Environmental impact of future milk supply chains in Sweden: a scenario study

The objective of this study was to analyse the environmental impact of future supply chains for dairy products. A scenario technique was chosen because scenarios can yield information about the environmental consequences of certain lines of action or developments in a system. To quantify the effects of future systems, a mathematical model of the milk supply chain was constructed and used to simulate possible scenarios. The model was based mainly on life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The results show that any consideration of the environmental effects of the milk supply chain must consider the entire chain. The amount of packaging materials used is an important factor, as is the transportation of the dairy products to households.     

基于LCA的聚乳酸快递包装环境友好性评价

以聚乳酸快递包装为研究对象,运用生命周期评价（LCA）方法对聚乳酸快递包装的原料获取、加工、使用及5种处置情景的环境影响进行比较,并采用累积能源需求（CED）方法对能源消耗情况进行分析.功能单位（1000个规模为25×35cm的聚乳酸快递袋,918kg）快递袋原材料获取、加工及使用阶段的环境影响潜能值分别为1.09×10^-9、5.64×10^-10、1.24×10^-10.海洋水生态毒性是聚乳酸快递袋环境影响的主要类型,占77%;非生物资源耗竭潜能值、人类毒性次之,分别占9%和6%.能源消耗主要类型为不可再生能源,占总能源消耗的89%,其中,快递袋使用阶段为主要贡献阶段,占比为91%.处理阶段5种处置情景中情景Ⅴ（焚烧47%,填埋13%,回收40%）对环境最为友好,通过增加焚烧和回收处置的比例,减少填埋比例对环境有着更为积极的影响.     

基于LCA的聚乳酸快递包装环境友好性评价

以聚乳酸快递包装为研究对象,运用生命周期评价（LCA）方法对聚乳酸快递包装的原料获取、加工、使用及5种处置情景的环境影响进行比较,并采用累积能源需求（CED）方法对能源消耗情况进行分析.功能单位（1000个规模为25×35cm的聚乳酸快递袋,918kg）快递袋原材料获取、加工及使用阶段的环境影响潜能值分别为1.09×10^-9、5.64×10^-10、1.24×10^-10.海洋水生态毒性是聚乳酸快递袋环境影响的主要类型,占77%;非生物资源耗竭潜能值、人类毒性次之,分别占9%和6%.能源消耗主要类型为不可再生能源,占总能源消耗的89%,其中,快递袋使用阶段为主要贡献阶段,占比为91%.处理阶段5种处置情景中情景Ⅴ（焚烧47%,填埋13%,回收40%）对环境最为友好,通过增加焚烧和回收处置的比例,减少填埋比例对环境有着更为积极的影响.     

磷酸铁锂电池不同应用场景的生命周期评价

为评估磷酸铁锂(LFP)电池梯次应用的生命周期环境影响,设定直接应用和梯次应用2个应用场景,采用生命周期评价(LCA)方法,对应用场景生命周期各阶段的环境影响及其贡献进行分析.功能单位设定为应用总容量1GWh的LFP电池作为通讯基站(CBS)储能电池,循环寿命为800次.结果表明,2个应用场景的环境影响热点均为储能应用...     

Carbon footprint analysis for increasing water supply and sanitation in South Africa: a case study

This study investigates the environmental burdens due to the provision of potable water and sanitation in the eThekwini Municipality (Durban), South Africa. This was achieved by employing LCA studies for the individual parts of the urban water system (impoundment, water treatment, distribution, collection, sewage treatment and water recycling). Based on the results of the individual LCAs a base case was constructed.For the provision of potable water and sanitation to new customers, which have not been previously served, two different scenarios (200 000 new customers in an urban environment with waterborne sewage and in a peri-urban environment with on-site sanitation) and three different options (maximising use of existing assets, recycling water and building new infrastructure) were considered and analysed. With regard to the impact scores calculated for both scenarios (urban and peri-urban), the recycling of water is followed by maximising the use of existing assets as the most environmentally friendly options. The construction of new infrastructure carries a higher environmental burden and the use of bottled water for drinking (an additional scenario) carries the highest environmental burden.     

