Life cycle assessment of electricity production from an onshore v1123. Prospective life cycle assessment lca is a relevant ap. Recent decades have witnessed wave and tidal energy technology receiving considerable attention because of their low carbon emissions during electricity production. Uncertainty in lifecycle assessment induced by lifecycle inventory data.
Quantifying uncertainty in life cycle assessments of transportation fuels author. View the article pdf and any associated supplements and figures for a period of 48 hours. The procedure is illustrated in a case study that compares two insulation options for a dutch onefamily dwelling. Institute of environmental sciences cml, department of industrial ecology, leiden university, einsteinweg 2, 2333 cc leiden. Data quality of life cycle inventory background databases should be ensured in order to be useful for life cycle assessment studies. Therefore, life cycle assessment lca has been widely applied as a useful approach to systematically evaluate the environmental performance of wave. A life cycle assessment includes a number of phases. Understanding uncertainties in lca results is therefore important for making informed decisions. Evaluating uncertainty in environmental lifecycle assessment.
Use of life cycle assessment lca in global companies. Life cycle assessment lca has been extensively used in the building sector for assessing the environmental performance of construction materials, products or a whole building. Lca is becoming a common tool used in the measurement and evaluation of environmental per formance. How to treat uncertainties in life cycle assessment. It provides useful information to assess the reliability of lcabased decisions and to guide future research toward reducing uncertainty. Its purpose was to identify the materials or processes within a liion batterys life cycle from materials extraction and processing, manufacturing, use, and endoflife that most. An introduction to life cycle assessment lca nick santero, ph. The methodological development in lca has been strong, and lca is broadly applied in practice.
It is natural that there is an interest of decisionmakers and lcaexperts in the credibility of the results of lca. Quantified uncertainties in comparative life cycle assessment ncbi. Life cycle assessment lca is emerging as one of the most. Incorporating uncertainties into building life cycle. Integrated environmental assessment and management. The objective of this study is to analyze the influence of various key assumptions and uncertainties within the development of. Aia guide to building life cycle assessment in practice. Quantifying uncertainty in life cycle assessments of. Purpose uncertainties in land use damage modeling are recognized, but hardly quantified in life cycle assessment lca. Since the complete elimination of uncertainties is impossible, lca results should be complemented by an uncertainty.
The possibility of including uncertainty in a lcatool for infrastructure is presented, studying the sensitivity of the model output to the input. However, without characterizing the associated uncertainty, the reliability of assessment results cannot be understood or ascertained. Uncertainty analysis in lca concepts, tools, and practice. A life cycle assessment is carried out in four distinct phases. Lastly, when a reference flow is defined, uncertainties can stem from indeterminate product use scenarios such as a products lifetime or performance. For instance, if co 2emission 300 kgis rejected, the co 2emission is significantly different from 300 kg or, if co 2emission of product a and b is equal is rejected, there is a significant difference between the co 2emission of. In the life cycle impact assessment lcia, the product or production system is examined from an environmental perspective using category indicators. Lca can assess the potential environmental impacts from all stages of a product or a process life cycle. Intersection between inventories and life cycle emissions impacts session keywords. Life cycle assessment is an analytical technique for assessing potential environmental, social, and economic burdens and impacts of a given product or process, encompass ing all stages of life cycle, from raw material production through endoflife management. The use of life cycle assessment lca as a decision support tool can be hampered by the numerous uncertainties embedded in the calculation.
Uncertainties in life cycle assessment uncertainties in life cycle assessment ciroth, andreas 20081119 00. Pdf treatment of uncertainties in life cycle assessment. Application to photovoltaic systems installed in spain camille marini 1and isabelle blanc mines paristech, o. Vestas wind systems as, hedeager 42, aarhus n, 8200, denmark.
