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D r a f t. Life Cycle Assessment A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis UNEP LCA Training Kit Module a –LCA and decision support. Content. Demand for environmental information Supply of environmental information Examples of environmental information Survey of analytical tools

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D r a f t

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  1. D r a f t Life Cycle AssessmentA product-oriented methodfor sustainability analysisUNEP LCA Training KitModule a –LCA and decision support

  2. Content • Demand for environmental information • Supply of environmental information • Examples of environmental information • Survey of analytical tools • LCA • main characteristics • main applications • main limitations and how to solve them • LCA and certification

  3. Demand for environmental information (1) • Possible objects of decision making • substance, material • product, service • waste, waste management • process, installation • activity, project, building, infrastructure • company • technology • societal sector • life style • …

  4. Demand for environmental information (2) • Types of decision situations • strategic planning and capital investments (green building, waste management) • eco-design, product development • operational management (green procurement) • communication and marketing (eco-labelling, product information)

  5. Demand for environmental information (3) • Spatial requirements • local (site specific) • regional (site dependent) • global (generic) • Temporal requirements • snapshot • steady state / comparative static • (quasi) dynamic

  6. Demand for environmental information (4) • Complex decision situations, yet simple information required • simple indicators • visualization • aggregation • weighting • Simple format for final presentation

  7. Supply of environmental information (1) Concepts Decision process implementation policy instruments Analytical tools Procedural tools Content: technical elements / basic equations / data

  8. Supply of environmental information (2) • Concepts • life cycle thinking / life cycle management (LCM) • design for environment (DfE) • cleaner technology • green chemistry • dematerialisation • industrial ecology / industrial metabolism • end of life management • eco-efficiency (or analytical tool?) • …

  9. Supply of environmental information (3) • Decision process, policy instruments and implementation • direct implementation of activities • legal instruments (physical regulation) • financial instruments • communication instruments (e.g., environmental labelling (= eco-labelling)

  10. Supply of environmental information (5) • Analytical tools • physical metrics • environmental risk assessment (ERA), life cycle assessment (LCA), material flow analysis (MFA), energy analysis, ecological footprint, … • monetary metrics • cost benefit analysis (CBA), total cost analysis (TCA), life cycle costing (LCC), input-output analysis (IOA), …

  11. Supply of environmental information (6) • Procedural tools • in-company management systems • quality management systems (EHS), environmental management systems (EMAS, EMS), environmental audit, … • permits • environmental impact assessment (EIA), environmental license, … • others • green procurement, voluntary agreements between stakeholders, …

  12. Supply of environmental information (7) • Content • technical elements / basic equations • mass balance models, dispersion models, dose-effect relationships, market behavior, uncertainty analysis, multicriteria analysis, … • data • sectoral emissions, product composition, chemical persistence, LC50, income elasticity, …

  13. Supply of environmental information (8) D r a f t • Empirical information on the relations between noise levels and the presence of birds

  14. Supply of environmental information (9) • Quasi-empirical information on the relation between the concentration of a chemical and the impact on organisms

  15. D r a f t Examples of environmental information (1) Source: http://www.pg.com/content/pdf/01_about_pg/corporate_citizenship/sustainability/reports/CBR_ProcterGamble_061.pdf

  16. D r a f t Examples of environmental information (2) Source: http://corporate.basf.com/en/sustainability/

  17. Examples of environmental information (3) D r a f t http://www.clw.csiro.au/publications/technical2005/tr1-05.pdf

  18. Examples of environmental information (4) D r a f t • Ecolabeling • criteria based on life-cycleconsiderations • just a fewexamples

  19. Survey of analytical tools (1) Survey of analytical tools (1) • Tools in physical metrics • checklists and matrices • risk-based tools • tools for product and service systems • regional tools • Tools in monetary metrics

  20. Survey of analytical tools - checklists Criterion 1: critical resources Criterion 2: CO2 emissions Criterion 3: hazardous emissions Alternative 1 --- - --- Alternative 2 0 --- - Alternative 3 0 ++ -- • Checklists and matrices

  21. Survey of analytical tools –risk-based tools (1) • Risk-based tools • Risk Analysis (RA) • Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA)

  22. Survey of analytical tools –risk-based tools (2) • Risk analysis • for assessing the risk of incidents and calamities • focus on human health, or broader • local, or broader • typically for large industrial installations • risk analysis vs. risk perception • risk = chance  effect

  23. Survey of analytical tools –risk-based tools (3) D r a f t

  24. Survey of analytical tools –risk-based tools (4) • Environmental risk assessment (ERA) • for assessing the risk of regular emissions • focus on emission of and exposure to toxic substances • focus on risk to ecosystems but also for human health (HERA) • risk characterisation ratio: PEC/PNEC

  25. Survey of analytical tools –risk-based tools (5) D r a f t

  26. Survey of analytical tools –risk-based tools (6) D r a f t

  27. Survey of analytical tools –risk-based tools (7) • Use of (H)ERA • admission of chemicals • prioritizing substance policy • Non-use of (H)ERA • drinking water quality • food quality

  28. Survey of analytical tools – tools for product and service systems (1) • Tools for product and service systems • Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) • Total Material Requirement (TMR), Material Input per Unit of Service (MIPS) • Energy analysis/cumulative energy demand (CED)

  29. Survey of analytical tools – tools for product and service systems (2) • Life cycle assessment (LCA) • focus on comparison of products with similar functions • from the cradle to the grave • covering a wide range of environmental aspects • impacts on human health (climate change, ozone depletion, smog, toxicity, etc.) • impacts on ecosystem quality (acidification, eutrophication, toxicity, etc.) • impacts on resource availability (depletion of minerals, fossil fuels, etc.)

