Different approaches in LCA: contributions to the methodological development

Context The European Commission (EC) recognised Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as "the best framework for assessing the potential environmental impacts of products". It also identified "the need to improve data availability and quality worldwide by internationally cooperating on LCA data and methods". The life cycle approach is also part of the 2011 Communication on "A resource-efficient Europe – Flagship initiative under the Europe 2020 Strategy". To support these life cycle based EU policies, the EC has started the "European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment (EPCLA)"[1]services (e.g. consulting or research services), tools (e.g. LCA tools, ecodesign tools), databases (e.g. LCI databases) and the corresponding developers and providers. in 2005. This Platform is implemented and coordinated by the EC Directorate-General Joint Research Centre (JRC), Institute for Environment and Sustainability, in close collaboration with DG Environment. The Platform works on the basis of coherent and quality-assured life cycle data, methods, and studies. The LCA Resource Directory is one of the deliverables of the Platform. This application has been running since 2006 and it contains lists of Novelty The LCA Resource Directory has recently been further developed so that it can contain and organize LCA case studies and metadata on these studies. The new LCA Resource Directory will be launched during the Fall 2011. Methods The new functionalities of the LCA Resource Directory allow users (LCA expert and non-expert) to browse a database of LCA studies. Thanks to the searching tool, a user can sort the information available as metadata and identify relevant LCA studies according to his/her interests. Many of the fields of the template used to characterize LCA studies are based on the ISO 1404x series. Some fields of the template are mandatory (e.g. functional unit and system boundary) in order to assure that the information showed in the application fulfills most of the requirements of the ISO 14044 for reports to be disclosed to the public. Other fields of the template include: "Intended application(s)", "LCIA impact categories" and "Compliance". The LCA study has to be uploaded on the Directory. Moreover, a final verification step is performed by the web application administrator to ensure quality and consistency. The application is open worldwide (http://lca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/lcainfohub/directory.vm). Any research group, company, university, etc. is now able, after registration, to upload studies and give metadata on them using a template. DG JRC will be in charge of the maintenance of the application and will populate the Directory with the first set of studies during the Fall 2011. An open call to relevant research groups and institutions will be send in order to populate the Directory with registered users and studies. Conclusions With these new capabilities of the Resource Directory, the EPLCA makes progress in its aim of promoting life cycle thinking when making available to all kind of LCA practitioners a good quality database of LCA studies, together with a searching tool. [1] http://lct.jrc.ec.europa.eu/

Objective. Environmental education is an important tool for raising awareness of sustainability and environmental issues and ultimately, changing behavior to create a sustainable society. The authors have developed a novel environmental education program using LCA (Life Cycle Assessment)software, which addresses global warming as one of the global environmental problems. This program aims to making learners (1)realize the “link” between daily life and global warming through the life cycle of consumer products (e.g. mobile phones, notebooks, pens), and (2)explore ways to reduce CO2 emissions in daily life based on life cycle thinking. The objective of the present study is to analyze the influences of the program on learners’ environmental awareness and attitude as well as their pro-environmental behavior intention.Results and Discussion. The program was implemented in three classes of second-year high school students in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan. Questionnaire surveys were conducted with 126 students to analyze the effects of the program. Pretest-posttest design was used to measure the changes in sense of the “link,” key determinants of behavioral intention (e.g. a sense of responsibility), and pro-environmental behavior intention. Pass analysis was performed using the survey data to reveal a mechanism that explains the change in pro-environmental behavior intention caused by the implementation of the program. Results of the analysis suggested that the realization of the “link” between daily life and CO2 emission based on life cycle thinking seems to increase a sense of responsibility, and then the increase mainly seems to induce the formation of or the increase in behavioral intention towards CO2 reduction. In addition, after implementing the program, another survey was conducted to collect data on students’ impression of the program. Most students answered that the use of LCA software left strong impression on them. Qualitative analysis of students’ description about the reasons why it was impressive suggested that the calculation using LCA software contributes to not only understanding life cycle thinking in general but also realizing the “link” between their own actions and CO2 emissions, and the effectiveness of their own behavioral changes.Conclusions. The environmental education program that the authors developed is effective to enhance pro-environmental behavior intention by making students realize the “link” between daily life and global warming based on life cycle thinking. Especially the use of the LCA software that is the core of the program contributes to making students realize that their own actions in daily life is closely connected to global warming.

