From system boundaries and Input Data in Consequential Life Cycle Inventory Analysis (E&W2004) Flashcards
What are the two “types of LCA”?
consequential and attributional
What are the aim of a consequential LCA?
To generate information on the consequences of decisions/actions.
What is SETAC?
The Society for Environmental
Toxicology and Chemistry
Mention some constraints which enables a technologies from being the marginal.
- natural constraints: e.g., the amount of water available
in a specific region,
-political constraints: e.g., emission limits, quotas, ban
on specific technologies. - market constraints for co-products: e.g., co-generated
heat, animal products (cf. case 3 in Section 2).
Which to questions must be answered to identify marginal technologies?
- What is the situation in which the studied change in demand
occurs? The first three steps (a-c) deal with this
question (a) what are the relevant time aspects, b) Are specific processes or overall market affected?, c) what is the trend in the market?) - Given this situation, what specific technology is affected by the change? The last two steps (d-e) aim at identifying this technology. (d) What technologies are flexible?, e) What technology is actually affected?)
Which natural phenomenon is the consequences of buying/producing a product compared to?
The decision to buy the product does not necessarily imply an increase in the amount of natural resources extracted. In general terms, the consequences of an action do not necessarily propagate through the life cycle, but through the overall economic and technological systems in chains of cause-and effect
relationships, somewhat resembling the ripples caused
by a stone thrown in a lake
Where should the boundaries of the system ideally be in a consequential model?
The boundaries of the system investigated
should ideally be defined at the point where the consequences are so small, or the uncertainties so large, that further expansion of the boundaries will yield no information that is significant for any realistic decision.
Which economic model is suggested integrated with LCI to include
1)sensitivity of the production and demand in regards to changes in the price
2)how easily the affected product can be
substituted for other products and on the likely substitute products
Economic partial equilibrium models.
What is covered in this article?
Consequential LCI methodologies. Assessing different system boundary issues and a a procedure for the identification of the marginal technology for the parts of the system that are only marginally.
