Analysis of Biological Degradation and Life Cycle Indicators of Mineral Diesel Fuel Mixtures, Containing 10% Biodiesel, Obtained by Simultaneous Oil Extraction and Transesterification

This article provides data on the environmental properties of biofuels obtained by the simultaneous extraction of oil from spoiled rapeseed and transesterification, with the addition of mineral diesel to the reaction mixture. The resulting reaction product contained 10% biodiesel: fatty acid methyl, ethyl, or butyl esters in mixtures with mineral diesel. The addition of biodiesel has been found to increase the rate of biodegradation of fuels. Such fuels are classified as partially biodegradable, according to the OECD classification. Life cycle analysis showed that the mixtures of biodiesel and mineral diesel have lower negative environmental impacts, compared to pure mineral diesel. The values of indicators such as abiotic depletion, acidification, global warming, ozone depletion, and human toxicity for these mixtures were 40–58% lower compared to the corresponding values for mineral diesel.

Life Cycle Assessment of Mortars Produced Partially Replacing Cement by Treated Mining Residues

The use of secondary mining resources to replace conventional constituents in mortars production has proved the effectiveness to preserve the quality of mechanical, physical, and chemical properties. However, minimal research has been performed to quantify the environmental impacts of mortars with mining residues. In the present work, a life cycle assessment of 10 mortars was carried out. A reference mortar (100% of cement binder) and mortars with cement substitutions in 10, 25, and 50% by raw, electrodialytic treated, and electrodialytic plus thermal treated mining residues were analysed. The impacts were studied in six environmental categories: (1) abiotic depletion; (2) global warming; (3) ozone depletion; (4) photochemical ozone creation; (5) acidification; and (6) eutrophication potentials. The results demonstrated that mortars formulated with raw mining residues may decrease the environmental impacts, namely in global warming potential (55.1 kg CO2 eq./t modified mortar). Considering the treatments applied to mining residues, the major mitigations were reported in photochemical ozone creation (−99%), ozone depletion (−76 to −98%), and acidification potential (−90 to −94%), mainly due to the disposal impacts avoided in comparison to the reference mortar. Analysing all mortars’ constituents and their management options, products with electrodialytic treated mining residues showed higher influence in ozone depletion (18 to 52%). Coupling a thermal procedure, mining residues contributed for 99% of the abiotic depletion potential of mortars.

A Life Cycle Assessment Study on a New Countertop Material

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is one of the most important analytical tools available to provide the scientific basis of engineering solutions for sustainability. The focus of this study was a LCA (cradle to gate) of a product intended to be used in countertops. The functional unit chosen was 1 m2 of finished panel (countertop) and the boundary system involved the study of raw materials and product packaging and the panel’s production process. The chosen method for impact assessment was EPD (2018) available in SimaPro PhD software and Acidification, Eutrophication, Global Warming, Photochemical Oxidation, Abiotic Depletion (elements), Abiotic Depletion (fossil fuels), Water Scarcity and Ozone Layer Depletion were the impact categories considered. Results showed that the panel’s manufacturing is the process that presented the highest influence in all categories analyzed ranging from 88% on Abiotic Depletion to approximately 101% on Water Scarcity. Polyvinylchloride (PVC) is the greatest contributors to all impact categories except to Photochemical Oxidation that is the Polyester.

Life Cycle Assessment of Two Alternative Plastics for Bottle Production

The article characterizes selected issues related to the method of performing environmental impact analyses. Particular attention was paid to the need for identifying environmental effects associated with the process of shaping beverage bottles. This study concerns the analysis of selected stages of the machine’s life cycle environmental impact in the specific case of the blow molding machine used in the production of bottles. Life cycle assessment analysis was performed using the SimaPro 8.4.0 software (The Dutch Company Pre Consultants). The CML 2 and ReCiPe2016 methods were chosen to interpret the lists of chemical emissions. Impact categories specific to the CML 2 model are: abiotic depletion, acidification, eutrophication, global warming, ozone layer depletion, human toxicity, fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity, marine aquatic ecotoxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, and photochemical oxidation. Among all the considered impact categories, marine aquatic ecotoxicity was characterized by the highest level of potential harmful effects occurring during the bottle production process. A new aspect of the research is to provide updated and more detailed geographic data on Polish bottle production.

Influence of the Material Composition SMD Diodes on Their Environmental Impact

The influence of the material composition of surface-mount device (SMD) diodes on the environment has been analysed in this research. This impact assessment has been performed by means of an environmental impact calculation through a life cycle assessment (LCA), in which the EcoInvent dataset has been updated and customised, generating a more precise environmental impact analysis by considering the exact material composition provided by several suppliers of diodes and also recycling during the production stage. Considering the EcoInvent diode dataset as a reference, variations from nearly 1640% to only 8.5% of the environmental impact have been achieved. For example, the impact per 1 g of SMD diodes can change the global warming potential from 292 g CO2 eq up to 354 g CO2 eq, whereas for abiotic depletion, values can change from 9.9 × 10−7 up to 1.9 × 10−4 kg Sb eq. The presence of critical raw materials such as antimony, cobalt, or magnesium, together with precious metals as gold or silver, highly influences the environmental impact values obtained, demonstrating the considerable influence on the environmental impact of the material composition of the SMD diodes analysed.

