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Purpose: Climate change, environmental concerns, and economic problems pose challenges to the construction sector in Iran, which must provide affordable solutions while addressing environmental issues. Hence, natural earthen building materials are critically needed to reduce energy-intensive and costly construction practices dramatically. The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for comparing life cycle assessments (LCA) and life cycle costs (LCC), for load-bearing walls of an single-family affordable housing unit in a desert part of Iran, Ardakan City. Methods: To do so, both LCA and LCC for the unit were performed, considering a cradle-to-site perspective. For this purpose, 22 load bearing wall systems are assessed, including 18 stabilized and unstabilized earthen construction techniques, such as adobe, rammed earth (RE), and compressed earth block (CEB), in addition to four conventional wall assemblies of fired brick (FB), autoclaved aerated concrete block (AAC), ceramic block (CB), and concrete masonry unit (CMU). As well as assessing the environmental impact and life cycle costs associated with the life cycle of each wall, the optimal assembly of the wall is also examined. Results: Results show that unstabilized earthen walling alternatives have significantly lower environmental impacts than conventional materials. Conclusions: Sensitivity analysis indicates that by utilizing local materials to the maximum extent possible, impacts can be further minimized. Considering the results, transportation may even account for a greater proportion of EI than wall components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Adequate and affordable housing is essential in tackling poverty and improving living and indoor health conditions for lower and medium-income families, in both developed and developing nations. However, there is a lack of affordable housing which directly causes homelessness and formation of slum-dwellings. Sub-Saharan Africa has the most urban slum dwellers with an estimated 53.6% of the urban population in sub-Saharan Africa dwelling in urban slums. Additionally, the housing deficit in South Africa currently stands at about 2.2 million units, with a projected housing demand of 500,000 housing units over 20 years. Given the climate crisis and need for affordable housing in South Africa, low-cost and low-carbon solutions are essential. Sandbag building technology (SBT) is one such promising solution, consuming less energy during construction and operation than conventional technologies as well as regulating the internal temperature of the building through thermal mass. However, there is still a need to assess how this simpler construction style and locally sourced building materials perform from a whole life cycle perspective. Thus, this paper presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) determining the holistic sustainability of a vernacular, sandbag house design in South Africa. Methods: The environmental LCA analysed the SBT under two scenarios: manual and automated, based on extraction of sand. The life cycle cost (LCC) analysis evaluated the SBT house from the different life cycle stages: design, production and operation, and disposal. The findings show that the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions depend largely on the availability of locally sourced sand and whether the process is manual, automated, or both. Results: Upfront embodied CO2e emissions total 189 and 174 kgCO2e/m2 for the automated and manual scenarios, respectively. Assuming no decarbonisation, the operational emissions equal 7966 kgCO2e/m2, but could be as low as 1444 kgCO2e/m2 (achieving net zero by 2050). Whole life embodied CO2e impacts, i.e. stages A and C, total 262 and 247 kgCO2e/m2 for the automated and manual scenarios, respectively. The difference between the manual and automated scenarios can be significant at 15 kgCO2e/m2, equating to an additional 1125 kgCO2e for a 75m2 house. The estimated LCC for a 75 m2 building constructed with SBT is R 533,898.01 (US $31,167) or R 7118/m2. Conclusions: The sandbag method remains challenging for multi-storey construction due to the weight; however, it can contribute to low carbon, affordable housing in South Africa as a sandbag house does not need highly skilled labour or expensive materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Dynamic LCIA has been developed in the past 12 years almost exclusively for climate change impact assessment, and especially the Global Warming Potential (GWP) indicator. Recently, discussions have taken place in France on the issue of integrating, a dynamic GWP indicator in the 2020 regulation (noted RE2020) on new buildings. This regulation uses a combination of static and dynamic indicators. Discussions to produce a standard on a dynamic GWP indicator could be soon launched at European level. This close perspective of using dynamic indicator into regulation recalls the importance using scientifically sound indicators. Therefore, this article re-examines the fundamentals concepts of the dynamic GWP indicator on which the future regulation is based. Method: Three basic principles of LCA are recalled: (i) no inventory flow should be omitted from an assessment, (ii) all impacts of all substances contributing to an impact category should have the same Time Horizon of the Impact (THI) in the indicator used for that impact category, and (iii) the time horizon of the impact has no reason to change as a function of time. It is then shown that the current and common version of the dynamic GWP (Levasseur et al. 2010) does not respect these principles. A new expression of dynamic GWP is provided in order to respect the three basic principles. Results: Both dynamic GWP indicators are compared according to their meaning and according to the decrease that they quantify compared to static GWP. The initial dynamic GWP indicator (Levasseur et al. 2010) sets a fixed Time of Observation Duration (TOD), chosen subjectively, after which nor flows nor impacts on climate change are assessed. The new dynamic GWP sets a TOD according to the life cycle duration (LCD) and the THI that avoids any flow omission and guarantees the full account of the impact of all flows. THI and LCD have independent values, but both time entities are related chronologically: THI has to be considered to account for the full effect for the very last emission of the product's life cycle. Thus, the total observation duration (TOD) to consider for any dynamic approach is TOD = LCD + THI. The initial dynamic indicator overestimates the effect of temporary carbon storage of around 25% at the time 50 years. The raised issue is not only an implementation issue due to the choice of TOD, it is a conceptual issue, because even in the case of TOD > LCD, the value of THI would still be variable according to the moment of emissions. Finally, the notation between dynamic and static GWP is not harmonised which can lead to confusion. Conclusion: The initial GWP indicator (Levasseur et al. 2010) represents an assessment of the impact within a subjectively chosen observation period and neither the flows nor the effects of these flows on climate change are taken into account beyond this limit. The new equation provided for the dynamic indicator takes into account the totality of the flows and the entireness of their impact according to the value of THI; it thus represents only and exclusively the effect of delaying emissions compared to the static GWP. This new method is totally applicable for the regulation, as only new FRE2020(t) coefficients, produced in this paper, have to be changed. At a time when the dynamic GWP indicator is being considered as a regulatory tool on a French or even European scale, it seems crucial to consider its scientific relevance, because using the wrong method could lead to an overestimation of the possible beneficial effects of temporary carbon storage in the construction sector as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The Peruvian coast is known for its low water availability and high water demand, which is mainly satisfied by groundwater sources. The current study develops regionalized water scarcity characterization factors (CFs) based on the available water remaining (AWARE) method for eight selected watersheds located along the hyper-arid Peruvian coast. Furthermore, the paper proposes water scarcity CFs for groundwater in six watersheds, which are not available in current methods. Methods: The regionalization of water scarcity CFs along the Peruvian coast was based on the following: (i) national delineation of hydrological units (HUs), (b) use of primary data on water availability and demand provided by official water balance reports and national databases, (c) use of the ecological flow values recommended by national authorities, and (d) proposal of specific water scarcity CFs for groundwater. Moreover, the results of the updated CFs were compared to those from the original CFs from AWARE. A sensitivity analysis, including recalculated CFs based on future climate change scenarios, was also provided. Thereafter, water scarcity impacts for grape and avocado production available in the scientific literature were recalculated based on previous studies with the new CFs. Results and discussion: Results revealed significant differences between updated and original water scarcity CFs in both geographical and temporal (i.e., monthly) terms. Hence, updated CFs showed that all watersheds selected experience high levels of water scarcity, especially from June to October, a more realistic scenario than that showed with original water scarcity CFs when confronted to water availability values. Meanwhile, water scarcity CFs for groundwater showed intense pressure all year round for the three main sources of groundwater (i.e., Chillon, Rimac, and Lurin aquifers) that provide water to the city of Lima, whereas only one groundwater watershed showed low water scarcity (i.e., Mala-Omas aquifer). Conclusions: Updated water scarcity CFs provide a watershed-based quantification of water scarcity in the hyper-arid Peruvian coast, which we consider more realistic as compared to the original CFs. Moreover, the water scarcity CFs proposed for groundwater allow estimating the pressure over aquifers in a higher level of disaggregation, which can be used to monitor the overexploitation of groundwater sources in an area that is highly dependent on these water sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: It has been recognised by life cycle assessment (LCA) practitioners that uncertainty analysis needs to be incorporated into LCA studies to improve the reliability of the results; however, case studies still report results without uncertainty. Reasons for ignoring uncertainty include resource constraints or a lack of knowledge or expertise. This paper presents a structured uncertainty management method that aims to improve uncertainty reporting in LCA. Methods: The most common uncertainty classification for LCA is parameter, model and scenario; however, multiple classifications exist in literature. The latest classification published by Igos et al. (2019) divides uncertainty into three dimensions: location, level and nature, based on previous research (Walker et al. 2003; Warmink et al. 2010). In this paper, the three-dimensional uncertainty classification is further developed for practical implementation in LCA. The classification is incorporated into an uncertainty management methodology that is divided into five steps: identification, classification, quantification or qualification, reduction and reporting, and is integrated into the iterative steps of an LCA in accordance with ISO 14044 (2006). The method is demonstrated in a tiered-hybrid case study of an Irish apartment development from cradle-to-gate that focuses on climate change. The data sources include the bill of quantities, Ecoinvent datasets, Irish input-output tables and Irish environmental accounts data. Results and discussion: The initial uncertainty assessment of the case study found that the deterministic value likely underestimates the total tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (t CO2-eq.) for the apartment development. The probability that the impact is greater than the deterministic value is approximately 93%, prior to uncertainty reduction. The main contributors to the total uncertainty were identified as the choice of Ecoinvent dataset, the sectoral emission intensities and the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change Global Warming Potentials. Therefore, work to reduce the total uncertainty should focus on identifying the most suitable dataset for the building material to reduce the input distribution for that material and on acquiring more product-specific data. Conclusions and recommendations: The developed uncertainty management method improves the way uncertainty is managed in practice in LCA case studies by providing a detailed and structured way for uncertainty to be identified, classified, measured and reported. It further identifies where resources can be focused to iteratively reduce the overall uncertainty of the results and thus improve their reliability. It is recommended that the developed method is tested across other case studies, life cycle stages and impact categories in further work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is an urgent and serious global problem. Life cycle assessment methods may be used to evaluate the life cycle carbon footprint of a product, such as the National Geographic magazine. The results of the study provide the publisher and material suppliers with information to reduce life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The study also informs consumers of the GHG emissions associated with the product. The purpose of this study was to document the life cycle carbon footprint of the National Geographic magazine. Currently, there is no international standard for conducting a product life cycle carbon footprint. Both the International Standards Organization (ISO) and the World Resources Institute’s Greenhouse Gas Protocol are working to develop standards. The study followed the ISO standards for life cycle assessment (ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006). The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard also provided guidance. The study showed that the life cycle of the National Geographic magazine produces about 0.82 kg of carbon dioxide equivalents per life cycle of the average magazine. The amount of GHG emissions per life cycle of each magazine produced is about the same amount of GHG emissions produced by driving an automobile (8.5 km/liter gasoline) for about 3 km. High quality, geographically and temporally representative data for the study were provided by National Geographic, Verso Paper, and Quad Graphics. These data are specific to the magazine life cycle and account for about 88% of the total energy results and about 75% of the total GHG emissions for the entire life cycle of the magazine. The study includes extraction of raw materials from the earth, processing of raw materials, fuels, intermediate products, transportation steps, manufacture of paper, printing, distribution of the magazine, and final disposition. The results indicate that