Life Cycle Assessment

Mary Ann Curran

BSChE/MSc/PhD (June 2008)

LCA Research Program Manager

EPA Office of Research & Development

National Risk Management Research Laboratory Cincinnati, OH 45268

curran.maryann@epa.gov

Life Cycle Assessment

LCA is an environmental management tool to:

• Apply a system-wide examination

• Use a multi-media approach (air, water, solid waste)

• Identify trade-offs among alternatives

• Identify opportunities to improve systems

• Support environmental decision making

• Achieve sustainable development

Life cycle thinking is being

applied but often not called LCA

• For example:

OECD Report “Biofuels: Is the Cure Worse than the Disease? Sept 2007

These studies reveal bigger picture issues of making (more) bioethanol, such as land

availability, water use, soil and water quality, and food-for-fuel issues.

“Life Cycle Studies” often focus on a single issue, such as…

• Recycling/Resource Conservation

• Greenhouse Gas Emissions

• Climate Change

• Carbon Balance

• Energy Balance

So what is Life Cycle Assessment?

but miss the element of trade-offs.

There is a standardized tool for conducting a multi-media,

cradle-to-grave assessment

• ISO 14040 “Life Cycle Assessment – Principles and Framework” 1997

• ISO 14044 “Life Cycle Assessment – Requirements and Guidelines” 2006

* ISO – International Standards Organisation

ISO 14040 Standards

Goal and Scope Definition

Inventory Analysis

Impact Assessment

Interpretation

Life cycle assessment framework

Defining system boundaries for E85

Crude Oil Extraction

Raw Material Acquisition

Stage

Blendstock Gasoline

Refining

Production Stage

EtOH Production

Bulk Terminal Storage

Vehicle Refueling

Station

Vehicle Operation

Use Stage

Corn Growing Bulk Terminal

Storage

Inventory data availability is a barrier to conducting LCAs

• National LCI database still being developed (www.nrel.gov/lci)

• Data come from many different sources, such as:

− Proprietary company data

− Consultants, labs, universities

− Public, e.g., Toxics Release Inventory (EPA)

• Databases use different units or different

reference flows; report on different time periods

• Often more than one source is needed to calculate the necessary inventory data

• Data for new products must be estimated

LCA Software/Consultants

• AIST-LCA

• APME

• Athena

• ATHENA

• BEES

• Boustead

• CMLCA

• Dubo-Calc

• EcoInvent

• EcoQuantum

• EDIP

• eiolca.net

• EMIS

• EPS

• GaBi

• GEMIS

• GREET

• IdeMAT

• KCL-Eco 3.0

• LCAiT

• LCAPix

• MIET

• REGIS

• SimaPro 5.0

• SPINE

• TEAM

• Umberto

31 National Databases (in varying stages of development)

Argentina Chile France Malaysia Spain

Australia China Germany Norway Sweden

Austria Chinese

Tapei India The

Netherlands

Switzerland

Belgium Denmark Italy Portugal Thailand

Brazil Estonia Japan Poland UK

Canada Finland Korea South Africa USA

Vietnam

Impact Assessment -

Common Impact Categories

Impact Category Indicator Measurement Impact Category Indicator Measurement

 ResourcesResources kg Scarce Resourceskg Scarce Resources

 WaterWater mm³³ Water Water

 Global WarmingGlobal Warming kg COkg CO_{2 e2 e}quivalentsquivalents

 Ozone DepletionOzone Depletion CFC-11 equivalentsCFC-11 equivalents

 AcidificationAcidification kg SOkg SO₂₂ equivalents equivalents

 Eutrophication Eutrophication kg POkg PO₄₄^3-3- equivalents equivalents

 Smog FormationSmog Formation kg Ethene equivalentskg Ethene equivalents

 Human ToxicityHuman Toxicity HTx equivalentsHTx equivalents

 Eco ToxicityEco Toxicity ETx equivalentsETx equivalents

 WasteWaste kg Wastekg Waste

 Land UseLand Use equivalent hectaresequivalent hectares

 NoiseNoise equivalent decibelsequivalent decibels

 OdorOdor ?? ??

LCIA usually models to midpoints (unlike Risk Assessment)

Emissions (CFCs, Halons)

Chemical reaction releases Cl- and Br-

Cl-, Br- destroys ozone

MIDPOINT measures ozone depletion potential (ODP)

Less ozone allows increased UVB radiation which leads to following ENDPOINTS

immune system suppression skin cancer

cataracts marine life damage

damage to materials like plastics crop damage

Can we create a Streamlined LCA?

• Out of necessity, all LCA’s are simplified in some aspect, however,

• Narrowing the scope by

 Omitting stages

 Limiting the inventory

 Targeting impacts

can overlook potential trade-offs and report misleading results.

Current LCA Practice

• Public LCI data sources are few

• Vendor data lack transparency

• No guidance exists for data modeling

• Impact modeling varies

• No guidance exists for peer review

• International UNEP/SETAC workgroup is slowly making progress

• US Database is underway but struggling to get support/data

Worldwide growing interest in the life cycle concept is

being ignited by

• Concerns about Global Climate Change (“An Inconvenient Truth”)

• Walmart Scorecard development

• Green/Sustainable buildings

• General interest by companies to

be ‘green’

Sustainable Development requires balancing environmental,

economic and social factors

Suggested Reading

• ISO Standards 14040 & 14044 (2006)

• U.S. EPA (2006) Life Cycle Assessment Principles &

Practice EPA/600/R-06/060

• Curran, M.A. (ed.) (1996) Environmental Life Cycle Assessment. McGraw-Hill, New York

• Baumann & Tillman (2004) The Hitch Hiker's Guide to LCA: An Orientation in Life Cycle Assessment

Methodology and Application

• Heijungs R, et al (1992) Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Products. Vol. I: Guide, and Vol. II:

Backgrounds, Center for Envir. Studies, Leiden University

• International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment

• Journal of Cleaner Production

• Journal of Industrial Ecology