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SPLE Exam > Sustainable Product Lifecycle Engineering > Flashcards

Sustainable Product Lifecycle Engineering Flashcards

Revision for exam on Friday

1
Q

The attitude towards climate change has shifted from mitigation to what?

A

Attitudes now focus on ADAPTATION as the climate crisis is looking to be addressed.

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2
Q

The UK floodland definition has moved from a flood every 100 years to how many years?

A

A floodland is now somewhere that floods every 25 years.

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3
Q

What percentage of the world’s population is malnourished?

A

10%

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4
Q

Name 3 other symptoms that highlight the need for sustainability.

A
  • Drought (now affecting ‘developed’ countries)
  • Storms
  • Wealth gap
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5
Q

Why is the engineering sector one of the biggest sources of negative environmental impact?

A

Excessive capactity to satisfy demand has led to overproduction and overconsumption.

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6
Q

What is the definition of sustainable development?

A

‘development that meets the needs of the present wihtout comprimising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’

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7
Q

What are the four pillars of sustainable development?

A
  • Environmental
  • Cultural
  • Economical
  • Social
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8
Q

Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) does this module focus on?

A

12 - Responsible consumption and production

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9
Q

Name 7 environmental problems which concern the whole world

A
  • Global warming from greenhouses gases
  • Sea level rises
  • Air and water pollution
  • Ocean acidification
  • Threats to polar regions
  • Loss of habitats and species
  • Excessive use of non-renewables
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10
Q

What is the definition of ‘Carrying Capacity’?

A

‘the ability of a habitat or ecosystem to sustain a population of a particular species; or the capacity of the environment to absorb pollution or waste’

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11
Q

How is ‘Carrying Capacity’ calculated?

A

I = PAT

I = impact on the environment from consumption
P = Population number
A = consumption per capita (affluence)
T = technology factor

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12
Q

Give an example of Carrying Capacity related to Co2 Emissions.

A

Humans are putting an estimated 11bn metric tonnnes of carbon into the atmosphere annually.

Forests and vegetation absorb around 3.2bn metric tonnes annually. Oceans absorb 2.5bn metric tonnes annually.

Therefore a net total of 5bn metric tonnes of human produced carbon remain in the atmosphere each year.

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13
Q

How much have humans increased the abundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since 1750 and 1960?

A

Increased by 50% since 1750.

Increased since 25% since 1960.

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14
Q

How long does Co2 last in the atmosphere?

A

Co2 lasts 100 years in the atmosphere.

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15
Q

What is the precautionary principle?

A

‘where there are threats of serious of irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.’

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16
Q

Why is there a trade-off between economic growth and environmental concerns?

A
  • Regulation free economic development would be bad for the environment.
  • However, a deep world recesions may be worse for the environment as environmental funding is often the first to go in a recession.
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17
Q

Give 6 examples of Green Economic Activity.

A
  • Renewable energy generation and energy efficiency measures
  • Making better use of land and buildings
  • Improved transport efficiency
  • Improved technology and production techniques
  • Better product design, marketing, and consumption
  • Waste minimisation and resource recovery
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18
Q

What is the polluter pays principle?

A

‘when production processes threaten or cause damage to the environment, the cost of the necessary environmental measures should be borne by the producer and not society at large.’

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19
Q

What is the importance of the ‘Polluter Pays’ principle?

A

If the polluter (or ultimately the consumer) is made to pay then the costs of pollution, waste and consumption of natural resources are brought in the calculations of the enterprise.

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20
Q

Describe a ‘reactive’ and ‘proactive’ approach to sustainable product lifecycle engineering.

A

Reactive - ‘incremental improvements’ by optimising current use and maintenance of products. INCREMENTAL CHANGE

Proactive - ‘factor X improvements’ by sustainability considerations throughout the lifecycle of products. RADICAL CHANGE

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21
Q

Name 6 benefits of sustainable product lifecycle engineering.

