Future of Life-Cycle Assessment in a Smart and/or Sustainable World

Shahabian, Aryan; Fadai, Alireza; Peruzzi, Thomas

doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-0315-7.ch009

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Recognizing that LCA is neither the sole nor the ultimate step in the decision-making process is crucial. Instead, it is a transparent process that assesses the potential environmental consequences of various input alternatives [111]. LCA aims to provide a solid foundation for making informed decisions by illuminating the environmental implications of different choices.…”

Section: Integrating Life Cycle Assessment With Decision-making Proce...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessments in Renewable Energy: Solar and Wind Perspectives

Portillo,

Alcayde,

Garcia

et al. 2024

Preprint

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The growing urgency for sustainable energy solutions necessitates a deeper understanding of the environmental impacts of renewable technologies. This article aims to synthesize and analyze Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) in this domain, providing a comprehensive perspective. We systematically categorize 2,923 articles into four communities: (1) Photovoltaic systems, (2) Wind energy systems, (3) Materials for auxiliary industry of photovoltaic and wind systems, and (4) Solar thermal systems. A comparative analysis is conducted to identify methodological consistencies and disparities across these communities. The findings reveal diverse methodological approaches and a range of environmental impacts, highlighting the complexities in assessing renewable energy systems. The article underscores the significance of material selection in photovoltaic and wind systems, providing a critical overview of the current state of LCA research in renewable energy and stressing the need for standardized methodologies. It also identifies gaps in recent research, offering insights for future studies focused on integrating environmental, economic, and social considerations in renewable energy assessments.As a case study, an LCA was used to evaluate two energy supply methods for a sensor network: one connected to the public grid and another powered by a photovoltaic panel. The off-grid system, while more environmentally friendly by reducing reliance on non-renewable energy sources, posed challenges due to the high environmental impact of battery production and disposal. Integrating environmental assessments provides a robust framework for making informed decisions on sustainable technologies. The findings are critical for projects that balance technological needs with sustainability goals.

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Section: Integrating Life Cycle Assessment With Decision-making Proce...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessments in Renewable Energy: Solar and Wind Perspectives

Portillo,

Alcayde,

Garcia

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…Actually, the use of LCI data from different sources, such as LCI databases or even industry interviews, was advised when LCI data did not exist for a specific country. For example, Braga et al [10] collected LCI data from interviews with companies, published literature, and the materials' environmental product declarations [3,10,44,48,58,59]. The methodology proposed by IPCC 2006 [48] was utilized for the calculation of environmental load per unit process of the studied sustainable mixes.…”

Section: Life Cycle Inventory Data Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental and Economic Life Cycle Assessment of Recycled Aggregates Concrete in the United Arab Emirates

2021

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This paper studies the potential environmental and economic impact of replacing natural aggregates (NA) with recycled aggregates (RA) in the production of different sustainable concrete mixes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out according to the methodology proposed by the international standards of the series ISO 14040. The performance of concrete mixes having a similar design compressive strength was evaluated. Results showed that the inclusion of steel fibers (SF) led to an increase in the global warming potential (GWP), whereas mixes with cement replacement by fly ash, slag, or microsilica recorded a reduction in GWP. Furthermore, SF-reinforced mixes created with 100% RA were at least three times more expensive than the NA-based control mix, while the cost of those with cement replacement by mineral additives was generally similar to that of the control. Material transportation was found to be a main contributor to the environmental and economic impacts, only second to cement, and its contribution increased with longer distances and steel fiber incorporation and decreased with RA replacement. To integrate these individual measures and select optimum mixes for various applications, multifunctional performance indices were developed. Research findings highlight the possibility to fully replace NA with RA (100%) while maintaining the performance and improving the economic and environmental impacts of concrete produced in the UAE.

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“…Performing an LCA is a challenging and complicated process, where making material mistakes due to unreliable input information collected from unrepresentative sampling is likely to occur, even in developed countries [29]. LCA requires accurate and up-to-date data that differs from time to time, place to place, and case to case.…”

Section: Quality Of Databasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As said before, this project is still in the design phase, so the results obtained after the environmental analysis and the TCO study will be useful for setting the requirements of the project or even improving the final design in sustainability, environmental, and economic terms. According to [57], it is estimated that over 80% of the environmental impact of a product or service is established in the early stage of the design, so an environmental analysis in this phase is not only feasible, but also provides valuable information to make the best and most transparent possible decisions [29]. Accordingly, it is not only helpful but also necessary to use such methods at the beginning of a project [58].…”

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confidence: 99%

Prospective Environmental and Economic Assessment of a Sensor Network

et al. 2021

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Sustainability is becoming of vital importance in project management, and a life cycle assessment (LCA) can ensure a body of knowledge to bear in mind the environmental burdens the project involves. In this study, two different ways of supplying energy to a sensor network are analyzed. Firstly, we analyze the environmental impact of the devices connected to the public grid. Secondly, we analyze the completely full off-grid system, with the sensor connected to a photovoltaic (PV) panel. Our findings show that the off-grid option has a greater number of benefits than the grid-connected option in terms of environmental impacts, although it is less economically advantageous. In a detailed analysis of the off-grid scenario, it can be observed that the battery is the component with the highest impact, so actions to try to reduce consumption, and, therefore, the battery size and its negative impact are taken. After reducing the battery size, the break-even point was reached, providing a net economic benefit of EUR 0.23 sensor/year. However, this analysis refers to a single sensor, and although the environmental and economic benefits seem low, in an economy of scale, this could result in large savings if these types of sensors are massively installed.

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Future of Life-Cycle Assessment in a Smart and/or Sustainable World

Cited by 5 publications

References 47 publications

Life Cycle Assessments in Renewable Energy: Solar and Wind Perspectives

Life Cycle Assessments in Renewable Energy: Solar and Wind Perspectives

Environmental and Economic Life Cycle Assessment of Recycled Aggregates Concrete in the United Arab Emirates

Prospective Environmental and Economic Assessment of a Sensor Network

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