Modelling scenarios towards a sustainable use of natural resources in Europe

Issues related to the unsustainable use of natural resources are currently high on the policy agenda both in Europe and in other world regions. A large number of studies assessed past developments of material use and resource productivities. However, little effort has so far been devoted to forecasting future patterns of natural resource use and to provide ex-ante assessments of environmental and economic effects of different resource policies. This paper presents results from the international research project “MOSUS” (Modelling opportunities and limits for restructuring Europe towards sustainability), which was designed to fill some of these research gaps. In this project, a global economy–energy model system was extended by a worldwide database on material inputs, in order to run three scenarios for European development up to the year 2020: a baseline scenario without additional policy intervention and two so-called “sustainability scenarios”, simulating the implementation of six packages of policy measures geared towards decoupling economic activity from material and energy throughput. These measures included, amongst others, taxes on CO₂ emissions and transport, measures to increase metal recycling rates, and a consulting programme to raise material productivity of industrial production. This paper presents the evaluation of the three scenarios with regard to the extraction of natural resources on the European and global level. In the baseline scenario, used domestic extraction within the EU remains roughly constant until 2020, while unused domestic extraction decreases (particularly overburden from mining activities). The stabilisation of domestic extraction, however, is accompanied by growing imports of material intensive products. This indicates that the material requirements of the European economy will increasingly be met through imports from other world regions, causing shifts of environmental pressures related to material extraction and processing away from Europe towards resource-rich countries. The implementation of the six sustainability policy measures applied in the sustainability scenarios results in a slight absolute reduction of domestic extraction in all European countries and significantly increased resource productivities. The results suggest that policy instruments aimed at raising eco-efficiency on the micro level can be conducive to economic growth. To limit rebound effects on the macro level, these instruments must, however, be accompanied by other policies influencing the prices of energy and materials. With regard to global resource use trends, the baseline scenario forecasts a significant growth of resource extraction, particularly in developing countries, reflecting the growing demand for natural resources of emerging economies such as China and India.     

Methods and data for the environmental inventory of contrasting pig production systems

The comparison of the environmental performance of contrasting agricultural production systems using life cycle assessment (LCA) requires very specific data for each production mode, especially for direct emissions on the farm. In a case study of pig production, three contrasting production scenarios were defined: conventional good agricultural practice (GAP), organic agriculture (OA), and red label (RL). An expert panel produced methods for the estimation of emissions for key-processes of these scenarios. Clear differences were obtained for these emissions between the three scenarios. Finally, the summation of the main emissions for the entire life cycle allowed the identification of weak points for each scenario, which can be explained by the differences obtained for the emissions of the key-processes studied.     

Future trends in environmental impact of eucalyptus-based Kraft pulp industry in Thailand: a scenario analysis

This study explores possible future trends in the environmental impact of the Kraft pulp industry in Thailand between 2000 and 2020. Scenarios were developed to analyze the effect of different options to reduce the future environmental impact, and the costs associated with the implementation of these options. The analysis indicates that without currently applied reduction options the environmental impact would be twice as high as it currently is. For a Business-as-Usual scenario, in which no additional pollution reduction options are assumed to be implemented, the overall environmental impact is calculated to increase between 2000 and 2020 by a factor of two. Next, five Environmental Policy scenarios reflecting different strategies were defined to reduce the environmental impact. The results indicate that it is theoretically possible to reduce the overall environmental impact by almost 50% relative to the BAU 2020 levels. This scenario, however, may not be feasible because of the high costs involved. Four other Environmental Policy scenarios result in a reduction of the impact by 24–37% relative to the BAU scenario. Based on these results, it can be concluded that there are different ways to reduce the overall environmental impact by about one-third relative to BAU trends. Relatively large differences in the costs of the options included in the scenarios were also observed. We conclude that combining the most cost-effective options may be the most interesting strategy for reducing the overall environmental impact of Kraft pulp industry in Thailand.     

LCA of comprehensive pig manure management incorporating integrated technology systems

Increased and intensified pig production has raised the needs for proper management systems of pig manure in order to reduce negative environmental impacts. The objectives of this study were to identify the most significant environmental impacts from pig manure management considering a wide range of impact categories and to determine which integrated technology system at which handling stage can achieve the highest impact reduction. Twelve scenarios applying various treatment, storage and land application systems were developed and compared. Life cycle assessment (LCA) with the aim of capturing the actual consequences of the considered scenarios was selected as the tool for impact quantification. The most important impact categories in this investigation are global warming (GWP), aquatic eutrophication (AEP), respiratory inorganics (RIP), and terrestrial eutrophication (TEP). The two latter impacts, caused by ammonia emissions, have not been widely considered in most of previous LCA studies on pig manure management. The main keys for the effective impact reduction are the integration of treatment technology systems aiming at energy recovery with high nutrient recovery and control of greenhouse gas, ammonia, and nitrate emissions at every handling stage. For GWP and AEP, the anaerobic digestion-based scenario with natural crust storage achieves the highest impact reduction because of high efficiencies in energy and nutrient recovery with restricted emissions of GHG and nitrate. For RIP and TEP, the incineration and thermal gasification based scenarios and the scenario without a treatment system applying the deep injection method yield the highest impact minimisation due to the lowest ammonia emissions. This study further indicates the need to consider all significant impacts to decide the best management options taking into consideration local conditions.     