A
  • Lower costs of raw materials
  • Lower energy costs
  • Lower waste disposal and dependecy on waste treatment
  • Reduce future liability for clean-up or contamination by buried waste
  • Reduce liability insurance costs
  • Fewer regulatory complications
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22
Q

How many of the FTSE 100 companies have sustainability in their mission statement for the next 5 years?

A

97 of the 100.

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23
Q

What are the two future challenges for the Product Development Process?

A

Challenge 1 - Extending the scope of product development process to include use and End-of-Life considerations in the product lifecycle

Challenge 2 - Incorporate sustainablility considerations throughout the product development process.

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24
Q

What are the 4 environmental considerations for material mining extraction?

A
  • Air pollution (release of toxic elements)
  • Water polution (used for cooling and cleaning)
  • Damage to land
  • Loss of biodiviersity (mining causes extensive habitat loss)
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25
Q

How much water is required to make 1kg of paper as an example of how material preparation often involves significant energy and resource use?

A

10 to 25 litres of water are required for 1kg of paper.

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26
Q

What are the 4 environmental considerations for the production stage?

A
  • Energy use
  • Water consumption and wastewater generation
  • Solid waste generation
  • Transportation
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27
Q

What percentage of annual energy consumption in the UK can be attributed to the manufacturing sector?

A

17% of annual energy consumption

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28
Q

What percentage of annual solid waste generation in the UK can be attributed to the manufacturing sector?

A

18% of solid waste

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29
Q

What percentage of annual UK energy use is attributed to commercial transportation?

A

11% of annual UK energy use.

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30
Q

What percentage of average earnings is the average total debt per adult and what does this represent?

A

Average total debt per adult is around 100% of average annual earnings.

This represents a significant economic and social concerns regarding unsustainable consumption of manufacturing goods.

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31
Q

What are the two regulatory considerations from the UK perspective

A

Command and Control

Economical Instruments

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32
Q

What is command and control

A
  • Traditional approach to environmentally friendly legislation
  • Highly specific, centralised and rigidly enforced
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33
Q

What are economical instruments?

A
  • Works by attaching a price to using the environment
  • Producers given the choice of investing in pollution abatement or paying to pollute the environment
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34
Q

Give an example of Command and Control in the UK.

A

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH Regulations).

  • Extends duties of employers to specifically identify and monitor damages to health through exposure to hazardous substances.
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35
Q

What is an example of the precautionary principle in UK Law?

A

BATNEEC: ‘Best Available Techniques for Not Entailing Excessive Costs’

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36
Q

Give 5 examples of UK Economic Instruments.

A
  • Emissions charges
  • Tradable permits
  • Product charges
  • Legal liabilities
  • Subsidies
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37
Q

What are the 5 advantages associated with Economic Instruments?

A
  • Cost-effectiveness
  • Innovation
  • Flexibility
  • Information
  • Public revenue
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38
Q

What are zero-cost contracts?

A

When the manufacturers don’t charge recycling plants a fee for the materials and the plant makes money from selling the recycled parts/materials

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39
Q

What are the 4 planet scenarios in the scenario planning matrix?

A
  • Technologically Sustained Planet (TSP)
  • Unsustainable Planet (UP)
  • Sustainable Planet (SP)
  • Socio-economically Sustained Planet (SESP)
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40
Q

What are the characteristics of a Technologically Sustained Planet (TSP)?

A
  • High Consumerism
  • High Eco-efficiency of technology
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41
Q

What are the characteristics of an Unsustainable Planet (UP)?

A
  • High Consumerism
  • Low eco-efficiency of technology
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42
Q

What are the characteristics of a Sustainable Planet (SP)?

A
  • Low Consumerism
  • High eco-efficiency of technology
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43
Q

What are the characteristics of a socio-economically sustained planet (SESP)?

A
  • Low consumerism
  • Low eco-efficiency of technology
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44
Q

Why is the design phase important in product development?

A

90% of the environmental impact of a product is decided during the design phase.

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45
Q

What are the three typical sustainable product design considerations?