opportunities for improving the carbon footprint of the magazine are more likely to be found within the manufacturing and printing of the paper. These two steps account for the majority of the greenhouse gas emissions. Including recycled fiber into magazine paper did not improve the carbon footprint of the magazine. Incorporation of groundwood did impact end-of-life emissions from disposal into landfills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Despite in Europe companies and policy makers perceive both the European Commission's Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and Type III environmental declarations as applicable tools supporting external communication or public procurement, at scientific level there is still no prompt and comprehensive comparison between the PEF Guide and the EPD requirements. Therefore, this paper aims to compare the relevant PEF Guide requirements with the key rules defined by the International EPD® System (IES)—one of the main widely accepted EPD schemes —identifying the critical discrepancies which potentially reduces the consistency of the outcomes. Methods: Coherently with the approach of the PEF Guide, the comparison was based on the analysis of the following criteria: scope, LCA application, reporting, review. Further, after a qualitative pre-assessment, the average results of the EPDs published in IES framework were evaluated in respect to the available benchmarks for the products belonging to the same categories for which the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCRs) were finalised. Results and discussion: An overview of some key selected requirements contained in the PEF Guide was compared with the requirements/specifications contained in the IES GPI. Despite having a comparable scope and being based on a life cycle approach, the methods are not aligned in several key requirements, such as cut-off rules, modelling approach, allocation rules, and impact categories. The results of the comparison between the benchmarks defined in the PEFCRs and the average impacts in the EPDs show a general low comparability and, anyway, limited to the climate change impact category. Conclusions: This paper was aimed to compare the relevant PEF Guide requirements with the key rules defined by the IES. Several critical discrepancies have been identified concerning key requirements affecting the results. The main outcome is that PEF and GPI results cannot be considered comparable and the EU PEF and EPDs cannot be alternatively used as tools supporting Green Public Procurement (GPP) tender requirements. In conclusion, the development of ecolabels can be stimulated via several initiatives such as improving the access to good quality LCA data and strengthening the link between public procurement and environmental labels, but a lot of work is still to be done to reach the harmonisation of rules and the comparability of the results. At present, a statement of non-comparability could be added on ecolabels based on different specific rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The environmental impacts of electricity generation are a critical issue towards sustainability and thus an important research topic in several countries. The life cycle assessment methodology has been widely employed to assess electricity generation. However, there are still gaps in research to be explored within this theme. Therefore, this paper aims to conduct a systematic theoretical analysis of the state of the art of the scientific research on LCA of electricity generation systems in the world. Methods: A critical review of 47 studies was conducted. The study is comprehensive in the analysis of the main aspects of the identified high impact studies as follows: authors, countries, universities, keywords, journals, number of citations, life cycle impact assessment methods, impact categories, software tools, and databases. The Methodi Ordinatio was applied to rank the studies in terms of impact factor and number of citations, pointing out high impact research. Results and discussion: Wind and solar powers have two of the smallest impact indices in their generation in terms of global warming, compared to other sources. The ecoinvent database was the most used among the studies analyzed, providing data for potential environmental impacts. The most frequently used impact category in the assessments was climate change. The studies are not equally distributed but most of them are concentrated in European countries. In some countries, clean sources seem promising due to their capacity to generate electricity in places with high wind incidence and high capacity for sunlight capture. Conclusions: The conclusions of this article summarize the characteristics of existing literature and provide suggestions for future work. The results of the study can also be used to promote development actions and foment changes in energy matrices in a global context. The main studies in this area point that in the future, the main sources for electricity generation will be renewable ones, since life cycle assessment of electricity generation systems has been seeking to generate knowledge to support informed decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Demand-side management is a promising way to increase the integration of renewable energy sources by adapting part of the demand to balance power systems. However, the main challenges of evaluating the environmental performances of such programs are the temporal variation of electricity generation and the distinction between generation and electricity use by including imports and exports in real-time.Methods: In this paper, we assessed the environmental impacts of electricity use in France by developing consumption factors based on historical hourly data of imports, exports, and electricity generation of France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, and Spain. We applied a life cycle approach with four environmental indicators: climate change, human health, ecosystem quality, and resources. The developed dynamic consumption factors were used to assess the environmental performances of demand-side management programs through optimized changes in consumption patterns defined by the flexibility of 1 kWh every day in 2012-2014.Results and discussion: Between 2012 and 2014, dynamic consumption factors in France were higher on average than generation factors by 21.8% for the climate change indicator. Moreover, the dynamic consideration of electricity generation of exporting countries is essential to avoid underestimating the impacts of electricity imports and therefore electricity use. The demand response programs showed a range of mitigation up to 38.5% for the climate change indicator. In addition, an environmental optimization cost 1.4 € per kg CO2 eq. for 12% mitigation of emissions as compared to an economic optimization. Finally, embedding the costs of some environmental impacts in the electricity price with a carbon price enhanced the efficiency of economic demand response strategies on the GHG emissions mitigation.Conclusions: The main scientific contribution of this paper is the development of more accurate dynamic electricity consumption factors. The dynamic consumption factors are relevant in LCAs of industrial processes or operational building phases, especially when consumption varies over time and when the power system participates in a wide market with exports and imports such as in France. In the case of demand-side management programs, dynamic consumption factors could prevent an environmentally damaging energy from being imported, despite the economic interest of system operators. However, the approach used in this study was attributional and did not assess the local grid responses of load shifting programs. Therefore, a more comprehensive model could be created to assess the local short-term dynamic consequences of located prospective consumptions and the global long-term consequences of demand-side management programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper presents the regionalized water scarcity characterization factors (CFs) of the available water remaining (AWARE) model, which was found by a previous study, on the water scarcity in Brazil, to be the most indicative characterization model for the water-scarce regions in Brazil. We used the national database and hydrographic delimitations defined by the National Water Agency (Agência Nacional de Águas — ANA) to generate the regionalized AWARE BR CFs. Methods: The CFs were regionalized by hydrographic delimitations used by ANA: (i) State Hydrographic Units (SHU) and (ii) Hydrographic Regions (HR). These AWARE BR CFs were compared with the factors originally proposed by WULCA (2018) and with the Scarcity Index used by ANA to identify the scarcest regions in the country. Finally, the AWARE and AWARE BR factors were applied to a case study of Brazilian melons, evaluating the regionalization effects on the results of water scarcity analysis. Results and discussion: The AWARE BR CFs demonstrate most consistency with the regions recognized by ANA to have water scarcity problems, such as the semiarid region. Approximately 12% of the SHUs exhibited maximum water scarcity (CF = 100) during the entire year, while 11% presented minimum scarcity factors (CF = 0.1). The comparison of hydrologic data from ANA with those from WaterGAP indicated that water availability was overestimated in WaterGAP, while demand was underestimated in different basins. The comparison of AWARE BR CFs with ANA Scarcity Index values indicated more similarity (smaller residual error) than the comparison of AWARE BR CFs with AWARE. The case study regarding the impact of water scarcity on melons showed a significant difference between characterization factors and, consequently, in the values of impact. Conclusions: AWARE BR factors generated with national characterization data are adapted to the different regions of Brazil, exhibiting higher sensitivity to the semiarid region. This regionalization provided a more accurate representation of the scarcity in smaller basins located in larger basins, characterized by large climate variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There are specific effects of emissions in high altitude, which lead to a higher contribution of aviation to the problem of climate change than just the emission of CO2 from burning fuels. The exact relevance is subject to scientific debate, but there is a consensus that aircrafts have an impact that is higher than just their contribution due to the direct CO2 emissions. The gap between this scientific knowledge on the one side and the missing of applicable GWP (global warming potential) factors for relevant emissions on the other side are an important shortcoming for life cycle assessment (LCA) or carbon footprint (CF) studies which aim to cover all relevant environmental impacts of the transport services investigated.Methods: In this paper, the state of the art concerning the accounting for the specific effects of aircraft emissions in LCA and CF studies is discussed. Therefore, the relevant literature was evaluated, and practitioners were asked for the approaches used by them.Results and discussion: Five major approaches are identified ranging from an RFI (radiative forcing index) factor of 1 (no factor at all) to a factor 2.7 for the total aircraft CO2 emissions. If only emissions in the higher atmosphere are considered, RFI factors between 1 and 8.5 are used or proposed in practice.Conclusions: For the time being, an RFI of 2 on total aircraft CO2 (or 5.2 for the CO2 emissions in the higher atmosphere if using present models in ecoinvent) is recommended to be used in LCA and CF studies because it is based on the latest scientific publications; this basic literature cannot be misinterpreted. Furthermore, it is also recommended by some political institutions. These factors can be multiplied by the direct CO2 emissions of the aircraft to estimate the total global warming potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The nutritional quality of final products is attracting an increased level of attention within life cycle assessment (LCA) literature of agri-food systems. The majority of these studies, however, are based on comparisons at the dietary level and, therefore, are unable to offer immediate implications for farmers as to how best to produce food. This article evaluates recent literature examining the nutrition-environment nexus at the commodity level, with the aim to identify potential pathways towards sustainability analysis that can inform both consumers and producers. Methods: A systematic search of literature was carried out to produce a shortlist of studies, and strict exclusion criteria were applied to them afterwards to eliminate irrelevant material. The studies thus selected were classified into one of three tiers based on the level of complexity with regard to their functional units: (1) based on single nutrients, (2) based on composite indicators derived from multiple nutrients and (3) based on commodity-level analysis in a dietary context. Results and discussion: Sixteen papers were identified for inclusion in the review. All of them accounted for climate change either directly or indirectly, whilst only five addressed different impact categories at the same time. Nine studies estimated environmental impacts under functional units associated with nutrient density scores, and the others utilised alternative approaches to account for nutritional value such as linear programming and end-point modelling combined with epidemiological data. A recently developed method to calculate the marginal contribution of a commodity to the overall nutritional value of a specific diet was considered to be a successful first step in bridging the aforementioned knowledge gap. Conclusions: The LCA community should continue the ongoing effort to link farm management decisions to diet-level environmental impacts through an enhanced focus on human nutrition across the entire value chain. Future research comparing environmental performances of multiple food groups or multiple production systems should acknowledge differences in nutritional composition and bioavailability between the final products and, ideally, the effects of these nutrients on overall dietary quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The goal of this study is to evaluate and compare the environmental impact (with a focus on global warming potential) of five hand drying systems: hands-under (HU) dryers, high-speed hands-under (HSHU) dryers, high-speed hands-in (HSHI) dryers, cotton roll towels, and paper towels. Another objective is to incorporate uncertainty into this comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) as a means of understanding the statistical robustness of the difference between the environmental impacts of the hand drying systems. Methods: We conducted a life cycle assessment in accordance with the ISO 14040/14044 standards using data primarily from publicly available reports. As part of the study, we performed a parameter uncertainty analysis for multiple scenarios to evaluate the impact of uncertainty in input data on the relative performance of products. In addition, we conducted a probabilistic scenario analysis of key drying system parameters in order to understand the implications