Life cycle support software components

Objective: the purpose of the entire work is to help system analysts involved in assessing the quality of information sys tems (IS) operation during their creation, operation, modernization, development, to form the appearance of a comprehensive probabilistic prediction methodology applicable in the interests of ensuring quality and safety, justifying acceptable risks, identifying significant threats and supporting the adoption of scientifically rational system decisions to proactively counter threats in IS life cycle. The purpose of the 3rd part of the work is to complete the detailing of the general methodological provisions on the probabilistic prediction of the quality of IS operation quality (taking into account the enlarged description of the approach in the 1st part of the article [1] and the presentation of the basics of detailing modeling using «black boxes» in the 2nd part of the article [2]) by proposing: • the formalization of complex modeled systems consisting of parallel-sequential structures formed from «black boxes» and combined using logical connections «AND», «OR»; • the methods of system analysis of the IS operation quality; • the main components of the appearance of a comprehensive methodology for the probabilistic predicting IS operation quality, used by system analysts in the interests of ensuring quality and safety, justifying acceptable risks, identifying significant threats and supporting the adoption of scientifically based system decisions to proactively counter threats in the life cycle of specific IS. Research methods include: methods of probability theory, methods of system analysis. The modeled system is formally represented by «black boxes» and complex systems in the form of parallel-sequential structures formed from «black boxes» combined using logical connections «AND», «OR». The obtained results of mathematical modeling are used in the interpretation of the original IS, in the interests of which the corresponding calculations are carried out. The result of the work as a whole is: based on the research results presented in [1, 2], methodological provisions have been created that form the main components of the appearance of a complex methodology for probabilistic prediction of IS operation quality in accordance with GOST R 59341-2021 «System engineering. Protection of information in system information management process». The use of the proposed methodological provisions is intended to help system analysts form the appearance of a versatile complex methodology of probabilistic prediction, applicable in the interests of ensuring quality and safety, justifying acceptable risks, identifying significant threats and supporting the adoption of scientifically sound system decisions to proactively counter threats in the life cycle of specific IS. Scientific novelty of the work: with the widespread introduction of modern information technology tools and systems, the problems associated with a comprehensive study of the IS operation quality remain acutely relevant. Despite the fact that many system engineering standards have appeared that recommend the use of probabilistic system analysis for various types of systems, in practice, the formation of a set of techniques applicable to predicting quality measures, justifying acceptable risks, identifying significant threats and supporting the adoption of scientifically sound system decisions in IS life cycle causes practical difficulties for system analysts. These difficulties and the use of subjective assessments are related not only to the versatility of the very concept of IS operation quality, but also to the complexity of mathematical formalization, taking into account the specifics of each system. As a result, many important aspects are beyond the analyst's field of consideration, specific quality measures turn out to be incommensurable on a single quantitative scale, and the inverse analytical tasks of proactive threat management in IS life cycle and constituent elements are not solved. I.e., in practice, there is a contradiction between the needs for system analysis of IS and the possibilities for solving urgent problems of system analysis. To overcome this contradiction, the proposed methodological provisions formulate the general purpose of IS operation in various areas applications – to ensure the reliability and timeliness of providing the necessary information, completeness, validity and safety of the information used for subsequent intended use. The main proposed components of the complex methodology of probabilistic prediction of IS operation quality have determined the scientific novelty of this work, focused precisely on achieving this general formulated goal of IS operation.

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

Transport sector in India is heavily dependent on fossil fuels and ~75% of the demand is met by import. National Biofuel Policy, 2009 focused on production of biodiesel from non-edible oil seeds. We assessed the sustainability of biodiesel produced from Jatropha curcas, using the life cycle assessment approach. India specific inventory data for biodiesel production was collected by extensive literature review. GaBi software was used to model the life cycle of biodiesel. The environmental impacts are compared for different blends of biodiesel with reference to diesel in four impact categories: Global Warming Potential, Acidification Potential, Eutrophication Potential, and Human Toxicity Potential. Using the biodiesel may reduce the global warming potential by 64.6% as compared to fossil diesel; while eutrophication potential, acidification potential, and human toxicity potential impacts may increase by 61.3%, 36.5%, and 52.5% respectively. A trade-off between impact categories is seen for biodiesel. Sensitivity analysis was done to identify most sensitive parameters in biodiesel life cycle. Use of electricity, life cycle span of Jatropha, seed yield, methanol, urea fertilizer, NOx emission factor, and steam are found to be highly sensitive in biodiesel life cycle. Scenario analysis was done to analyse the effect of change in seed yield, life span, and emission intensity of Indian electricity grid. Even low yield of Jatropha provides reduction in global warming potential (~27.7%) but in other impact categories significant increase is expected. Impacts could be further minimized if the emissions from grid are minimized in future.

