Land use is a major threat to terrestrial biodiversity. Life cycle assessment is a tool that can assess such threats and thereby support environmental decision-making. Within the Global Guidance... Show moreLand use is a major threat to terrestrial biodiversity. Life cycle assessment is a tool that can assess such threats and thereby support environmental decision-making. Within the Global Guidance for Life Cycle Impact Assessment (GLAM) project, the Life Cycle Initiative hosted by UN Environment aims to create a life cycle impact assessment method across multiple impact categories, including land use impacts on ecosystem quality represented by regional and global species richness. A working group of the GLAM project focused on such land use impacts and developed new characterization factors to combine the strengths of two separate recent advancements in the field: the consideration of land use intensities and land fragmentation. The data sets to parametrize the underlying model are also updated from previous models. The new characterization factors cover five species groups (plants, amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles) and five broad land use types (cropland, pasture, plantations, managed forests, and urban land) at three intensity levels (minimal, light, and intense). They are available at the level of terrestrial ecoregions and countries. This paper documents the development of the characterization factors, provides practical guidance for their use, and critically assesses the strengths and remaining shortcomings. Show less
Ding, S.T.; Ward, H.; Cucurachi, S.; Tukker, A. 2023
The Internet of Things (IoT) brings new opportunities for creating intelligent and streamlined supply chains that have better environmental and cost performance as compared to conventional ones. In... Show moreThe Internet of Things (IoT) brings new opportunities for creating intelligent and streamlined supply chains that have better environmental and cost performance as compared to conventional ones. In this paper, we quantify such improvements for a specific logistics chain case. To support the inventory of cost and emission data, we utilize system dynamics (SD) and agent-based modeling (AB) to define the structure of the two logistical systems, simulating and estimating differences in e.g., required storage levels, efficiency of transport, etc. In particular, we assess the difference in carbon emissions, cost, and market performance of a battery delivery chain in the delivery process between a two-tier IoT-supported supply chain (users are served by an IoT retailer directly connected to the producer) and a conventional three-tier supply chain (include an additional wholesaler to connect retailer and producer). The results demonstrate that IoT supply chains have significant advantages in minimizing average product storage and shipment fluctuations. IoT suppliers can estimate market demand to adjust production and transportation strategies for new orders. Consequently, the overall profitability of the IoT supply chain increases by more than 30%. Heating and lighting emissions in the storage process and direct emissions in transportation per functional unit (one unit of a Li-ion cell module) are reduced by 60%–70% under middle- and low-demand scenarios, and by at least 50% under high-demand scenario. However, the increasing use and higher loading rates of heavy trucks will weaken the advantages of IoT. Moreover, IoT products occupies a 10% lower market share compared to conventional ones under the same pricing strategy but achieves similar market share under the same value-added strategy. Show less
Zhang, C.; Hu, M.; Meide, M. van der; Di Maio, F.; Yang, X.; Gao, X.; ... ; Li, C. 2023
The rare earth magnet market experiences serious turmoil: prices fluctuate heavily while the demand is growing exponentially driven by wind turbines and electric vehicles. Recycling helps to reduce... Show moreThe rare earth magnet market experiences serious turmoil: prices fluctuate heavily while the demand is growing exponentially driven by wind turbines and electric vehicles. Recycling helps to reduce the pressure on rare earth mining, while presenting a solution for growing waste flows. While the development of recycling technologies is ongoing, we investigate the further development of short-loop recycling from small scale to industrial scale. This ex-ante LCA study combines input from expert technology forecasts, thermodynamic modelling, manufacturer data for equipment, and energy scenarios. Our approach systematically considers all mechanisms for performance changes when upscaling, from size scaling to decarbonizing electricity. The results show the effect of process design choices and the effect of end-of-life product inputs. Moreover, the assessment of multiple process improvements leads to an outlook of potential development pathways towards low-emission magnet recycling. Our systematic approach, which involves the active participation of technology developers, can be extended to support the upscaling of other emergent technologies. Show less