of changing assumptions on the outcomes of the analyses. Results and discussion: The scope of the analyses enabled us to draw robust conclusions about the relative environmental performance of the products. We can say with a high degree of confidence that the high-speed dryers have a lower impact than paper towels and cotton roll towels. Differentiating the performance of the hand dryers requires being more specific about framing assumptions. Under certain conditions, the HSHI dryer is expected to have a lower impact than the HU and HSHU dryers. However, under other conditions, one cannot say that the HSHI dryer is clearly better than the other dryers. We cannot differentiate the performance between the HU dryer, cotton roll towels, and paper towels. Conclusions: This work demonstrates the importance of going beyond traditional uncertainty analyses for comparative LCAs that are used for assertions of relative product environmental impact. Indeed, we found instances where the conclusions changed as a result of using the probabilistic scenario analysis. We outline important elements that should be included in future guidance on uncertainty analyses in comparative LCAs, including conducting parameter and scenario uncertainty analyses together and then using the outcomes to guide selection of parameters and/or choices to analyze further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study is to assess the life cycle carbon footprint of the New Zealand kiwifruit packaging and transport supply chain to retailers in two major markets (Japan and Germany). Results of this study have been used to identify areas of the New Zealand kiwifruit packaging and transport supply chain that contribute significantly to the carbon footprint and to identify options for reduction. Methods: This study is based on the ISO standards for life cycle assessment (namely, ISO 14040: and ISO 14044:). The PAS 2050 also provided further methodological guidance. Primary packaging data were sourced from Zespri's suppliers. End-of-life data were sourced from the market and waste statistics of the relevant countries. Gabi 4.4 was used for upstream material information and modelling. Results and discussion: The carbon footprint of the packaging and transport of kiwifruit ranged from 0.33 to 0.67 kg COe per kilogram of fruit delivered to a store depending on pack type and market. Shipping accounted for the majority of these emissions (58-82 %), and Zespri is actively working with shipping companies to reduce this. There are also opportunities to reduce the carbon footprint through reducing the amount of fruit repacked in the market, using trains for long-distance transport and increasing packaging recycling rates. Conclusions: There is a range of options for reducing the carbon footprint of the New Zealand kiwifruit packaging and transport supply chain. These will tend to be incremental (i.e. a number of small gains) and would involve working closely with partners in the supply chain. Options include increased efficiency in shipping, use of trains for land transport, reductions in the addition of structural packaging in the market, managing the product mix to minimize those supply chains with a higher carbon footprint, identifying alternative material for components of the packaging, replacing the use of polystyrene clamshells with alternative materials or plastic bags and maximizing recycling rates along all stages of the supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Plastics generate more than 500 tons of waste in Ecuador each year, according to statistics from 2016. Therefore, the Ecuadorian Congress has approved a law to ban single-use plastics to deal with their high volumes contaminating the environment. Furthermore, researchers and policymakers have been concerned about finding possible solutions to replace single-use plastics. Hence, the production of polylactic acid (PLA) in Ecuador and its environmental impact analysis and potential use as the replacement material for petroleum-based polymers is the aim of this study. Methods: An environmental performance analysis is carried out for the potential production of polylactic acid (PLA) in Guayaquil, Ecuador. For this purpose, the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology has been used. Therefore, the LCA was considered in three steps: production of PLA, transformation to film product, and end-of-life scenario. The LCA was performed to analyze the potential environmental impact of 1 m2 PLA film production. The International Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) 2011 Midpoint + method, which exists in SimaPro software, was used for the impact analysis. Results and discussion: The production of biodegradable PLA film causes a climate change impact of 0.85 kg CO2 eq for the established functional unit and several positive environmental impacts. Due to the natural raw material used for its production, the PLA production process significantly contributes to the impacts. The process contribution order was calculated starting with PLA production (74.32%), then electricity (20.41%), polyethylene glycol (PEG) (5.05%), and finally transport (0.21%). An increase in PLA production requires more land, machinery, fuel, and fertilizers. These increases mean higher environmental impacts. PLA production in Ecuador showed a 14% higher climate change indicator than its production in the USA. Optimization of the process could lower the indicator. The landfill scenario was the most pollutant, but recycling shows great promise as the option for end-of-life. Conclusion: Despite being a bio-solution, all the parameters must be considered when analyzing a shift from plastics to PLA biopolymer. According to the sensitivity analysis, the production of PLA and its film product system had a good consistency when parameters like the amount of sugar needed is varied. According to the environmental score obtained, PLA production from sugar cane is the best option in its production in Ecuador. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Environmental burden caused by an organization occurs both within its boundaries and in its value chain. Organizational life cycle assessment (LCA) was proposed as a method for calculating impacts of an organization throughout its life cycle; nevertheless, companies are still lacking a universal approach to conduct inventory analysis and face challenges in data collection. This paper introduces a hybrid approach for compiling the inventory for the indirect activities on organizational level in an effective manner. Methods: Three existing accounting methods (namely product related, process based, and monetary based) are connected within the hybrid approach. The potential to apply each method for an indirect activity is analyzed with regard to the system boundary requirements and availability of activity data and emission factors. The calculation procedures are introduced for selected activities. The advantages and limitations of the hybridization on organizational level are discussed. The developed approach is applied in a case study to the automotive supplier Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co.KG. Results and discussion: The framework for application of the hybrid approach including the required activity data and emission factors for every indirect activity and each accounting method is provided. The product-related and process-based methods are recommended as more robust; nevertheless, hybridization with the monetary-based method might be essential for compiling a comprehensive inventory by limited data availability. Such limitations as double counting, truncation error, and insufficient data resolution may influence the results and should be considered when applying the hybrid approach. The case study demonstrated that the proposed approach allowed establishing an inventory for all relevant indirect activities. However, due to missing emission factors, only the impact category climate change was calculated for all activities; acidification and water use were quantified for six activities. Conclusions: The introduced hybrid approach enables selecting the most suitable accounting method for the indirect activities depending on data availability. This promotes application of the organizational life cycle assessment in particular for small and medium enterprises and companies that do not have access to the commercial LCA datasets. Availability of the emission factors for all impact categories in public databases is essential to provide robust results using the hybrid approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: An organization has to consider the influence from an environmental change, such as climate change, to its business activities. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) evaluates an impact to the environment; however, there is no LCA method to evaluate an impact from the environment. This study aims to develop a method for evaluating a relative potential impact from climate change to a product system using an LCA framework and to support adaptation planning. Methods: This paper proposes LCA framework adaptation planning (LCA-AP) that can be applied to climate change. First, it identifies environmental drivers induced by climate change that impact human health and social assets. Second, an elementary flow from each environmental driver with potential impacts, such as freshwater use, is identified. Third, an activity requiring a large amount of the elementary flow is identified. The identified activity is a hotspot potentially impacted by climate change, and possible improvements are considered. LCA-AP is demonstrated by a case study of printing paper production. Results and discussion: The current life-cycle impact assessment methods, such as water footprints and land use, evaluate impacts to the environment. In contrast, LCA-AP evaluates an impact from the environment, and the environmental mechanism is different. In LCA-AP, a practitioner has to calculate the impact for each country and has to do the same for the water footprint method. After hotspots are identified, the next step is to scrutinize an actual risk of climate change to a company's own product supply chain. Collaboration with a business partner may identify a risk and its countermeasure. Conclusions: Application of LCA-AP to climate change was proposed, and its effectiveness demonstrated through a case study. LCA-AP evaluates a relative potential impact from climate change to a product system in an LCA framework at the product design stage. Existing LCA databases and software can be used to implement LCA-AP. The author recommends expanding the method to other environmental impact categories and developing a way to prioritize impact categories through damage assessment and weighting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Offshoring of pulpwood production outside Europe is more and more common, which increases transport distances and also changes production technologies, raw material supply and energy production profiles. In this paper, we aim to compare the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of pulp production from Finnish boreal hardwood and from South American eucalyptus. Special emphasis was placed on analysing the contribution of transport to overall climate impacts. Materials and methods: A life cycle assessment (LCA) was used as the system modelling tool. The impact assessment was limited to climate change. Finnish and South American industrial data were combined with data from LCA databases in the life cycle inventory (LCI). Results and discussion: Based on the results, offshoring of pulp production would decrease the global greenhouse gas emissions of pulp production itself. However, transport to Europe outweighs the benefit even if transported by energy efficient ships. In this case study, transportation accounted for 27% of the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of South American pulp shipped to Europe. Conclusions: Outsourcing of biomass production offers opportunities for emission reductions. Such a conclusion may be valid if the distances between biomass production and upgrading processes were relatively short. However, this study reveals that the offshoring of biomass production contributes to a significant growth of transport emissions. The trend of offshoring provides challenges for the implementation of emission trading since the responsibility of countries to transoceanic transport is still unclear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several experts such as Nicole A. Mathys, Rolf Frischknecht, and Brian Cox discusses various paper at the 66th life cycle assessment (LCA) forum, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, in Zurich, Switzerland held on August 30, 2017. Topics discussed include environmental impacts of electric cars and mobility scenarios; planning of road and rail infrastructure programmes, air emission, and others in the nation; and focuses on climate change.

Purpose: Due to various environmental pressures such as climate change and scarcity of natural resources, as well as nontariff barriers from trade partners, Thailand has established the Thai national life cycle inventory (LCI) database in 2006. In the 1st phase (2006-2007), three working groups were developed for natural gas, refinery, and petrochemical products. Another seven working groups were established in the 2nd phase (2007-2010) for ferrous and non-ferrous metals, utilities and transportation, construction materials, agricultural materials and products, basic chemicals, recycling and waste management, and others. In the 3rd phase (2010 to present), expansion of the number of data sets from the previous phases has been carried out. The purpose of this paper is to present the experiences on national database development in emerging countries with the example of Thailand on both strategic and technical levels using refinery products as the case study. Methods: Data sets were developed according to ISO 14044:2006. The LCI data were managed and archived at the central facility known as the 'central LCI database'. The Life Cycle Assessment lab (LCA lab) at MTEC, NSTDA, has been responsible for the central LCI database management. From 2008 to 2010, the 'Thai national LCI database and its applications' project was granted a 3-year funding of over 50 million THB, and was operated under supervision of a steering committee set up by the Ministry of Industry (MoI). For this case study, to illustrate the development process, primary data of the refinery products were collected by Petroleum Institute of Thailand in the year 2005 from seven refineries covering more than 70 % of the production in the country. Attributional modelling has been used, with energy content as an allocation criterion. Results and discussion: During the initial phase of the 'Thai National LCI Database Development Project', two key barriers have been faced. One was the lack of awareness from stakeholders as LCI and LCA were quite new tools for most people in Thailand. This problem was tackled by collaborating with the right strategic partners to drive the LCI national project and educating stakeholders with the training supports from Japan. The other hindrance was the lack of expertise of local experts on LCA. It took several years to continually build the capacity through