A
  • Economic issues (Financially sensible?)
  • Environmental Issues (environmentally conscious)
  • Social/ethical issues
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46
Q

Give an example of a product with Social-Ethical considerations in its sustainable design process.

A

The Hippo Roller - a barrel for transporting water in developing countries. Made from recycled materials designed to roll over rough terrain using a simple push handle.

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47
Q

What is sustainable consumption?

A

Sustainable Consumption is the use of goods and services that satisfy basic needs and imporve the quality of life while minimising the usage of irreplaceable natural resources and byproducts.

48
Q

What is the rebound effect?

A

Improvements in Unit Energy Consumption (UEC) being offset by much higher consumption of units.

49
Q

Give an example of the rebound effect.

A

Between 1999 and 2020 average Unit Energy Consumption (UEC) of dishwashers fell by 30% while total energy consumption by dishwashers rose by over 36% due to the rise in the number of dishwashers being used despite increased UEC efficiency.

50
Q

What are the three vertices of the ‘Triangle of Change’

A
  • Government
  • Business
  • People
51
Q

What is the role of governments in sustainable consumption?

A

To break the link between economic growth and environmental pollution.

52
Q

What is the UK government appraoch to sustainable consumption?

A

DEfRA 4Es Framework for behaviour change:

  • Enable (remove barriers, give information)
  • Engage (Community action, Media campaigns)
  • Exemplify (Lead by example)
  • Encourage ( Tax system, grants, reward schemes)
53
Q

What is the role of People in sustainable consumption?

A

To close the gap between consumer ‘desire vs needs’ through considerations for product personalisation, life extension, and product provision

54
Q

What is the role of businesses in shaping sustainable consumption?

A

Develop more eco-efficient products and production systems: sustainable innovation.

  • Choice influencing/editing
  • Product service systems (servitisation)
55
Q

What is choice influencing?

A

Helping consumers make better choices about the products they buy and how they use them

56
Q

What is choice editing?

A

Shifting the field of choice for mainstream consumers: cutting out uneccesarily damaging products and getting real sustainable choices on the shelves.

57
Q

Give an example of choice influencing.

A

Eco-labels promote use of products which have a reduced encironmental impact during their entire lifecycle. e.g. fairtrade

58
Q

Give an example of choice editing.

A

Phasing out of ICE vehicles in favour of electric vehicles.

59
Q

What are 6 benefits of Product Service Systems (PSS) for consumers?

A
  • Greater diversity of choices in the market
  • Maintenance and repair services
  • Various payment schemes
  • Customised product and service
  • Lesser responsibility
  • Reduced environmental impact of consumption
60
Q

What are 5 benefits of Product Service Systems (PSS) for companies?

A
  • Attach additional value to a product e.g. financial schemes
  • To base growth strategy on innovation in a mature industry
  • Improve relationships with consumers because of increased data
  • Improve the total value for the customer from increased servicing
  • To anticipate the implications of future take-back legislation.
61
Q

What are 2 benefits of Product Service Systems (PSS) for governments?

A
  • Formulating policies that promote sustainable consumption and lifecycles.
  • Creation of new jobs
62
Q

Provide an example of PSS for sustainable tooling service in machine applications.

A
  • Integrated ‘cutting tool supply and recovery chain’ thorugh automatic tool dispensing (ATD) machines
  • Used tools must be returned to the ATD before new tools issued
  • Part manufacturer invoiced for ‘amount of tool life’ used not the cost of the cutting tools themselves
  • Tool manufacturer refills the ATD and reprocesses/rebuilds the tools.
63
Q

How many vehicles come to their end-of-life each year in the UK?

A

2 million vehicles

64
Q

Typically how many tonnes of material are required as inputs for every tonne of raw materials consumed?

A

For every tonne of raw material consumed, there is typically 10 tonnes of resource input required.

65
Q

What are the 3 key objectives of Extended Producer Responsibilities (EPR)

A
  • The prevention of waste
  • The promotion of reuse, recycling, and recovery
  • Minimisation of risks to the environment associated with treatment and disposal of waste.
66
Q

What are the 6 levels of the waste management heirarchy from most to least favoured?

A
  • Prevention
  • Minimisation
  • Reusue
  • Recycling
  • Energy recovery
  • Disposal
67
Q

What are the 3 additional processes required to support a circular economy?

A
  • Collect used products
  • Sort/Asses used products
  • Re-process/Recover used products
68
Q

What are three uncertainties of implementing remanufacturing?

A
  • Uncertain quality of returned products
  • Uncertain quanitity of returned products
  • Uncertain timing of return product
69
Q

What are the reported benefits of Caterpilar Remanufactured Engines?

A
  • 43 million tonnes of core material reused.
  • Up to 90% of cost savings over new - feeds through to customer prices
  • 52 million tonnes of Co2 saved.
70
Q

What were the 5 key challenges for Caterpillar remanufactured engines and how were they addressed?

A
  • Technology obselescence: low level of technology obselescence within their product allows for multiple remanufacturings.
  • Technical capability: they developed the technical capacity to disassemble and rebuild the engine.
  • Standard replacement parts can be made bought or obtained from other discarded units.
  • Significant market for remanufactured products has been created through passing on substantial savings to customers.
  • Adopted technology in the original product has been been stable/upgradeable over engine lifecycle.
71
Q

What are the 3 mechanical material recycling processes through fragmentation?

A
  • Shredder
  • Granulator
  • Pulverisor (Grinder)
72
Q

Name 5 post-fragmentation material seperation processes.

A
  • Magnetic separation (ferrous metals)
  • Eddy current separation (non-ferrous metals)
  • Air-based separation (Air cyclone and Air ZigZag
  • Optical separation
  • Density based separation.
73
Q

What are the 3 main problems with materials?

A
  • Energy related to mateial production (global warming)
  • Other environmental impacts
  • Use of constrained materials
74
Q

Can we reduce energy for material production?

A

No, further significant energy improvements for production technology are unlikely and/or not possible.

We must therfore choose materials based on energy or reduce material consumption.

75
Q

What are the 3 environmental impacts of material use in the extraction phase?

A
  • Land use
  • Loss of habitats
  • Deforestation
76
Q

What are the 3 environmental impacts of material use in the processing phase?

A
  • Chemical use
  • Air, water, and land pollution
  • Climate change
77
Q

What are the 3 environmental impacts of material use in the manufacturing phase?

A
  • Energy use
  • Emissions
  • Waste generation
78
Q

What are the 2 environmental impacts of material use during the disposal phase?

A
  • Landfill
  • Methane
79
Q

What are constrained materials?

A

Materials taht are strategic and for which the supply is limited.

80
Q

What are the two main reasons a material may be considered constrained?

A
  • Absolute scarcity (limited global reserves)
  • Geopolitical factors (country monopolies on supply)
81
Q

What is the lifespan of an automotive Lithium Ion battery?

A

10 years

82
Q

What percentage of lithium ion batteries are currently recycled?

A

5%

83
Q

Why is the lithium ion battery recycling rate so low?

A

Because the seperation of the complex mixture from shredding is very complex.

It is cheaper to mine new lithium.

84
Q

What are the 3 approaches to limiting the impact of material use?

A
  • Choose different materials
  • Reduce material use
  • Implement circular economy.
85
Q

On what basis should material choices be made?

A

Materials chosen should be chosen per unit of function.

e.g. for a bending beam, which material results in the lowest total embodied energy.

86
Q

What are the 6 options for reducing material consumption?

A
  • Reduce yield loss
  • Divert scrap
  • Re-use old scrap
  • Use less by design
  • Reduce demand
  • Longer life goods
87
Q

What percentage of Green house gases (GHG) are related to energy?

A

73%

88
Q

What 4 parameters should be considered when looking at energy?