Decarbonizing the building stock is critical for realizing the climate-neutral target for the Netherlands. This thesis uses multi-source data, mainly including GIS data of building footprints and... Show moreDecarbonizing the building stock is critical for realizing the climate-neutral target for the Netherlands. This thesis uses multi-source data, mainly including GIS data of building footprints and the archetypes representative of Dutch residential buildings, to develop a series of bottom-up building stock models to track future material stock and flows, energy demand, electricity generation, and GHG emissions. Results demonstrate the great potential for decarbonizing the Dutch residential building sector, while decarbonization strategies should be effectively and extensively implemented. Saving space heating energy consumption is the most direct way to reduce annual GHG emissions. Considering that most existing residential buildings will still be in use in 2050, renovating them with high energy performance standards is required. Despite the great potential of renovation, it alone is not enough to realize the climate-neutral target in the residential building stock because the upstream fossil fuel-based energy systems still emit large amounts of GHG. Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources is a critical path, mainly involving onsite natural gas combustion for space heating and offsite natural gas and coal combustion for electricity and heat (in heat networks) generation. Urban mining cannot contribute to as much GHG emission reduction as energy transition strategies, though, should still be implemented as it can reduce the primary material consumption and CDW landfill. In addition to the technical aspects considered in this thesis, it is also necessary to develop feasible policies in terms of socioeconomic aspects to guarantee the effective and quick deployment of these technical strategies. Show less
Alejandre, E.M.; Potts, S.G.; Guinée, J.B.; Bodegom, P. M. van 2022
This study presents the first approach to characterise relative land use impacts on pollinator abundance for life cycle assessment (LCA). Pollinators make an essential contribution to global crop... Show moreThis study presents the first approach to characterise relative land use impacts on pollinator abundance for life cycle assessment (LCA). Pollinators make an essential contribution to global crop production and in recent years evidence of declines has raised concerns on how land use, among other factors, affects pollinators. Our novel method assesses land use impacts on pollinator abundance and proposes a new impact category that is compatible with the current framework of life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). While a systematic literature research showed the existence of multiple models that could assess pollinator abundance impacts, their parameterization is too complicated for applications in LCA. Therefore, a simplified method based on expert knowledge is presented. The practical application of the method is illustrated through the connection to, and characterisation of, relevant land use types derived from the widely used LCA database, ecoinvent. The illustrative characterisation factors demonstrate that key differences among land use types can be reflected through the proposed approach. Further development of robust characterisation factors through a larger sample of pollinator abundance estimates, and improvements to the model, such as considerations of spatial differentiation, will contribute to the identification of impacts of agricultural practices in LCA studies, helping prevent further pollinator abundance decline. Show less
Material circularity and energy efficiency are highly relevant and intertwined issues for the transition towards a carbon-neutral and circular built environment. In the Netherlands, the building... Show moreMaterial circularity and energy efficiency are highly relevant and intertwined issues for the transition towards a carbon-neutral and circular built environment. In the Netherlands, the building sector has been rendered a priority towards a circular and low-carbon society. This thesis explored potential solutions for these twin issues in light of a novel technological system. This system presents an energy–material efficiency solution for energy renovation of building stocks with prefabricated concrete elements (PCEs) with recycled CDW as feedstock. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) were combined with dynamic material flow analysis (MFA) to estimate the economic and environmental implications at both a product level and a national level. Show less
In-use stocks of products can be considered as intermediaries between human needs and the physical world. During use, they fulfil important functions, but they can also be seen as a source of... Show moreIn-use stocks of products can be considered as intermediaries between human needs and the physical world. During use, they fulfil important functions, but they can also be seen as a source of materials for the future: the production of secondary materials. This idea of an urban mine is applied to copper in China in this dissertation. Taking into account that most modern technologies rely on copper, consumption of diverse copper-containing products in China is increasing rapidly. The in-use copper stocks have become a large reservoir for urban mining. It is of crucial importance to secure future supply by closing copper cycles, thereby also reducing environmental pressure. Therefore, the aim of this research is to explore how the stocks and flows related to the Chinese copper cycle can be transformed into a sustainable and circular economy. The material flow analysis and life cycle assessment approaches are used to quantify the in-use stocks, demand and waste generation for copper under the Chinese policies related to general economic development, the energy transition and ambitions with regard to circular economy, and assess associated environmental impacts as well as identify potential options to realize the dematerialization and environmental sustainability of the copper cycle in China. Show less
