E-LCA

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is defined in Horne [4] as the compilation and evaluation of inputs and outputs and the potential impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle. In E-LCA, all input materials, waste, and emissions are accounted for at all stages raw material extraction and processing product and/or service manufacturing use and disposal and finally transportation. The comprehensive data requirement of LCA makes it a particularly effective mechanism for systematic assessment of environmental impacts when designing chemical engineerir processes to produce chemicals, fuels, and other product systems [4]. 

LCSA extends the environmental boundaries of traditional LCA in an attempt to incorporate the concept of sustainable development. It is defined as a method of addressing environmental, economic, and social sustainabiHty of a product system over its life cycle, indicated through the measurement of either positive or negative impacts [3]. LCA has been implemented through an integration of E-LCA, hfe cycle costing (LCC), and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) [3]. Brief definitions of E-LCA, LCC, and S-LCA are described in Table 14.1. 

E-LCA (Potential) environmental impacts over a product system s life cycle [4],... 

CALCAS is a framework proposed by the EU 6th Framework Co-ordination Action. The development of LCSA methodology is based on the ISO 14040—14044 frameworks for E-LCA by enhancing E-LCA with LCC and S-LCA. It expands the concept of E-LCA to include physical, social, economic, cultural, institutional, and political aspects, and broadens the boundary of a product system to assess the sustainability of a product system in which one product system can induce impacts on other product systems over time and space, and eventually impact the whole economy [11],... 

Flalog and Manik [12] developed AISMF LCSA through the combination of the E-LCA, LCC, and S-LCA frameworks, incorporated with multistakeholders analysis. The authors used multicriteria decision analysis to obtain the key indicators for LCSA, which were then used as critical variables for agent-based and/or system dynamics (e.g., use of causal loop relationships) modeling to ascertain the final results of sustainability decisions. 

Most recently, another methodology development with an emphasis on causal relationships, PROSUITE, was introduced under the EC 7th framework program. On the foundation of the (ISO) E-LCA framework, PROSUITE sustainability assessment is based on evaluating 16 midpoint and five endpoint impacts as shown in Fig. 14.1 [13]. 

FIGURE 16.1 Comparison of life cycle assessment and life cycle cost calculations. The result of LCA is (weighted) emissions and the present value of investment and operating costs, e.g,. in Euros. Note that in LCA calculations the present value coefficient is I, but the present value of LCC is always affected by interest rate and the length of the period. ... 

E. A. Philips, Proceedings 3rd CESIO International Surfactants Congress and Exhibition—A World Market, London, 1992, LCA Seminar, pp. 212-217. 

Frequently function R can be written as a single term having the simple form of equation 1. For Instance, with the aid of the long chain approximation (LCA) and the quasi-steady state approximation ((JSSA), the rate of monomer conversion, I.e., the rate of polymerization, for many chain-addition polymerizations can be written as... 

Many LCAs have been performed for MSWIs (e.g., a. 16). One can calculate the emissions and other environmental aspects of MSWIs for a given waste on the following basis ... 

A range of software tools is commercially available to aid the implementation of the LCA methodology (e.g., UMBERTO, GABI and SimaPro ). Among others, they contain... 

Fig. 3 LCA impact profile on sheet fed offset printed matter (functional unit 1 ton). Weighted potential impact (milli-person-equivalents targeted), shown on the x-axis. Only seven impact categories, i.e. human toxicity, ecotoxicity, etc. were shown here...

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