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Abstract: In this paper a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of protected crops was carried out. In particular, energy and environmental performances of peppers, melons, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and zucchini in different typologies of greenhouses (tunnel and pavilion) were assessed. The study aimed at assessing the ecoprofile of each product and the share of each life-cycle step on the total environmental impacts. The related process flow chart, the relevant mass and energy flows and the key environmental issues were identified for each product. Collection of primary data was conducted by means of a detailed questionnaire distributed to a producer company in southern Italy. The analysis was developed according to the LCA standards of the ISO 14040 series. The results showed that for all the examined vegetables the packaging step and the greenhouse structures have a relevant share in the environmental impact distribution. Further tunnel and pavilion greenhouses are characterized by comparable ecoprofiles and both of them are characterized by lower energy consumptions than greenhouses in the North of Europe, due to the non-use of auxiliary heating systems in the former. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: To meet the increasing need for practical life-cycle thinking in manufacturing, this paper proposes a method that includes the life-cycle perspective in manufacturing decision making. This method combines discrete-event simulation (DES) – commonly used for the conceptual evaluation of manufacturing systems – with life-cycle assessment (LCA). This combination captures the dynamic interrelationships between manufacturing processes in order to analyse systemic responses to configuration changes, something static LCA modelling cannot do. The method evolved when a bearing production line at SKF was being examined to relate manufacturing decision making to environmental consequences. This was done using DES to investigate how parameters normally used to optimize traditional manufacturing system performance influence energy use and material losses in manufacturing systems. The environmental consequences of this material loss and energy use are further calculated using LCA methodology. Results indicate that while the combination of the two methods increases the data collection workload, it uncovers previously hidden environmental consequences of manufacturing decision making and introduces a way to assess an industrial actor’s manufacturing system using relevant LCA scenarios. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In China, Rapid economic growth has stimulated fast urban expansion and rural household income and consumption expenditure. In current paper, an input–output method is used to determine the impact of China’s increased urban and rural household consumption on carbon emissions. The results shows that the direct and indirect CO2 emission from household consumption accounted for more than 40% of total carbon emissions from primary energy utilization in China in 1992–2007. The population increase, expansion of urbanization and the increase of household consumption per capita all contribute to an increase of indirect carbon emissions, while carbon intensity decline mitigates the growth of carbon emissions. Therefore, at the domestic level, household consumption is of great significance for CO2 emission, which could be mitigated through changing the composition of goods and services consumed by households, and switching to consumption pattern of less carbon-intensive products. The government must consider the substantial contribution of household consumption to carbon emissions when China is encouraging consumption in order to address the current global financial crisis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents an environmental system study of the production of propionic acid in a biorefinery system based on agricultural by-products. Here, propionic acid is produced by fermentation of glycerol, a by-product from biodiesel production, as carbon source and potato juice, a by-product from starch production, as nitrogen source. Biomass-based propionic acid leads to a greenhouse gas reduction of 60% compared to propionic acid from fossil sources. However, the primary energy input is about twice as high for the biomass-based propionic acid. The choice of input energy and the efficiency of the process, as well as the technology applied, have high impacts on the environmental performance of the biorefinery concept. There is a potential for increased integration both on the input of substrates and the output of end products of the biorefinery system, which will further improve its environmental performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Machine-tools have been identified as one of the main energy-using products to be analyzed in an Ecodesign perspective, targeting the reduction of their environmental impact. Following this, machine-tool manufacturers are committed to anticipate eminent regulations and are looking for guidelines to improve their products on an effective and low-cost manner. This paper describes part of the energy consumption study followed in the frame of the Ecodesign of a commercial press-brake. All-hydraulic and all-electric commercially available systems, of different capacities and working in real production scenarios, have been included. From this study, a preliminary version of an LCI dataset for the bending process is proposed, structured in technology, machine capacity and usage mode categories, and using the bending