seminars and workshops in Thailand and Japan, including 'on the job training' on some pilot projects. As of May 2016, there were more than 700 data sets in the Thai national LCI database, considering only the data that MTEC acted as the project commissioner. However, only 515 data were certified as the national database. The other 211 data were qualified merely as the data from pilot projects. More details of the database list and how to access the data can be viewed in Thai language at the URL: . Because the Thai national LCI data were mostly primary data from a core set of products for the Thai economy with a very high representativeness (>60 %) of the actual Thai productions, the data have been treated carefully. Only C-to-G data and G-to-G data from literature were allowed to disclose to Thai delegates with some signing agreements. However, G-to-G data from the actual Thai productions were sometimes provided, only with the signing confidentiality contracts. For refinery products, seven average data sets were established as national LCI data sets, i.e. liquefied petroleum gas, sulfur, gasoline, kerosene/jet oil, naphtha, fuel oil and diesel, with the year 2005 as the reference year. The data representativeness was very high covering more than 70 % of the production in Thailand. Due to the positive feedback and engagement from industries, several LCI projects have been started after this initial phase. The national LCI data sets have been used in various national applications and policies such as sustainable biofuels, government green public procurement, green GDP, Thai carbon footprint, etc. However, some relevant limitations of the Thai LCI database were listed as follows. Similar to most surveyed national LCI database worldwide, the climate change impact category has been chosen as the main focus for these data sets. Nevertheless, there is a more growing demand to use the data for other applications. As a result, more data sets that cover other impact categories will be required in the near future. Regarding the nomenclature and format, the Thai data sets were technically unique and not fully compatible with any other database. Conclusions: The Thai national LCI database could be considered as the pioneer case for other countries in the South East Asia region. Thailand has further progressed in its LCI database development. Since 2009, the Thai national LCI database has been used as one of the key infrastructures of Thailand to support public policies and applications related to green growth. Many Thai stakeholders are well aware on LCI, LCA, and EcoDesign. Expertise of local experts has been increasingly improved. However, there are still more challenges to be faced to harvest the value of the Thai database in its full potential for better decision making in industry and policy, and for better positioning of Thai products on the global markets. From our experience, the following issues could be identified as 'lessons learned'. At the onset of the project, it was crucial to get in expert advices from LCA-experienced countries to establish local expertise. Also, industry experts from abroad could help in clarifying the concept and addressing confidentiality concerns, as well as building awareness on LCA to Thai industries. Searching for some supporting programmes for capacity building, such as the GPP from Japan in our case, could provide great benefits to any emerging economies for national LCI initiatives. However, sustaining the trained human resources was also vital. Continual funding supports for LCI development and its applications were necessary to keep the momentum of active people in the field. Multiplying effect of the LCI knowledge to related organizations in the three main groups, i.e. government, academia, and industries, could help sustain the knowhow. Also, effective knowledge management through media such as books, guidelines, training courses, etc. would relief the turnover problem of trained staffs. Although it took a lot of time to develop local expertise, it was an essential step to have sufficient number of local experts to sustain the national database project. Moreover, a strong network of experts and researchers locally and internationally also strengthened the technical capacity to deal with any challenges during the project implementation. Furthermore, collaboration with the right strategic partners to drive the project was also very important in order to elevate it to the national level. It should be noted for any emerging economies aiming to initiate national LCI, the work plan for LCI database development (including the database management system) and its applications should be well balanced. Also, a well-designed database management system would enhance the database usage in the long run, especially when dealing with various impact categories like those in PEF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Along with climate change-related issues, improved water management is recognized as one of the major challenges to sustainability. However, there are still no commonly accepted methods for measuring sustainability of water uses, resulting in a recent proliferation of water footprint methodologies. The Water Impact Index presented in this paper aims to integrate the issues of volume, scarcity and quality into a single indicator to assess the reduction of available water for the environment induced by freshwater uses for human activities. Methods: The Water Impact Index follows life cycle thinking principles. For each unit process, a volumetric water balance is performed; water flows crossing the boundaries between the techno-sphere and environment are multiplied by a water quality index and a water scarcity index. The methodology is illustrated on the current municipal wastewater management system of Milan (Italy). The Water Impact Index is combined with carbon footprint to introduce multi-impact thinking to decision makers. The Water Impact Index is further compared to results obtained using a set of three life cycle impact indicators related to water, from the ReCiPe life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methodology. Results and discussion: Onsite water use is the main contribution to the Water Impact Index for both wastewater management schemes. The release of better quality water is the main driver in favour of the scenario including a wastewater treatment plant, while the energy and chemicals consumed for the treatment increase the indirect water footprint and carbon footprint. Results obtained with the three midpoint indicators depict similar tendencies to the Water Impact Index. Conclusions: This paper presents a simplified single-indicator approach for water footprinting, integrating volume, scarcity and quality issues, representing an initial step toward a better understanding and assessment of the environmental impacts of human activities on water resources. The wastewater treatment plant reduces the Water Impact Index of the wastewater management system. These results are consistent with the profile of the three midpoint indicators related to water from ReCiPe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper compares environmental impacts of the rental business model with the conventional model of manufacturing and selling. The case study examines a home use-water purifier by defining scenarios for operation and maintenance of the conventional and rental business models. Another purpose is to explore the potential improvement for the environmental performance of the rental business model in terms of the resource consumption and climate change. Methods: The functional unit was supplying hot/cold drinking water for 15 years between 1998 and 2013. Primary data were from a Korean company that manufactures and servicizes water purifier; secondary data were from the Korean national LCI database, literatures, and interviews. Scenarios associated with all life cycle stages of a water purifier including operation and maintenance were based on current sales and rental market. Impact assessments were conducted according to the International Organization for Standardization's 14044, and impact categories considered were global warming and abiotic resource depletion. The key issues and improvement potential of the rental business model were determined with the impact categories of global warming and abiotic resource depletion. Results and discussion: This study indicates that the rental business model is more environmentally friendly than the conventional model in the impact on global warming while the conventional model shows lower abiotic resource depletion. Product operation was the most significant contributor to the selected environmental impacts for both conventional and rental models. Product maintenance was the second major contributor for the rental business model in terms of abiotic resource depletion. For the conventional model, however, production was a more significant contributor to the selected environmental impacts. The rental model showed approximately 32~37% improvements in the selected environmental impacts by focusing on the environmental education or information to consumers. Conclusions: This quantitative life cycle assessment can be a tool for service business providers to understand the life cycle environmental impacts of Korean water purifier and explore potential improvement opportunities for sustainability. The lower life cycle impacts of the water purifier-rental business model can be attributed to the following: the preparation of instruction or environmental education regarding the consumer's turning off behavior when the product is not in use, thus lower energy consumption during the use stage and shorter distance traveled for maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Bacterial cellulose (BC), obtained by fermentation, is an innovative and promising material with a broad spectrum of potential applications. Despite the increasing efforts towards its industrialization, a deeper understanding of the environmental impact related to the BC production process is still required. This work aimed at quantifying the environmental, health, and resource depletion impacts related to a production of BC. Methods: An attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) was applied to a process design of production of BC, by static culture, following a cradle-to-gate approach. The LCA was modeled with GaBi Pro Software using the ReCiPe 2016 (H) methodology with environmental impact indicators at midpoint level. The functional unit was defined as 1 kg of BC (dry mass), in 138.8 kg of water. Results: From the total used resources (38.9 ton/kg of BC), water is the main one (36.1 ton/kg of BC), most of which (98%) is returned to fresh waters after treatment. The production of raw materials consumed 17.8 ton of water/kg of BC, 13.8 ton/kg of BC of which was for the production of carton packaging, culture medium raw materials, and sodium hydroxide (for the washing of BC). The remaining consumed water was mainly for the fermentation (3.9 ton/kg) and downstream process (7.7 ton/kg). From the identified potential environmental impacts, the production of raw materials had the highest impact, mainly on "Climate change", "Fossil depletion", "Human toxicity, non-cancer", and "Terrestrial toxicity". The sodium dihydrogen phosphate production, used in the culture medium, showed the highest environmental impacts in "Human toxicity, non-cancer" and "Terrestrial ecotoxicity", followed by corn syrup and carton production. The static culture fermentation and downstream process showed impact in "Climate change" and "Fossil depletion". Conclusions: Per se, the BC production process had a small contribution to the consumption of resources and environmental impact of the BC global life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Global beer consumption is growing steadily and has recently reached 187.37 billion litres per year. The UK ranked 8th in the world, with 4.5 billion litres of beer produced annually. This paper considers life cycle environmental impacts and costs of beer production and consumption in the UK which are currently unknown. The analysis is carried out for two functional units: (i) production and consumption of 1 l of beer at home and (ii) annual production and consumption of beer in the UK. The system boundary is from cradle to grave. Methods: Life cycle impacts have been estimated following the guidelines in ISO 14040/44; the methodology for life cycle costing is congruent with the LCA approach. Primary data have been obtained from a beer manufacturer; secondary data are sourced from the CCaLC, Ecoinvent and GaBi databases. GaBi 4.3 has been used for LCA modelling and the environmental impacts have been estimated according to the CML 2001 method. Results and discussion: Depending on the type of packaging (glass bottles, aluminium and steel cans), 1 l of beer requires for example 10.3-17.5 MJ of primary energy and 41.2-41.8 l of water, emits 510-842 g of CO eq. and has the life cycle costs of 12.72-14.37 pence. Extrapolating the results to the annual consumption of beer in the UK translates to a primary energy demand of over 49,600 TJ (0.56 % of UK primary energy consumption), water consumption of 1.85 bn hl (5.3 % of UK demand), emissions of 2.16 mt CO eq. (0.85 % of UK emissions) and the life cycle costs of £553 million (3.2 % of UK beer market value). Production of raw materials is the main hotspot, contributing from 47 to 63 % to the impacts and 67 % to the life cycle costs. The packaging adds 19 to 46 % to the impacts and 13 % to the costs. Conclusions: Beer in steel cans has the lowest impacts for five out of 12 impact categories considered: primary energy demand, depletion of abiotic resources, acidification, marine and freshwater toxicity. Bottled beer is the worst option for nine impact categories, including global warming and primary energy demand, but it has the lowest human toxicity potential. Beer in aluminium cans is the best option for ozone layer depletion and photochemical smog but has the highest human and marine toxicity potentials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Weighting can enable valuable support for decision-makers when interpreting life cycle assessment (LCA) results. Distance-to-target (DtT) weighting is based on the distance of policy (desired) targets to current environmental situations, and recent methodological DtT developments are based on a weighting perspective of a single region or country, considering mainly environmental situations in consuming countries or regions. However, as product supply chains are spread over many countries, this study aims at developing additional weighting approaches (producer regions and worst-case regions) and applying them in a theoretical case study on a global scale. Methods: The current study is carried out to understand the influence of and the effect on weighting results of different countries and regions with their specific environmental policy targets. Based on the existing Ecological Scarcity Method (ESM), eco-factors for the three environmental issues climate change, acidification, and water resources were derived for as many countries as possible. The regional eco-factors were applied in a case study for steel and aluminum considering the three different weighting approaches on different regional