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Life-cycle assessment (LCA)
And SimaPro
Sustainability measurement tool
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Md. Mizanur Rahman MEng(Sweden), PhD (Finland), CEng Chartered Energy Engineer (EI, UK) Certified Energy Manager School of Mechanical Engineering Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Email: [email protected]
LCA, also known as Life-cycle analysis,
Environmental impact assessment, Eco-
balance, Cradle-to-grave, Well to wheel, is a
technique to assess environmental impacts of the
whole life cycle (i.e. from raw material to disposal)
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LCA provides a comprehensive view of
the environmental aspects of the
product or process and a more
accurate picture of the true
environmental trade-offs in product
and process selection
LCA begins with the gathering of raw materials from the
earth to create the product and ends at the point when all
materials are returned to the earth
LCA enables the estimation of the cumulative environmental
impacts resulting from all stages in the product life cycle (e.g.
raw material extraction, material transportation, ultimate
product disposal, etc.)
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Fig. Life Cycle Stages
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The LCA process is a systematic approach and consists of four components:
1. Goal Definition and Scoping - Define and describe the product, process or activity. Establish the context in which the assessment is to be made and identify the boundaries and environmental effects to be reviewed for the assessment.
2. Inventory Analysis - Identify and quantify energy, water and materials usage and environmental releases (e.g., air emissions, solid waste disposal, waste water discharges).
3. Impact Assessment - Assess the potential human and ecological effects of energy, water, and material usage and the environmental releases identified in the inventory analysis.
4. Interpretation - Evaluate the results of the inventory analysis and impact assessment to select the preferred product, process or service with a clear understanding of the uncertainty and the assumptions used to generate the results.
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• Helps decision-makers select the product or process that
results in the least impact to the environment.
• Minimum cost and better performance
• Identifies the transfer of environmental impacts from one media
to another
• From one life cycle stage to another (e.g., from use and reuse
of the product to the raw material acquisition phase).
By performing an LCA, analysts can:
Develop a systematic evaluation of the environmental consequences associated with a given product.
Analyse the environmental trade-offs associated with one or more specific products/processes to help gain stakeholder (state, community, etc.) acceptance for a planned action.
Quantify environmental releases to air, water, and land in relation to each life cycle stage and/or major contributing process.
Assist in identifying significant shifts in environmental impacts between life cycle stages and environmental media.
Assess the human and ecological effects of material consumption and environmental releases to the local community, region, and world.
Compare the health and ecological impacts between two or more rival products/processes or identify the impacts of a specific product or process.
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Foreground and Background Data
The foreground system refers to the system of
primary concern.
The background system delivers energy and
materials to the foreground system as aggregated data
sets in which individual plants and operations are not
identified.
The selection of foreground or background data
decides if either marginal or average data are to be
used.
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LCA includes all four stages of a product or process life cycle:
Raw material acquisition
Manufacturing,
Use/reuse/maintenance, and
Recycle/waste management.
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Goal(s) of the Project
The primary goal is to choose the best product, process, or service with the least effect on human health and the environment. Conducting an LCA also can help guide the development of new products, processes, or activities toward a net reduction of resource requirements and emissions. There may also be secondary goals for performing an LCA, which would vary depending on the type of project.
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Inventory
A life cycle inventory is a process of quantifying energy and raw
material requirements, atmospheric emissions, waterborne
emissions, solid wastes, and other releases for the entire life
cycle of a product, process, or activity.
Unit processes link together to form a complete life cycle picture
of the required inputs and outputs (material and energy) to the
system
Impact Assessment
Impact Assessment phase of an LCA is the evaluation of
potential human health and environmental impacts of the
environmental resources and releases identified during the
LCI. Impact assessment should address ecological and
human health effects; it should also address resource
depletion.
A life cycle impact assessment attempts to establish a linkage
between the product or process and its potential
environmental impacts.
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1. Selection and Definition of Impact Categories - identifying relevant environmental impact categories (e.g., global warming, acidification, terrestrial toxicity).
2. Classification - assigning LCI results to the impact categories (e.g., classifying carbon dioxide emissions to global warming).
3. Characterization - modeling LCI impacts within impact categories using science-based conversion factors (e.g., modeling the potential impact of carbon dioxide and methane on global warming).
4. Normalization - expressing potential impacts in ways that can be compared (e.g. comparing the global warming impact with acidification impact).
