LCA Examples

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LCA Examples Streamlined LCA
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Ericsson LCA

• Paper Life Cycle Assessment of 3G Wireless
  Telecommunication Systems at Ericsson available
  in the module network folder.
• Summary of the study Life Cycle Assessment of a
  Third Generation (3G) System at Ericsson
  available in the module network folder.

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Ericsson LCA

• Goal
• Develop a flexible LCA model with the capacity of
  producing reliable environmental information for
  Ericssons present and future needs
• Develop a user-friendly database with all the LCA
  data collected during this and previous Ericsson
  LCA studies
• Determine and describe the environmental impact
  from Ericssons 3G wireless telecommunication
  systems

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Ericsson LCA

• Scope
• System consists of 3G terminals, radio network,
  control equipment a core network with switches,
  routers, servers and workstations
• Transmission equipment like feeders and cables
  site materials like antennas, climate control
  equipment and site housing

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Ericsson LCA

• Functional Unit
• One year of operation of the 3G pilot system is
  studied
• For comparisons another functional unit, per
  subscriber and information flow and year is
  needed.

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Ericsson LCA

• Following Indicators studied
• Climate change
• Resource depletion
• Acidification
• Photochemical ozone generation
• Aquatic eutrophication
• Terrestrial eutrophication
• Ozone depletion
• Land use
• Human toxicity
• Ecosystem toxicity

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Ericsson LCA

• Focuses on the climate change indicator as it is
  the most widely accepted environmental indicator.
• Based on the global warming potential (GWP) and
  is measured in CO2 equivalents
• Two external independent scientists reviewed the
  LCA to ensure carried out to ISO14040 series
  specification. Although data is not available to
  the public, the data used is valid and
  interpretations are accurate

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Ericsson LCA
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Ericsson LCA
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Ericsson LCA

• What impact does my 3G subscription have?
• 0.06 raw material resources depletion
• 0.7 energy resources depletion climate change
• 0.004 use of land resources

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LCA of an Integrated Circuit

• Paper available in Network folder
• EPROM IC chosen for study
• Gate to Gate study
• Functional Output is a complete EPROM device
• Carried out according to relevant ISO standards

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LCA of an Integrated Circuit
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LCA of an Integrated Circuit
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LCA of an Integrated Circuit
Processed Wafer
Cut
Welding Base
Back End Device Realisation
Packaging
Bounding
Surbase Clipping
Electrolytic Tuning
Insert on Tube
Device
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LCA of an Integrated Circuit

• Transport
• Packaging for transport
• Truck to airport (40km)
• Plane from Milan to Singapore (10,000km)
• Truck to site (10km)

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LCA of an Integrated Circuit
Selected total inventory data for one single
EPROM device
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LCA of an Integrated Circuit
Gross energy in different life cycle phases of
one single device
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LCA of an Integrated Circuit

• Energy Use Phase
• Specific device requires 0.36 Watts
• Life estimated at 10 years
• Equipment obsolescence estimated less than this
  (5 years)
• Real operating time approx 33 of equipment life
• 1MJ of electrical energy requires 3MJ of gross
  energy
• Use phase turns out to be 54 MJ

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LCA of an Integrated Circuit
Average Environmental Effect related to one EPROM
device
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Streamlining the LCA Process

• Full LCA is only practical with no limitations to
  time, expense, data availability etc
• In practice consists of many compromises
• Although very extensive LCAs have been conducted
  a complete quantitative LCA has never been
  accomplished nor is it ever likely to be
• Design stage is best time to do LCA but very
  little data available at this point

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The LCA Continuum
Ecoscreening
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Streamlining the LCA Process

• Screen the product with an inviolates list
• Limit of eliminate life-cycle stages
• Include only selected environmental impacts
• Include only selected inventory parameters
• Limit consideration to major constituents
• Limit or eliminate impact analysis
• Use surrogate data
• Use qualitative rather than quantitative data
• Eliminate interpretations or recommendations

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The SLCA Matrix

• Number of approaches developed adopting a matrix
  approach in which several life stages are
  evaluated for their potential impacts on a number
  of environmentally related concerns
• Any SLCA process should allow for
• Direct comparisons between rated products
• Useable and consistent across different
  assessment teams
• Encompass all stages of product life cycle
• Address all relevant environmental concerns
• Simple enough to permit relatively quick and
  inexpensive assessments

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The SLCA Matrix
Developed in 1993 at ATT
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The SLCA Matrix

• Values may be
• Binary
• 1 problem
• 0 no problem
• Ordinal
• 1-10 severity ranking
• 1-4 severity ranking
• Assessor is providing a figure of merit to
  represent the estimated result from a more formal
  LCA
• Should be guided by experience, design
  manufacturing survey, appropriate checklists
  other available info

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The SLCA Matrix

• Once an evaluation has been made for each matrix
  element the overall Environmentally Responsible
  Product Rating (RERP) is computed as the sum of
  the matrix element values
• Process is qualitative and utilitarian but does
  provide a numerical end point against which to
  measure improvement

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Target Plots
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The SLCA Matrix

• Assignment of integer ratings may seem
  subjective, experiments at ATT have been
  performed in which comparative assessments of
  products are made by several different industrial
  and environmental engineers. Overall product
  ratings differ by no more that 15

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SLCA Assets

• More efficient less costly (days vrs months)
• Useable at the early stage of design when
  opportunities for change are greater
• Evaluate design attributes which are inherently
  qualitative such as ease of dissassembly

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SLCA Liabilities

• Little or no ability to track overall material
  flows
• Little ability to compare completely dissimilar
  approaches to fulfilling a need
• Little ability to track improvements over time

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Cumulative Energy Demand as SLCA

• Ref Mhuijbregtsm M, Hellweg S, Hensriks
  "Cumulative Energy Demand As Predictor for the
  Environmental Burden of Commodity Production"
  Environ. Sci. Technol., Article ASAP
  DOI 10.1021/es902870s

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CED as SLCA
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CED as SLCA
CED
time
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CED as SLCA
T1
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Further Reading

• Graedel Allenby, Chapter 17