Zhang, C.; Hu, M.; Laclau, B.; Garnesson, T.; Yang, X.; Tukker, A. 2021
Buildings have become a major concern because of their high energy use and carbon emissions. Thus, a material-efficient prefabricated concrete element (PCE) system was developed to incorporate... Show moreBuildings have become a major concern because of their high energy use and carbon emissions. Thus, a material-efficient prefabricated concrete element (PCE) system was developed to incorporate construction and demolition waste as feedstock for residential building energy renovation by over-cladding the walls of old buildings. By conducting life cycle assessment and life cycle costing using the payback approach, this study aims to explore the life cycle performance of energy conservation, carbon mitigation, and cost reduction of the PCE system in three European member states: Spain, the Netherlands, and Sweden. The results show that the energy payback periods for Spain, the Netherlands, and Sweden were 20.45 years, 17.60 years, 19.95 years, respectively, and the carbon payback periods were 23.33 years, 16.78 years, and 8.58 years, respectively. However, the financial payback periods were less likely to be achieved within the building lifetime, revealing that only the Swedish case achieved a payback period within 100 years (83.59 years). Thus, circularity solutions were considered to shorten the PCE payback periods. Using secondary materials in PCE fabrication only slightly reduced the payback period. However, reusing the PCE considerably reduced the energy and carbon payback periods to less than 6 years and 11 years, respectively in all three cases. Regarding cost, reusing the PCE shortened the Swedish payback period to 29.30 years, while the Dutch and Spanish cases achieved investment payback at 42.97 years and 85.68 years, respectively. The results can be extrapolated to support the design of sustainable building elements for energy renovation in Europe. Show less
Van der Giesen, C.; Cucurachi, S.; Guinee, J.; Kramer, G.J.; Tukker, A. 2020
LCA is a well-known assessment tool that identifies and provides insights on the environmental impacts of products and services over their lifecycle. The guidance provided by the existing manuals... Show moreLCA is a well-known assessment tool that identifies and provides insights on the environmental impacts of products and services over their lifecycle. The guidance provided by the existing manuals typically applies to modelling and assessing environmental impacts ex-post, meaning that information is available from empirical experience after products have been commercially in use for extended periods of time. This information is not available if LCA is applied in an ex-ante manner before a technology is commercially deployed at scale. We identify the major challenges of applying LCA in an ex-ante manner and propose a route forward in dealing with these challenges that combines intuitions from other disciplinary fields. The first challenge is how to model consistent future foreground systems for the incumbent and new technology systems. Learning curves and scenario approaches are the way forward. The second challenge is how to model future background systems. Here a solution is to transform existing LCI databases towards future contexts, informed by the Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) that provide scenarios in line with the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). Finally, uncertainty in exante LCA is of a different nature as in ex-post LCAs. The main difference with conventional LCA studies is the highly uncertain information for the future. To acknowledge this. considerate attention should be attributed to the discussion on these uncertainties, both in the design of the assessment and the data used. Responsive evaluation can play a supportive role here. This will increase the transparency and efficacy of the results because the relevant stakeholders and experts are involved. In this way technology designers and other stakeholders derive insights on the influence of design choices or contextual factors (that are important, but hard to influence) on the potential environmental impacts of their foreseen technology. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Show less
Othoniel, B.; Rugani, B.; Heijungs, R.; Beyer, M.; Machwitz, M.; Post, P. 2019
