5 – environmental assessment tools 1/57 5.1 life cycle analysis 5.2 eco design 5.3 mass flow...
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5 – Environmental Assessment Tools5 – Environmental Assessment Tools
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5.1 Life Cycle Analysis5.1 Life Cycle Analysis
5.2 Eco Design5.2 Eco Design
5.3 Mass Flow Analysis5.3 Mass Flow Analysis
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5.1 Life Cycle Analysis5.1 Life Cycle Analysis
Analysis of Environmental, Analysis of Environmental, Financial and Social Impacts Financial and Social Impacts throughout the Life-cycle of throughout the Life-cycle of
Products and ProcessesProducts and Processes
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Contents
• The Concept of Environmental LCA• Methodology of Environmental LCA;
• Goal and Scope• Inventory Analysis• Impact Assessment• Interpretation
• Extending the scope of Environmental LCA;• Economic LCA• Social LCA
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The Concept of LCA (1)
• Products do no pollute, but their production, use and disposal do!
• Product systems are composed of interrelated processes
Life Cycle of Product Systems (Source: USEPA, 2006. Life Cycle Assessment: Principles and Practice, Cincinnati, Ohio report no. 45268
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The Concept of LCA (2)
• Some products have a dominating environmental load in production, some in use, some in disposal:
Examples:
books, furniture, art etc.
Examples:
cars, television, airco etc.
Examples:
Ni-Cd batteries, household chemicals, fireworks etc.
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The Concept of LCA (3)
• Environmental LCA is the quantitative assessment of environmental impacts of products or processes over their life cycle. LCA is the analysis of the contribution of lifecycle stages, product
parts or processes to environmental burden. LCA is often used to compare between products or design
alternatives.
• Applications of LCA: Product improvement Support for strategic choices Benchmarking External communication
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The Concept of LCA (4)
• LCA is a model of a complex reality!
• …of an average lifecycle of a mass product
• …of the effect of all impacts that occur
• …of their interaction.
• Any model is a simplification of reality: If you make a model, you must specify the goal and scope describing why you want to make the model.
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Methodology of LCA (1)
1. Goal and Scope definition
2. Inventory Analysis
3. Impact Assessment
4. Interpretation- Product development
and improvement
- Strategic planning
- Public policy making
- Marketing
- Other
Goaland scopedefinition
Inventoryanalysis
Impactassessment
Interpretation
Direct applications:
Life cycle assessment framework
The official LCA framework according to the International Standards: ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006
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Questions:
• What is the intended application of the LCA?
• How much effort do you want to invest?
• Who are interested parties?
• What methodology will you use?
Why is a goal and scope definition important?– guidance in data collection phase– communication base for data providers– reference for data quality management. – afterwards, to explain how choices have been made during the various LCA
phases.
Methodology of LCA (2), Goal and Scope
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• Definition of functional unit, initial system boundaries and procedural
aspects Functional unit: comparison of products on the basis of equivalent
function, for example: comparison of 2 packaging systems for 1000 litres of milk by (a) 1000 disposable cartons or (b) 100 reusable bottles; instead of comparison of 1 carton and 1 bottle.
Functional unit is basis for comparison
Methodology of LCA (3), Goal and Scope
=?
“Compare environmental
impacts of packaging of 1000 litres milk in carton packages or glass
bottles”
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• Definition of functional unit, initial system boundaries and procedural
aspects System boundaries: definition of processes that are included in the
investigation, e.g. material extraction, processing and transport; energy production; disposal processes. Production of capital goods (equipment used for production and transportation) are often excluded from the system. System boundaries are further defined during the inventory process.
Procedural aspects: organizational arrangements such as a critical review to guarantee consistency, scientific validity, transparency of the final report and how various stakeholders will be involved in the process (LCA is a participatory process)
Methodology of LCA (4), Goal and Scope
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• Also referred to as Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) phase • Compiling and quantifying of inputs and outputs• Collecting of data, determination of total emissions and resource use• Detailed defining of product system and economy-environment
boundary. Only data collection for processes that are controlled by human beings (economic processes). Examples: coal mining, electricity production, controlled dumping of solid waste etc.
