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A perspective of life cycle thinking. We believe in decision making based life cycle thinking. It results in: no trade-offs in life cycle phases no trade-offs in environmental impacts categories. Introduction Goal and Scope Inventory Impact Assessment Interpretation Uses Services.
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A perspective of life cycle thinking We believe in decision making based life cycle thinking. It results in: • no trade-offs in life cycle phases • no trade-offs in environmental impacts categories Introduction Goal and Scope Inventory Impact Assessment Interpretation Uses Services ……………………….
Life cycle assessment (LCA) LCA is a powerful tool for assessing the environmental performance of products, services or scenarios It is based on material and energy flows for processes and materials that together form a life cycle Introduction Goal and Scope Inventory Impact Assessment Interpretation Uses Services Resource A Production Assembly Resource B Recycling Use Maintenance ……………………….
Life cycle assessment (LCA) We use world-leading software and databases and apply ISO standards - ISO 14040 Principles and framework- ISO 14041 Goal and Scope Definition - ISO 14042 Inventory Analysis- ISO 14043 Interpretation - ISO 14025 Type III environmental declarations Introduction Goal and Scope Inventory Impact Assessment Interpretation Uses Services ……………………….
Goal and Scope What question do we want to answer? What is the basis for comparison? Who is the target audience? Which life cycle phases are of interest? Which impact categories are of interest? Who are the stakeholders? Introduction Goal and Scope Inventory Impact Assessment Interpretation Uses Services ……………………….
Inventory What data do we need to satisfy the goal and scope? Who do we need to contact for information? With what level of information are we satisfied? Incoming and outgoing material and energy flows for every process and material Introduction Goal and Scope Inventory Impact Assessment Interpretation Uses Services ……………………….
Impact Assessment How do we translate 1 kWh of electricity to an environmental profile consisting of different environmental impact categories? By using equivalency factors for different substances and adding them up to a total: From carbon dioxide and methane to global warming 1 kg carbon dioxide = 1 kg GWP-equivalents1 kg methane = 24 kg GWP-equivalents------------------------------------------------------------------ Total = 25 kg GWP-equivalents Introduction Goal and Scope Inventory Impact Assessment Interpretation Uses Services ……………………….
Impact categories A range of impact categories can be distinguished • global warming • depletion of non-renewables • depletion of the ozone layer • acidification • eutrophication • summersmog • aquatic ecotoxicity • terrrestrial ecotoxicity • human toxicity • energy • non-hazardous waste • hazardous waste • … Introduction Goal and Scope Inventory Impact Assessment Interpretation Uses Services ……………………….
Impact Assessment The result is an Environmental profile Introduction Goal and Scope Inventory Impact Assessment Interpretation Uses Services ……………………….
Interpretation Major contributions give options for improvements Introduction Goal and Scope Inventory Impact Assessment Interpretation Uses Services ……………………….
Interpretation Major contributions in terms of substances per impact category Introduction Goal and Scope Inventory Impact Assessment Interpretation Uses Services ……………………….
Interpretation Normalization tells us which impact categories are relatively important compared to all emissions in a certain year for a certain area. Introduction Goal and Scope Inventory Impact Assessment Interpretation Uses Services ……………………….
Uses LCA can be used for any assessment of environmental performance: • Carbon footprint calculators • Environmental product declarations • Policy and transition scenario studies • Prioritizing green purchasing and investments • Benchmark technologies and products • And more… Introduction Goal and Scope Inventory Impact Assessment Interpretation Uses Services ……………………….
Our experience We have an extensive experience gathered over a period of more than a decade in applying LCA to over 300 materials and many scenario studies We build sector specific tools and databases We assist producers in innovation and product improvements We train people and organizations in life cycle thinking What can we do for you? Introduction Goal and Scope Inventory Impact Assessment Interpretation Uses Services ……………………….