cycle as the reference unit. The energy consumption per category was estimated based on a specific process energy model built as a function of the referred parameters. The contribution of the respective machine-tool structure to the environmental impact of the machining process is to be included, targeting the completion of such machining unit process dataset. The full LCA of an all-hydraulic system revealed the significant contribution of the machine-tool structure to the global life-cycle environmental impact of the machine (about 40%), while electricity during use phase contributes with about 46% to the total impact. This contradicts the general results published for other metal and non-metal forming processes, and is understood to be related with the discrete loading character of such forming processes here discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper focuses on investigating several aspects of the machining process from an ecological perspective, the result being a macro-level analysis. The analysis presented here considers not only the environmental impact of the material removal process itself, but also the impact of the associated processes such as the material preparation, and the scrap processing. A macro-level assessment of the comparative life cycle environmental performance of the near-dry machining (NDM) using TiN-coated carbide tools and the flood machining (FM) is performed by a case study referring to the gear milling. The assessment, using the SimaPro 7.1.5 software and the ecoinvent1.5 database, includes combined Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the workpiece material, the scrap processing, the use of lubrication, and the energy consumption. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The semiconductor industry plays a leading role in supporting economic stabilization and social progress in Taiwan. In this paper, Eco-indicator 95 and Impact 2002+ are utilized to evaluate the potential environmental impacts from five production processes of the double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM). The comparisons between these two impact methods and their scopes are also discussed. From our results, global warming potential and non-renewable energy consumption were identified as the major environmental impacts. Applications of Eco-indicator 95 and IMPACT 2002+ also suggest that summer smog and respiratory inorganics are significant impact categories. The comparison of the scopes of these two methods identifies that low GWP potential PFCs substitution and electricity saving are effective ways to decrease environmental impacts of DRAM manufacturing. In addition, IMPACT 2002+ is a more applicable LCA method for the semiconductor industry in Taiwan due to the structure and reference area of this method and the characteristics of the semiconductor industry in Taiwan. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The industrial sector is the biggest electricity consumer in Malaysia. Electric motors account for more than 45% of the electricity consumption in the industrial sector in the country. Therefore, it is very important to implement energy efficiency standards for electric motors to reduce energy consumption growth in this sector. This paper attempts to calculate the cost efficiency analysis and emission reduction by implementing energy efficiency standards for electric motor in Malaysia. The energy efficiency standards are proposed based on the efficiency of electric motors from survey data. The study examines the potential energy, economical and environmental impacts of the implementation of energy efficiency standards for electric motors in three scenarios i.e. 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% of standards efficiency improvement. Standards also enable consumers to reduce their electricity bill and contribute to a positive environmental impact. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Mussels as a commercial product involve a range of activities which can be included within four different sub-sectors: culture, dispatch centres, canning factories and, finally, cooking plants. This paper deals with the environmental evaluation of the whole mussel sector from a Life Cycle Assessment approach. The use of exhaustive inventories led to the subsequent environmental characterization of the mussel sector in terms of the contribution observed for each of the sub-sectors. In this sense, the sub-sector associated with dispatch centres presented the largest contributions to the potential environmental impacts, clearly ahead of mussel farming. Furthermore, the sub-sectors of mussel cooking plants and canning factories showed a much lower contribution to the potential environmental impacts. Several improvement potentials were identified from the characterization results, stressing the minimization of the electric energy consumption in dispatch centres. A comparative LCA was performed in order to contrast the environmental performance of the three main commercial mussel products: fresh mussels, canned mussels and frozen mussels. The analysis showed that fresh mussels have the least favourable environmental profile. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents the results of an environmental impact assessment of biodiesel production from soybean in Brazil. In order to achieve this objective, environmental impact indicators provided by Emergy Accounting (EA), Embodied Energy Analysis (EEA) and Material Flow Accounting (MFA) were used. The results showed that for one liter of biodiesel 8.8kg of topsoil are lost in erosion, besides the cost of 0.2kg of fertilizers, about 5.2m2 of crop area, 7.33kg of abiotic materials, 9.0 tons of water and 0.66kg of air and about 0.86kg of CO2 were released. About 0.27kg of crude oil equivalent is required as inputs to produce one liter of biodiesel, which means an energy return of 2.48J of biodiesel per Joule of fossil fuel invested. The transformity of biodiesel (3.90E+05seJJ−1) is higher than those calculated for fossil fuels as other biofuels, indicating a higher demand for direct and indirect environmental support. Similarly, the biodiesel emergy yield ratio (1.62) indicates that a very low net emergy is delivered to consumers, compared to alternatives. Obtained results show that when crop production and industrial conversion to fuel are supported by fossil fuels in the form of chemicals, goods, and process energy, the fraction of fuel that can actually be considered renewable is very low (around 31%). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a well-known tool for analyzing environmental impacts on a wide perspective with reference to a product system and the related environmental and economic impacts. The need for a novel approach that complements environmental and financial considerations is addressed in this study with the introduction of a new graphical representation: the Environmental Performance Strategy Map. This graphical map allows one to combine the main environmental indicators (footprints) with the additional dimension of cost. The paper defines the Sustainable Environmental Performance Indicator as a single measure for sustainability of a given option. Comparison of different options for strategic decision-making purposes can be enhanced and facilitated by the use of this indicator. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Competitive forces are driving US domestic manufacturers to source parts globally, which significantly extends their supply chain and introduces new sustainability concerns. This paper addresses the situation from an operating division manager''s perspective. We present an approach to packaging system assessment which considers the division manager''s span of control, addresses the design of packaging and the corresponding logistics processes, and incorporates both cost and environmental impacts. A construct familiar to operations managers, the value stream map, is adapted to model material flow of both parts and packages, and an integrated material flow analysis is used as the common basis for cost analysis, a modified life cycle environmental impact analysis, and an energy consumption analysis. The framework is illustrated using a case study of a major US automaker. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Polyurethane-bounded pavement with good road performances is a new pavement form. Whether polyurethane (PU) pavement met the requirements of energy conservation, environmental protection and sustainable development or not, the energy consumption and emission of PU pavement in whole life cycle were analyzed systematically in this paper. Firstly, the life cycle of pavement was divided into six phases: material production, mixture production, transportation, construction, maintenance and recycling according to the construction technology of road in China. Based on the classification of the life cycle environmental impact assessment (LCIA), the effects of six main exhaust gases (CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O, CO, SO 2 , NO x) were divided into four categories: Global Warming Potential (GWP), Eutrophication Potential (EP), Photochemical Smog Potential (POCP) and Acidification Potential (AP). Secondly, the energy consumption and emission of each phase are studied, and the main phase with significant environmental impact was selected. Thirdly, the results of inventory would be normalized and weighted to analyze the environmental impact by the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). The LCIA method was environmental design of industrial product 97 (EDIP 97). Results show that the construction of PU pavement is conducive to energy conservation. Besides, the energy consumption of mixture production phase is the largest in asphalt pavement, and it is material production phase in PU pavement. In terms of emission, the emissions mainly occur in material production and mixture production phases in asphalt pavement, and it is material production phase in PU pavement. Under the same structure, the construction of PU pavement is not conducive to reducing the emission, and will enlarge the GWP, EP and AP. For example, the CO 2 , N 2 O and NOx emissions of PU pavement are 1.98, 5.30 and 2.35 times higher than that of asphalt pavement respectively, but the CO emission of asphalt pavement is 3.86 times higher than that of PU pavement. Furthermore, the results of LCIA show that the score of all environmental impact of PU pavement is little smaller than that of asphalt pavement after normalization and weighting. However, the road performances of PU pavement are much better than that of asphalt pavement. With the same environmental impact, PU pavement has a longer service life. It is summarized that PU pavement meets the requirements of environmental protection and sustainable development in the long run. This is conducive to the promotion and application of PU pavement. • The energy consumption and emission of PU pavement in life cycle were studied. • The goal and scope definition of this study were determined. • The key phases of high energy consumption and emission were identified. • The comprehensive environmental impact assessments of asphalt pavement and PU pavement are conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]