• Visualizing connected processes in product system• Scaling of available technical data (e.g. from data libraries) to
functional unit • Aggregating the inputs and outputs in Inventory Table
Methodology of LCA (4), Inventory
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Example of Product system and Inventory Table
Methodology of LCA (5), Inventory
electricity
steel
plastic
production distribution use dump
incineration
reuse
recycling
LCI table with environmental interventions
Crude oil from earth
40000 kg
CO2 to air 3500
SO2 to air 20 kg
NOx to air 100 kg
Cd to water 5 g
PAH to water
8 kg
Etc. …….
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Methodology of LCA (6), Inventory
Difficulties:• Data availability and quality
Data rarely available, usually special data gathering studies needed Measurement procedures rarely standardized
• Geographic variations quality of raw materials/energy sources production methods relevant environmental impacts
• Technology Which type of electricity production? Salt Electrolysis with Mercury or Membrane process? Oldest, average or modern Waste Incineration Plant?
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Methodology of LCA (6), Inventory
Difficulties:• Allocation of environmental interventions in case of multiple output
processes; Many processes are ‘multifunctional’ (e.g. co-production, combined
waste treatment.) and interventions can be allocated to more outputs:
• Recycling and reuse• Allocation determined by number of reuse times and fraction of
materials that can be recycled at a certain quality
Electricity production
Salt electrolysis
Plastic production
Paint production
Chlorine
Caustic Soda
Plastic bag use
Recycling
Old plastic
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• Also referred to as Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA)• Linkage (long) list of LCI results to environmental impacts, like
climate change, acidification, eco-toxic impacts etc.
Methodology of LCA (7), Impact assessment
Land useLand use
LCI result
Raw materialsLand use
CO2VOS
P SO2NOxCFC
CdPAHDDT
Climate changeClimate change
AcidificationAcidification
EcotoxicityEcotoxicity
DepletionDepletion
EutrophicationEutrophication
HumantoxicityHumantoxicity
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Methodology of LCA (8), Impact assessment:
• Steps: Characterization, Classification and Normalization: Determine which LCI results contribute to which impact category, e.g. CO2 and
CH4 to climate change Multiply environmental interventions (resources, emissions etc.) from LCI with a
characterisation factor to get indicator results Normalize to understand the relative magnitude of the indicator results and to get
dimensionless score (useful for comparison)Impact category
Char. Factor (Global Warming Potential)
Cat. Indicator result (kg CO2 equivalent)
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Methodology of LCA (9), Impact assessment
EffectIntervention Damage CO2
PSO2NOx
DDTDust
VOC
Cd
PAHCFC
Heavy metals
Greenhouse effect
Acidification
Pesticides
EutrophicationDamage to Eco-systems
Damage to human health
IndicatorWinter smog
Summer smog
Carconogenics
Ozone layer depl.
Category indicators are quantifiable representations of impact categories (ISO) and are defined according standards, such as CML-IA, Eco indicator 99, Impact 2002+ etc.)
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Methodology of LCA (9), Impact assessment
• A ‘high’ contribution to a certain impact category (a high normalized score) does not automatically mean an ‘important’ contribution weighing of results is needed
• Weighing is a valuation of results and thus a normative process, depending on preferences of researcher; which environmental impact is most important?
• Procedure of LCIA according to ISO:- Classification and characterisation are an obligatory step.- Normalisation is an optional step.- Weighing is only permitted for internal decision making, and not
for comparison of products to the public.
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Methodology of LCA (10), Interpretation
• “Phase of life cycle assessment in which the findings of either the inventory analysis or the impact assessment, or both, are combined consistent with the defined goal and scope in order to reach conclusions and recommendations” (ISO)
• To interpret an LCA, you must check the goal and scope: Are the the general assumptions reasonable? Is the functional unit well chosen? Are ISO standards applied? Has a peer review been conducted?
