cases, positive impacts on its stakeholders.Keywords: Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA). Social Impact Assessment. Asparagus.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn Lobsiger-Kägi ◽  
Luis López ◽  
Tobias Kuehn ◽  
Raoul Roth ◽  
Vicente Carabias ◽  
...  

This article proposes a specific social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) approach, to be applied in a case study on energy production in Switzerland. The aim of the present study is to describe the social conditions along the global supply chains and to compare them with the social situation in Switzerland. Therefore, a specific S-LCA methodology was developed that combines a relevance analysis with a performance reference point (PRP) assessment. The relevance analysis is carried out to identify the most relevant unit processes and S-LCA indicators and the Swiss PRPs (SPRPs) are designed to compare the social issues along the value chain to the situation in Switzerland. The methodology was applied to two life cycle stages of the copper supply chain (resource extraction and wire production), relevant for the production of renewable energy technologies, where it was found that the most critical step is mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) due to the artisanal way of mining. The proposed methodology offers a comprehensive overview for the analysis of supply chains and the comparison of different life cycle phases. Nevertheless, the methodology can result in a very coarse resolution with low validity. However, if the data and the results are treated transparently, they provide meaningful information about the social conditions along the supply chain.


Resources ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Bergström ◽  
Christopher Malefors ◽  
Ingrid Strid ◽  
Ole Jørgen Hanssen ◽  
Mattias Eriksson

Food banks that redistribute surplus food from retailers and the food industry to people in need are not a new concept globally, but their connection to food waste prevention is new. As a result, new types of food redistribution units are emerging and diversifying to find new target groups and distribution methods. The aim of this study was to identify and study surplus food redistribution units in Sweden, and then to assess the impact on several sustainability indicators for selected redistribution units, in order to increase knowledge on the types of values these redistribution concepts generate. The methods used for analyzing the scenarios were Environmental Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costing and Social Life Cycle Assessment. The results showed that providing food bags to socially exposed people generated the largest reduction of greenhouse gas emissions per kg of redistributed food (−1.2 kg CO2 eq./FU). Reprocessing surplus food to a high-quality end-product was attributed a high social value, due to job creation effects in the high number of working hours required per kg of redistributed food. With regard to economic impacts, all but two scenarios studied had monthly financial losses, and therefore needed other sources of financial support.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2472
Author(s):  
Teodora Stillitano ◽  
Emanuele Spada ◽  
Nathalie Iofrida ◽  
Giacomo Falcone ◽  
Anna Irene De Luca

This study aims at providing a systematic and critical review on the state of the art of life cycle applications from the circular economy point of view. In particular, the main objective is to understand how researchers adopt life cycle approaches for the measurement of the empirical circular pathways of agri-food systems along with the overall lifespan. To perform the literature review, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol was considered to conduct a review by qualitative synthesis. Specifically, an evaluation matrix has been set up to gather and synthesize research evidence, by classifying papers according to several integrated criteria. The literature search was carried out employing scientific databases. The findings highlight that 52 case studies out of 84 (62% of the total) use stand-alone life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the benefits/impacts of circular economy (CE) strategies. In contrast, only eight studies (9.5%) deal with the life cycle costing (LCC) approach combined with other analyses while no paper deals with the social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) methodology. Global warming potential, eutrophication (for marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems), human toxicity, and ecotoxicity results are the most common LCA indicators applied. Only a few articles deal with the CE assessment through specific indicators. We argue that experts in life cycle methodologies must strive to adopt some key elements to ensure that the results obtained fit perfectly with the measurements of circularity and that these can even be largely based on a common basis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3856
Author(s):  
Rebeka Kovačič Lukman ◽  
Vasja Omahne ◽  
Damjan Krajnc

When considering the sustainability of production processes, research studies usually emphasise environmental impacts and do not adequately address economic and social impacts. Toy production is no exception when it comes to assessing sustainability. Previous research on toys has focused solely on assessing environmental aspects and neglected social and economic aspects. This paper presents a sustainability assessment of a toy using environmental life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, and social life cycle assessment. We conducted an inventory analysis and sustainability impact assessment of the toy to identify the hotspots of the system. The main environmental impacts are eutrophication, followed by terrestrial eco-toxicity, acidification, and global warming. The life cycle costing approach examined the economic aspect of the proposed design options for toys, while the social assessment of the alternative designs revealed social impacts along the product life cycle. In addition, different options based on the principles of the circular economy were analysed and proposed in terms of substitution of materials and shortening of transport distances for the toy studied.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document