scales. Results and discussion: The analysis revealed significant differences in the obtained weighting results as well as strengths and limitations in the applicability of the examined perspectives. Acidification was showed to be highly important with between 80 and 92% of the aggregated weighting results among the perspectives where water-scarce countries were not involved. Water-scarce countries had a significant influence (75–95%) when they were part of the examined case study. Conclusions: The developed approaches enable the assessment of global value chains in different producer regions as well as the utilization of the conservative worst-case-regions approach. The approaches can foster future decision-making in LCA contexts while providing country-specific results based on different weighting perspectives in national, regional, and global contexts. However, for a complete implementation of the presented approaches, further data gathering is needed on environmental situations and policy targets in different countries as well as regionalized life cycle data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The overall aim of this study is to contribute to the creation of LCA database on electricity generation systems in Ethiopia. This study specifically estimates the environmental impacts associated with wind power systems supplying high voltage electricity to the national grid. The study has regional significance as the Ethiopian electric system is already supplying electricity to Sudan and Djibouti and envisioned to supply to other countries in the region. Materials and methods: Three different grid-connected wind power systems consisting of four different models of wind turbines with power rates between 1 and 1.67 MW were analyzed for the situation in Ethiopia. The assessment takes into account all the life cycle stages of the total system, cradle to grave, considering all the processes related to the wind farms: raw material acquisition, manufacturing of main components, transporting to the wind farm, construction, operation and maintenance, and the final dismantling and waste treatment. The study has been developed in line with the main principles of the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standard procedures. The analysis is done using SimaPro software 8.0.3.14 multi-user, Ecoinvent database version 3.01, and ReCiPe 2008 impact assessment method. The assumed operational lifetime as a baseline is 20 years. Results and discussion: The average midpoint environmental impact of Ethiopian wind power system per kWh electricity generated is for climate change: 33.6 g CO2 eq., fossil depletion: 8 g oil eq., freshwater ecotoxicity: 0.023 g 1,4-DCB eq., freshwater eutrophication: 0.005 g N eq., human toxicity: 9.9 g 1,4-DCB eq., metal depletion: 18.7 g Fe eq., marine ecotoxicity: 0.098 g 1,4-DCB eq., particulate matter formation: 0.097 g PM10 eq., photochemical oxidant formation: 0.144 g NMVOC, and terrestrial acidification: 0.21 g SO2 eq. The pre-operation phase that includes the upstream life cycle stage is the largest contributor to all the environmental impacts, with shares ranging between 82 and 96%. The values of cumulative energy demand (CED) and energy return on investment (EROI) for the wind power system are 0.393 MJ and 9.2, respectively. Conclusion: The pre-operation phase is the largest contributor to all the environmental impact categories. The sensitivity and scenario analyses indicate that changes in wind turbine lifespans, capacity factors, exchange rates for parts, transport routes, and treatment activities would result in significant changes in the LCA results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study discusses the significance of the use of non-renewable fossil cumulative energy demand (CED) as proxy indicator in the beverage packaging sector, in order to detect those situations in which companies can benefit from the use of proxy indicators before a full life cycle assessment (LCA) application. Starting from a case study of two milk containers, the objectives of this paper are to assess if the use of this inventory indicator can be a suitable proxy indicator both (1) to decide which is the packaging alternative with the lowest environmental impact and (2) to identify the most impacting process units of the two products under study. Method: The analysis was made according to ISO14040-44. The goal of the comparative LCA was to evaluate and to compare the potential environmental impacts from cradle to grave of a laminated carton container and a HDPE bottle. The results of the comparative LCA obtained with the non-renewable CED indicator are compared with a selection of impact categories: climate change, particulate matter formation, terrestrial acidification, fossil depletion, photochemical oxidant formation. A further analysis is made for the two products under study in order to determine which are the environmental hot spots in terms of life cycle stages, by the means of a contribution analysis. Results and discussion: From the comparative LCA, the use of non-renewable CED revealed to be useful for a screening as the results given by the non-renewable CED indicator are confirmed by all the impact categories considered, even if underestimated. If the aim of the LCA study was to define which is the packaging solution with a lower environmental impact, the choice of this inventory indicator could have led to the same decision as if a comprehensive LCIA method was used. The contribution analysis, focusing on the identification of environmental hot spots in the packaging value chain, revealed that the choice of an inventory indicator as non-renewable CED can lead to misleading results, if compared with another impact category, such as climate change. Conclusions: As in the future development of beverage packaging system, LCA will be necessarily integrated in the design process, it is important to define other ways of simplifying its application and spread its use among companies. The LCI indicator non-renewable fossil CED can effectively be used in order to obtain a preliminary estimation of the life cycle environmental impacts of two or more competing products in the beverage packaging sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The increasing concern for adverse effects of climate change has spurred the search for alternatives for conventional energy sources. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has increasingly been used to assess the potential of these alternatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The popularity of LCA in the policy context puts its methodological issues into another perspective. This paper discusses how bio-electricity directives deal with the issue of allocation and shows its repercussions in the policy field. Methods: Multifunctionality has been a well-known problem since the early development of LCA and several methods have been suggested to deal with multifunctional processes. This paper starts with a discussion of the most common allocation methods. This discussion is followed by a description of bio-energy policy directives. The description shows the increasing importance of LCA in the policy context as well as the lack of consensus in the application of allocation methods. Methodological differences between bio-energy directives possibly lead to different assessments of bio-energy chains. To assess the differences due to methodological choices in bio-energy directives, this paper applies three different allocation methods to the same bio-electricity generation system. The differences in outcomes indicate the importance of solving the allocation issue for policy decision making. Results and discussion: The case study focuses on bio-electricity from rapeseed oil. To assess the influence of the choice of allocation in a policy directive, three allocation methods are applied: economic partitioning (on the basis of proceeds), physical partitioning (on the basis of energy content), and substitution (under two scenarios). The outcomes show that the climate change score is assessed quite differently; ranging from 0.293 kg to 0.604 kg CO eq/kWh. It is argued that this uncertainty hampers the optimal use of LCA in the policy context. The aim of policy LCAs is different from the aim of LCAs for analysis. Therefore, it is argued that LCAs in the policy context will benefit from a new guideline based on robustness. Conclusions: The case study confirms that the choice of allocation method in policy directives has large influence on the outcomes of an LCA. With the growing popularity of LCA in policy directives, this paper recommends a new guideline for policy LCAs. The high priority of robustness in the policy context makes it an ideal starting point of this guideline. An accompanying dialog between practitioners and commissioners should further strengthen the use of LCA in policy directives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper estimates the life cycle environmental impacts of the standard road tunnel in Norway. The results can then serve as input to the environmental impact assessment in the planning of future road projects and as a tool to identify hot spots for reducing the environmental impacts from future tunnel projects. Methods: This life cycle assessment (LCA) study follows the ISO 14040/44 methodology. The construction, operation and maintenance stages are assessed. The functional unit of this study is defined as '1-m standard Norwegian road tunnel with 100-year lifetime'. This study estimate the life cycle inventory by the following: (1) road tunnel construction tenders completed during 2004-2011 in Norway and (2) the Norwegian excavation practice of rock tunnels over the past 20 years. The Ecoinvent database provides the background data to the analysis. Results and discussion: The construction stage is found to contribute the most to the impact categories of climate change, photochemical oxidant formation, ozone depletion and terrestrial acidification. The consumption of concrete and explosives constitute the main elements causing these impacts. Equally, the construction stage is the main contributor to ozone depletion, caused by the consumption of bitumen and transport of materials. The maintenance stage contributes with 58 % of the particulate matter formation, due to the consumption of crushed aggregates and bitumen. The operation stage also plays a major role in human toxicity, ionising radiation and terrestrial ecotoxicity, contributing 57, 85 and 72 % of these impact categories, respectively, mainly due to the consumption of electricity. One Norwegian standard road tunnel emits at least 31 kt CO eq greenhouse gases during its 100-year lifetime. The total greenhouse gases embodied in current the Norwegian road tunnel stock amount to at least 8.3 million tonnes, equal to 83 % of the total national direct CO eq emissions due to road traffic in 2011. In recent years, around 150 kt CO eq has been emitted annually to the atmosphere due to the construction, maintenance and operation of Norwegian road tunnels. Conclusions: The policy implication from this study is that greenhouse gas emissions caused by the transport infrastructure is significant, and it is strongly recommended to be taken into account from the early planning phase of infrastructure projects in order to identify the best project proposal and to minimise the negative environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two ISO-compliant approaches on modelling the recycling of plastics and metals are frequently applied in life cycle assessment case studies and intensively debated: the recycled content or cutoff approach and the end of life recycling or avoided burden approach. This paper discusses the two approaches from three different perspectives: (1) the kind of sustainability concept served, (2) the risk perception involved and (3) the eco-efficiency indicators resulting from the two approaches. The analysis shows that the recycled content approach serves the strong sustainability concept. It is based on a risk-averse attitude and results in higher eco-efficiency of metal scrap recycling as compared to primary metal manufacture. The end of life recycling approach serves the weak sustainability concept (losses in natural capital can be compensated by man-made capital). It corresponds to a risk-seeking attitude and results in higher eco-efficiency of primary metal manufacture as compared to secondary metal production. It is concluded that a harmonisation of the approaches is hardly possible due to the value choices involved. It is the task of (private and public) life cycle assessment commissioners to decide on the appropriate modelling approach. National authorities may have a rather long-term and risk-averse perspective, whilst industries may prefer a short-term perspective leading them to select the recycled content and end of life recycling approach, respectively. Life cycle inventory databases need to be flexible to serve such opposing perspectives and to enable practitioners to adapt the modelling approaches according to the needs of the commissioner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background, aim, and scope The availability of fossil resources is predicted to decrease in the near future: they are a non-renewable source, they cause environmental concerns, and they are subjected to price instability. Utilization of biomass as raw material in a biorefinery is a promising alternative to fossil resources for production of energy carriers and chemicals, as well as for mitigating climate change and enhancing energy security. This paper focuses on a biorefinery concept which produces bioethanol, bioenergy, and biochemicals from switchgrass, a lignocellulosic crop. Results are compared with a fossil reference system producing the same products/services from fossil sources. Materials and methods The biorefinery system is investigated using a Life Cycle Assessment approach, which takes into account all the input and output flows occurring along the production chain. This paper elaborates on methodological key issues like land use change effects and soil N2O emissions, whose influence on final outcomes is weighted in a sensitivity analysis. Since climate change mitigation and energy security are the two most important driving forces for biorefinery development, the assessment has a focus on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and cumulative primary energy demand (distinguished into fossil and renewable), but other environmental impact categories (e.g., abiotic depletion, eutrophication, etc.) are assessed as well. Results The use of switchgrass in a biorefinery offsets GHG emissions and reduces fossil energy demand: GHG emissions are decreased by 79% and about 80% of non-renewable energy is saved. Soil C sequestration is responsible for a large GHG benefit (65 kt CO2-eq/a, for the first 20 years), while switchgrass production is the most important contributor to total GHG emissions of the system. If compared with the fossil reference system, the biorefinery system releases more N2O emissions, while both CO2 and CH4 emissions are reduced. The investigation of the other impact categories revealed that the biorefinery has higher impacts in two categories: acidification and eutrophication. Discussion Results are mainly affected by raw material (i.e., switchgrass) production and land use change effects. Steps which mainly influence the production of switchgrass are soil N2O emissions, manufacture of fertilizers (especially those nitrogen-based), processing (i.e., pelletizing and drying), and transport. Even if the biorefinery chain has higher primary energy demand than the fossil reference system, it is mainly based on renewable energy (i.e., the energy content of the feedstock): the provision of biomass with sustainable practices is then a crucial point to ensure a renewable energy supply to biorefineries. Conclusions This biorefinery system is an effective option for mitigating climate change, reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels, and enhancing cleaner production chains based on local and renewable resources. However, this assessment evidences that determination of the real GHG and energy balance (and all other environmental impacts in general) is complex, and a certain degree of uncertainty is always present in final results. Ranges in final results can be even more widened by applying different combinations of biomass feedstocks, conversion routes, fuels, end-use applications, and methodological assumptions.