5. Grouping - sorting or ranking the indicators (e.g. sorting the indicators by location: local, regional, and global).
6. Weighting - emphasizing the most important potential impacts.
7. Evaluating and Reporting LCIA Results - gaining a better understanding of the reliability of the LCIA results.
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Key Steps of Impact Assessment
Four (4) m3 NG burnt in power plant
Refinery, processing
Extraction mining, drilling
1 kWh
electricity
Dismantling and disposal
Power plant: materials and transport
Emissions
Wastes
Power plant construction
Materials and transport
Electricity T&D
Electricity use
Four (4) m3 NG storage and supply to the power plant
Downstream
Direct emission
Natural gas (NG) well
Upstream
Upstream
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Life cycle analysis for 1 kWh of electricity generation from natural gas
Four (4) m3 NG burnt in power plant
Refinery, processing
Extraction mining, drilling
1 kWh
electricity
Dismantling and disposal
Power plant: materials and transport
Emissions
Wastes
Power plant construction
Materials and transport
Electricity T&D
Electricity use
Four (4) m3 NG storage and supply to the power plant
System boundary ฿ 1D: production and
transport ฿ 2D: production transport
and all processes during LC ฿ 3D: production, transport,
all processes and capital goods during LC
Direct emission
Natural gas (NG) well
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Life cycle analysis for 1 kWh of electricity generation from natural gas
Four (4) m3 NG burnt in power plant
Refinery, processing
Extraction mining, drilling
1 kWh
electricity
Dismantling and disposal
Power plant: materials and transport
Emissions
Wastes
Power plant construction
Materials and transport
Electricity T&D
Electricity use
Four (4) m3 NG storage and supply to the power plant
System boundary ฿ 1D: production and
transport ฿ 2D: production transport
and all processes during LC ฿ 3D: production, transport,
all processes and capital goods during LC
Natural gas (NG) well
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Life cycle analysis for 1 kWh of electricity generation from natural gas
Four (4) m3 NG burnt in power plant
Refinery, processing
Extraction mining, drilling
1 kWh
electricity
Dismantling and disposal
Power plant: materials and transport
Emissions
Wastes
Power plant construction
Materials and transport
Electricity T&D
Electricity use
Four (4) m3 NG storage and supply to the power plant
System boundary ฿ 1D: production and
transport ฿ 2D: production transport
and all processes during LC ฿ 3D: production, transport,
all processes and capital goods during LC
Natural gas (NG) well
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System Boundaries
Analysis can three orders:
1. First order: only the production of materials and transport are included.
2. Second order: All processes during the life cycle are included but the capital goods are left out.
3. Third order: All processes including capital goods are included. Usually the capital goods are only modelled in a first order mode.
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Identification of environmental hot spots in the LC of a
product.
Analysis of the contribution of the LC stages to the overall
environmental load.
Comparison between products for internal or external
communication.
Identification of Key Performance Indicators used in
companies for life cycle management and decision support.
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Is a LCA tool for quantifying the
sustainability performance of products
Supported
◦ With a huge sets of data survey
◦ Different methodologies
◦ Different contexts
◦ Online support
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Step 1: Defining the goal and scope of the
study.
Step 2: Life cycle inventory (LCI).
Step 3: Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA).
Step 4: The interpretation of the study.
LCA study consists of four main phases:
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1. Resource use (energy, materials, land etc.)
2. Global warming (CO2-e)
3. Emissions (CO2, CH4, NOx etc.)
4. Acidification (kmol H+ )
5. Ozone layer depletion (kg CFC11-e)
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Processes
Materials
Energy
Transport
Processing
Use
Waste scenario
Waste treatment
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Assembly
Materials/assemblies
Processes
Life cycle
Assembly
Processes
Waste disposal scenario
Additional life cycles
Environmental burden from1 kWh electricity from: ◦ Natural gas
◦ Coal
◦ Oil
Impacts: ◦ Embodied energy
◦ Emissions
◦ GWP
◦ Human health
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The following region codes are not part of ISO list: Global (GLO) Oceanic (OCE) Africa (RAF) Asia and the Pacific (RAS) Europe (RER) Latin America and the Caribbean (RLA) North America (RNA) Near East (RNE) Middle East (RME) Rest of World (RoW)
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