典型复合包装的全生命周期环境影响评价研究

采用生命周期评价法研究了牛奶纸塑铝复合包装的全生命周期环境影响,并与塑料包装的环境影响进行比较评价.通过现场和资料调研的方式获得整个生命周期的能量物质的输入输出和环境外排的数据.结果表明,纸塑铝复合包装和塑料包装的环境影响值分别为5.225, 4.670Pt,在整个生命周期中,环境影响比重最大的是原材料获取阶段,两者均在80%左右.塑料包装在化石资源消耗方面是纸塑铝复合包装的2倍多,由于化石资源消耗是不可再生的,因此其对环境的影响无法通过相关途径降低.纸塑铝复合包装的环境影响较大的原因是其尚未得到很好的回收再生利用,通过发展铝塑分离再生技术和提高纸塑铝复合包装回收率可以降低其环境影响.     

LCA of spent fluorescent lamps in Thailand at various rates of recycling

This paper presents environmental impact of a fluorescent lamp (a long straight tube 36 watts, 200 g and 13,600 h for mean time before failure) when considering different disposal methods (recycle and non-recycle) of its spent fluorescent lamp (SFL). The study was applied for the case in Thailand using life cycle assessment (LCA) as a tool. All materials, energy use, and pollutant emissions to the environment from each related process were identified and analyzed. Impact assessment was conducted for 10 environmental impact potentials: carcinogens, respiratory organics, respiratory inorganics, climate change, radiation, ozone layer, ecotoxicity, acidification/eutrophication, land use and minerals. The analysis followed Eco-Indicator 99 method, individualist version 2.1. The main focus of the study was to compare the impact of SFL recycling with non-recycling before landfilling. The impact intermittent activities, production of raw material and energy used in all the concerned processes were taken into account. However, transportation activities were excluded. The results showed that for all recycling rates, cement production is the main contributor to the environmental impacts, while sodium sulfide production is second and electrical production, the third. Mercury vapor emission showed a small contribution in carcinogens and ecotoxicity. The impacts are reduced when recycling rate is increased. The reduction of cement consumption in disposal processes or the process improvement of cement production may also help to reduce environmental impacts.     

The holistic impact of integrated solid waste management on greenhouse gas emissions in Phuket

Continually increasing amounts of municipal solid waste (MSW) and the limited capacity of the existing waste management system in Phuket have led to the consideration of integrated waste management system (IWMS). Life cycle assessment (LCA) was employed to compare the greenhouse gas emissions expressed as global warming potential (GWP) of the existing waste management system (the base scenario) and other three IWMSs for Phuket MSW. Besides incineration and landfilling, the proposed scenarios include 30% source separation for recycling (scenario 2), anaerobic digestion (scenario 3) and both (scenario 4).The functional unit is set as 1 t of Phuket MSW treated. Results from the impact assessment of the base scenario shows that the net GWP is 1006 kg CO₂ equivalent. Landfilling contributes to the highest potentials of this impact. The results from a holistic comparison show that scenario 4 is the best option among all the scenarios, contributing GWP of 415 kg CO₂ eq., whereas the base scenario is the worst. The emission of greenhouse gas from landfilling is reduced by the introduction of landfill gas recovery and utilization for electricity production. By assumption, 50% recovery of landfill gas leads to the GWP reduction around 58% by total GWP of landfilling and 36% by the net GWP of the whole system in the base scenario. The study suggests that a policy that promotes source separation should be pursued, preferably combined with the application of landfill gas recovery for electricity. Policy promoting recycling is favorable over anaerobic digestion in the situation that both treatment systems could not be established at the same time. The major conclusion from the study is that results from the LCA can support Phuket Municipality for decision-making with respect to planning and optimizing IWMS. It can benefit other municipalities or policy makers to apply in their waste management projects.     

Brazil's Electric Power Choices and Their Corresponding Carbon Emissions Implications

This study analyzes the options for meeting power demand in the Brazilianpower sector through the year 2015. Three policy cases are constructedto test economic and environmental policy measures against a baseline:advanced technologies scenario, environmental control scenario and carbon(C) elimination scenario. Least-cost modeling simulated these scenarios throughchanges in emissions fees and caps, costs for advanced technologies,demand side efficiency, and clean energy supplies. Results show that, in theabsence of alternative policies, new additions to Brazil's electric powersector will shift rapidly from hydroelectricity to combined-cycle natural gasplants. When the cost of environmental impacts are incorporated in theprice of power, the least-cost mix of electric power generation technologycould change in other ways. In all scenarios, energy efficiency andcogeneration play an important role in the least-cost power solution. Savingelectricity through increased efficiency offsets the needs for new supply andhas enormous potential in Brazil's industrial sector. Efficiency also reducesthe environmental burden associated with electricity production andtransmission, without compromising the quality of the services demandedby end users. Interesting enough, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions will remainrelatively low under almost every conceivable scenario.     