… [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background, Aims and Scope. The traditional method of using Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) to assess the effects of climate change in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) does not account for indirect atmospheric effects like saturation effects and emissions of ozone precursors. The aim of this paper is to provide GWP values for LCA purposes of the most important climate related gases including indirect effects and assess whether these values are dependent of different background conditions and size of change in emissions fluxes. Methods. In order to reflect atmospheric interactions between direct and indirect greenhouse gases, an atmospheric climate and chemistry model needs to be used to determine GWP values. Here, the IMAGE model is used to determine GWP values for a time horizon of 100 years. Different runs were performed to test the outcomes against various background emission scenarios and various sizes in emission fluxes. Results and Discussion. The GWP values for CO2, N2O and CH4 depend on the chosen scenario and are lower under scenarios with higher background emissions. The GWPs of Halons, PFCs and SF6 are scenario and emission flux independent. The GWPs of HFCs increase with higher background emissions and higher additional emission fluxes, whereas GWPs of CFC are scenario independent, but change when other emission fluxes are applied. Finally, GWPs of HCFCs are higher in scenarios with higher background emission scenarios, and decrease when larger emission fluxes are applied. The GWP values calculated with IMAGE with direct effects only are comparable with IPCC values. Inclusion of the indirect atmospheric effects changes some of the values positively or negatively. For CFCs this results in a value up to 70% lower. For Halons this results in a value up to 1000% lower, resulting in a strong negative GWP. Inclusion of indirect effects increases the GWP of CH4 by 50%. Newly introduced greenhouse gases which have only indirect effects are given here a GWP. SO2 has a negative GWP which depends on both the flux size and the chosen background scenario. CO and NMVOC have a positive flux-and-scenario dependent GWP. The GWP of NOx can, dependent on de chosen conditions, be positive or negative. Conclusions. The GWP values of this paper are a first attempt to provide a consistent set of GWP values for all direct and indirect greenhouse gases, including differences in GWP values per background scenario and flux size. The inclusion of indirect effects in GWP values causes large differences in some important greenhouse gases, which should not be ignored in LCA- analyses. We suggest for LCA purposes to use GWPs including indirect effects for marginal change and for the most realistic background scenario. However, existing uncertainties in the indirect effects of greenhouse gases demand for a better understanding of the importance of these effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a key role in soil functioning and in greenhouse gas exchange with the atmosphere. Land use and land use changes can critically affect SOC. However, despite various methodological developments, there is still no scientific consensus on the best method to assess the holistic impact of land use and land use change within LCA. The SOCLE project aimed to review how SOC contribution to climate change is accounted for in LCA and to test the feasibility and sensitivity of best methodological options. Methods: In total, five crop products (annual/perennial, temperate/tropical) and two livestock products were investigated through 22 scenarios of land use changes (LUC) and agricultural land management changes (LMC). Three methods were applied: IPCC Tier 1-2 (2006), Müller-Wenk and Brandaõ (2010) and Levasseur et al. (2012). We also carried out a sensitivity analysis on key variables, notably carbon stocks, reference states, and regeneration times. Results and discussion: The accounting for LUC and LMC influenced greatly the results on the climate change impact. Compared to the impact of other GHG emissions, (i) LUC impacts ranged from − 23 to + 1702% with the IPCC method and from − 5 to + 336% with the Müller-Wenk and Brandaõ method, and (ii) LMC impacts from − 130 to + 54% and from − 31 to + 11%, respectively. The sensitivity analyses stressed the critical influence of all methodological and data choices on final results. Conclusions: Based on the project results, we recommend accounting systematically for the impact of LULUC on climate change by applying, a minima, the comprehensive IPCC Tier 1 approach (2006), which provides default factors for SOC accounting. Where available, case-specific data should be used (e.g., Tier 2) for SOC stocks but also C:N ratio in order to model the degressive impact over 90% of the time period needed to reach equilibrium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Ongoing debates focus on the role of forest-sourced bioenergy within climate mitigation efforts, due to the long rotation lengths of forest biomass. Valuing sequestration is debated due to its reversibility; however, dynamic modelling of biogenic carbon (Cbio) flows captures both negative and positive emissions. The objective of this work is to respond to the key issue of timing sequestration associated with two opposed modelling choices (historic vs. future) in the context of dynamic life cycle assessment (LCA). Methods: The outputs of a partial-equilibrium model are used to inform prospective evaluations of the use of forest wood residues in response to an energy transition policy. Dynamic forest carbon modelling represents the carbon cycle between the atmosphere and technosphere: Cbio fixation and release through combustion and/or decay. Time-dependent characterization is used to assess the time-sensitive climate change effects. The two Cbio sequestration perspectives for bioenergy (forest biomass use) and reference (no use) scenarios are contrasted to assess (i) their temporal profiles, (ii) their climatic consequences concerning C-complete (fossil + biogenic C) vs. C-neutral (fossil C) approaches, and (iii) the implications of comparing the two approaches with dynamic LCA. Results and discussion: Full lifetime carbon accounting confirms that Cbio entering the bioenergy system equals the Cbio leaving it in the net balance, but not within annual dynamic balances, which alter the atmospheric greenhouse gas composition. The impacts of the historic approach differed considerably from those of the future. Moreover, the "no use" scenario yielded higher forcing effects than the "bioenergy" due to the higher methane proportions. The chicken-egg dilemma arises in attributional LCA: as the forcing depends on the timing of the Cbio sequestration and its allocation to a harvest activity. A decision tree supported by case study applications provides general rules for selecting the adequate time-related modelling approach based the criteria of provision of wood and regrowth from managed and unmanaged forests, determined by the origin of biotic resources and related spheres. Conclusions: Excluding dynamic Cbio introduces under- (future) or over- (historic) estimation of the results, misleading mitigation decisions. Further research is needed to close the gap between forest stand and landscape level, addressing issues beyond the chicken-egg dilemma and developing complete dynamic LCA studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Consumption- and production-based accounting approaches for national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions provide different insights to support climate policymaking. However, no study has yet comprehensively assessed the consumption-based GHG emissions of the entire New Zealand's economy. This research, for the first time, quantified New Zealand's GHG emissions using both consumption- and production-based accounting approaches and considered the policy implications for adopting a consumption-based approach over a production-based approach. Methods: A global multi-regional input-output (MRIO) analysis was undertaken to calculate the consumption- and production-based GHG emissions of New Zealand for the year 2012. The MRIO analysis was based on the Eora database, which accounts for 14,839 industry sectors from 189 countries. Given the sectoral classification of each country is quite different and in order to ease interpretation of the results, the industry sectors of each country were classified and aggregated into 16 key sectors, and GHG emissions were calculated for those key sectors. Results and discussion: The MRIO analysis showed that New Zealand's consumption- and production-based GHG emissions in 2012 were 61,850 and 81,667 ktCO2eq, respectively, indicating that the country was a net exporter of GHG emissions in 2012. The dominant contributors to the consumption-based GHG emissions were the other services and construction key sectors (each representing 16% of consumption-based emissions), followed by food and beverages (14%), transport and equipment (12%) and financial and trade services (11%), whereas the dominant contributor to the production-based GHG emissions was the agriculture key sector (representing 52% of production-based GHG emissions). The results of the study provided two key insights to support climate mitigation activities and policymaking. First, the consumption- and production-based accounting approaches results have different rankings for the most dominant sectors contributing to New Zealand's GHG emissions. Second, only the consumption-based accounting approach enables the quantification of the embodied emissions in New Zealand's trade activities, and it indicated that a large proportion of GHG emissions are embodied in New Zealand's trade activities. These insights, therefore, have important implications for future policies that could positively influence the consumption patterns of New Zealand citizens and the production structure and efficiency of New Zealand's trade partners. Conclusions: This research quantified New Zealand's GHG emissions using both consumption- and production-based accounting approaches. Given the two accounting approaches provided different insights, both approaches should be used in a complementary way when developing climate policies. However, implementation of a consumption-based accounting approach to support development and implementation of climate policies and instruments requires further consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In light of the sustainable diet debate, we conducted a large-scale regionalised LCA to answer the following questions: (i) does the climate advantage hypothesis of plant-based fat spreads and creams over dairy butter and cream hold regardless of the variabilities of product recipes, geographies and the influence of land use change (LUC)? (ii) Considering the climate-water-land nexus, is there a risk of shifting impacts from climate to water scarcity and land occupation, and what are the key opportunities for impact mitigation? Methods: A framework for conducting a large-scale regionalised LCA was developed and applied to compare the environmental impacts of 212 plant-based fat spreads, 16 plant-based creams and 40 dairy alternatives sold in 21 countries per 1 kg of product. Data was compiled for different product recipes, key ingredient sourcing countries, production factory locations, energy mixes, packaging designs, transportation and end-of-life scenarios. Spatially (archetype) differentiated agricultural life cycle inventory data were generated, as well as LUC emissions for agricultural ingredients. A total of 18 environmental indicators were assessed. Results and discussion: All plant-based spreads had a significantly lower climate impact than butter, with and without LUC inclusion. The regionalised analysis highlighted large variabilities across products, ranging from 0.98 to 6.93 (mean 3.3) kg CO2-eq for 212 plant-based spreads and 8.08 to 16.93 (mean 12.1) kg CO2-eq for 21 dairy butter with 95th confidence interval. The main drivers of GHG emissions for plant-based products are oilseed farming and the associated LUC emissions, which can vary significantly depending on type of oilseeds, quantity and sourcing country; in the worst-case scenario, the climate advantage is no longer valid due to LUC. Thus, the inclusion of LUC is essential for a robust assessment and hotspot identification. Overall, the risk of shifting impact was small, as most of the plant-based spreads also had lower impacts for water scarcity footprints and land occupation; 8 of the 212 products were not lower, due to oilseed ingredients with high embodied impacts. Conclusions: This study confirmed that plant-based spreads had lower climate, water and land impacts than butter, despite variability of product recipes, geographies and influence of LUC. This research offers a framework for performing regionalised agricultural LCA for a large portfolio of products thereby enabling identification of inter-product variabilities and hotspots for the development of mitigation strategies. Key mitigation opportunities include reducing oilseed ingredients' embodied impacts by optimising product recipe design and adapting supply chain sourcing and agricultural practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Winter road maintenance in the Nordic climate is demanding due to challenging weather conditions, high precipitation, and icy conditions. As a leading country in the transition to low-emission transport, Norway must work to reduce their emissions while providing a safe level of service through winter maintenance operations. This article investigates the environmental impacts of winter road maintenance (WRM) in Norway both today and under a climate change scenario predicted for 2050. Methods: Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to evaluate the environmental impact of the functional unit "average winter road maintenance in Norway on national and county roads per km.lane." The ReCiPe (hierarchy) method was used to identify and categorize emissions related to WRM to show how different factors affect the system and to