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Methodology of LCA (10), Interpretation
• Conduct a sensitivity analysis: analyze the impact of important choices or assumptions What if other allocations are applied. What if other boundaries are applied. What if other impact assessment method is used.
• By recalculating the LCA with other assumptions, we can verify how the conclusions connect with the assumptions.
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Extending the scope of Environmental LCA (1)
• LCA is often associated with environmental impacts, but scope can be extended to include economic and social impacts.
• Financial LCA = Life Cycle Costing (LCC);• Analysis of life cycle costs
• Social LCA• Social impacts throughout life cycle of products and
processes
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Extending the scope of Environmental LCA (2)
• What are the costs and revenues incured during the life cycle of a product or process?
• R&D• Production• Marketing• Sales• Etc.
• Sometimes external costs included as well (costs that are ‘imposed’ on society or the environment):
• Monetary valuation of environmental LCI and LCIA results…but is it possible to monetise all environmental services?
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Extending the scope of Environmental LCA (3)
• Social LCA analyses social impacts, such as employment and health: Job quality Quality physical health Quality social health Earthly possessions
• Challenging to model social life cycle impacts, because social conditions do change more rapidly impacts from changes in employment conditions may dissipate emotions resulting from changes disappear with time diseases get cured people who are laid off may find new jobs)
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5.2 Eco5.2 Eco-Design-Design
Life Cycle Thinking within the Design of Products and
Processes
5.2 Eco-design5.2 Eco-design
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• What is Eco-Design?• Implications for the Design Process.• Consequences for Composition and Amount of Solid
Waste.• Related Concepts: Design for Environment, Sustainable
Product Design.
Contents
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• Eco-design…
• incorporates environmental aspects into the familiar design process
• is aimed at improving eco-efficiency (section 2.3) of products and processes
• evolves directly from life cycle thinking and is a logical application of LCA (section 5.1) results
What is Eco-Design?
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• The designer considers functionality requirements of the product including its environmental implications along the life cycle.
• The ‘Lifecycle Design Strategies Wheel’ visualizes the guidelines of Eco-Design.
• A ‘product profile’ is created using LCA.
Implications for the Design Process (1)
The Lifecycle Design Strategies Wheel
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• The relative complex LCA procedure and the creative slightly chaotic design process are not so easy to combine:
Implications for the Design Process (2)
Problem
Idea
Decision
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Implications for the Design Process (3)
Planning Idea generation Concept development Detailed design
Availability of information on the product
Freedom to change the design
Complexity of the Design Process
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Implications for the Design Process (4)
Design phase Design activity LCA activityLCA information
generated
Product planning
Target is defined as product/market
combination
Assessment of strategy
Strategic choices
AnalysisRefinement of target
and definition of requirements
LCA of reference product
Design guidelines and eco-indicators
Idea generation
Creativity techniques are used to generate
new solutions
Use of design rules and eco-indicators
Pre-selection of ideas
ConceptBest ideas are selected and elaborated
Short screenings and what-if analysis
Support in concept choices
Detailed design
Best concept is detailed; prototype and
CAD drawings
Specific questions and issues
Support in detailed design choices
Application of LCA results in Design for Environment
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Implications for the Design Process (5)
• Simulation of environmental impacts by LCA can provide important guidance during the design process: …In the creative phase as pre-defined guidelines and pre-
defined indicators …In the concept phase as screenings
…An LCA of a reference product should be ready before the creative phase in order to develop dedicated guidelines and indicators!
Possibilities for environmental improvement are large at the early/conceptual phase within the design process, when there is still freedom to change the design
!!