Re-using existing prefabricated prestressed concrete girders

<p>The future of bridge and overpass design is to be fully circular. To reach that goal many innovations in construction should be made. One of the first steps is to alter the mainly existing linear construction sequence. Therefore, Royal HaskoningDHV started the innovation of re-using prefabricated concrete girders for new overpasses and bridges. The economic and technical feasibility is researched as well as the impact on climate and emissions. To prove our concept, an overpass is deconstructed, and the 40-year-old prefabricated concrete girders are disassembled and put on transport, instead of crushing them to aggregate. In a temporary storage the girders are inspected, repaired, adapted and certified. So, they are fit for their future use in a new structure. Structural assessments, environmental impact and costs calculations are made for a case study. It is concluded that re-using prefabricated girders is technical and economical feasible, with a remaining lifespan of at least 100 year. Up to 44% of CO2-eq. emissions can be saved and even 61% of abiotic depletion (in Sb-eq.). The main obstacle is the unawareness at the different stakeholders that re- using these high-quality girders is possible and these girders can function for the next century.</p>

Multi-criteria analysis of ten single family houses regarding environmental impacts

This study presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) of ten single family houses located in Eastern Slovakia with the aim to compare them in terms of the materials and technologies used. The main goal is to investigate and emphasize the reduction rate of environmental impact resulting from using green materials and technologies. Environmental impacts are determined by using eToolLCD software. Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) categories of global warming, ozone depletion, acidification, eutrophication and photochemical ozone creation potential, as well as abiotic depletion potential - elements, abiotic depletion potential - fossil fuels, use of renewable primary energy resources, net use of fresh water, components for reuse and materials for recycling are determined within the cradle-to-grave boundary. Assessed family houses are built as a combination of conventional materials such as aerated concrete blocks, expanded polystyrene (EPS), extruded polystyrene (XPS) and roofing mineral wool and natural materials such as wood, cellulose, clay, straw and extensive vegetation roofs. Multi-criteria decision analysis points out that material optimization of building structures as well as the application of green technologies can ensure a considerable reduction of environmental impacts.

Kajian Daur Hidup (Life Cycle Assessment) dalam Produksi Pupuk Urea: Studi Kasus PT Pupuk Kujang

Pupuk urea adalah merupakan salah satu jenis pupuk yang paling banyak digunakan oleh petani di Indonesia. Total penggunaan pupuk urea selama tahun 2018 yang tercatat pada Kementerian Perindustrian Indonesia adalah sejumlah 6,27 Juta ton atau mengalami peningkatan 5% dari tahun sebelumnya. Salah satu pabrik yang menghasilkan pupuk urea adalah PT Pupuk Kujang di Cikampek Jawa Barat. Tujuan dari studi ini adalah untuk mengidentifikasi dampak lingkungan potensial yang dihasilkan dari produksi 50 Kg pupuk urea. Metode yang digunakan dalam kajian dampak daur hidup (Life Cycle Impact Assessment) adalah CML-IA dengan 11(sebelas) parameter yaitu abiotic depletion dan abiotic depletion (fossil fuel), global warming (GWP100), ozone layer depletion, human toxicity, fresh water dan marine aquatic ecotoxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, photochemical oxidation, acidification, dan eutrophication, Adapun batasan sistem menggunakancradle to grave yang memperhitungakn bahan dasar, proses produksi, transportasi dan pengelolaan limbah (karung bekas pupuk). Dari hasil analisa didapatkan bahwa proses produksi memberikan kontribusi dampak paling besar dibandingkan dengan pengelolaan limbah sisa karung (landfill). Proses produksi memberikan kontribusi terhadap dampak potensial lingkungan pada kisaran 99,14 – 100 persen dari total dampak yang di hasilkan. Sebagai tambahan bahwa dampak yang ditimbulkan pada proses di pabrik ammonia akan memberikan kontribusi lebih besar pada kisaran 22-37 persen lebih besar dibandingkan dengan proses di pabrik urea.Dari hasil analisa dengan memanfaatkan grafik jaringan (networking graph) pada program SimaPro juga menunjukkan bahwa environmental hotspotsdari daur hidup pupuk urea disebabkan oleh penggunaan gas alam, katalis molybdenum, penggunaan listrik dari Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), penggunaan polypropylene dalam material karung, dan transportasi. Dengan mempertimbangan environmental hotspot maka tindakan perbaikan berkelanjutan perlu dilakukan baik berupa audit energi maupun pengelolaan penggunaan katalis.

Criticality and LCA – Building comparison values to show the impact of criticality on LCA

Including criticality into Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has always been challenging to achieve but desirable to accomplish. In this article, we present a new approach for the evaluation of resource consumption of products by building comparison values based on Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) combined with weighted criticality values to show the direct impacts of criticality on LCA results. For this purpose, we develop an impact indicator based on the Abiotic Depletion Potential (ADP) of natural resources and use the two main parameters defined by the EU to determine the criticality of a material - the economic importance and the supply risk – in our case studies to build the Criticality Weighted Abiotic Depletion Potentials (CWADPs), one for each parameter. These indicators allow identifying and measuring the impacts of criticality when comparing the results of resource depletion using the ADP methodology and the results that incorporate criticality. The comparison of the CWADPs to the corresponding EU criticality values and its thresholds it reflects the equivalent criticality of the assessed product. This information reflects the impacts of criticality on LCA and assesses the total resource consumption of critical materials in a system.Keywords: Life Cycle Assessment, criticality, resources, materials, sustainability indicator