reveal hidden emissions hotspots. Real-time data from WRM vehicles were used to determine how fuel consumption is affected by gradient and weather. Producers and operators provided other relevant information on WRM vehicles. Official reports supplied information on deicer quantities used and the total distance driven by WRM vehicles in Norway. Results and discussion: The quantity of deicer used is the main source of emissions contributing toward all impact categories. The effect of deicer is likely to be even higher in certain impact categories. The environmental impact of the deicer after application is not included. The representation of WRM in existing emissions data is limited despite the considerable amount of deicer applied and the long distances that WRM vehicles travel. The results document how energy use throughout the system is another important source of emissions. Various parameters, such as road gradient, vehicle properties, driver behavior, and weather, affect the fuel consumption of WRM vehicles, with weather being the most important of these. Conclusions: Significant potential for emissions reductions from WRM was found, and WRM operations should be included in cold-climate road LCA studies. The environmental impacts of deicer application are especially high compared to the mechanical clearing of roads and contribute strongly to impact categories such as terrestrial, freshwater, and human toxicity and to the formation of particulate matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Ordinary product LCA studies focus on measuring or minimizing environmental impact, but do not address if the product fits in a sustainable consumption pattern. This paper proposes a setup in which the planetary boundaries define the maximum impact, and the minimum requirements for a reasonable consumption level specify a lower impact level. Thus, a 'safe operating space' remains. Methods: We use an IO table for EU-27 and the consumption pattern of the Bulgarian population extrapolated to the EU level as driving climate impact. The EU's policy targets are used as a planetary boundary for climate change. Results: The 2020 target is shown to be able to accommodate the Bulgarian-style consumption, with room for a much higher GDP. The 2050 target, however, is too narrow, and a slightly smaller consumption pattern is needed to reach the target. Conclusions: Although the approach is highly simplified and neglects many developments, the idea of using IO-tables and minimum consumption levels to backcast directions to be taken is expected to help policymakers. We acknowledge some important limitations of our approach, but accept these in the context of exploring future scenarios and how to get there, instead of predicting the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Concentrating solar power (CSP) plants based on parabolic troughs utilise auxiliary fuels (usually natural gas) to facilitate start-up operations, avoid freezing of HTF and increase power output. This practice has a significant effect on the environmental performance of the technology. The aim of this paper is to quantify the sustainability of CSP and to analyse how this is affected by hybridisation with different natural gas (NG) inputs. Methods: A complete life cycle (LC) inventory was gathered for a commercial wet-cooled 50 MWe CSP plant based on parabolic troughs. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to evaluate the environmental performance of the plant operating with different NG inputs (between 0 and 35 % of gross electricity generation). ReCiPe Europe (H) was used as LCA methodology. CML 2 baseline 2000 World and ReCiPe Europe E were used for comparative purposes. Cumulative energy demands (CED) and energy payback times (EPT) were also determined for each scenario. Results and discussion: Operation of CSP using solar energy only produced the following environmental profile: climate change 26.6 kg CO eq/KWh, human toxicity 13.1 kg 1,4-DB eq/KWh, marine ecotoxicity 276 g 1,4-DB eq/KWh, natural land transformation 0.005 m/KWh, eutrophication 10.1 g P eq/KWh and acidification 166 g SO eq/KWh. Most of these impacts are associated with extraction of raw materials and manufacturing of plant components. The utilisation of NG transformed the environmental profile of the technology, placing increasing weight on impacts related to its operation and maintenance. Significantly higher impacts were observed on categories like climate change (311 kg CO eq/MWh when using 35 % NG), natural land transformation, terrestrial acidification and fossil depletion. Despite its fossil nature, the use of NG had a beneficial effect on other impact categories (human and marine toxicity, freshwater eutrophication and natural land transformation) due to the higher electricity output achieved. The overall environmental performance of CSP significantly deteriorated with the use of NG (single score 3.52 pt in solar-only operation compared to 36.1 pt when using 35 % NG). Other sustainability parameters like EPT and CED also increased substantially as a result of higher NG inputs. Quasilinear second-degree polynomial relationships were calculated between various environmental performance parameters and NG contributions. Conclusions: Energy input from auxiliary NG determines the environmental profile of the CSP plant. Aggregated analysis shows a deleterious effect on the overall environmental performance of the technology as a result of NG utilisation. This is due primarily to higher impacts on environmental categories like climate change, natural land transformation, fossil fuel depletion and terrestrial acidification. NG may be used in a more sustainable and cost-effective manner in combined cycle power plants, which achieve higher energy conversion efficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The impact of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on climate change receives much focus today. This impact is however often considered only in terms of global warming potential (GWP), which does not take into account the need for staying below climatic target levels, in order to avoid passing critical climate tipping points. Some suggestions to include a target level in climate change impact assessment have been made, but with the consequence of disregarding impacts beyond that target level. The aim of this paper is to introduce the climate tipping impact category, which represents the climate tipping potential (CTP) of GHG emissions relative to a climatic target level. The climate tipping impact category should be seen as complementary to the global warming impact category. Methods: The CTP of a GHG emission is expressed as the emission's impact divided by the 'capacity' of the atmosphere for absorbing the impact without exceeding the target level. The GHG emission impact is determined as its cumulative contribution to increase the total atmospheric GHG concentration (expressed in CO equivalents) from the emission time to the point in time where the target level is expected to be reached, the target time. Results and discussion: The CTP of all the assessed GHGs increases as the emission time approaches the target time, reflecting the rapid decrease in remaining atmospheric capacity and thus the increasing potential impact of the GHG emission. The CTP of a GHG depends on the properties of the GHG as well as on the chosen climatic target level and background scenario for atmospheric GHG concentration development. In order to enable direct application in life cycle assessment (LCA), CTP characterisation factors are presented for the three main anthropogenic GHGs, CO, CH and NO. Conclusions: The CTP metric distinguishes different GHG emission impacts in terms of their contribution to exceeding a short-term target and highlights their increasing importance when approaching a climatic target level, reflecting the increasing urgency of avoiding further GHG emissions in order to stay below the target level. Inclusion of the climate tipping impact category for assessing climate change impacts in LCA, complimentary to the global warming impact category which shall still represent the long-term climate change impacts, is considered to improve the value of LCA as a tool for decision support for climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: With an ever increasing list of indicators available, life cycle assessment (LCA) practitioners face the challenge of effectively communicating results to decision makers. Simplification of LCA is often limited to an arbitrary selection of indicators, use of single scores by using weighted values or single attribute indicators. These solutions are less attractive to decision makers, since value judgments are introduced or multi-indicator information is lost. Normalization could be a means to narrow the list of indicators by ranking indicators vs. a reference system. This paper shows three different normalization approaches that produce very different ranking of indicators. It is explained how normalization helps maintain a multi-indicator approach while keeping the most relevant indicators, allowing effective decision making. Methods: The approaches are illustrated on a hand dishwashing case study, using ReCiPe as the impact assessment method and taking the European population (year 2000) as the reference situation. Indicators are ranked using midpoint normalization factors, and compared to the ranking from endpoint normalization broken down by midpoint contribution. Results and discussion: Endpoint normalization shows Resources as the most relevant area of protection for this case, closely followed by Human Health and Ecosystem. Broken down by their key driving midpoints, fossil depletion, climate change and, to a lesser extent, particulate matter formation and metal depletion, are most relevant. Midpoint normalization, however, indicates Freshwater Eutrophication, Natural Land Transformation and Toxicity indicators (marine and freshwater ecotoxicity and human toxicity) are most relevant. Conclusions: A three-step approach based on endpoint normalization is recommended to present only the most relevant indicators, allowing more effective decision making instead of communicating all LCA indicators. The selection process breaks out the normalized endpoint results into the most contributing midpoints (relevant indicators) and reports results with midpoint level units. Bias due to lack of data completeness is less of an issue in the endpoint normalization process (compared to midpoint normalization), while midpoint results are less subject to uncertainty (compared to endpoint results). Focusing on the relevant indicators and key contributing unit processes has proven to be effective for non-LCA expert decision makers to understand, use, and communicate complex LCA results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Life cycle assessments (LCAs) of forest-based products, such as beverage cartons, generally demonstrate lower greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuel-based alternatives and often contain the implicit assumption that removal of carbon dioxide (CO) by a growing forest and emission of CO at the end of a product's life cancel each other out such that the net emission is zero. This study aims to test the validity of this assumption of biogenic CO neutrality in relation to beverage cartons by examining whether carbon stocks of the source forests are stable. The fact that over 95 % of the cartonboard used in their manufacture is sourced from the boreal forests of Sweden and Finland provides a scenario with a straightforward relationship between forest and product thus avoiding issues surrounding the complexities of global supply chains. Methods: The reviewed LCAs conclude that beverage cartons have lower greenhouse gas emissions than alternatives, although non-forest-derived components such as plastic caps and aluminium laminate often contribute disproportionately to those emissions. We discuss issues surrounding the assumption of biogenic CO neutrality and explore the factors that influence carbon stocks in boreal forests that supply much of the raw material for beverage cartons. Results and discussion: An analysis of published rates of carbon sequestration in the managed forests of Finland and Sweden reveals that forest carbon is stable under current harvest rates. This lends support to the assumption of biogenic CO neutrality in the case of beverage cartons produced from these forests. We conclude that greenhouse gas emissions would not change if an LCA included forest carbon. However, future forest dynamics and thus carbon stocks are predicted to alter in response to climate change, for example, which will have knock on effects for greenhouse gas emissions from packaging derived from forests. Conclusions: This review combines current thinking on inclusion of forest carbon in LCAs with an analysis of issues that will influence carbon stocks in managed forests. Although current assumptions of biogenic CO neutrality are valid in the case of European-manufactured beverage cartons, we argue that this assumption needs to be explicitly addressed in LCAs. While there is no accepted methodology for integrating biogenic forest carbon uptake into LCA, our assessment of current trends in forest carbon stocks allows for assumptions of biogenic CO neutrality to be tested, although our approach may not be practical for more complex supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There has been lively debate, especially in Finland and Sweden, on the climate impacts of peat fuel. Previous studies of peat fuel's life-cycle climate impacts were controversial in their interpretation. The aim of this paper is conclusive examination of the issues of LCA methodology, derived from critical review of previous studies and recalculation based on the latest knowledge of greenhouse gas balances related to peat fuel's utilisation and the radiative forcing impacts of greenhouse gases. Methods: The most recent findings on emissions and the gas fluxes between soil, vegetation and atmosphere were used in calculation of the life-cycle climate impacts of the various peat fuel utilisation chains by means of LCA methodology. In the main, the calculation methods and rules were the same as in the previous studies, with the aim being to distinguish the impact of peat fuel's utilisation from that of the natural or semi-natural situation. A dynamic method was employed for assessing changes in radiative forcing. The results of alternative peat fuel utilisation chains were compared to the corresponding result for coal. Results: There are many steps in peat fuel LCA, where different assumptions lead to different outcomes. Determining the functional unit, reference situations and system boundaries, as well as the emission calculation methods, is important from this point of view. Determination of the initial reference situation emerged as one of the critical points in the calculations. Time scale can strongly affect the final outcomes in a study where effects of long-term land-use change are considered. Conclusions: Each peatland area is unique. The higher the greenhouse gas emissions in the initial reference situation, the greater is the climate impact of the area and the more suitable the area is for peat extraction. The study showed that more greenhouse gas flux measurements are needed, for better assessment of the climate impacts of different potential peat extraction sites. Climate change mitigation requires quick actions, and uncertainties related to emissions are higher for longer time spans. Therefore, it can be concluded that a perspective spanning more than 100 years is inappropriate in peat fuel's life-cycle climate impact assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on how life cycle assessment (LCA) deals with Nitrous oxide (N2O). Topics include the availability of a simple carbon footprint measurement has become one of the key tools for stakeholders to develop awareness of climate change issues; and mentions N2O releases are thoroughly addressed in the agricultural section of the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC).