However, indirect emissions from their entire life cycle should not be ignored. Ilcd handbook general guide on lca detailed guidance. Chain management by life cycle assessment developed for educational purposes gradually. Life cycle assessment lca aims to track these impacts and assess them from a systems perspective, identifying strategies for improvement without burden shifting. Each of these phases has significant associated uncertainties. Life cycle assessment a productoriented method for. Most uncertainty studies in lca quantify only one type of uncertainty, i. Guide for interpreting life cycle assessment result. Environmental and economic cycles under varying geopolitical uncertainties can lead to unsustainable patterns that significantly and negatively affect the welfare of nations. Scenario and model uncertainty were quantified by resampling different decision.
General guide for life cycle assessment detailed guidance first edition v such are seen as the most appropriate solutions for enabling the efficient use of reliable and robust life cycle approaches in small and medium enterprises sme. It measures the common area between pdf of the stochastic impact. Role of uncertainty in streamlined life cycle assessment exploring the case of petrochemical refineries and polymer manufacturing units by ashwin krishna murali a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree master of science approved may 2014 by the graduate supervisory committee. Life cycle assessment framework and tools for finnish companies finlca project started in 2009. Exploring the relevance of uncertainty in the life cycle. Monte carlo simulation mcs, which uses random samples of the parameters from predetermined.
The traditional life cycle assessment lca does not perform quantitative uncertainty analysis. Life cycle assessment lca results are inevitably subject to uncertainties. Recent developments in life cycle assessment sciencedirect. The use of life cycle assessment lca as a decision support tool can be. Our case study from berlin could use remotely sensed individual tree species as consistent inventory of a life cycle assessment. The future of building life cycle assessment in practice summary as the architectural and construction industries increasingly emphasize sustainability, more comprehensive methods are being developed to evaluate and reduce environmental impacts by buildings. Characterizing uncertainties in life cycle assessment.
Handling uncertainties inherited in life cycle inventory and life cycle impact assessment method for improved life cycle assessment of wastewater sludge treatment isam alyaseria, jianpeng zhoub a department of civil engineering, almuthanna university, 72001, iraq. Environmental and economic life cycle analysis of primary. Strategies for sustainable development, second cycle al250x, 30 credits author. Role of uncertainty in streamlined life cycle assessment. Life cycle interpretation is one of the four phases identified in the iso 14040 and the iso 14044 standards iso 2006a,b. The lcia also provides information for the interpretation phase. Introduction to life cycle assessment 10 the following is just a brief list of the groups that use lcas and of the possibilities that an lca could be used for. Using monte carlo simulation in life cycle assessment for electric and internal combustion vehicles. As part of the study, we performed a parameter uncertainty analysis for multiple scenarios to evaluate the impact of uncertainty in input data on the relative performance of products. In the modern economy, international value chainsproduction, use, and disposal of goodshave global environmental impacts.
Parameter uncertainty was quantified by means of monte carlo simulation. Postdoctoral scholar civil and environmental engineering university of california, berkeley alissa kendall, ph. Ijerph free fulltext life cycle assessment on wave. Characterizing uncertainties in life cycle assessment escholarship. Life cycle assessment lca is the calculation and evaluation. Life cycle assessment is a tool to assess the environmental impacts and resources used throughout a products life cycle, i. Interpretation of comparative life cycle assessment lca results can be challenging in the presence of uncertainty. Handling uncertainties inherited in life cycle inventory.
Uncertainties in life cycle assessment request pdf. Assistant professor civil and environmental engineering university of california, davis. Life cycle interpretation is one of the four phases identified in. Request pdf how to treat uncertainties in life cycle assessment studies. The development of the ilcd has been coordinated by the european commission and has. This nonexhaustive checklist is inspired to a large extent by the iso 14040 series of international standards and highlights some common risks or sources of errors and misinterpretation when performing or reporting a life cycle assessment lca study. Life cycle assessment lca aims to support corporate and public policy decisions by quantifying the environmental performance of a product. Pdf spurred by european union directives along with increased interest among us initiatives, life cycle assessment lca is becoming a. Quantified uncertainties in comparative life cycle.
With the everincreasing negative environmental and economic impacts, the ability to achieve sustainability is hindered if the implications are not properly assessed in challenging geopolitical crises. Lifecycle assessment lca is currently widely used to quantify environmental impacts and thus support decision making within business sectors such as. Multiactor multicriteria decision making for life cycle. Life cycle assessment lca is more and more considered a reference method for the evaluation of supply chains, production and consumption systems, up to regions hellweg and mila i canals, 2014. Integrated environmental assessment and management wiley. Quantifying and reducing uncertainty in life cycle.
Consideration of uncertainties in lca for infrastructure. Emerging approaches, challenges and opportunities in life. Life cycle assessment lca is a process used to track the environmental impact of. Uncertainty in lifecycle assessment induced by lifecycle. Multiactor multicriteria decision making for life cycle sustainability assessment under uncertainties. Intersection between inventories and lifecycle emissions impacts session keywords. Uncertainties in life cycle assessment, the international. To aid in interpreting such results under the goal of any comparative lca, we aim to provide guidance to practitioners by gaining insights into uncertaintystatistics methods usms.
Life cycle assessment, crude oil, ghg, welltocombustion, welltowheel, uncertainty, monte carlo created date. Uncertainty appears in all phases of an lca and originates from multiple. Chain management by life cycle assessment developed for educational purposes gradually evolved for scientific research stable version 4. If lca is supposed to play a role in environ mental decisionmaking, the quality of the. Environmental lifecycle assessment lca is a tool for the analysis and comparison of environmental impacts from product systems 1. The findings can be applied to other problems outside of lca that utilize mcs. Completing a life cycle assessment inhouse may require more technical expertise or time commitment than your business can provide. The treatment of uncertainty is necessary to increase the reliability and credibility of lca results. Nov 19, 2008 uncertainties in life cycle assessment uncertainties in life cycle assessment ciroth, andreas 20081119 00.
In this instance, you may decide to hire a consulting company to assist you with conducting a life cycle assessment. Case of structural steel, engineering journal, american institute of steel construction, vol. Uncertainties in life cycle assessment andreas ciroth 1 the international journal of life cycle assessment volume 9, pages 141 142 2004 cite this article. The objective is to provide an overview of the methods to identify, characterize, propagate uncertainty analysis, understand the effects sensitivity. The project identifies problems and obstacles in the use of life cycle methods, especially from the corporate perspective, and develops knowledge and knowhow on lca and related methods. Life cycle assessment lca is a tool that can be used to identify ways to decrease the environmental impact of a product or process and to inform decision makers of the consequences of changes to the product or process.
In the wastewater treatment plants wwtps, lca had been used to select the processes that have better environmental performance. Materials may include raw materials, intermediate products, emissions and waste. Processing uncertainties 5 monte carlo analysis in 5 steps 1. However, a lack of growth, mortality and planting data forced us to make assumptions, therefore creating uncertainty in the longterm prognoses. Life cycle assessment lca is widely recognised as an established tool for analysing the environmental impact of a product over the entire life cycle 1, which has been applied to many areas. Pdf uncertainties in the application of the species area. Decisions made without regard to these uncertainties may be flawed. Uncertainties in life cycle assessment article in the international journal of life cycle assessment 93. We conducted a life cycle assessment in accordance with the iso 1404014044 standards using data primarily from publicly available reports. Identify the lcas purpose, the products of the study, and determine the boundaries.
Uncertainties in life cycle assessment springerlink. Life cycle assessment is an analytical technique for assessing potential environmental, social, and economic burdens and impacts of a given product or process, encompass ing all stages of life cycle, from raw material production through endof life management. Parameter uncertainty analysis of the life cycle inventory database. Introduction if lca is supposed to play a role in environmental decisionmaking, the quality of the decisionsupport should be made clear. Life cycle assessment lca has been used to evaluate environmental impacts of products or processes. Incorporating uncertainties into building life cycle assessmentlca by using stochastic approach.
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