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Consequences for Composition and Amount of Solid Waste (1)
• Eco-Design implies efficient resource use for production • Eco-Design implies lower use of toxic substances• Eco-Design implies efficient material and energy use
…which decreases…:
• natural resource extractions (materials and energy)• hazardous materials within discarded products• toxic emissions during incineration• solid waste quantities
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Consequences for Composition and Amount of Solid Waste (2)
• Eco-Design improves Eco-efficiency:
Eco-efficiency =
Functional performance provided by product over life cycle
Environmental Impacts of product over life cycle
eco-efficiency resource-efficiency
reduction haz. substances
= +
applying Eco-efficiency results in Eco-products…
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Consequences for Composition and Amount of Solid Waste (3)
Consequences for solid waste:• Reduction of natural resource extractions (materials and energy)• Reduction or elimination of hazardous materials within waste• Reduction of toxic emissions during incineration
Eco-products
Improved material and
energy content (quantity and
quality) in products
Reduced solid waste amount and
hazardousness composition
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Design for Environment (DfE): “the systematic consideration of design performance with respect to environmental, health, and safety objectives over the full product and process life cycle” (Fiksel, 1996 in Wrisberg et al. 2002).
DfE…• focuses on existing products and processes that fulfil
a specific function (function-oriented systems)• expands the design scope towards environmental and
social implications of products and processes
Related Concepts: Design for Environment, Sustainable Product Design (1)
Des
ign
fo
r E
nvi
ron
men
t
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Sustainable Product Design: investigates possibilities for improvement on a broader scale.
Examples:• Alternative Function Fulfilment (changes the way in
which a specific function or need is fulfilled)• System innovation (redesigning of product production
systems, creating ‘closed-loop’ economies etc.)
Related Concepts: Design for Environment, Sustainable Product Design (2)
Su
stai
nab
le P
rod
uct
Des
ign
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5.3 Material Flow Analysis 5.3 Material Flow Analysis (MFA)(MFA)
Analysis of Material FlowsAnalysis of Material Flows
in a Regionin a Region
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Contents
• Why MFA?• What is MFA?• Rationale of MFA: the Mass Balance Principle• Framework of MFA;
• System Definition• Quantification of Flows and Stocks• Interpretation
• Applications of MFA
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Why MFA? (1)
Because products do not pollute, but materials do…
Environment: resource base
Environment: resource base
Extractions of materials
Natural Resource Depletion
Environment: resource base
Environment: waste sinkWaste
Residuals (Pollution)
Waste Absorption
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Why MFA? (1)
…hence, material flows and stocks from the economy are crucial to the understanding of environmental problems
Material flows and accumulations
Quantity-aspect
Throughput
Quality-aspect
Hazard potentialThroughput Hazard potential
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Why MFA? (2)
… and eventually solutions are based on an analysis of environmental problems in material/physical terms (Van der Voet,
1996)
Environment: resource base
Environment: resource base
Extractions of materials
Natural Resource Depletion
Environment: resource base
Environment: waste sink
Pollution
Waste Absorption
Quantitatively: lower materials throughput
Qualitatively: less hazardous materials
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What is MFA? (1)
MFA is a tool for systematic research of flows and stocks of materials from ‘cradle to grave’ (LCA!) in a region:
MFA is useful for:
•Identification of sources of environmental pollution
•Identification of accumulations of hazardous substances
•Identification of potential control points, useful for environmental management
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What is MFA? (2)
• MFA describes the industrial ‘metabolism’ of a region: the transfer, storage and transformation of substances within an anthropogenic (=human controlled) system and the exchange of these substances with the environment (Brunner and Rechberger 2004).