Purpose: In life cycle assessments (LCAs), the focus of modelling the impact of human-induced pressures on biodiversity has been mainly on taxonomic diversity measures such as species richness. More recently, increasing availability of trait data and the understanding that functional diversity is more directly related to human-induced pressures suggests functional diversity as a promising metric. One major challenge relates to the selection process of the correct metric. Our purpose is to categorise and identify appropriate metrics of functional diversity for LCA model developers based on a justified choice of its structural properties and its links to human-induced pressures.Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis of literature to identify those functional diversity metrics that are frequently applied (not necessarily within LCA studies) and that possess a strong link to ecosystem functioning and human-induced pressures. Also, we provide a compilation of metrics that conform to important and desirable structural properties stipulated from literature. By reconciling these highlighted key properties with the strength of metric link, we make propositions for functional diversity use in LCA.Results and discussion: To capture impacts on functional diversity, the combination of functional richness, evenness and divergence needs to be considered. The mean strength of functional diversity metrics was highest for temperature rise and CO2 elevation, as related to climate change, and less to eutrophication and land use change. Studies on impacts of water use change and other important human-induced pressures on functional diversity seem not available. When combined with desired structural properties such as independence and scale invariance, a combination of functional dendrogram (FRD), functional evenness (FEm) and functional logarithmic variance (FDvar) is preferred to comprehensively determine human impacts on biodiversity in LCAs. However, if a set of multi-dimensional components is sought, then the best option is functional volume (FRV), functional evenness (FEm) and functional divergence (FDm).Conclusions: Through this reconciliation of usage, mean strength and key properties, the LCA model developer is able to apply consistent and useful metrics in LCA studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims at finding the environmental impacts generated by an electric disk insulator supply chain, used for the distribution of electricity by an open wire system, through a case study. This study also aims at benchmarking the environmental impacts of an electric insulator manufacturing process by taking ideal condition of zero waste as reference.Methods: Cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) has been carried out by following the guidelines provided in ISO 14040 series standards and using Umberto NXT software. ReCiPe endpoint and ReCiPe midpoint impact assessment methodologies have been used to calculate environmental impacts under various categories. The primary data has been collected from a medium-scale manufacturer of electric disk insulators located at Bikaner in north-west India. The secondary data has been taken from ecoinvent 3.0 database and literature. The environmental impacts using endpoint assessment (ecosystem quality, human health, and resources) and midpoint assessment (climate change, fossil depletion, human toxicity, metal depletion, ozone depletion, terrestrial acidification, and water depletion) categories have been computed. Finally, the results are compared and benchmarked against the ideal zero waste condition using three different production scenarios. The limitation of this study is that the data has been collected only from one manufacturer and its supply chain.Results and discussion: It has been found that the use of steel, electricity, and fuel; transportation of product; and disposal of water generate high environmental impacts in the supply chain. It has also been found that in the electric disk insulator supply chain, the raw material extraction phase has the highest environmental impacts followed by manufacturing, disposal, transportation, and installation phases. This study has also found that benchmark scenario "B" (zero waste condition) is environmentally more efficient in comparison to scenario "A" (actual recycling condition) and scenario "C" (maximum waste condition).Conclusions: This study has identified that raw materials, resources, and processes in the supply chain of an electric disk insulator manufacturing unit are responsible for the environmental damage. The various manufacturing processes and installation of the electric disk insulators are similar for all manufacturers except the machinery efficiency and the generated waste. This study provides environmental impacts associated with an electric disk insulator manufacturing process under zero waste or ideal conditions (scenario B). These results are used as a benchmark to compare environmental performance of electric disk insulator supply chain operating under actual conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study develops the Sustainability Price (SP) to include social and environmental costs in the price of goods and to move towards a sustainable economy, as recommended by the UN Global Sustainability Panel. The SP addresses research gaps for integrating social and environmental values as well as computational methods in Environmental Life Cycle Costing (ELCC). A detailed case study is used to identify data sources, develop the method and consider policy applications for product labelling.Methods: An Interdisciplinary Research (IDR) methodology is used to provide a framework for methods for calculating costs to meet minimum sustainability values. Values are based on UN sustainability goals with a focus on climate change and poverty. Costs for climate change are based on the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) carbon price paths to avoid dangerous climate change. Costs for poverty are based on Anker's method, which follows the UN cost of basic needs approach which is used by international institutions, national governments and ethical trade organisations. The costs are expressed as changes in value added and tracked through the supply chain using the Leontief price model. The case study uses a scoping analysis to identify important variables which are the focus of data collection and a hybrid modelling approach.Results and discussion: Existing economic and social surveys in India captured regional and production variables for the SP. Hotspots in the production process included indirect GHG emissions for spinning and knitting processes and absolute poverty in cotton farming regions such as Gujarat. Despite wage increases of up to 200% to address absolute poverty, the SP of a T-shirt produced in India is only about 2% more than the existing price when retailed in the USA.Conclusions: The SP clearly communicates the costs to address poverty and climate change in global supply chains and demonstrates the use of economic methods and data sources in ELCC. The SP identifies hotspots in the supply chain and can inform labelling for ethical trade products. The SP is limited to minimum values for sustainability and does not consider optimisation. Expanding the scope to other minimum values such as planetary boundaries is recommended for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This article aims to explore how different assumptions about system boundaries and setting of baselines for forest growth affect the outcome of climate impact assessments of forest products using life cycle assessment (LCA), regarding the potential for climate impact mitigation from replacing non-forest benchmarks. This article attempts to explore how several assumptions interact and influence results for different products with different service life lengths.Methods: Four products made from forest biomass were analysed and compared to non-forest benchmarks using dynamic LCA with time horizons between 0 and 300 years. The studied products have different service lives: butanol automotive fuel (0 years), viscose textile fibres (2 years), a cross-laminated timber building structure (50 years) and methanol used to produce short-lived (0 years) and long-lived (20 years) products. Five calculation setups were tested featuring different assumptions about how to account for the carbon uptake during forest growth or regrowth. These assumptions relate to the timing of the uptake (before or after harvest), the spatial system boundaries (national, landscape or single stand) and the land-use baseline (zero baseline or natural regeneration).Results and discussion: The implications of using different assumptions depend on the type of product. The choice of time horizon for dynamic LCA and the timing of forest carbon uptake are important for all products, especially long-lived ones where end-of-life biogenic emissions take place in the relatively distant future. The choice of time horizon is less influential when using landscape- or national-level system boundaries than when using stand-level system boundaries and has greater influence on the results for long-lived products. Short-lived products perform worse than their benchmarks with short time horizons whatever spatial system boundaries are chosen, while long-lived products outperform their benchmarks with all methods tested. The approach and data used to model the forest carbon uptake can significantly influence the outcome of the assessment for all products.Conclusions: The choices of spatial system boundaries, temporal system boundaries and land-use baseline have a large influence on the results, and this influence decreases for longer time horizons. Short-lived products are more sensitive to the choice of time horizon than long-lived products. Recommendations are given for LCA practitioners: to be aware of the influence of method choice when carrying out studies, to use case-specific data (for the forest growth) and to communicate clearly how results can be used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change impacts in life cycle assessment (LCA) are usually assessed as the emissions of greenhouse gases expressed with the global warming potential (GWP). However, changes in surface albedo caused by land use change can also contribute to change the Earth’s energy budget. In this paper we present a methodology for including in LCA the climatic impacts of land surface albedo changes, measured as CO2-eq. emissions or emission offsets. A review of studies calculating radiative forcings and CO2-equivalence of changes in surface albedo is carried out. A methodology is proposed, and some methodological issues arising from its application are discussed. The methodology is applied in a practical example dealing with greenhouse agriculture in Southern Spain. The results of the case study show that the increase in surface albedo due to the reflective plastic cover of greenhouses involves an important CO2-eq. emission offset, which reduces the net GWP-100 of tomato production from 303 to 168 kg CO2-eq. per ton tomato when a 50-year service time is considered for the agricultural activity. This example shows that albedo effects can be very important in a product system when land use plays an important role, and substantial changes in surface albedo are involved. Although the method presented in this work can be improved concerning the calculation of radiative forcing, it constitutes a first operative approach which can be used to develop regionalized characterization factors and provide a more complete evaluation of impacts on the climate change impact category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Guidance is needed on best-suited indicators to quantify and monitor the man-made impacts on human health, biodiversity and resources. Therefore, the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative initiated a global consensus process to agree on an updated overall life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) framework and to recommend a non-comprehensive list of environmental indicators and LCIA characterization factors for (1) climate change, (2) fine particulate matter impacts on human health, (3) water consumption impacts (both scarcity and human health) and 4) land use impacts on biodiversity.Methods: The consensus building process involved more than 100 world-leading scientists in task forces via multiple workshops. Results were consolidated during a 1-week Pellston Workshop™ in January 2016 leading to the following recommendations.Results and discussion: LCIA framework: The updated LCIA framework now distinguishes between intrinsic, instrumental and cultural values, with disability-adjusted life years (DALY) to characterize damages on human health and with measures of vulnerability included to assess biodiversity loss. Climate change impacts: Two complementary climate change impact categories are recommended: (a) The global warming potential 100 years (GWP 100) represents shorter term impacts associated with rate of change and adaptation capacity, and (b) the global temperature change potential 100 years (GTP 100) characterizes the century-scale long term impacts, both including climate-carbon cycle feedbacks for all climate forcers. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) health impacts: Recommended characterization factors (CFs) for primary and secondary (interim) PM2.5 are established, distinguishing between indoor, urban and rural archetypes. Water consumption impacts: CFs are recommended, preferably on monthly and watershed levels, for two categories: (a) The water scarcity indicator “AWARE” characterizes the potential to deprive human and ecosystems users and quantifies the relative Available WAter REmaining per area once the demand of humans and aquatic ecosystems has been met, and (b) the impact of water consumption on human health assesses the DALYs from malnutrition caused by lack of water for irrigated food production. Land use impacts: CFs representing global potential species loss from land use are proposed as interim recommendation suitable to assess biodiversity loss due to land use and land use change in LCA hotspot analyses.Conclusions: The recommended environmental indicators may be used to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals in order to quantify and monitor progress towards sustainable production and consumption. These indicators will be periodically updated, establishing a process for their stewardship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]