  30. Survey of analytical tools – tools for product and service systems (3) D r a f t Source: http://www.fibersource.com/f-tutor/LCA-Page.htm

  31. Survey of analytical tools – tools for product and service systems (4) • Total Material Requirement (TMR), Material Input / Unit of Service (MIPS) • focus on mass-flow input only (total mass input per functional unit) • including “rucksacks” • what is the “weight” of a golden ring? • focus on global, steady state

  32. Survey of analytical tools – tools for product and service systems (5) • Energy analysis/cumulative energy demand (CED) • focuses on (fossil) energy input • also objective to produce encompassing indicator for total environmental burden • objects can be product systems or regions ( regional tool) • focus on global, steady state • used for, e.g., support of climate policy or resource strategy

  33. Survey of analytical tools – regional tools (1) • Regional tools • Material Flow Analysis (MFA) • for economy of a region, without rucksacks • for economy of a region, with rucksacks (cf. MIPS) • Substance Flow Analysis (SFA) • for region, with economy and environment as subsystems • Ecological Footprint (EF)

  34. Survey of analytical tools – regional tools (2) • Material Flow Analysis (MFA) • material balance for economy of a region (in kg) (or country) • focus: for a given year • if with rucksacks, then functional approach ( MIPS) • for economy: in = out + accumulation • potential relevance at regional level as indicator for dematerialisation • typical applications: • comparisons between countries or large economic sectors • changes over time for countries or sectors

  35. D r a f t Survey of analytical tools – regional tools (3) • Basic template • TMR = total material requirement • DMI = domestic material input

  36. Survey of analytical tools – regional tools (5) • Substance Flow Analysis (SFA) • Flows of single substances through economy and potentially environment of a region • typical examples: N, P, heavy metals (Cd, Hg, Pt, In, others) • focus on regions of any size • focus on results for a given year • Typical results: • origin analysis of problem flows to environment • risks of unnoticed accumulations in economy • potentials of urban mining • risks of unintended inflows • Typical application: • for support of substance policies

  37. Survey of analytical tools – regional tools (6) D r a f t

  38. Survey of analytical tools – tools for product and service systems (5) • Ecological footprint • aim: to express the total environmental pressure in terms of space consumption (in hectare or square meters) • for hazardous substances: dilution up to thresholds • for energy: biomass production • focus on global, steady state • Status: • large policy support, but scientifically debated

  39. Survey of analytical tools – tools in monetary metrics (1) • Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) • Input-Output Analysis (IOA) • Life Cycle Costing (LCC)/Total Cost Accounting (TCA)

  40. Survey of analytical tools – tools in monetary metrics (2) • Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) • for a single activity • all impacts expressed in monetary terms (using several methods, particularly WtP) • high policy profile, many applications • severely criticised by environmental scientists because of under-representation of ecological damage • focus: local, steady state • Typical application: support of decisions on governmental investment activities (e.g., infrastructure, waste management)

  41. Survey of analytical tools – tools in monetary metrics (3) • Input-output analysis (IOA) • established tool (Leontief, 1930-ies, Nobel prize 1973) • monetary flows between economic sectors • what are consequences of specific investment (policy change) in one specific sector? • focus: national level, given year • Environmental IOA (EIOA) • environmental extensions (“satellites”) • Typical application: prioritization regarding policy support of different economic sectors

  42. Survey of analytical tools – tools in monetary metrics (4) • Life cycle costing (LCC)/Total cost accounting (TCA) • LCA in monetary terms (same structure; global level, steady state) • aims to quantify hidden costs over the life cycle (risk management, waste management, communication, illnesses, etc.) • can have two forms: • including (monetised) environmental impacts • excluding environmental impacts • Typical application: to be used in conjunction with LCA • or even integrated with LCA in eco-efficiency

  43. Life Cycle Assessment (1) • Life cycle assessment (LCA) • product from cradle to grave (vertical integration) • total picture; avoidance of problem shifting • all types of impact (horizontal integration) • role of functional unit • for comparability of different product systems • integration over space and time • standardised in ISO (14040 series)

  44. D r a f t Life Cycle Assessment (2) Source: ISO 14040

  45. Life Cycle Assessment (3) • Final result can be in terms of: • LCI results (extractions and emissions) • LCIA results (for separate impact categories) • weighted results (one index) • Weighting (subjective!) possible on basis of: • distance to target (policy reference) • economic values (various possibilities, incl. collectively revealed preferences) • social preferences (panel process)

  46. Life Cycle Assessment (4) D r a f t • Example of the results of a comparative LCA

  47. Life Cycle Assessment (5) • Main applications • product comparisons • product improvement, design and development • strategy and policy development • LCA as a process

  48. Life Cycle Assessment – main applications (1) • Product comparisons • by industry, government, NGOs • also for ecolabeling (type I, type III) • Note: • need for authorized procedure and peer review • “comparative assertions disclosed to the public” (ISO)

  49. Life Cycle Assessment – main applications (2) D r a f t

  50. Life Cycle Assessment – main applications (3) • Product improvement, design and development • by industry • also on the basis of adapted LCA-tools • Learning curve: • LCA suggests rules of thumb • rules of thumb further validated and improved by LCA

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