Cover Page
The handle http://hdl.handle.net/1887/19206 holds various files of this Leiden University dissertation.
Author: Liao, Wenjie
Title: A thermodynamic perspective on technologies in the anthropocene : analyzing environmental sustainability
Date: 2012-07-03
A thermodynamic perspective on technologies in the Anthropocene:
Analyzing environmental sustainability
Proefschrift
ter verkrijging van
de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden,
op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. mr. P.F. van der Heijden, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties
te verdedigen op dinsdag 3 juli 2012 klokke 16.15 uur
door
Wenjie Liao (廖文杰廖文杰廖文杰廖文杰)
geboren te Anlu, Hubei, China in 1981
PROMOTIECOMMISSIE
Promotor: prof. dr. S.M. Verduyn Lunel
Co-promotoren: dr. G. Huppes dr. R. Heijungs
Overige leden: prof. dr. G.R. de Snoo
prof. dr. M.A.J. Huijbregts (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen) prof. dr. J. Dewulf (Universiteit Gent, Belgium)
dr. B. Rugani (Centre de Ressources des Technologies pour l’Environnement, Luxembourg)
A thermodynamic perspective on technologies in the Anthropocene:
Analyzing environmental sustainability
COLOPHON
© 2012 Wenjie Liao, except for chapters 2 to 4. Copyrights for these chapters belong to Elsevier.
A thermodynamic perspective on technologies in the Anthropocene: Analyzing environmental sustainability
PhD thesis, Leiden University, the Netherlands
Printed by Wöhrmann Print Service
ISBN 978-94-6203-070-1
This PhD project has been conducted at the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden University, the Netherlands, and has been funded by the China Scholarship Council (grant no.
2007102699).
知人者智，自知者明。
胜人者有力，自胜者强。
知足者富，强行者有志，不失其所者久，死而不亡者寿。
——老子《道德经·第三十三章》
Understanding others is knowledge; understanding oneself is enlightenment.
Conquering others is power; conquering oneself is strength.
Contentment is wealth; forceful conduct is willfulness.
Not losing one’s rightful place is to endure; to die but not be forgotten is longevity.
Laozi, Dao De Jing, chap. 33, tr. V.H. Mair
Contents
VII
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Introduction and research questions 11
1.1 Human imprint in the Anthropocene 13
1.2 Change an unsustainable situation: Technological choice 13
1.3 Thermodynamics and industrial ecology 15
1.4 Research questions 17
1.5 Thesis outline 18
Chapter 2 Thermodynamic analysis of human-environment systems:
A review focused on Industrial Ecology 21
2.1 Introduction 23
2.1.1 The Anthropocene 23
2.1.2 Human-environment systems and Industrial Ecology 24
2.2 Thermodynamic analysis of human-environment systems 25
2.2.1 Thermodynamic analysis 25
2.2.2 Foreground processes (at level D) 26
2.2.3 Supply-chain processes (at level C) 27
2.2.4 Anthropogenic processes (at level B) 27
2.2.5 Planetary processes (at level A) 29
2.3 Thermodynamic analysis in IE 30
2.3.1 Thermodynamics as one theoretical basis of IE 30
2.3.2 Review on combination of thermodynamic analysis with IE analytical tools
30
2.3.3 Thermodynamic metrics for environmental sustainability indicators 34
2.4 Further discussion 34
2.4.1 Quantitative formulation of thermodynamic metrics 34 2.4.2 Challenges in understanding the physical complexity of IE 35 2.4.3 Challenges of supporting sustainability decision-making 36
2.5 Conclusions and outlook 37
Chapter 3 Is bioethanol a sustainable energy source? An energy-, exergy-, and emergy-based thermodynamic system analysis
39
3.1 Introduction 41
3.2 Materials and methods 41
3.2.1 System boundary 41
3.2.2 Data sources 43
3.2.3 Energy analysis (EA) 44
3.2.4 Exergy analysis (ExA) 44
3.2.5 Emergy analysis (EmA) 44
3.2.6 Synthesis of sustainability indicators 45
3.3 Results and discussion 45
3.3.1 Resource consumption 45
Contents
VIII
3.3.2 Input renewability 47
3.3.3 Physical profit 48
3.3.4 System efficiency 48
3.3.5 Contribution analysis 49
3.3.6 Sensitivity analysis of EmA 50
3.3.7 Additional discussion 51
3.4 Conclusions and comments 52
Appendix 54
Chapter 4 Natural resource demand of global biofuels in the Anthropocene: A review
63
4.1 Introduction 65
4.1.1 Biofuels in the Anthropocene 65
4.1.2 Environmental (un-)sustainability of biofuels 65
4.2 Materials and methods 66
4.2.1 System diagram 66
4.2.2 Exergy-based resource measure 68
4.2.3 Data sources 68
4.3 Review of global biofuel production 69
4.3.1 United States 69
4.3.2 Brazil 69
4.3.3 China 69
4.3.4 EU member states 69
4.3.5 Canada 70
4.3.6 Australia 71
4.3.7 Japan 71
4.3.8 Synthesis 71
4.4 Review of anthropogenic exergy resource demand 71
4.4.1 Ecosphere 71
4.4.2 Anthroposphere 72
4.5 Natural resource demand and heat emission 73
4.5.1 Natural resource demand of biofuels 73
4.5.2 Heat emission of biofuels 74
4.6 Conclusions and outlook 74
Chapter 5 Thermodynamic resource indicators in LCA: A case study on the titania produced in Panzhihua city, southwest China
77
5.1 Introduction 79
5.2 Methodology 80
5.2.1 System boundary 80
5.2.2 Choice of impact and indicators 80
5.3 Case study 83
5.3.1 Case description 83
5.3.2 Data source and software 84
Contents
IX
5.4 Results and discussion 85
5.4.1 Resource scores 85
5.4.2 Resource contributions 86
5.4.3 Sensitivity analysis of CED 87
5.4.4 Normalization 88
5.5 Conclusions and recommendations 89
Appendix 91
Chapter 6 Answers to research questions and reflection 101
6.1 Introduction 103
6.2 Answers to research questions 103
6.3 Reflection and discussion 105
6.4 Further development of thermodynamic analysis for sustainability 106
References 109
Summary 125
Samenvatting 129
Curriculum Vitae & Bibliography 133