This paper aimed to assess the environmental impacts of two organic silvopastoral farms in Austria, using a Life Cycle Assessment approach. The two farms (F1, F2), with egg production integrated into an apple orchard, were compared to standard practices for each product. The functional unit was ‘1 kg fresh Class I apples’ and ‘1 kg fresh Class I eggs’. The assessment covered two scopes: cradle-to-farm gate and cradle-to-retail for each product. Effects on climate (including carbon sequestration in the soil and woody biomass), eutrophication potential (EP), acidification potential (AP), and land occupation (LO) were assessed. Feed, manure, and land were three resource loops included in the system boundary. Two modeling approaches were used from cradle-to-farm gate for distributing the impacts of the entire system between apples and eggs: model 1 (M1) used economic allocation, while model 2 (M2) divided the system into two subsystems. Results varied considerably by model. M1 consistently showed higher impacts for apples and considerably lower for eggs compared to M2. At farm gate, the carbon footprint (CF) ranged from 0.09 to 0.17 kg CO2-eq/kg apple and 0.19–1.62 kg CO2-eq/kg egg across all analyzed systems and models. Carbon sequestration reduced emissions by 22–42% for apples and by 0.4–39% for eggs. Sequestration was mainly associated with the carbon contributions from plant biomass from apple production (84–99%), with manure contributing 0.7–9%. EP ranged from 0.19 to 1.7 g PO4-eq/kg apple and 0.7–35 g PO4-eq/kg egg and AP ranged from 0.8 to 2.9 g SO2-eq/kg apple and 2–36 g SO2-eq/kg egg across all analyzed systems and models. LO ranged from 0.3 to 0.6 m2/kg apple and 0.8–9 m2/kg egg across all analyzed systems and models. Post-harvest activities accounted for up to 29% of the total impacts for EP and AP, and up to 57% for CF from cradle-to-retail. In general, the impacts per kg egg or kg apple in F1 and F2 were lower in most impact categories relative to their reference systems, driven mainly by management factors and the production phase of the value chain. Further development of modeling approaches is needed.

Existing computational methods for life cycle costing (LCC) are few and appeared inconsistent with the very definition of LCC. This article improves the common matrix-based approach in life cycle assessment as applied to LCC, correcting previous errors. Reusing a simple and hypothetical example, the authors derive the LCC from both the physical and monetary technology matrices. Accounting for the added value of all activities in the life cycle leads to a simplified computational structure for LCC. The results show that the definition of LCC and computational structure can be fully harmonized with life cycle assessments (LCAs) and simplified. In addition to eco-efficiency calculations, the vector of added values, if disaggregated over social groups, allows for distributional analysis. It is furthermore shown how LCC can account for costs shifting (economic externalities) in the same way as LCA highlights shifting of environmental externalities between different products, life cycle stages or actors. Life cycle costing as defined by the sum of the added value over the life cycle is consistent with LCA and cradle to gate assessments in particular. The authors simplified the computation of LCC with either the matrix-based approach or the added values of upstream activities as an elementary exchange vector or matrix.

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

Towards the determination of metal criticality in home-based battery systems using a Life Cycle Assessment approach

In response to Canada’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to making pathways to achieve carbon neutral buildings, this paper presents two real case studies. The paper first outlines the potential of trees to absorb CO2 emissions through photosynthesis, and the methods used for the estimation of their annual carbon sequestration rates. The net annual carbon sequestration rate of 0.575 kgCO2eq/m2 of tree cover area is considered in our study. Then, this paper presents the carbon life cycle assessment of an all-electric laboratory at Concordia University and of a single-detached house, both located in Montreal. The life cycle assessment (LCA) calculations were performed using two software tools, One Click LCA and Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings. The results in terms of Global Warming Potential (GWP) over 60 years for the laboratory were found to be 83,521 kgCO2eq using One Click LCA, and 82,666 kgCO2eq using Athena. For the single-detached house that uses natural gas for space heating and domestic hot water, the GWP was found to be 544,907 kgCO2eq using One Click LCA, and 566,856 kgCO2eq using Athena. For the all-electric laboratory, a garden fully covered with representative urban trees could offset around 17% of the total life cycle carbon emissions. For the natural gas-powered single-detached house, the sequestration by trees is around 3% of the total life cycle carbon emission. This paper presents limits for achieving carbon neutral buildings when only the emissions sequestration by trees is applied, and discusses the main findings regarding LCA calculations under different scenarios.

