Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Emerging Technologies at Early

Stages of DesignSheikh Moni

Karen High

Michael Carbajales-DaleDepartment of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences

Clemson University, South Carolina

Content

• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

• Technology Readiness Level (TRL)

• Streamlined LCA

• Stepwise LCA

• Anticipatory LCA

• LCA model at early stage of design

• LCA-TEA (Techno-economic analysis) Framework

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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

In ISO 14040 LCA is defined as:

“compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle”

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Life Cycle Assessment Framework

Interpretation

Goal Definition and Scope

Inventory Analysis

Impact Assessment

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Emerging Technologies at Early Stages of Design

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Technology Readiness Level (TRL)

•Technology Readiness Level (TRL) indicates the maturity of a given technology

• pioneered by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the 1980s

• TRL scale ranges from 1 through 9

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Technology Readiness Level (TRL) ScaleTRL Definition

1 Basic principle observed

2 Formulation of concept

3 Proof of concept

4 Validation of laboratory

5 Component testing in simulated environment

6 Prototype in representative environment

7 Prototype in operation environment

8 System qualification

9 Technology ready

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Early stages (TRL 2 and TRL 3)

TRL 2: Has a concept or application been formulated?

• Determination of functional requirements

• Identification and partially characterization of basic components

• Confirmation of basic scientific principles from preliminary analysis

• Documentation of preliminary qualitative risk analysis

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Early stages (TRL 2 and TRL 3)

TRL 3: Has analytical and experimental proof-of concept been demonstrated in laboratory environment?

• Validation of predicted capability of technology components through experiments or modeling and simulation

• Identification or development of design technique

• Initiation of scaling studies

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Why LCA at Early Stage?

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80% of all environmental effects associated with a product or process are determined at design phase

Greater flexibility for environmental considerations to guide innovation process

Objectives• To develop a framework for LCA of emerging technologies at

early stages of design (TRL 2, TRL 3)

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TRL1 TRL2 TRL3 TRL4 TRL5 TRL6 TRL7 TRL8 TRL9

Scientific Concept

Lab scaleBench scale

Engineering scale

Full scale

Technology Life Cycle and LCA

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Product LCADesign LCATechnology LCA

TRL1 TRL2 TRL3 TRL4 TRL5 TRL6 TRL7 TRL8 TRL9

Technology Life Cycle

Time

Research Development

Maturity

Decline

Cu

mu

lati

ve p

rofi

t/lo

ss

Valley of death

Methodological and Practical Challenges

• Comparability of Functional unit and system boundary

• Lack of inventory data

• Scaling issues

• Uncertainty

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Streamlined LCA: Environmentally Responsible Product (ERP)Life Cycle Stage Material

choiceEnergyuse

Solid residues Liquid residue Gaseous residues

Premanufacture

Product Manufacture

Product Delivery

Product Use

Refurbishment, Recycling, Disposal

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Streamlined LCA: Environmentally Responsible Product (ERP)

Life Cycle Stage Material choice

Energyuse

Solid residues Liquid residue Gaseous residues

Premanufacture 2 2 3 3 2

Product Manufacture 0 1 2 2 1

Product Delivery 3 2 3 4 2

Product Use 1 0 1 1 0

Refurbishment, Recycling, Disposal

3 2 2 3 1

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Target plot for ERP

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Stepwise LCA

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Ref: Nielsen and Wenzel (2002)

Anticipatory LCA

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Wender et al. (2014)

Research Steps

Model development

• Industry survey

• Data availability

• Required outputs

• What level of detail analysis?

• Impact categories

• Speed of execution

• Learning from previous studies

• Model development

• Software tool development

Application • Case studies (e.g. Biofuels)

Validation • Validation of the model

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Preliminary Evaluation Criteria

Avoid particular materials

Resource depletion

Use of recycle matter

Packaging requirement

Temperature and pressure of the process

Recycle/Reuse/Disposal

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Integration of TEA (Techno-economic Analysis) and LCAEngineers and designers must simultaneously address economic benefits

and environmental risks along with technical and other aspects while designing any process, product or service.

Techno economic analysis (TEA) tool is used to evaluate the economic feasibility and optimize different process parameters by developing model considering user defined constraints.

Therefore, integration of TEA and LCA tools can provide a platform to maximize economic benefits and minimize environmental impacts simultaneously at design phases.

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TEA-LCA Framework

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TEA Tool LCA ToolTEA-LCA Interface

Process design specifications

Optimized process design

UserProcess design specifications

Product Realization Process

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IDEA

RECYCLING SALES & USE MANUFACTURE DEVELOPMENT

CONCEPT PRELIM. DESIGN MATURE DESIGN

Gate 1

Gate 5

Gate 2

Gate 3

Gate 4

References

Mary Ann Curran. Life cycle assessment: principles and practice. US Environmental Protection Agency, EPA/600/R-06/060, 2006.

Jeroen Guin´ee. Handbook on life cycle assessment: operational guide to the ISO standards. The international journal of life cycle assessment, 6(5):255–255, 2001.

Allenby, B. R., & Graedel, T. E. (1993). Industrial ecology. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Alexandra C Hetherington, Aiduan Li Borrion, Owen Glyn Griffiths, and Marcelle C Mc-Manus. Use of lca as a development tool within early research: challenges and issues across different sectors. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 19(1):130–143, 2014.

Marika Arena, Giovanni Azzone, and Antonio Conte. A streamlined lca framework to support early decision making in vehicle development. Journal of Cleaner Production, 41:105–113, 2013.

Per H Nielsen and Henrik Wenzel. Integration of environmental aspects in product development: a stepwise procedure based on quantitative life cycle assessment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 10(3):247–257, 2002.

Ben A Wender, Rider W Foley, Troy A Hottle, Jathan Sadowski, Valentina Prado-Lopez, Daniel A Eisenberg, Lise Laurin, and Thomas P Seager. Anticipatory life-cycle assessment for responsible research and innovation. Journal of Responsible Innovation, 1(2):200–207, 2014.

Ben A Wender, Rider W Foley, Valentina Prado-Lopez, Dwarakanath Ravikumar, Daniel A Eisenberg, Troy A Hottle, Jathan Sadowski, William P Flanagan, Angela Fisher, Lise Laurin, Matthew E. Bates, Igor Linkov, Thomas P. Seager, Matthew P. Fraser, and David H. Guston. Illustrating anticipatory life cycle assessment for emerging photovoltaic technologies. Environmental science & technology, 48(18):10531–10538, 2014.

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Acknowledgement

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Dr. Michael Carbajales-Dale

Dr. Karen High

Thank you for your attention!!

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