LifeCycle Analysis LCA

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Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA)

• EEP 255
• November 18, 2003

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Applications

• Alternative Fuels/energy sources
• Alternative materials (Aluminum body v/s Steel
  body, Asphalt v/s concrete, wood v/s brick
• Alternative processes (Corn-biomass ethanol)
• Alternative products (cloth diapers v/s
  disposable diapers)
• Alternative packaging (cans v/s tetra-packs)
• Alternative end of life management options
  (recycle, incinerate, dispose)
• Environmental, economic tradeoffs

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What is Life Cycle Analysis?

• A tool to understand environmental impacts
  associated with products, processes, and
  activities
• LCA is a systems approach to evaluating
  environmental consequences of a product or
  process
• It takes a cradle to grave or cradle to
  cradle perspective.
• A systematic set of procedures for examining the
  environmental impacts of a product or service
  throughout its life cycle

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• " LCA is an objective process to evaluate the
  environmental burdens associated with a product,
  process or activity by identifying and
  quantifying energy and materials used and wastes
  released to the environment, to assess impact of
  these energy and material use and releases to the
  environment, and to evaluate and implement
  opportunities to affect environmental
  improvements. This assessment includes the entire
  life cycle of a product, process or activity,
  encompassing extracting and processing of raw
  materials manufacturing, transportation and
  distribution use, reuse, maintenance recycling
  and final disposal." SETAC 1993

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Why is LCA Important?

• Systems view in environmental assessment
• A source of Competitive Advantage,
• Identifying value deletion throughout the value
  chain
• Avoidance of strategic blunders
• ISO 14000 (for EMS and eco-labeling)
• Federal Procurement Executive Order 12783
• Environmental Labeling Regulations
• Product Take back Regulations
• Regulatory forecasting

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Components of an LCA

• Defining the purpose and scope
• Life-Cycle Inventory
• Life-cycle Impact Assessment
• Life-cycle Improvement Analysis

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Steps in LCA

• Describe product life cycle
• Inventory raw material inputs and waste output
• Assess environmental impacts
• Identify improvements

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Inventory Inputs and Wastes
Raw Material Extraction
Material Processing
Amount of Water, Energy, Raw Materials, and Land
Use
Amount of Gaseous, Liquid, Solid Waste
Manufacturing
Distribution
Consumption
Waste Management
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Example Plastic Bottles
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Life Cycle Analysis
Product
Intermediate Inputs
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LCI of a Pencil (v/s a pen)
Pencil
Wood (10g)
Graphite Lead 4 g
Eraser (rubber 2 g)
Paint .25g
Al. sleeve
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Life Cycle Inventory

• A flow chart
• All materials used identified
• Listed and quantified
• Data is collected on extraction, intermediate
  inputs, manufacturing, transportation, use and
  end of life management processes.
• Impact on environment defined at each stage in
  the life cycle (extraction, make, use, and
  dispose)
• A number of environmental impacts considered (air
  emissions, water emissions, solid waste,
  acidification,global warming etc)
• Allocation procedures in case of multiple products

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More detailed modeling

• Intermediate Materials manufacture
• Product fabrication/assembly
• Packaging
• Transportation, Storage and Distribution
• Data collection
• Primary data
• Secondary dataEPA, Census, DOE, Journals
• Proprietary databases/software
• Units and Normalization
• Data sample, quality and uncertainty

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Accounting/Computation

• Functional equivalence
• Determining individual contributions
• Energy mix, fuel mix, transportation mix
• Aggregation of individual emissions
• Allocation among joint/co products
• mass, energy, processing energy, market value,
  displaced product
• Aggregation using weighting factors (Mass, Energy
  content, GWP, ODP etc)

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Example Inventory for 1 Kg of PVC Plastic
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CASE STUDY Steel v/s Plastic fuel tank systems

• Plastics are lighter, cheaper and flexible
• Multi-layer co-extrusion blow molding
• Projected replacement 60 by 2005.
• GMT600 line of vans from GM
• Main components tank, shield and straps

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Use and End of Life stages

• Use phase
• Inputs Gasoline
• Emissions NOx, CO, CO2, VOC, Methane
• Auto scrap recovery (shredding)
• Inputs Electricity, Transportation, Tools
• Emissions Solid waste
• EAF steel making
• Inputs Electricity, NG, Electrodes, Refractories
• Emissions EAF dust, Air emissions

