Environmental economics life cycle assessment

Hong, J., Hong, J., Otaki, M., et al., 2009. Environmental and economic life cycle assessment for sewage sludge treatment processes in Japan. Waste Management 29,696-703. 

Kniel, G.E., Delmarco, K., Petrie, J.G. (1996) Life Cycle Assessment Applied to Process Design Environmental and Economic Analysis and Optimisation of a Nitric Acid Plant. Environment Progress, 15(4), 221-228. 

Biotech may be gaining importance in the food and nutrition sector, but many nutritional ingredients are still produced by chemical synthesis or via extraction for example, carotenoids are currently most competitively produced by chemical means. For vitamin B2, however, the situation has changed completely in the last five years. The traditional eight-step chemical synthesis has been replaced by one fermentation process. This biotech process, which is also practiced by BASF on a large scale, reduces overall cost by up to 40 percent and the overall environmental impact by 40 percent, as has been shown by detailed life cycle assessments. Similar trends have been described for other bio-based processes, indicating that economic and environmental benefits go hand in hand in today s white biotech practice (EuropaBio and McKinsey Company, 2003, DSM position document, 2004). 

Thomas, P.G. 2000. An approach to dynamic environmental life-cycle assessment by evaluating structural economic sequences. Dissertation, Tufts University. 

This report discusses the options for feedstock recycling of plastics waste, including aspects of the environmental and economic pros and cons relating to feedstock recycling in comparison with incineration or mechanical recycling of municipal solid waste, based on a number of life cycle assessments. Particular reference is made to the experience of the TNO-CML Centre of Chain Analysis.485 refs. 

The quantitative assessment of environmental impacts can be made using life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, which accounts for both inputs and emissions. LCA can be used to identify the major environmental impact categories and the sources of those impacts within a chemical processing plant. LCA can also be used to identify the major contributions to environmental impact within a product s life cycle. Impact scores derived from LCA can be used along with economic assessment scores and social indicators to provide indicators of overall sustainability of processes and products. Economic assessments are often limited through failure to account for all internal costs and especially the external costs associated with waste. 

Eco-efficiency assessment focuses in principle on the entire life cycle, but then concentrates on specific events in a life cycle where the alternatives under consideration differ. Eco-efficiency analysis includes the cost data as well as the straight life cycle data. Eigure 5.3 shows that life cycle assessment is based on the environmental profile, which can be obtained, for example, from data provided by the plants and which includes the path from the cradle to the work-gate. On extending this approach to the entire life cycle, a life cycle assessment is obtained. Adding to these additional assessment criteria again, followed by an economic assessment, then leads to an eco-efficiency analysis (Figure 5.4). 

The economy developed a wide range of instruments to measure the economic success or failure of enterprises. Similar tools are requested to quantify the ecological impacts associated with manufactured and consumed products. One of the techniques being developed for this purpose is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) a mean of environmental management systems. Since 1997 the International Standard ISO 14040 has described principles and set firameworics for conducting and reporting LCA studies. 

Since enviromnental friendliness affects business and managing industries tremendously, economics is also needed to evaluate the new technology and processes. As a concrete example. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can be mentioned. You can read about it in chapter Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Surface Treatment Products . LCA is one of the interdisciplinary methods among economics, sociology, psychology, etc. It can be applied and combined to surface engineering for the environmental approach. In this way, the new approach contains various new factors and evaluation methods. This book describes many of them from the viewpoint of our new approach. 

Since life cycle assessment (LCA) can be more than an environmental impact assessment approach, chapter Life Cycle Sustainabiftty Assessment A Holistic Evaluation of Social, Economic, and Environmental Impacts discusses life cycle sustainabiftty assessment. This extends the holistic environmental LCA to account for the economic and social pillars of sustainabiftty. Lastly, chapter Embedding Sustainabiftty in Product and Process Development—The Role of Process Systems Engineers describes the practical role of process systems engineers in the implementation of sustainabiftty in product and process development. It shows some key aspects and tools that practitioners should take into account to design and develop more sustainable products and processes during material selection, process design, process and product modeling, and supply chain implications. 

Kniel GE, Delmarco K, Petrie JG. Life cycle assessment applied to process design environmental and economic analysis and optimization of a nitric acid plant. Environ Prog 1996 15(4) 221—8. 

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. 

Use of life-cycle assessment techniques to analyze material choices, processes, and waste disposal continues to increase. Some countries in Europe require life-cycle analysis before products are introduced. The U.S. EPA and the Department of Energy have jointly sponsored research to develop the tools and information needed for life-cycle analysis-based decisions about solid waste management strategies. The results of this project have already undergone peer review by experts, and are scheduled to be released in 2000. This study includes both economic and environmental aspects, and will have relevance internationally as well as in the United States. ... 

Product-related life cycle assessment with an emphasis on energy, resources and waste started around 1970. It was the time of The Limits to Growth, a report to the club of Rome and the first oil crisis soon afterwards showed, if not the shortage of oil, but at least the vulnerability of the global economic system. Twenty years later, life cycle assessment (LCA) was developed by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) and later was standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 14040-43). LCA can be considered the first internationally standardized environmental assessment method. ... 

The proper design criteria for a modem utility plant should include both environmental and economic requirements. In other words, not only the capital and operating costs of a utility plant but also the corresponding utility wastes must be minimised. The paper presents a systematic multicriteria process synthesis approach for designing sustainable and economic utility systems. The proposed approach enables the design engineer to systematically derive optimal utility systems which are economically sustainable and economic by embedding Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) principles within a multiple objective optimisation framework. It combines the merits of total site analysis, LCA, and multi-objective optimisation techniques... 

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