LCA has become an important method to study environmental impacts of human activities. Still, there are several methodological issues in LCA that can adversely affect the results reliability.... Show moreLCA has become an important method to study environmental impacts of human activities. Still, there are several methodological issues in LCA that can adversely affect the results reliability. Three of these issues relate to a) allocation, b) the representation of the time dimension and c) the interpretation of results in LCA. Uncertainties play a fundamental and underlying role for these issues. It is widely-agreed that correctly dealing with these different uncertainty sources is a vital step towards increasing the usefulness and reliability of LCA results. Practical ways to deal with uncertainty are needed. The aim of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of the uncertainty dimension of current LCA. By means of addressing different sources of uncertainty not yet addressed, with new methods, a clearer picture of the implications of different sources of uncertainty in LCA is provided. This thesis departed from broad domains of uncertainty including risk, uncertainty as conventionally described, ignorance and indeterminacies. The selected sources of uncertainty are in the domains of risk and conventional uncertainty i.e. those due to incomplete scientific knowledge and that are to some extent quantifiable. This does not mean that all can be known or quantified as ignorance and indeterminacies exist. Show less
The overall framework of the thesis is to develop an approach to compare the impacts between leaving biomass residues in fields and utilizing them for bioenergy. In this regard, residue-based... Show moreThe overall framework of the thesis is to develop an approach to compare the impacts between leaving biomass residues in fields and utilizing them for bioenergy. In this regard, residue-based bioenergy should be managed differently from product-based bioenergy. The objectives of this thesis are to identify the key issues when conducting a life cycle assessment (LCA) of residue-based bioenergy and to propose improvement in LCA procedures, specifically in the areas of life cycle inventory (LCI), life cycle impact assessment (LCIA), and methodological choices in the comparative LCA. It was discovered that the key issues associated with residue-based bioenergy relate to four primary characteristics with respect to its raw materials (biomass residues), i.e., excessive removal from plantation fields which can affect soil fertility; valuation (relative to biomass products); competing uses (bioenergy, feed, fiber, fertilizers); and treatment of biogenic carbon (assumptions of carbon neutrality vs. complete inventory). These unique features require specific LCA approaches which vary from those of conventional product-based bioenergy. These approaches include: [1] solutions to the existing dissimilar practices in the LCI of biogenic carbon; [2] an LCIA method of removing biomass residues from soil on biomass productivity; and [3] methodological choices in comparative LCA of biomass residues utilization. Show less
In the last three decades, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework has grown to establish itself as the leading tool for the assessment of the environmental impacts of product systems.LCA studies... Show moreIn the last three decades, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework has grown to establish itself as the leading tool for the assessment of the environmental impacts of product systems.LCA studies are now conducted globally both in and outside the academia and also used as a basis for policy making.Now that the science behind existing and established impact assessment models is more solid, LCA modellers may work on deepening and broadening LCA, and on tackling the issues that make the framework incomplete or uncertain.This work of thesis deals with the complete modelling of stressors that are not related to the standard extraction/emission pattern, thus that do not relate to the extraction of a certain quantity of matter or to the emission of matter to the environment.These stressors may be defined in this acceptation as matter-less.The thesis analyses the development of impact assessment models for the case of sound emissions determining noise impacts, radio-frequency electromagnetic emissions leading to electromagnetic pollution, and light emissions determining ecological light pollution.Through the study of these matter-less stressors the computational structure and other methodological topics of the LCA framework are put to the test. Show less
Environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) is a method for the quantitative assessment of the environmental impacts of products. A number of impact categories are related to toxic effects of... Show moreEnvironmental life cycle assessment (LCA) is a method for the quantitative assessment of the environmental impacts of products. A number of impact categories are related to toxic effects of chemicals. Multimedia models for substance fate, supplemented with models for human exposure, have been developed in the context of human and environmental risk assessment (HERA). Different authors have adapted such models for use in LCA, largely on a continental level. It has sometimes been suggested to merge LCA toxicity assessment and HERA into one common tool. Here, it is demonstrated that LCA and HERA cannot be merged, due to a fundamental difference concerning their respective goals. Subsequently, adaptations to existing multimedia models are proposed to make it possible to extend multimedia models with a module for metals. The core of the thesis is formed by the GLOBOX model: a global, regionally differentiated fate, intake and effect model for LCA toxicity assessment. For emissions of any organic chemical or metal to any compartment in any country or at any sea, this model calculates region-specific characterisation factors. Finally, an updated set of LCA normalisation factors is provided, with which the relative contributions of a product to the different impact categories can be evaluated. Show less
