Goals definition

Life-cycle goal definition The reason(s) for undertaking die individual assessments in die LCA. 

Life-cycle goal definition How well does the solvent work ... 

The goal definition element of an LCA identifies the purpose for the study and its intended application(s). This step will present reasons why the study is being conducted and how the results will be used. Scoping defines the boundaries, assumptions, and limitations of a particular LCA. It defines what activities and impacts are included or excluded and why. Scoping should be attempted before any LCA is conducted to ensure that ... 

Scoping and goal definition is often thought of as the most important process of an LCA, and care must be taken to establish appropriate boundaries that are consistent with the objectives of a study. Suh et al.102 warn that including a scientific basis for excluding and including processes in system boundaries is essential and emphasizes the difficulty in... 

In goal definition, the scope and purpose of the LCA is defined. The functional unit and system boundaries are also established. The functional unit is the reference point to which environmental impacts are attributed. The choice of functional unit depends on the application of the LCA. For a process it could be a tonne of product or feedstock, or a tonne of impurity removed. For a commodity product the functional unit could be a tonne of product, but for specialty chemicals and most consumer products performance properties are more important and the choice can become complex. For example, performance of a paint would be related to its surface coverage and durability hence a possible functional unit for the paint might be the quantity required to cover a square meter of surface over a time span of 20 years. 

The definition of the goal of an LCA study is of central importance, since the results are related to the respective question. The following points must be documented in the goal definition ... 

Innovative electronic surveillance systems are being developed to improve early detection of outbreaks attributable to biologic and other causes of threats. A review of the rationale, goals, definitions, and realistic expectations for these surveillance systems is a crucial first step toward establishing a framework for further research and development in this area [27],... 

Step 1 Problem Description and Goal Definition Setting the Scene ... 

The scopie and goal definition (Step I) is necessary in that most life cycle analyses may be as wide or as narrow as one wishes to make them. For example, one could define a... 

Goal definition and scoping is the initial step of a LCA. It determines the purpose of the study, the scope, the functional unit and a procedure for quality assurance of the result (Figure 4.3). Sources for the data to be entered into the analysis should be identified, as should the type of impacts to be evaluated in the impact assessment. 

Figure 4.3 Goal definition and scoping determines the object and depth of the study, and the application of the results.

Notice that, contrasting with usual EBL, we don t have, at the beginning, a goal definition to rephrase. As a consequence, we can not say that the result produced by the tutor is correct Let us see with a snM example how the system works. 

The goal definition stage defines the purpose, scope, and boundaries of the study, the functional unit, key assnmptions to be made and likely limitation of the work [10]. The goal and scope definition of an LCA provides a description of the product system in terms of the system boundaries and a functional unit [3]. The functional unit is the important basis that enables alternative goods, or services, to be compared and analysed. Practitioners may compare, for example, alternative types of packaging on the basis of 1 m of packed and delivered product - the service that the product provides. 

A formal LCA comprises four steps goal definition and scoping, inventory analysis, impact assessment, and interpretation. Figure 2.6 illustrates the process with respect to a material or mass balance, omitting the components of energy balance. Each step is described briefly below [2,93,97,98] as it would be applied to a product or process rather than a service, and with a focus on mass inputs and outputs rather than energy, noise, or other considerations sometimes taken into account in LCA. 

The goal definition specifies the reasons for carrying out the study and the intended application and audience. The scope relates to defining the unit of analysis, the system boundaries, the data quality and a number of other methodological choices. The depth and breadth of LCA can differ considerably depending on the goal of the analysis. 

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