• Examples: Sources, pathways and sinks for mercury in a watershed Nitrogen flows and stocks in the Malang area
• Sometimes MFA is applied on systems of smaller scale; for example the flows and stocks of heavy metals in a waste incineration plant
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Systematic analysis of regional material flows and stocks
• Systematic description of Flows and Stocks of materials in a region where activities in the anthroposhere are taking place
• There is an exchange of materials between and within anthropogenic (economic) and environmental subsystems
Systematic overview of material flows in a region
Economy-Environment Boundary
Processes within subsystem ‘water’
Processes within subsystem ‘earth’
Processes within subsystem ‘air’
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Rationale of MFA: The Mass Balance Principle (1)
• Mass balance: the law of conservation of mass• Mass output = Mass input + Mass accumulation
1
3
2
Xp-q: Material Flow from process ‘p’ to process ‘q’
• X0-1 = X1-2 + X1-3
• X1-2 = X2-0
• X1-3 = X3-0
• X0-1 = X2-0+ X3-0
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Advantages of applying Mass Balance Principle
1. Mass balances can be applied at different system levels:• Single processes• Complex combinations of processes at smaller and larger
scales: Household Country World
2. Valuable tool to calculate regional streams that are hardly measurable, like in waste residual outputs (Ayres 1989).
3. Efficient way to obtain accurate results even when some data are missing
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Framework of MFA (1)
Goal and system definition
Quantification of flows and stocks
Interpretation
Problem
1
2
3
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Framework of MFA (1)
Goal definition = selection of substance or material to be investigated: single element (Substance Flow Analysis) or group of substances (Material Flow Analysis)
System definition = definition of system boundaries and relevant processes
a. Spatial boundary: Geographical or administrative boundary (e.g. watershed or country)
b. Temporal boundary: Flows per hour or month or year. Often 1 year because of data availabillity
c. Selection of relevant processes: Only processes that are significant to the substance(s) under investigation
1
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Framework of MFA (2)
Quantification of stocks and flows: Calculate mass flows of goods that enter and leave
processes (measurements or applying mass balance) Calculate substance flows within these flows (multiplying
mass flows of goods with element concentrations) Calculate stocks: is there any type of accumulation
occuring?
Example of mass flow of goods and a substance (Cadmium) in a municipal waste incinerator
2
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Framework of MFA (3)
• Interpretation of results:
What is the relative contribution of processes to certain flows?Where are hotspots and potential control points? Is there a possibility of problem shifting when certain flows will
be restricted?
3
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Framework of MFA (4)
• MFA is a cyclical process: start with provisional data and rough estimations; refine and improve system until required data quality is achieved
Systematic overview of MFA procedures
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Applications of MFA: resource management
• Analysis and planning of resources• Identification of depletion and accumulation of
materials in society; forecasting of resource scarcities and ‘secondary’ sources (recycling, landfills)
Example: natural resources are transformed to ‘anthropogenic’ resources; stocks in landfills become important for future mining of substances
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Applications of MFA; resource management
• Resource study: Copper cycle in Asia
Copper cycle in Asia The units are Gg Cu/year; Lith=Lithosphere
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Applications of MFA; environmental management
• Identification of existence, size and fate of hazardous substances in a region
• Identification of hotspots and control points• Identification of problem shifts
Example (hypothetical): “A Material Flow Account of a harbour watershed shows a large flow of mercury in wastewater. Laboratories are relatively the largest contributors. In wastewater treatment plants, absorption and deposition to sludge are a major removal mechanism for mercury. When mercury flows in wastewater are restricted by means of imposing advanced treatment technology to wastewater treatment plants in the region, then mercury outflows to landfills are likely to increase.”
substance
source
problem shift
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Applications of MFA in soil management
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Applications of MFA; solid waste management
• MFA discerns between flows of ‘goods’ and ‘substances’ Important because substances cause environmental
problems, while flows of substances can only be controlled indirectly via flows of the goods that contain the substances.
“It is not the good leachate of a landfill that imposes danger to the groundwater. The danger resides in the cocktail of hazardous substances in the leachate of the landfill.” (Brunner
and Rechberger 2004)• MFA can identify appropriate recycling options
Elemental composition of materials determine whether a material is appropriate for recycling
• MFA identifies side-effects of recyclingAccumulation of heavy metals in soils when sewage sludge
is used as agricultural fertilizer
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