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Impact Assessment

• From emission inventory to effects
• Classification, Characterization(relative
  effects) and Valuation
• Resource effects
• Human Health Effects
• Non Health effects (Aesthetics, material damage,
  Crop damage)
• Ecological effects
• Aggregation/ tradeoffs
• Valuation with
• Other theme based indices

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Examples of Environmental Impact Categories
Developed by Five International Organizations
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LCA Software/Resources

• Simapro
• Gaßi
• Deam
• Franklin Associates
• BEES
• IDEAMAT
• Boustead (APME)
• http//www.epa.gov/ORD/NRMRL/lcaccess/resources.ht
  mEPA20Documents

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Improvement Analysis

• Systematic evaluation of needs and opportunities
  to reduce environmental burden associated with
  entire life cycle of the product.
• Can be both quantitative and qualitative.
• Lifecycle costing private and public costs at
  each stage

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Other Issues

• Sensitivity analyses
• Cost, accuracy and timeliness
• Presentation and interpretation of results
• assumptions, boundaries, data quality,
  sensitivity analysis,

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Problems with Conventional LCA

• Boundary problems
• Interdependencies in inputs
• Data problems
• availability, confidentiality, transparency,
  cost, timeliness, variations and uncertainties
• Multiplicity of environmental emissions and
  aggregation problems
• Impact assessment problems

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LIFE CYCLE INVENTORY
EXTRACTION
INT. INPUTS
ENVIORONMENTAL IMPACTS
MANUFACTURING
PRODUCT USE
RECYCLING / DISPOSAL
and transportation between stages
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Life Cycle Analysis
Product
Intermediate Inputs
CASE STUDY
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Problems with Conventional LCA

• Boundary problems
• Interdependencies in inputs
• Data problems
• availability, confidentiality, transparency,
  cost, timeliness, variations and uncertainties
• Multiplicity of environmental emissions and
  aggregation problems
• Impact assessment problems

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Economic input-output life cycle analysis
EIO-LCA

• Consider the simple two sector direct requirement
  matrix
• Electricity Water
• Electicity 0.333 0.167
• Water 0.286 0.375
• SO2 g/ 25 5
• What is the total output of different sectors
  needed to meet an exogenous electricity demand of
  1? What are total S02 emissions?

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1 Electricity
Direct-Requirement
0.333 Electicity 0.286 Water
0.333.333Elect 0.3330.286 Water
0.2860.167Elec 0.286375 water
Tot. Electricity 1 0.333 (0.333.333
0.286.167) 1.693 .
Total Water 0.286 (0.3330.286
0.2860.375) . 0.778..
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Algebraic Method

• Total output final demand int. demand
• Let X1 be total output of electricity
• Let X2 be total output of water
• Let Y1 and Y2 be final demands for electricity
  and water resply.
• X1Y10.333X10.167X2
• X2 Y2 0.286X10.375X2
• Now what are X1 and X2 if Y11 and Y20 output
  to meet a demand of 1 electricity?

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Algebraic Method

• X110.333X10.167X2 ---------(1)
• X2 0 0.286X10.375X2--------(2)
• Solving for X1 and X2 we get
• X11.6932, X20.7748
• These represent total requirement to meet 1
  electricity demand
• Total SO2 emissions 1.693225 0.77485
• 46.204 grams

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Total Requirements Table (in dollars)
Env. Matrix
Total Requirements Matrix
Direct Requirements Matrix
Outputs
Outputs
SO2
Inputs
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5
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EIO-LCA Software

• EIO-LCA does this type of calculations for 498
  sectors and a large number of environmental
  impacts
• Fuel use (11 fuels)
• Non-renewable ores use (Fe, Cu, Au, Ag, Al.)
• Conventional air pollutants
• Toxic Releases (TRI)
• Hazardous solid waste generation (RCRA)
• Fertilizer use (eutrophication) (7)
• Summary indicators Energy, CMU-ET(toxicity
  weighting), GWP, ODP, Acidification Potential
• Web version available at http//www.eiolca.net

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Steps in using EIO-LCA software

• Develop a list of inputs expressed in cost
• Identify appropriate commodity sector using the
  search function on the software (simple version)
• Select the commodity sector and enter the value
  for one input at a time. Click on Display
  results
• You can also look at individual impacts by
  selecting them in the prior screen
• Note down summary results for that input
• Repeat for other inputs and then sum all impacts.

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Inputs to steel tank manufacturing
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