Life cycle assessment overview

Figure 4 gives a schematic, graphical overview of Life Cycle Assessment. According to ISO 14040 the application fields of an LCA can assist the user in (see Fig. 5) ...

Boustead, 1. (1995), Life-Cycle Assessment An Overview, Energy World, No. 230, pp. 7-11. 

In Muthu s recent book by Woodhead publications (Muthu, 2014), he comprehensively reviews the methods used to calculate environmental impact of textile and clothing supply chain, including product carbon footprints, ecological footprints, and life cycle assessment. The book presents information about the textile supply chain, its environmental impact, and an overview of the methods (greenhouse gas emissions, the water and energy footprints of the industry, and depletion of resources, as weU as the use of LCA) used to measure the overall environmental impact of the textile industry. 

Frischknecht, R., Jungbluth, N., Althaus, H.-J., Doka, G., Dones, R., Heck, T., HeUweg, S., Hischier, R., Nemecek, T., Rebitzer, G., Spielmann, M., 2005. The ecoinvent database overview and methodological framework. International Joumal of Life Cycle Assessment 10, 3-9. 

Frischknecht R, Jungbluth N, Althaus HJ, Doka G, Dones R, Heck T, et al. The ecoinvent database overview and methodological framework. Int J Life Cycle Assess 2005 10(1) 3—9. 

The vegetable oil biorefmery and the whole-plant concept has, of course, positive impacts on the environment compared to the petrol-based industry. However, sustainability studies have to be performed thoroughly and applied to each biobased product to be able to assess their consequences to our society.The important aspects to take into consideration are GHG emission, land use, water use, biodiversity, safety, and toxicity. Life cycle assessments give good overviews of all those aspects and could decide, together with economic studies, the viability of the industrialization of a biobased product. It is important to mention that a biobased product may not be biodegradable and its end of life has to be taken into consideration. 

Heijungs, R. and Guinee, J.B. 2012. An overview of the life cycle assessment method - Past, present, and future. In Life Cycle Assessment Handbook A Guide for Environmentally Sustainable Products, Mary Ann Curran (Ed.), Beverly, MA ... 

The chapter starts with a description of what silk is, where and how it is produced, focusing on South Indian sericulture. We then review the existing silk LCAs and other environmental assessments that underpin this study. Following an overview scope and overview of the life cycle inventory (LCI), and results, the discussion compares the environmental impacts of silk with those of other natural fibres. Major contributors to the high observed impact ( hotspots ) are described and opportunities and barriers improvement outlined. 

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