This work is focused on performing a quantitative assessment of the environmental impacts associated with an organic synthesis reaction, optimized using an experimental design approach. A nucleophilic substitution reaction was selected, employing vanillin as the substrate, a phenolic compound widely used in the food industry and of pharmaceutical interest, considering its antioxidant and antitumoral potential. To carry out the reaction, three different solvents have been chosen, namely acetonitrile (ACN), acetone (Ace), and dimethylformamide (DMF). The syntheses were planned with the aid of a multivariate experimental design to estimate the best reaction conditions, which simultaneously allow a high product yield and a reduced environmental impact as computed by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The experimental results highlighted that the reactions carried out in DMF resulted in higher yields with respect to ACN and Ace; these reactions were also the ones with lower environmental impacts. The multilinear regression models allowed us to identify the optimal experimental conditions able to guarantee the highest reaction yields and lowest environmental impacts for the studied reaction. The identified optimal experimental conditions were also validated by experimentally conducting the reaction in those conditions, which indeed led to the highest yield (i.e., 93%) and the lowest environmental impacts among the performed experiments. This work proposes, for the first time, an integrated approach of DoE and LCA applied to an organic reaction with the aim of considering both conventional metrics, such as reaction yield, and unconventional ones, such as environmental impacts, during its lab-scale optimization.

The approach of multi-factor life cycle assessment and product structure optimization

Decreasing the carbon footprint of an intensive rice-based cropping system using conservation agriculture on the Eastern Gangetic Plains

Currently, there are no life cycle impact data available on the construction of road infrastructure in Brazil. This study aimed to determine several environmental impacts associated with the construction of an asphalt-paved highway in Brazil using the life cycle assessment approach and road construction data available from two Brazilian highways. The results from this study can potentially raise awareness to the importance of life cycle thinking in road construction in Brazil. The processes considered within the asphalt road pavement product system were extraction and processing of sand, gravel, and pitch; transportation of these inputs; and machinery use and operation, including direct and indirect emissions, raw materials, and electricity/fuel. Inventories available in Ecoinvent were used, and processes relevant to the Brazilian scenario were selected, with modifications made when necessary. The ReCiPe method was used to calculate the impacts, and for each category a second method was used to verify the results. The impact categories analyzed were global warming potential (GWP), terrestrial acidification potential (TAP), ozone depletion potential (ODP), freshwater eutrophication (FWEP), marine eutrophication (MEP), and freshwater ecotoxicity (FWECP). In addition, an alternative scenario was considered by substituting diesel with biodiesel in the transportation trucks. Gravel production was the main contributor to TAP (56% based on ReCiPe) and MEP (62%) categories. It was also a significant contributor to the GWP (16%), FWEP (25%), and FWECP (33%) categories. Transport of raw materials was the most impactful process in the GWP (58%), FWEP (55%), and FWECP (52%) categories. Pitch production was the major contributor to the ODP category (57%). The impact from sand production was negligible for all categories. Machinery operation had a small contribution in all impact categories (less than 14%). The different assessment methods used for each category indicated similar percent contributions for all processes considered (gravel, sand, pitch, transport, and machinery). Substitution of diesel with biodiesel caused an increase in the total impact for all categories, except for ODP. Gravel and pitch production, as well as raw material transport, were the most impactful processes in road construction. Therefore, strategies to reduce the impacts of road construction projects should focus on these three processes. In particular, investigation of the environmental impact, using a life cycle approach, of substituting gravel and pitch with alternative or recycled materials should be carried out for the Brazilian context.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) allows evaluating the potential environmental impacts of a product or a service in relation to its function and over its life cycle. In past LCAs applied to wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), the system function definition has received little attention despite its great importance. This has led to some limitations in LCA results interpretation. A new methodology to perform LCA on WWTPs is proposed to avoid those limitations. It is based on net environmental benefit (NEB) evaluation and requires assessing the potential impact of releasing wastewater without and with treatment besides assessing the impact of the WWTP's life cycle. The NEB allows showing the environmental trade-offs between avoided impact due to wastewater treatment and induced impact by the WWTP's life cycle. NEB is compared with a standard LCA through the case study of a small municipal WWTP consisting of facultative aerated lagoons. The NEB and standard LCA show similar results for impact categories solely related to the WWTP's life cycle but differ in categories where wastewater treatment environmental benefit is accounted for as NEB considers influent wastewater quality whereas standard LCA does not.

Extending software component models with the master–worker paradigm

Component-based Development (CBD) is an important emerging topic in Software Engineering, promising long sought after benefits like increased reuse and reduced time-to-market (and hence software production cost). However, there are at present many obstacles to overcome before CBD can succeed. For one thing, CBD success is predicated on a standardised market place for software components, which does not yet exist. In fact currently CBD even lacks a universally accepted terminology. Existing component models adopt different component definitions and composition operators. Therefore much research remains to be done. We believe that the starting point for this endeavour should be a thorough study of current component models, identifying their key characteristics and comparing their strengths and weaknesses. A desirable side-effect would be clarifying and unifying the CBD terminology. In this tutorial, we present a clear and concise exposition of all the current major software component models, including a taxonomy. The purpose is to distill and present knowledge of current software component models, as well as to present an analysis of their properties with respect to commonly accepted criteria for CBD. The taxonomy also provides a starting point for a unified terminology.