Zero-Emission ELCA

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 

Cornelissen extended the LCA study to include the effect of depletion of natural resources making use of ELCA, the exergetic life cycle assessment. In this analysis a full mass and energy balance was made, that is, a first law analysis. Exergy values for all mass and energy streams were included in accordance with the Tables 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4 in Chapters 6 and 7. This analysis clearly showed where work was available in inputs and outputs and where it was lost. He could show that the cup scored less favorable than the mug in terms of depletion of natural resources (817 MJ vs. 442 MJ). 

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