scholarly journals Environmental Assessment of Motorcycle using a Life-Cycle Perspective

Author(s):  
Bertha Maya Sopha ◽  
Setiowati Setiowati ◽  
Sholeh Ma’mun

Transportation sector contributes as the second largest polluter of the air pollution in Indonesia. Of the transportation sector, road transport has generated 70% of the air pollution, 81% of which is attributable to motorcycles. The motorcycles are currently accounting for 79% of the total motor vehicles. It is predicted that the number of motorcycles will continue to grow at an annual rate of 9-26%. However, due to little attention to the motorcycle’s environmental impacts, this present study, therefore, aims to assess and report the environmental impacts of using motorcycles based on life-cycle perspective. Using a functional unit of one passenger per kilometer (pkm), resource consumption and emissions through the entire life-cycle of a motorcycle were estimated. The foreground Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) was compiled through observation, interview, and secondary data, while the background LCI was based on ecoinvent data v.2.0. Results show that the environmental impacts of the chosen function unit constitute Abiotic Resource Depletion Potential (ADP) of 0.515 g Sb-eq., Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 176 g CO2-eq, Human Toxicity Potential (HTP) of 1.1 g 1.4-DCB-eq, and Acidification Potential (AP) of 0.544 g SO2-eq, respectively. Operation (usage stage) of the motorcycle has been the most contributor to GWP and AP, while manufacturing stage has been the most contributor to HTP. Potential interventions related to the manufacturing process, fuel, and usage of the motorcycle to reduce the environmental impacts are also discussed.

2018 ◽  
Vol 188 ◽  
pp. 840-850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zengwei Yuan ◽  
Xiao Pan ◽  
Tianming Chen ◽  
Xuewei Liu ◽  
You Zhang ◽  
...  

OENO One ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Rouault ◽  
Sandra Beauchet ◽  
Christel Renaud-Gentie ◽  
Frédérique Jourjon

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Aims</strong>: 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.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Methods and results</strong>: 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.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Conclusion</strong>: 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.</p><strong>Significance and impact of study</strong>: This study is among the first to compare LCA results of an integrated and an organic TMR.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 71355-71372
Author(s):  
Adrison Carvalho De Loreto ◽  
Adriane de Assis Lawisch Rodriguez ◽  
Allan Ramone de Araujo Scharnberg ◽  
Rafael Martins Da Silva ◽  
Diosnel Antonio Rodriguez Lopez ◽  
...  

Adequacy to sustainable development standards requires the use of methods and tools that enable the quantification and monitoring of environmental impacts related to production processes. As a subsidy to the potential reduction of impacts by solar collectors, this paper proposes an environmental evaluation, considering an alternative solar collector scenario to be compared with a commercial one, from the life cycle perspective. Using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool, the scenarios were evaluated using the SimaPro 8.5 software. The functional unit definition was defined with real system verification through the system preparation and operation in the laboratory, which is characterized as heating 26 L of water utilizing a thermosyphon system at a temperature greater than or equal to 38 ºC. Analyzing the LCA results, it was observed that the alternative system use offers environmental impacts reduction in all impact categories selected when compared to the commercial system. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was proposed considering a variation in polyester resin mass used in the alternative system. The simulation of changes in the resin resulted in even more decreases in the environmental impacts. Regarding thermal efficiency, the industrial system excelled in terms of absorption capacity and thermal reserve. Thus, the present paper using the analyzes proposed within the defined scope, allowed the comparison between the systems in such a way that it was possible to know whether the use of the alternative solar collector results in environmental advantages without losing thermal efficiency.  


Author(s):  
Manish Sakhlecha ◽  
Samir Bajpai ◽  
Rajesh Kumar Singh

Buildings consume major amount of energy as well as natural resources leading to negative environmental impacts like resource depletion and pollution. The current task for the construction sector is to develop an evaluation tool for rating of buildings based on their environmental impacts. There are various assessment tools and models developed by different agencies in different countries to evaluate building's effect on environment. Although these tools have been successfully used and implemented in the respective regions of their origin, the problems of application occur, especially during regional adaptation in other countries due to peculiarities associated with the specific geographic location, climatic conditions, construction methods and materials. India is a rapidly growing economy with exponential increase in housing sector. Impact assessment model for a residential building has been developed based on life cycle assessment (LCA) framework. The life cycle impact assessment score was obtained for a sample house considering fifteen combinations of materials paired with 100% thermal electricity and 70%-30% thermal-solar combination, applying normalization and weighting to the LCA results. The LCA score of portland slag cement with burnt clay red brick and 70%-30% thermal-solar combination (PSC+TS+RB) was found to have the best score and ordinary Portland cement with flyash brick and 100% thermal power (OPC+T+FAB) had the worst score, showing the scope for further improvement in LCA model to include positive scores for substitution of natural resources with industrial waste otherwise polluting the environment.


Author(s):  
Daniele Landi ◽  
Leonardo Postacchini ◽  
Paolo Cicconi ◽  
Filippo E. Ciarapica ◽  
Michele Germani

In industrialized countries, packaging waste is one of the major issues to deal with, representing around 35% of the total municipal solid waste yearly generated. Therefore, an analysis and an environmental assessment of packaging systems are necessary. This paper aims at analyzing and comparing the environmental performances of two different packaging for domestic hoods. It shows how, through a packaging redesign, it is possible to obtain a reduction of the environmental impacts. This study has been performed in accordance with the international standards ISO 14040/14044, by using attributional Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) from Cradle to Gate. The functional unit has been defined as the packaging of a single household hood. Primary data have been provided by a household hood manufacturer, while secondary data have been obtained from the Ecoinvent database. LCA software SimaPro 8.5 has been used to carry out the life cycle assessment, and ReCiPe method has been chosen for the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) stage. The results have shown the new packaging model being able to cut down the environmental impacts of approximately 30%. These outcomes may be used by household manufacturers to improve performances and design solutions of their different packaging.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 2166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Rajabi Hamedani ◽  
Tom Kuppens ◽  
Robert Malina ◽  
Enrico Bocci ◽  
Andrea Colantoni ◽  
...  

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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 241-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Górniak ◽  
Katarzyna Midor ◽  
Jan Kaźmierczak ◽  
Wojciech Kaniak

Abstract The current problems related to air pollution in Europe, but also in Poland, are forcing the search for solutions aimed at significantly reducing the amount of solid particles harmful to humans in the air. Road transport is responsible for almost half of the pollution, as it releases nitrogen oxides into the air. In view of the above, the authors of the article want to turn attention toward methane as a fuel alternative traditional ones, pointing to the possibility of its use by Poland and presenting its advantages and disadvantages.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 572-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamila Romejko ◽  
◽  
Masaru Nakano

Electric vehicles (EVs) are considered a promising technology to mitigate air pollution and resource depletion problems. The emissions from the manufacturing process can cause severe health problems like chronic asthma and even death. Automakers and policy makers need to investigate the lifecycle emissions of EVs in different regions and then governments should decide if it is safe to establish EV production facilities in their country or whether it is more appropriate to import finished products. The objective of this study is to evaluate the air pollutant emissions produced by EVs and gasoline vehicles (GVs) during their life cycles under two technology scenarios. Life cycle analysis (LCA) was applied to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) and non-GHG emissions. We assessed air pollution from vehicles in Japan, China, and the United Kingdom (UK). Results indicate that EVs do not necessarily decrease pollutant emissions. EVs can improve air quality and reduce emissions in countries where electricity is derived from clean energy resources.


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