Kelly Hoell Good Company Eugene, OR

NRG 173: Carbon Footprints for Climate Action in Complex OrganizationsSpring Term 2011Class 5 of 20April 12, 2011 Kelly Hoell Good Company Eugene, OR

overview • syllabus update • check-in on interests for future readings • review of learning objectives • this session’s readings • drinking water LCA • music delivery • homework and extra credit/absence make-up opportunity

learning objectives • Get more experience looking at LCAs. • Understand the functional units, boundaries. • Review the main points and implications. • Decide if the examples hold insights for other contexts.

drinking water options (DEQ), 1 • individual activity: for each of the following, write 1-2 summary sentences • Introduction and purpose(s) • Who commissioned / paid for the study? Possible areas of bias? Actions taken to limit bias? • Functional Unit (what is it and why?) • What is being studied here? What are the impact categories? • What was not included in the study? Is that reasonable? • review conclusions / main points • bottled water • HOD • tap water

energy impacts

climate impacts

drinking water options (DEQ), 2 • individual activity: for each of the following, briefly describe: • In what ways was the study customized for Oregon? • Draw the life cycles that are being studied here (think about all the components for each major category) • Take your carbon goggles off. What other impacts might bottled water have on our society? • Definition of “lightweighting”. • Definition of “secondary packaging”. • Why did the authors choose the 48 subcategories?

customization for state of Oregon • electricity grid (fuel inputs to generate electricity) • operation of pumps to deliver municipal water or to pump well water • processing and filling operations in Oregon • molding of plastic water bottles produced in Oregon • operation of home dishwashers • electricity use in washing HOD bottles in Oregon • transportation distances for bottled water • mix of residential water from wells vs. municipal • recycling rates for bottles and packaging • end-of-life fate for materials not recycled (landfill, waste-to-energy, combustion without WTE) • transport to landfills; management of landfill gas

draw life-cycle components • drinking container production (disposable & non) • HOD container production • production caps and closures • production secondary packaging (what is this?) • water processing • filling • distribution of filled containers (pick-up for HOD) • industrial washing of HOD containers • home washing of drinking container • wastewater treatment • chilling • end of life (bottles, containers, HOD, caps, pack)

Carbon goggles off: implications of bottled?

definitions • “lightweighting”: using less material to make a lighter weight bottle • “secondary packaging”: material used primarily to give additional physical protection to the outside of a package (e.g. cardboard, plastic wrap, padded bags, etc.)

Why choose these subcategories? • Capture scenarios that best represent typical practices • Demonstrate “best” and “worst” case scenarios to see if results overlap at practical extremes • Explore compounding or offsetting effects of simultaneous variations in key parameters • ID parameters with a large and small impact • What happens when you make the bottle smaller (8 oz water bottle)? Is this similar to anything we saw in the Home LCA?

drinking water options (DEQ), 3 • bottled water surprises • transportation looms large as a differentiator • bottle production is largest emissions source (besides transportation); corollary: transport is efficient, production is resource-intensive • other packaging matters; corollary: that’s a possible efficiency gain • open-loop vs. cut-off allocation (i.e., methods matter) • tap water surprises • none, but the sensitivity analysis points clearly at particular behaviors / improvements / investments • HOD surprises • energy for chilling is substantial (20-40%) (fair?) • conclusions?

drinking water options (DEQ), 4 • Does this case study matter? How can we learn from it? Or can we? • implications for individual behavior • implications for policy • lessons for others contexts • insight for business strategy • other comments on quantitative intuition? • note: beware drawing too many conclusions before you’ve read all the examples in this course…

music delivery, 1 • individual activity: for each of the following, write 1-2 summary sentences • Introduction and Purposes • Who commissioned / paid for the study? Possible areas of bias? Actions taken to limit bias? • Functional Unit (what is it and why?) • What is being studied here? What are the impact categories? • What was not included in the study? Is that reasonable? • review conclusions • implications • Personal behavior? • Corporate behavior?

homework • Meat vs. Miles reading (aka: Food Miles and Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the United States) • Person carbon footprint and climate action plan • Extra Credit / Absence make-up opportunity: • April 22, Eugene City Club: “Curbing Climate Change, One Bite at a Time”. • Write a one-page reaction based on your understanding of Meat vs. Miles and carbon goggles • Recording will be available on klcc.org

See you Thursday! Feel free to contact me: Kelly Hoell kelly.hoell@goodcompany.com (541) 341-GOOD (4663), ext. 217

Kelly Hoell Good Company Eugene, OR