Assessing the greenhouse gas mitigation potential of urban precincts with hybrid life cycle assessment

Feeding a growing, increasingly affluent population while limiting environmental pressures of food production is a central challenge for society. Understanding the location and magnitude of food production is key to addressing this challenge because pressures vary substantially across food production types. Applying data and models from life cycle assessment with the methodologies for mapping cumulative environmental impacts of human activities (hereafter cumulative impact mapping) provides a powerful approach to spatially map the cumulative environmental pressure of food production in a way that is consistent and comprehensive across food types. However, these methodologies have yet to be combined. By synthesizing life cycle assessment and cumulative impact mapping methodologies, we provide guidance for comprehensively and cumulatively mapping the environmental pressures (e.g., greenhouse gas emissions, spatial occupancy, and freshwater use) associated with food production systems. This spatial approach enables quantification of current and potential future environmental pressures, which is needed for decision makers to create more sustainable food policies and practices.

Application of life cycle thinking towards sustainable cities: A review

For educating a wide audience on the environmental impact of their daily life decisions, the Eco-Confessional has been developed as an interactive exhibit and a serious game. In this, the effectiveness of promoting sustainable lifestyles through life cycle thinking was explored. Based upon life cycle assessments, the eco-confessional reveals the environmental impact of eco-sins and good deeds performed in everyday life in a playful way. As the Eco-Confessional was being exhibited, it was evaluated to measure the impact of the new communication format. The goal of the project was to increase sustainable behavior by influencing both the desire and the ability to make sustainable decisions. The evaluation revealed that these goals were mostly achieved. By combining life cycle data with gamification elements, the Eco-Confessional succeeded in implementing a new scientainment approach to environmental education, which promotes life cycle thinking among the public.

The exchange of experience between actors in the field of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is instrumental for disseminating competences in environmental assessment of products and systems in support of sustainable production and consumption. LCA networks have a potentially strong role in promoting the use of LCA and life cycle thinking, but the numbers and geographical locations of LCA networks around the globe is unknown. A definition of an LCA network is proposed and searching the internet and relevant social media a mapping of existing LCA networks following this definition is performed, identifying 58 networks (and additionally 29 grey zone networks not meeting the full definition) located primarily in Europe, the Americas, Southeast Asia and Oceania.

The rapidly evolving field of nanotechnology has sparked a great level of interest and enthusiasm from the research and industrial community. Given the enormous promise that engineered nanomaterials and nanoproducts offer, it is essential to investigate the potential life cycle environmental impacts of emerging nanotechnologies for guiding their sustainable development. One rapidly emerging class of engineered nanoscale materials is carbon nanofibers (CNFs). While studies regarding the toxicological impacts of CNFs are needed, holistic understanding of the impact of CNFs and nanoproducts using systems analysis is central for their safe and sustainable development. Systems analysis with life cycle thinking offers a good tool for evaluating the broader impacts of emerging technologies at an early stage of research. This chapter will examine the needs, challenges, and promises of life cycle assessment (LCA) in the evaluation of CNFs and CNF-based products. A general introduction to LCA is explained in the first part of the chapter and the challenges and promises for the LCA of nanoproducts are identified. The use of LCA in guiding sustainable development of nanotechnology is illustrated in greater detail with a discussion on LCA of CNFs in section 2. Section 3 describes the life cycle energetic impacts of the use of CNFbased polymer composites in auto body panels as a potential replacement for traditional materials. A brief discussion of the toxicological impacts of CNFs is presented in section 4. Section 5 summarizes the major findings and provides directions for future research. Nanotechnology is a fast emerging technology with large number of consumer goods containing engineered nanomaterials already in production [1, 2]. The potential impact of nanotechnology derives from the fact that unprecedented material properties are being discovered in nanoscale materials that enable a broad spectrum of novel applications. One such class of materials is carbonaceous nanomaterials. The last 25 years have seen the discovery of a variety of carbonaceous nanomaterials including fullerenes, nanotubes, nanohorns, and nanofibers [3]. Carbon Nanofibers (CNFs) belong to a new class of materials that have exceptional mechanical properties like high tensile strength (12000 MPa) that is approximately 10 times that of steel [4, 5]. Besides mechanical strength, CNFs possess novel electrical properties like high electrical conductivity. These properties of CNFs are being explored in a variety of ways by imparting functionalities in various intermediate and final value-added consumer products. Applications include the use of CNFs as reinforcements for high strength polymer nanocomposites, use in carbon-lithium batteries, and electrically

