Lecture 8: LCA

Question 1

Why LCA?

Answer 1

• Regulatory and legislative
	• Product promotion and declaration
	• Corporate environmental policies 
	• Comparison with existing benchmarks
	• Waste management impacts 
=> Environmental impact assessment conducted by LCA

Question 2

Define life cycle

Answer 2

consecutive and interlinked stages of product/service system, from extraction of natural resources to final disposal

Question 3

Define LCA

Answer 3

systematic set of procedures for compiling/examining inputs + outputs of materials and energy, as well as environmental impact from product throughout its life cycle

Question 4

Define variants of LCA

Answer 4

• Cradle to grave = full LCA from resource extraction to use and disposal phase
  
  • Cradle to gate = partial LCA form resource extraction to factory gate (before transported to consumer)
    Cradle to cradle - end of life disposal step for product is recycling process

Question 5

What is LCA useful for?

Answer 5

• Designing new products
  
  • Choosing between comparable products
  • Help ensure compliance with government regulations
  • Help decrease environmental impact of product
    Identify ways to improve sustainability

Question 6

Define the stages of LCA

Answer 6

• Goal and scope

- Intended application and audience, reasons for carrying out study
- Define functional unit 
- Define boundaries, methods, purpose => drives transparency

• Inventory analysis 

- Collection of data on all environmental intervention in unit processes
- Databases are available in software 
- Types and sources of data i.e. inputs and emissions
- Data quality i.e. time related, precision and uncertainty

• Impact assessment 

- Selection of impact categories, category indicators and characterisation models
- Classification 
- Characterisation 
- Conversion of inventory data into environmental effect i.e. CO2 to global warming 

- LCA impact assessment place - impact factors i.e. Igw - global warming, IAR - acid rain => relative scale - everything measured relative to CO2

• Interpretations

- ISO standard
- ID signification issues
- Evaluation of completion, sensitivity and consistency 
- Conclusions, recommendations ,limitations  

• Direct applications 
- Photovoltaic cells = operate cleanly, no environmental impact (don’t emit GHG)

LCA = based on functional unit