Mary Ann Curran

1
Life Cycle Assessment

• Mary Ann Curran
• BSChE/MSc/PhD (June 2008)
• LCA Research Program Manager
• EPA Office of Research Development
• National Risk Management Research Laboratory
• Cincinnati, OH 45268
• curran.maryann_at_epa.gov

2
LCA is an environmental management tool to

• Apply a system-wide examination
• Use a multi-media approach (air, water, solid
  waste)
• Identify trade-offs among alternatives
• Identify opportunities to improve systems
• Support environmental decision making
• Achieve sustainable development

3
Life cycle thinking is being applied but often
not called LCA

• For example
• OECD Report Biofuels Is the Cure Worse than
  the Disease? Sept 2007

These studies reveal bigger picture issues of
making (more) bioethanol, such as land
availability, water use, soil and water quality,
and food-for-fuel issues.
4
Life Cycle Studies often focus on a single
issue, such as

• Recycling/Resource Conservation
• Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Climate Change
• Carbon Balance
• Energy Balance

but miss the element of trade-offs.
So what is Life Cycle Assessment?
5
There is a standardized tool for conducting a
multi-media, cradle-to-grave assessment

• ISO 14040 Life Cycle Assessment Principles and
  Framework 1997
• ISO 14044 Life Cycle Assessment Requirements
  and Guidelines 2006

ISO International Standards Organisation
6
ISO 14040 Standards
7
Defining system boundaries for E85
8
Inventory data availability is a barrier to
conducting LCAs

• National LCI database still being developed
  (www.nrel.gov/lci)
• Data come from many different sources, such as
• Proprietary company data
• Consultants, labs, universities
• Public, e.g., Toxics Release Inventory (EPA)
• Databases use different units or different
  reference flows report on different time periods
• Often more than one source is needed to calculate
  the necessary inventory data
• Data for new products must be estimated

9
LCA Software/Consultants

• EPS
• GaBi
• GEMIS
• GREET
• IdeMAT
• KCL-Eco 3.0
• LCAiT
• LCAPix
• MIET
• REGIS
• SimaPro 5.0
• SPINE
• TEAM
• Umberto

• AIST-LCA
• APME
• Athena
• ATHENA
• BEES
• Boustead
• CMLCA
• Dubo-Calc
• EcoInvent
• EcoQuantum
• EDIP
• eiolca.net
• EMIS

10
31 National Databases (in
varying stages of development)
Argentina Chile France Malaysia Spain
Australia China Germany Norway Sweden
Austria Chinese Tapei India The Netherlands Switzerland
Belgium Denmark Italy Portugal Thailand
Brazil Estonia Japan Poland UK
Canada Finland Korea South Africa USA
Vietnam
11
Impact Assessment -Common Impact Categories

• Impact Category Indicator
  Measurement
• Resources kg Scarce
  Resources
• Water m3 Water
• Global Warming kg CO2 equivalents
• Ozone Depletion CFC-11 equivalents
• Acidification kg SO2 equivalents
• Eutrophication kg PO43- equivalents
• Smog Formation kg Ethene equivalents
• Human Toxicity HTx equivalents
• Eco Toxicity ETx equivalents
• Waste kg Waste
• Land Use equivalent hectares
• Noise equivalent decibels
• Odor ??

12
LCIA usually models to midpoints(unlike Risk
Assessment)
Emissions (CFCs, Halons)
Chemical reaction releases Cl- and Br-
Cl-, Br- destroys ozone MIDPOINT measures ozone
depletion potential (ODP)
Less ozone allows increased UVB radiation which
leads to following ENDPOINTS
skin cancer
cataracts
crop damage
marine life damage
immune system suppression
damage to materials like plastics
13
Can we create a Streamlined LCA?

• Out of necessity, all LCAs are simplified in
  some aspect, however,
• Narrowing the scope by
• Omitting stages
• Limiting the inventory
• Targeting impacts
• can overlook potential trade-offs and report
  misleading results.

14
Current LCA Practice

• Public LCI data sources are few
• Vendor data lack transparency
• No guidance exists for data modeling
• Impact modeling varies
• No guidance exists for peer review
• International UNEP/SETAC workgroup is slowly
  making progress
• US Database is underway but struggling to get
  support/data

15
Worldwide growing interest in the life cycle
concept is being ignited by

• Concerns about Global Climate Change (An
  Inconvenient Truth)
• Walmart Scorecard development
• Green/Sustainable buildings
• General interest by companies to be green

16
Sustainable Development requires balancing
environmental, economic and social factors
17
(No Transcript)
18
Suggested Reading

• ISO Standards 14040 14044 (2006)
• U.S. EPA (2006) Life Cycle Assessment Principles
  Practice EPA/600/R-06/060
• Curran, M.A. (ed.) (1996) Environmental Life
  Cycle Assessment. McGraw-Hill, New York
• Baumann Tillman (2004) The Hitch Hiker's Guide
  to LCA An Orientation in Life Cycle Assessment
  Methodology and Application
• Heijungs R, et al (1992) Environmental Life Cycle
  Assessment of Products. Vol. I Guide, and Vol.
  II Backgrounds, Center for Envir. Studies,
  Leiden University
• International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
• Journal of Cleaner Production
• Journal of Industrial Ecology

19
(No Transcript)