Life cycle assessment analysis

List the two inputs and five outputs for the life cycle analysis/assessment scheme. 

A life cycle assessment (LCA), also known as life cycle analysis, of a product or process begins with an inventory of the energy and environmental flows associated with a product from "cradle to grave" and provides information on the raw materials used from the environment, energy resources consumed, and air, water, and solid waste emissions generated. GHGs and other wastes, sinks, and emissions may then be assessed (Sheehan et ah, 1998). The net GHG emissions calculated from an LCA are usually reported per imit of product or as the carbon footprint. 

Rafenberg C, MayerE (1998) Life cycle analysis of the newspaper Le Monde. Int J Life Cycle Assess 3(3) 131-144... 

The aim of the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) is to facilitate the interpretation of the results of the inventory analysis. The result of the inventory analysis is an emission profile for each alternative system. In this study the emission profile is the total of all emissions to air, water and soil from the grave-to-cradle chain for the use of cushion vinyl floor covering, including the up chain processes, like electricity production and the down chain processes, like the incineration and landfill of the waste. Such an emission profile may consist of hundreds of emissions and extractions. In LCA impact assessment the total of interventions (emissions, extractions) of a process chain is evaluated in terms of environmental problems (impact categories). 

See also Bio- entries Life cycle analysis, 72 813. See also Life cycle assessment (LCA) in plastics recycling, 27 447... 

An important issue, not discussed in the present chapter, is the need to assess by life cycle analysis the sustainability of processes employing biomass instead of fossil fuels. Moreover, socio-economic life cycle assessment rather than simple... 

Methodically devised and established methods (and criteria) of substance and process assessment and evaluation like risk analysis, toxicological and ecotoxi-cological analyses, life-cycle-analysis and cost-benefit analysis . But also much simpler approaches, which in practice play an important role for assessing formulations and snbstance properties (e.g. the nse of negative and/or positive lists). 

In the previous chapters, thermodynamic analysis is used to improve processes. However, as pointed out in Chapter 9 (Energy Conversion), the exergy analysis did not make any distinction between the combustion of coal and natural gas and, as a result, could not make any statements regarding toxicity or environmental impact of exploration, production and use of the two fuels. A technique that can do this is LCA. What exactly is life cycle analysis In ISO 14040 [1], life cycle analysis (or life cycle assessment) is defined as "the compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and potential environmental impacts of a product throughout its life cycle."... 

Inventory analysis involves data collection and calculation procedures to quantify relevant inputs and outputs of a product system. These inputs and outputs may include the use of resources and releases to air, water, and land associated with the system. These data also constitute the input to the life-cycle impact assessment. 

One year before Ayres publications [7,8], Cornelissen [9] completed his PhD dissertation in which he had combined life cycle analysis with exergy analysis. He called this extension of LCA exergetic life cycle analysis. He explained that ELCA should be part of every LCA because the loss via dissipation of exergy is one of the most important parameters to properly assess a process and measure the depletion of natural resources. Cornelissen even went one step further and extended ELCA to what he called zero-emission ELCA. In this extension of ELCA, the exergy required for the abatement of emissions, that is, the removal and reuse of environmentally friendly storage of emissions, is accounted for. Cornelissen illustrated his ideas with examples of... 

Life cycle analysis and assessment, http /www.gdrc.org/uem/waste/life-cycle, html... 

Bennett, D. H., et al. (2002) Intake fraction for multimedia pollutants a tool for life cycle analysis and comparative risk assessment. Risk Analysis 22 905-918. 

Life Cycle Analysis A procedure which involves assessing the impact of a product or material throughout its life cycle - i.e., from raw material extraction or production through manufacture and use, to disposal or recovery. Also called Life Cycle Assessment. 

The actual work required for making a life-cycle analysis and assessment of a technology such as fuel cells may be summarised in the following way ... 

Life cycle assessment, life cycle analysis... 

Seppala, J., Basson, L., Norris, G.A. Decision analysis frameworks for life-cycle impact assessment. Journal of Industrial Ecology 5, 45-68 (2001) Shanks, G., Seddon, P. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Journal of Information Technology 15, 243-244 (2000)... 

Life cycle analysis is expected to help in the long term the environmental aspects associated with the future of packaging. Life cycle assessment can also be applied. However, each involves factors which are difficult to accurately quantify. 

Figure 12 shows the basic framework for compiling an inventory of wastes, emissions, and energy use associated with the manufacture, use, and disposal of a product (SETAC, 1991). Compiling an inventory is just the first step in a life cycle analysis, however. After the inventory is compiled, the impacts of raw material use, waste generation, and emission generation must be assessed. Finally, after the life cycle impacts are assessed, mechanisms for reducing adverse environmental impacts can be... 

Koch, D. G., and Kuta, C. C., Assessing environmental trade-offs Procter Gamble s approach to life cycle analysis. In Inside Environment. 1991. 

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