Green chemistry and life cycle assessment are two methodologies used in environmental studies, both theoretically and practically. The purpose of this analysis was to assess whether and how green chemistry principles could be integrated into the life cycle assessment methodology and to local and international industrial policies to achieve sustainability goals at the territorial level. First, some contributions that life-cycle thinking gives to green chemistry and vice versa are proposed, based on existing research. Data are provided using tables to summarise contents and graphs to outline interconnections, also considering the four steps of life cycle assessment, showing some available references of previous studies. Secondly, some possible points of integration between the 12 principles of green chemistry and environmental policies are listed. For each principle of green chemistry, a possible integration with international and local strategies is proposed. A list of references that might be useful to investigate possible patterns of study for territorial and industrial uses, is provided too. The results show that life cycle thinking and green chemistry can be integrated into theoretical and practical case studies, since many interconnections exist. These interconnections permit one to use the best characteristics of each method to improve the reliability of the other method and, finally, to solve environmental, industrial, and engineering problems with a more comprehensive approach. In addition, green chemistry principles can be easily associated with main environmental policies at the international, national, regional, and local levels. This allows one to use results, knowledge, and expertise of the green chemistry framework and apply them to industries, territories, and communities. The similarities highlighted in this analysis need further investigation in future studies since they can help decision making process in sustainability policies.

This paper builds on research from a project aimed at promoting the circular economy through processes based on low-impact materials derived from natural fibers. A methodology is developed to assess the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of alternative production scenarios, thereby supporting the ranking of options. Assuming the principles of Life Cycle Thinking and circular economy and the operational aspects of Life Cycle Costing (LCC), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) approaches normed by international standards, an integrated approach is proposed based on the construction of a joint Global Cost indicator. Attention is paid to harmonizing impacts assessed in their own units of measurement to arrive at a monetary indicator for summarizing and simplifying the prioritization of alternatives. As a result, the integrated Global Cost calculation methodology is presented to internalize social and environmental impacts, as well as economic ones, and to evaluate the sustainability of materials derived from primary and waste natural fibers.

As climate issues gradually attract public attention worldwide, the operation of crude oil pipelines has been attached with new emission‐reduction targets. Though previous studies concerning life cycle assessment (LCA) of oil and gas pipelines have estimated the carbon footprint to some extent, there is a lack of research on life cycle carbon emissions that take the process of crude oil pipelines transportation. the main objective of this study is to build a comprehensive LCA model of carbon footprint for crude oil pipeline systems. A gate‐to‐gate analysis is provided for the LCA model, which means that the entire pipeline's life cycle from the extraction to disposal is considered. The LCA approach used both midpoint and endpoint impact assessment methods to evaluate the environmental impacts of crude oil pipeline transportation in Iran. The study analyzed the major environmental impact categories, such as greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, water usage, and solid waste generation. The results showed that the crude oil pipelines transportation has significant environmental impacts in Iran. The three highest impacts on the midpoint scale are marine ecotoxicity by 61.54 kg 1,4‐DCB, terrestrial ecotoxicity by 52.26 kg 1,4‐DCB and fossil resource scarcity by 40.22 kg oil eq. The endpoint impacts of three stations were also compared. The Chamran, Abadan and Zanganeh stations have 95.44%, 94.22%, and 6% impacts on human health, respectively. Also, Abadan station has the largest amount of damage to ecosystems and resources with 96.65% and 80.02%, respectively. The findings of this study could be used by policymakers, oil companies, and other stakeholders to make informed decisions and implement strategies to reduce the environmental impact of oil transportation in Iran.

