Assessing carbon dioxide emission reduction potentials of improved manufacturing processes using multiregional input output frameworks

Ward, Hauke; Burger, Mia; Chang, Ya-Ju; Fürstmann, Paul; Neugebauer, Sabrina; Radebach, Alexander; Sproesser, Gunther; Pittner, Andreas; Rethmeier, Michael; Uhlmann, Eckart; Steckel, Jan Christoph

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.02.062

Cited by 19 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…The researchers analyzed the environmental impacts and resource requirements of different low-carbon electricity generation technologies for several electricity production sectors such as wind power, solar power, hydropower, and gas-and coal-fired power plants with carbon dioxide capture and storage. In a recent work, Ward et al [118] developed a hybrid LCA model that allows estimating carbon dioxide impacts of new process technologies. The researchers utilized three global MRIO databases such as EXIOBASE, GTAP and WIOD and compared the LCA results using each MRIO database separately.…”

Section: Broadening the Object Of Analysis: Revealing Macro-level Impmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systems Thinking for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: A Review of Recent Developments, Applications, and Future Perspectives

et al. 2017

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Abstract:Tracking the environmental impacts of production, use, and disposal of products (e.g., goods, and services) have been an important issue in the global economy. Although Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a widely applied method to track these environmental impacts and support policies, it has certain limitations and an isolated way of evaluating the environmental impacts with no consideration of social and economic impacts and mechanisms. To overcome the limits of current LCA, three mechanisms have been proposed in the literature: (1) broadening the indicators by including social and economic indicators in addition to the environmental impacts; (2) broadening the scope of analysis from product-level assessment to national and global levels; (3) deepening the assessment by inclusion of more mechanisms to account for interrelations among the system elements, uncertainty analysis, stakeholder involvement, etc. With these developments, LCA has been evolving into a new framework called Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA). Practical application of LCSA requires integration of various methods, tools, and disciplines. In this study, a comprehensive literature review is conducted to investigate recent developments, current challenges, and future perspectives in the LCSA literature. According to the review, a high number (40%) of LCSA studies are from the environmental science discipline, while contributions from other disciplines such as economics (3%) and social sciences (9%) are very low. On broadening the scope of analysis, 58% of the studies are product-level works, while 37% quantified the impacts at national level and achieved an economy-wide analysis, and only 5% of the studies were able to quantify the global impacts of products using LCSA framework. Furthermore, current applications of LCSA have not considered the rebound effects, feedback mechanisms, and interrelations of the system of interest sufficiently. To address these challenges, we present a complete discussion about the overarching role of systems thinking to bring tools, methods and disciplines together, and provide practical examples from the earlier studies that have employed various system-based methods. We discuss the importance of integrated system-based methods for advancement of LCSA framework in the following directions: (1) regional and global level LCSA models using multi-region input-output analysis that is capable of quantitatively capturing macro-level social, environmental, and economic impacts; (2) dealing with uncertainties in LCSA during multi-criteria decision-making process and expert judgments in weighting of LCSA indicators; and (3) integration of system dynamics modeling to reveal complex interconnections, dependencies, and causal relationships between sustainability indicators.

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Section: Broadening the Object Of Analysis: Revealing Macro-level Impmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systems Thinking for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: A Review of Recent Developments, Applications, and Future Perspectives

et al. 2017

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“…Using a specific I‐O database therefore has an impact on truncation error estimates (as MI and the approximated TI change), indicated by differences in IOLCA results when using multiple data sets (Ward et al. ; Steen‐Olsen et al. ; Alexeeva‐Talebi et al.…”

Section: Truncation Errors In Process Life Cycle Assessment and Theirmentioning

confidence: 99%

Truncation Error Estimates in Process Life Cycle Assessment Using Input‐Output Analysis

Ward

Wenz

Steckel

et al. 2017

J of Industrial Ecology

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Process life cycle assessment (PLCA) is widely used to quantify environmental flows associated with the manufacturing of products and other processes. As PLCA always depends on defining a system boundary, its application involves truncation errors. Different methods of estimating truncation errors are proposed in the literature; most of these are based on artificially constructed system complete counterfactuals. In this article, we review the literature on truncation errors and their estimates and systematically explore factors that influence truncation error estimates. We classify estimation approaches, together with underlying factors influencing estimation results according to where in the estimation procedure they occur. By contrasting different PLCA truncation/error modeling frameworks using the same underlying input-output (I-O) data set and varying cut-off criteria, we show that modeling choices can significantly influence estimates for PLCA truncation errors. In addition, we find that differences in I-O and process inventory databases, such as missing service sector activities, can significantly affect estimates of PLCA truncation errors. Our results expose the challenges related to explicit statements on the magnitude of PLCA truncation errors. They also indicate that increasing the strictness of cut-off criteria in PLCA has only limited influence on the resulting truncation errors. We conclude that applying an additional I-O life cycle assessment or a path exchange hybrid life cycle assessment to identify where significant contributions are located in upstream layers could significantly reduce PLCA truncation errors. Keywords:industrial ecology input-output (I-O) analysis process life cycle assessment service sectors system boundary truncation error estimate Supporting information is linked to this article on the JIE website Conflict of interest statement: The authors have no conflict to declare.

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“…Dry processing is a production technique characterised by low-power consumption and lean manufacturing chains, as there is no need for the production, monitoring and disposal of cooling lubricants (Ward et al 2016). This both saves on downstream cleaning and eliminates potential working time lost due to sickness caused by contact with cooling lubricants.…”

Section: Fig 1 Concept Of Machine Tool Upgrade By Add-onsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Solutions for Machine Tools

Uhlmann

Lang

Prasol

et al. 2017

Sustainable Production, Life Cycle Engineering and Management

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Environmental, economic and social changes of any significant proportions cannot take place without a major shift in the manufacturing sector. In today's manufacturing processes, economic efficiency is realised through high volumes with the use of specialised machine tools. Change in society, such as in the form of mobility and digitisation, requires a complete overhaul in terms of thinking in the manufacturing industry. Moreover, the manufacturing industry contributes over 19 % to the world's greenhouse gas emissions. As a consequence of these issues, a demand for sustainable solutions in the production industry is increasing. In particular, the concept of "cost" in manufacturing processes and thus the "system boundaries" within the production of the future has to be changed. That is, a great number of aspects to the machine tool and production technology industries can be improved upon in order to achieve a more sustainable production environment. Within this chapter, the focus lies on microsystem technology enhanced modular machine tool frames, adaptive mechatronic components, as well as on internallycooled cutting tools. An innovative machine tool concept has been developed recently, featuring a modular machine tool frame using microsystem technology for communication within the frame, which allows for a high level of flexibility. Furthermore, add-on upgrading systems for outdated machine tools-which are particularly relevant for developing and emerging countries-are poised to gain in importance in the upcoming years. The system described here enables the accuracy of outdated machine tools to be increased, thus making these machine tools comparable to modern machine tool systems. Finally, the cutting process requires solutions for dry machining, as the use of cooling lubricants is environmentally damaging and a significant cost contributor in machining processes. One such solution is the use of internally cooled cutting tools.

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Assessing carbon dioxide emission reduction potentials of improved manufacturing processes using multiregional input output frameworks

Cited by 19 publications

References 44 publications

Systems Thinking for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: A Review of Recent Developments, Applications, and Future Perspectives

Systems Thinking for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: A Review of Recent Developments, Applications, and Future Perspectives

Truncation Error Estimates in Process Life Cycle Assessment Using Input‐Output Analysis

Sustainable Solutions for Machine Tools

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