LCA

Question 1

What is LCA?

Answer 1

An objective process to evaluate the environmental burdens associated with a product, process and activity.

The goal is to evaluate and implrement opportunities to effect environmental improvements.

LCA
is a technique to assess the environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with a product,
process, or service, by
•
Compiling an inventory of relevant energy and material inputs and environmental releases
•
Evaluating the potential environmental impacts associated with identified inputs and releases
•
Interpreting the results to help you make a more informed decision

Question 2

What aspects of the lifetime does LCA include?

Answer 2

Extraction, procession, manufacturing, transport, distrubution, use, reuse, maintenance, recycling and final disposal.

Question 3

What expertise is required?

Answer 3

LCA is carried out by dedicated deprtments in large companies and universities.
They also make use of databases and software tools.

Question 4

THe 4 stages of LCA

Answer 4

1. Definition of goal and scope.
2. Inventory analysis. (preparing an inventory of inputs and outputs from all processes within the system)
3. Impact assessment (Using the results from the inventory analysis to prepare impact and ressource consunption profiles for the system)
4. Interpretation of the impact profile and ressource cocnsumption.

Question 5

Inventory analysis

Answer 5

Listing all of inputs (raw materials, energy) and outputs (products, wastes, energy)
qualification of each input and output

Question 6

Impact analysis

Answer 6

Listing of effect on the environment for each input and output identifies in inventory analysis.
Qualitative and quantitative description of impacts: adverse effects on human health and welfare, ecosystems, and materials as well as ressource depletion.

Question 7

improvement analysis

Answer 7

listing of needs and opportunities to reduce adverse effects indentified in advense analysis and inventory analysis.
qualitative and or quantitative description of improvements.

Question 8

Some environmental burdens.

Answer 8

Typical:
• CO2 – fossil vs. biomass NOx
• SOx
• Energy – renewable vs. fossil?
• Particulates
• CO
• Hydrocarbons
• BOD
• COD
• Heavy Metals
• Nutrients - NO3-N, NH3-N, PO4-P

Question 9

Carbon footprint scopes

Answer 9

➢Scope 1: All direct GHG emissions: e.g. fuel consumption
➢Scope 2: Indirect emissions from consumption of purchased electricity, heat or steam.
➢Scope 3: Other indirect emissions; e.g. extraction & production of purchased materials &
fuels, transport-related activities in vehicles not owned or controlled by the reporting entity,
additional electricity-related activities not in Scope 2, outsourced activities, waste disposal,
etc.

Question 10

STAGE 1: SCOPE

Answer 10

• The objective of the study – the functional unit
• The boundaries of the system and exchanges over boundaries
• The assessment criteria to be applied
• The time scale of the study
• The technologies representing the different processes
• Allocation for processes entering into other systems as well

Question 11

What is the functional unit

Answer 11

The service provided, the function of the system is defined in a way allowing comparison – it defines
the objective of the comparison

Example
A cafeteria currently uses paper cups but is looking to move to ceramic mugs.
One paper cup is only suitable for one cup of coffee, while a ceramic mug may last a year before breaking.
However, the ceramic mug needs to be washed, introducing cleaning chemicals.
Suitable functional units may include:
-Drinking one cup of coffee
-Coffee consumed by a single employee over a year

Question 12

STAGE 1: Goal definition

Answer 12

• The goal definition describes the purpose of the study and the decision process to which it
provides environmental decision support
• The goal should be defined as close as possible to the decisions to be made, to the
consequences of the decision
• LCA is often used for comparing alternatives

Question 13

STAGE 1: System boundaries

Answer 13

Include all that is relevant, include only what is relevant. This is an iterative process
Issues to consider:
• The infinite nature of the product system/cut-of-limits
• Allocation or system expansion

Question 14

STAGE1 : assessment criteria

Answer 14

Look at Four areas of protection:
• human health
• ecosystem health
• natural resources
• man-made materials

Question 15

STAGE 1: Temportal and technological scope

Answer 15

What are the temporal dimensions for the use of the LCA?
• requirements on future validity of results
• time horizon for impacts and equivalency factors
• need for forecasting and trend analysis for key processes taking place in
the future
–use stage
–emissions from landfills
• choice of technology for the different processes
• average, best available, worst case, …?

Question 16

STAGE 2: Inventory analysisx

Answer 16

Each process has inputs and outputs
• These inputs & outputs can be:
–Economic (services & goods); or
–Environmental (resources and emissions)
• The inventory analysis specifies the processes required in the manufacture, use & final
disposal of a product
◆ Quantify resource and energy consumption, and environmental emissions associated
with all processes in a system
◆ emissions are post-treatment
◆apply to collection, material recovery facility, landfill, combustion
◆ Will refer to this as:
Life-Cycle Inventory (LCI)