The Institute of Life Cycle Assessment, Japan (ILCAJ) was established in October 2004. The goal of ILCAJ is to promote academic activities related to life cycle thinking and to share expert knowledge with colleagues from widerranging backgrounds. Professor Ryoichi Yamamoto, University of Tokyo, has taken responsibility as Chairman of ILCAJ. In April 2005, ILCAJ has successfully established its publication organ (in Japanese), The Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, Japan (J LCA Jpn). The issues appear every 3 months. J LCA Jpn publishes peer-reviewed research articles, commentaries and discussions, (technical) reports, lecture notes, and presentations of research groups in Japan, along with others. In Int J Life Cycle Assess 12(6):348– 350, we were happy to announce the collaboration with J LCA Jpn for the purpose of exchanging knowledge, new insights, experiences, and information across the different languages. The Corner JLCA Jpn aims to be a bridge between the LCA community of Japan and that of the whole world. All abstracts of research articles published in J LCA Jpn, as well as commentaries and discussions, will simultaneously appear in Int J Life Cycle Assess, Corner: JLCA Jpn, in order to introduce Japanese activities to our readers. In addition, some selected research papers from J LCA Jpn will be submitted to Int J Life Cycle Assess for publication following peer review. We hope that this collaboration will stimulate the global exchange of information through professional pathways. The following abstracts were published in J LCA Jpn Vol. 4, No. 4.

Sustainability transformation is a multi-dimensional and comprehensive approach covering various aspects, environmental, economic, and social, and transformation itself. To give direction to sustainability action, sustainable development goals (SDGs) play an essential role. Even though SDGs are comprehensive and give orientation for sustainability actions, they neither cover the solutions to be implemented nor quantify the transformation. In this regard, circular economy (CE) is a useful approach when it comes to finding possible solutions. Within the context of CE, life cycle thinking plays an essential role, and tools, such as environmental life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle costing (LCC), and social LCA (sLCA), are widely used. Another important aspect that should be considered within CE is the labor market effects. The labor market will strongly be shaped by CE and the implementation of CE depends on labor market conditions. Yet, means to meaningfully measure the labor market needs and impact of CE are still missing. This chapter takes a closer look into how labor market assessment and life cycle thinking can be combined in order to implement sustainable industrial transformation.

Open burning of solid waste represents one of the most important pollution problems in developing countries. In Iraq, the lack of an integrated solid waste management program had led to a situation where the practice of open burning of solid waste becomes the common disposal method. Solid waste’s open burning is associated with high pollution problems. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an emerging methodology to test environmental burdens associated with processes. The Southern Governorate of AlMuthanna was taken as a case study and a life cycle inventory of inputs-outputs from technical publications related to open burning of solid waste in the Governorate was conducted. The endpoint approach in LCA was able to show that an annual loss of 901 (±607) DALY in human life and 2.31 (±1.60) species in ecosystems may occur due to the open burning of solid waste in the Governorate. Climate change affecting human health, human toxicity, and particulate matter formation are the major impact categories related to solid waste’s open burning. This relatively high level of damages requires an urgent strategy to stop or reduce these damages. Increasing the portion of recycled materials and energy can highly reduce the damages and alter the burdens. Information resulted from this study can be used by environmental activists to raise pressure towards sustainable solid waste management.

Modelling of Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Management in Semarang City (Indonesia) by Using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Approach to Reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions