ENBUS 204: Life Cycle Assessment I, II - Daiva Saplys

LCA

Tool to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product’s life from cradle to grave (RME, PM, U, WM).

Why Perform LCA

1. Helps to compare env. impacts of different alternatives providing the same service.

2. Assists in identifying environmental hotspots throughout a product’s life cycle, and helps in identifying opportunities to improve the env. performance of products throughout their life cycles.

3. It helps in decision making at different levels.

4. In marketing (Type I, II, III)

LCA Framework

1. Goal and scope (functional unit)

2. LC Inventory analysis (data collection, data calculation)

3. LC Impact assessment

4. Interpretation of results

Goal

• The intended application

• Reasons for carrying out LCA

Scope

• The product system to be studied

• The system boundary - technological, spatial, and temporal

• Data requirements and main assumptions

• Functional unit

Functional Unit

Defines the quantification of the identified functions (performance characteristics) of the product. The primary purpose of a functional unit is to provide a reference to which the inputs and outputs are related. This reference is necessary to ensure comparability of LCA results.

Inventory Analysis

Inventory analysis involves data collection and calculation procedures to quantify relevant inputs and outputs of a product system.

Data Collection

• Energy inputs, raw material inputs, ancillary inputs, other physical inputs

• Products, co-products, and waste

• Emissions to air, discharges to water and soil

• Other env. aspects

Data Calculation

• Validation of data collected

• The relating of data to unit processes, and

• The relating of data to the reference flow of the functional unit

LC Impact Assessment

The impact assessment phase of LCA is aimed at evaluating the significance of potential environmental impacts using the LCI results. In general, this process involves associating inventory data with specific environmental impact categories and category indicators, thereby attempting to understand these impacts. The LCIA phase also provides information for the life cycle interpretation phase.

Interpretation of Results

Finally, the results obtained from inventory analysis and impact assessment phases are interpreted, in relation to the identified goal and scope. Any limitations of the LCA study should be reported at this point, and recommendations made.

Life Cycle Profiles: 4 System Types and Examples

Some products have the highest impacts when they are in the…

1. Materials Extraction Phase: short lived material intensive products, ex. single use packaging.

2. Production/Manufacturing Phase: manufacturing intensive products, ex. laptop, paper products.

3. Use Phase: long lived energy and resource consuming products, ex. automobiles, appliances, buildings.

4. End-of-Life Phase: product with special end-of-life or disposal characteristics, ex. single use diapers.

Why LCA Valuable Tool

1. See the product life cycle - a systems approach to looking at goods and services

2. Assess multiple environmental indicators - at each stage there are inputs/outputs that correspond to various impacts

3. Focus on the hotspots - 4 product types but may be variable

4. Fair comparisons in the assessment - functional unit as a basis of comparison

5. Support decision-making - environmental is one factor among many