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D r a f t. Life Cycle Assessment A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis UNEP LCA Training Kit Module b – Overview of LCA. D r a f t. What is LCA? Why LCA? The ISO 14040 framework Goal and scope definition Inventory analysis Impact assessment Interpretation. Contents.

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D r a f t

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  1. D r a f t Life Cycle AssessmentA product-oriented methodfor sustainability analysisUNEP LCA Training KitModule b – Overview of LCA

  2. D r a f t • What is LCA? • Why LCA? • The ISO 14040 framework • Goal and scope definition • Inventory analysis • Impact assessment • Interpretation Contents

  3. What is LCA? (1) • Officially:Life Cycle Assessment • Here confined to:quantitative environmental Life Cycle Assessment of products • environmental • Life Cycle • Assessment • quantitative • products

  4. What is LCA? (2) • At least three different meanings: • LCA as a field of study • LCA as a technique • LCA as a specific study

  5. What is LCA? (3) • Basically: tool for decision-support • computational aspects • which data • which models • which formulas • procedural aspects • who to involve • how to report • how to use

  6. What is LCA? (4) • ISO-standardised procedure (ISO 14040, created in 1997-2000; revised in 2006) • Structured framework: four phases • Rules, requirements and considerations specified • Specific data and calculation steps not specified • Much attention for transparency in reporting

  7. D r a f t ISO 14040 framework (1) Source: ISO 14040

  8. ISO 14040 framework (2) • ISO: Compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle • International Standard ISO 14040 • complementary International Standards ISO 14041, 14042, 14043 • no Technical Report to 14040, but Technical Reports to 14041 and 14042 • 14044 merges the revised 14040-14043 (2006)

  9. Why LCA? (1) • Why a product-oriented information tool? • Increased attention for product policy • several national policy plans • EU’s Integrated Product Policy • UNEP’s International Declaration on Cleaner Production • etc. • Influence consumption and production patterns • clean(er) production • ecolabel • product stewardship • etc.

  10. Why LCA? (2) • Why an integrated information tool? • Prevent problem shifting • to other life cycle stages • to other substances • to other environmental problems • to other countries • to the future

  11. Why LCA? (3) • Why a method? • To structure the large amount of complex data • To facilitate comparisons across product alternatives • To enable benchmarking

  12. Why LCA? (4) D r a f t • Why complex data?

  13. ISO 14040 framework (3) D r a f t Source: ISO 14040

  14. Phase 1: Goal and scope definition (1) • Phase of life cycle assessment in which the aim of the study, and in relation to that, the breadth and depth of the study is established • goal definition • scope definition

  15. Phase 1: Goal and scope definition (2) • Goal definition: • intended application • product development and improvement • strategic planning • public decision making • marketing • other • reasons for carrying out the study • intended audience

  16. Phase 1: Goal and scope definition (3) • Scope definition: • function, functional unit and reference flow • initial choices • system boundaries • data quality • … • critical review and other procedural aspects

  17. Phase 1: Goal and scope definition (4) • Functional unit: • comparison on the basis of an equivalent function • example: 1000 liters of milk packed in glass bottles or packed in carton, instead of 1 glass bottle versus 1 carton

  18. Phase 1: Goal and scope definition (5) • Critical review and other procedural aspects • critical review to ensure the consistency, scientific validity, transparency of the report, etc. • internal review, external review, review by interested parties • procedural embedding of LCA: LCA as a (participatory) process

  19. Phase 2: Inventory analysis (1) • Phase of life cycle assessment involving the compilation and quantification of inputs and outputs, for a given product system throughout its life cycle • Steps: • preparing for data collection • data collection • calculation procedures • allocation and recycling

  20. Phase 2: Inventory analysis (2) • Central position for unit process • smallest portion of a product system for which data are collected • Typical examples: • electricity production by coal combustion • PVC production • use of a passenger car • recycling of aluminum scrap

  21. Phase 2: Inventory analysis (3) D r a f t • Data collection for unit processes: • flows of intermediate products or waste for treatment • elementary flows from or to the environment coal electricity production electricity generator fly ash

  22. Phase 2: Inventory analysis (4) equipment steel D r a f t coal mining generator production • Combination of unit processes into a product system • Graphical representation in a flow diagram coal generator electricity production product system fly ash system boundary electricity fly ash treatment reference flow gypsum

  23. Phase 2: Inventory analysis (5) D r a f t Source: http://www.fibersource.com/f-tutor/LCA-Page.htm

  24. Phase 2: Inventory analysis (6) D r a f t • Calculation procedures • relate process data to the functional unit (matrix algebra) • allocation of multiple processes (multiple outputs, multiple inputs, re-use and recycling) • aggregation over all unit processes in the inventory table coal electricity production with cogeneration of heat (CHP) electricity heat generator fly ash

  25. Phase 2: Inventory analysis (7) • Inventory table

  26. Phase 3: Impact assessment (1) • Assessment of the importance of the potential environmental effects with the aid of the results of the inventory analysis • Steps: • selection and definition of impact categories, indicators and models • classification • characterisation • normalisation • aggregation and/or weighing

  27. Phase 3: Impact assessment (2) D r a f t 42

  28. Phase 3: Impact assessment (3) • Example of a category indicator • Global Warming: Global Warming Potential (GWP): measure for Global Warming in terms of radiative forcing of a mass-unit Example calculation: 5 kg CO2 (GWP = 1) + 3 kg CH4 (GWP = 21) = 1 x 5 + 21 x 3 kg CO2 - equivalents (= 68 kg CO2 – equivalents)

  29. Phase 3: Impact assessment (4) • Characterisation: • Simple conversion and aggregation of GHGs: GWP (1 and 21) 5 and 3 kg CO2, CH4 68 kg CO2-eq climate change IPCC climate model infrared radiative forcing

  30. Phase 3: Impact assessment (5) • Impact categories, characterisation methods and characterisation models: some baseline examples

  31. Phase 3: Impact assessment (8)

  32. Phase 3: Impact assessment (7) • Impact category results still difficult to understand: • difference in units • difference in scale • Normalisation step to relate the results to a reference value • e.g., total world impacts in 2002 • result often referred to as the normalised environmental profile

  33. Phase 3: Impact assessment (8)

  34. Phase 3: Impact assessment (9) • Even after normalisation no clear answer • aggregation of (normalized) impact category results into a single index • subjective weighting factors needed

  35. Phase 3: Impact assessment (10) • Example of a weighted environmental index

  36. Phase 4: Interpretation (1) • Conclusions, recommendations, analysis, all related to goal and scope of the research • among others based on data quality and sensitivity analysis • also: critical review by independent experts

  37. Phase 4: Interpretation (2) • Example of a contribution analysis

  38. Phase 4: Interpretation (3) D r a f t • Example of an uncertainty analysis

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