From MC tests Flashcards
What is the 5 steps of an LCIA?
- Selection of impact categories “ which impacts do I need to asses?”
- Classification “what does this emission contribute to?”
- Characterization “how much?”
- Normalization “ is that much?”
- Valuation/weighting “is it important?”
What is EC50?
EC50 is the effective concentration (kg/m3) of a chemical. at which 50% of the species (in an aquatic ecosystem) are. exposed to a concentration that give half of “the maximum effect” (eg. 50% of specie dies)
What is HC50?
HC50 is the hazardous concentration (kg/m3) of a chemical. at which 50% of the species (in an aquatic ecosystem) are. exposed to a concentration above their EC50
What is the 3 mandatory steps of an LCIA?
- Selection of impact categories “ which impacts do I need to asses?”
- Classification “what does this emission contribute to?”
- Characterization “how much?”
What is the optional steps on an LCIA?
4.Normalization “ is that much?”
5. Valuation/weighting “is it important?”
(and grouping)
LCA is ISO standardized - which ISO standard series provides the standardization foundation for LCA?
ISO 14000 series
What is the intended use an a LCA?
Providing information/decision support
What is OpenLCA
A product system modelling software
What is ecoinvent?
An inventory database
What is ReCiPe?
An impact assessment method
How many midpoint and endpoint impact categories does ReCiPe cover?
18 midpoint
3 endpoint
Mention the 3 ReCiPe endpoint categories
Damages to human life (measured in DALY, daily adjusted lifeyears)
Damage to ecosystem health (measured in species.yr)
Resource availability (mesured in $)
Mention the 18 ReCiPe midpoint categories
Ozone depletion (kg CFC-11 eq),
Climate change (kg CO2-eq), Terrestrial acidification (kg SO2 eq),
Freshwater eutrophication (kg P eq),
Marine eutrophication (kg N eq),
human toxicity (kg 1,4DB eq), terrestrial ecotoxicity (kg 1,4DB eq),
freshwater ecotoxicity (kg 1,4 DB eq)
Marine ecotoxicity (kg 1,4 DB eq)
Photochemical oxidant formation (kg NMVOC),
Particulate matter formation (kg PM10 eq),
Ionizing radiation (kBq U235 eq),
Agricultural land occupation (m2/yr) ,
Urban land occupation (m2/yr),
Natural land transformation (m2),
water depletion (m3),
Fossil fuel depletion (kg oil eq).
What is the purpose of a characterization factor?
It quantifies the contribution per quantity of an elementary flow to a specific environmental impact
How many cultural perspectives is covered by ReCiPe?
3 perspectives: Individualist (I) short term interest and optimism, Hierarchist (H), and egalistarian (E).
What are the main characteristics of Life Cycle Assessments (LCA)?
- One of the main characteristics of LCA is that all the processes affected by the decision/changes are included. LCAs are related to the function of the product.
- One of the main characteristics of the LCA method is that a broad range of environmental impacts are included based on scientific methods.
- The word “cycle” is somewhat misleading, as there is not necessarily any “cycles” involved. Materials might be recycled, but it is not a requirement. In principle, the “life cycle” starts with the extraction of resources, and ends after the waste treatment, however, if conducting an LCA of waste systems, the processes for producing the products (that are discarded) are not included.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of Life Cycle Assessments?
- One of the most important aspects of the life cycle assessment perspective is that “burden shifts” are identified, i.e. that efforts to reduce environmental impacts in one process (or life cycle stage) might create increased environmental impacts in other processes or parts of the life cycle. It is, thereby, possible to prevent burden shifts.
- One of the strengths of LCA is that comparisons are possible, and it is actually possible to compare product (systems), provided they deliver the same service. The comparisons are based on scientific methods and are quantitative and LCAs can, thereby, support decisions.
Application of LCA: What are LCAs used for?
- For Ecolabelling – i.e. putting “green labels” on the products with the lowest environmental impacts
- Governments use LCA for decision support in relation to strategies, for example waste management strategies, in order to identify the waste management technologies with the lowest environmental impacts.
- Industry use LCA for decision support during the development of new products.
- Industry use LCA for marketing purposes
What is the functional unit (as used in life cycle assessments)?
- To provide a common unit for comparisons between alternative products supplying the same primary service
- As the quantity of the primary service of the product to which all impact indicators are normalized
What does ‘obligatory properties’ mean?
The properties a product must have in order to deliver the primary service and be sold on the market
What does ‘positioning properties’ mean?
Properties, individual products have, which might make them more attractive to customers on the market
Why is it important to be aware of positioning product properties?
Differences in positioning properties may influence consumer behavior and induce differences in physical flows of alternative products and systems
What does ‘secondary services’ mean?
It means other functional outputs from the product system than the primary service that are sold and/or substitutes alternative supplies of the same services
What is a “marginal” in Consequential LCA?
The expected market response to a demand in a system in an LCA
How would you identify marginal suppliers in consequential LCAs?
- If the market is decreasing the production capacity, the marginal supplier is the least competitive supplier.
- If the market is constrained, there is no marginal supplier within this production, as constrained suppliers are not affected by changes in demand. An un-constrained supplier has to be identified.
- The general trend in the market has to be identified. If the general trend in the market is expanding or stable, the most competitive supplier is the supplier that has the best options for expanding the production capacity. This most competitive supplier is often the one with the lowest production costs.
What information is needed for identifying marginal suppliers in consequential LCAs?
- Information regarding the geographical coverage of the market, and the current trends for these markets
- Knowledge regarding the main technologies for producing the product, current as well as future (depending on the scope of the LCA)
- Competitiveness of the suppliers on the market (often measured as production costs)
Examples of situations can generate Land Use Changes
- Change in demand for copper (mined in large open pit mines)
- A new waste management technology allowing a significant reduction in demand for landfilling of waste, implemented in countries of the world where landfilling of waste is still heavily practiced.
- The use of insects as a new protein source for animal feed
- Change in demand for pulp and paper products
- The use of a new technology for manure* management which mixes the manure with an acidic solution (eg. sulfuric acid), thereby allowing a reduction in the emissions of ammonia (NH3) from manure management and hence better maintenance the nitrogen content of the manure during storage. (*manure is the excreta -based waste from animal production systems).
- What elements are directly used to determine whether a consequential or attributional approach and/or system expansion should be used according to ILCD recommendations?
- Market consequence in the background system
- If the results will be used for decision making
- Interactions with other systems included in the model