A
  • Power density (power generated per unit land area)
  • Variability (predictable component of availability - e.g. day/night, seasonal)
  • Intermittency (unpredictable component of availability)
  • Environmental and social impacts
89
Q

What does the power density delivered per square meter of solar cell depend on?

A

Irradiance which differs from place to place and due to variables such as cloud cover and topography (shadow from mountains)

90
Q

What is the currebt best efficiency of solar cells and what is the theoretical maximum efficiency?

A

The best are currently 20% efficient whilst the theoretical maximum is 45%.

91
Q

What is the lifetime of a solar cell?

A

20 to 25 years, an EOL process is not yet well established.

92
Q

What are the problems with onshore wind farms?

A
  • Large wind turbines are typically unsuitable for urban locations due to noise
  • Disrupting natural landscape makes them objectionable in rural areas.
93
Q

What is the problem with offshore wind farms?

A
  • More expensive and time consuming to build and maintain.
94
Q

What is the largest source of renewable energy globally?

A

Hydroelectricty (51% of global renewables)

95
Q

What is dispatchable power?

A

Power generation that can be ramped up or down as required to match variable demand in electricty grids.

96
Q

What is an example of dispatchable renewable power?

A

Hydroelectricity.

97
Q

What are Watt-Hours (Wh) a measure of?

A

Energy (=power x time)

98
Q

Why is using electricity generated from fossil fuels for domestic heating particularly inefficient?

A

The heat is converted to electricity then back to heat so there are multiple efficiency losses.

99
Q

What is the overall system efficiency of fossil fuels?

A

33% of the chemical energy in a fossil fuel source is delivered to the using process.

100
Q

How do you calculate the energy content of wind?

A

Kinetic energy = 0.5*pAT(V^3)

Where p is the density,
A is the area (pi * r^2)
V is the velocity

101
Q

How do you calculate the power generated by a solar cell per m^2

A

Power = irradiance x efficiency

102
Q

What are the 4 stages of an LCA under ISO14040

A
  • Goal and Scope definition
  • Life cycle inventory
  • Life cycle impact analysis
  • Life cycle interpretation
103
Q

What does LCA stand for

A

Life Cycle Assessment

104
Q

What is an LCA

A

Used to quantitatively assess or compare the environmental impacts of products over their entire life cycle.

105
Q

What are the four variations of an LCA?

A
  • Cradle to grave
  • Cradle to gate
  • Cradle to cradle
  • Well to wheel
106
Q

What is a cradle to grave LCA?

A

Full LCA from manufacture (cradle) to use phase and disposal phase (grave)

107
Q

What is a cradle to gate LCA?

A

Partial assessment from manufacture (cradle) to factory gate (before customer transportation

108
Q

What is cradle to cradle LCA?

A

Regenerative process

109
Q

What is a well to wheel LCA?

A

Specific LCA of the efficiency of fuels used for transportation.

110
Q

What are the 5 limitations of an LCA?

A
  • Geographic (assesses global nor local impacts)
  • Resource (limited to existing data)
  • Use (expensive and time consuming)
  • Timing (steady-state rather than dynamic)
  • Scope (focus on physical characteristics of industrial activities and economic processes not market mechanisms and secondary efffects on technological development)
111
Q

What standard is used for conducting LCA Studies?

A

ISO14040

112
Q

Can the goal and scope be changed in an LCA?

A

The goal and scope can be revisited at any stage in the project, such as when new information comes to light or lack of information becomes apparent.

113
Q

What are the two primary goals in an LCA?

A
  • Selection: which is the most environmentally friendly….
  • Improvement: reduce the impacts of an existing/new…
114
Q

What is Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)?

A

This is the ‘data model’ upon which the subsequent assessment is made in order to answer the questions as defined in the goal and scope.

115
Q

What are the 6 key principles of an LCI

A
  • Quantitative
  • Replicable
  • Scientific
  • Comprehensive
  • Detailed
  • Peer reviewed
116
Q
A

SPLE Exam (2 decks)

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