Application of a comparative multidimensional life cycle analysis in solid waste management policy: the case of soft drink containers

The paper describes the application of a multidimensional life cycle analysis (LCA) for packaging soft drinks in Israel. The suggested approach combines the conventional product LCA, vertical summation of all environmental burdens along the chain of production, use and disposal activities, and horizontal comparison of different products and disposal options, such as recycling, incineration or landfilling. The paper attempts to show that the most effective, as well as transparent, means of comparing packaging alternatives, is to place them on a commensurate basis, the most appropriate one being a monetary basis. Taking into account limitations and drawbacks of monetary valuation of non-market assets (namely, environmental assets), the study derived estimates of environmental benefits and damages associated with each alternative. The production of soft drinks containers in Israel, used here as an example for the above mentioned considerations, is based mainly on imported materials, since natural resources such as oil or bauxite do not exist in Israel. Locally, only direct production and pollution abatement costs are incorporated in the final bill, while global environmental burdens are excluded. Countries extracting and producing raw material for the packaging industry, in effect, grant an environmental subsidy to the final users, in this case — the Israeli user. The paper suggests that only by globalization of externalities and fully internalizing environmental costs into the price of the final product (the packaging material or the packaged product), an equitable full environmental accounting can be designed. This mechanism can be even accompanied by global trading in the relevant environmental credits. Decisions will, consequently, follow a sustainable path, in both importing and exporting countries.     

食用油聚酯包装的生命周期评价

采用生命周期评价法研究了食用油聚酯(PET)包装的生命周期环境影响,并对不同处置方式的环境影响进行比较评价. 通过现场和资料调研的方式获得所有生命周期阶段的能量物质的输入、输出和环境外排数据. 结果表明:PET包装原料获取阶段的环境影响潜值在全生命周期环境影响潜值中所占比例极高,占处置前环境影响潜值的81.8%. PET包装的全生命周期环境影响类别主要集中在化石燃料、无机物对人体损害和气候变化3个方面;在致癌、生态毒性和酸化/富营养化等方面的影响较小. 3种主要处置方式的环境影响潜值为焚烧＞填埋＞再生,其中焚烧和填埋分别增加PET包装处置阶段前环境影响潜值的5.1%和3.6%,而再生可降低63.9%.      

Environmental impacts of farm scenarios according to five assessment methods

It is not known to what extent the outcome of studies assessing the environmental impacts of agricultural systems depends on the characteristics of the evaluation method used. The study reported here investigated five well-documented evaluation methods (DIALECTE, Ecological Footprint, Environmental Management for Agriculture, FarmSmart, Life Cycle Assessment) by applying them to a case study of three pig farm scenarios. These methods differ with respect to their global objective (evaluation of impact versus evaluation of adherence to good practice), the number and type of environmental issues they consider, the way they define the system to be analysed, the mode of expression of results (for the farm as a whole, per unit area or per unit product) and the type of indicators used (pressure, state or impact indicators). The pig farm scenarios compared were conventional good agricultural practice (GAP), a quality label scenario called red label (RL) and organic agriculture (OA). We used the methods to rank the three scenarios according to their environmental impacts. The relative ranking of the three scenarios varied considerably depending on characteristics of the evaluation method used and on the mode of expression of results. We recommend the use of evaluation methods that express results both per unit area and per unit product. Environmental evaluation methods should be used with great caution, users should carefully consider which method is most appropriate given their particular needs, taking into consideration the method's characteristics.     

Participatory evaluation of regional light rail scenarios: A Flemish case on sustainable mobility and land-use

Rail transit is generally acknowledged as an alternative transport mode in contributing towards sustainable mobility. In addition to minimising negative externalities, rail transit has sustainable land-use opportunities to integrate transport- and spatial planning. The objective of this paper is to determine the impact of integrative light rail scenarios and their ability to curtail private vehicle driven urban sprawl in the Flemish rhombus.The paper proposes three light rail scenarios: an infrastructural scenario; tramification scenario; and spatial rail scenario, each covering a specific landscape structure to reorganise the dispersed spatial environment in Flanders in the long-term. We used the participatory multi-actor multi-criteria analysis (MAMCA) which incorporates the objectives of all involved stakeholders to assess the impact of the scenarios.The infrastructural alternative scenario gained most support among the involved stakeholders, on the grounds of improved multimodality, enhanced user amenities, reduced implementation costs, moderated greenhouse gas emissions and mitigated infrastructural barrier effects.Despite the merits of the infrastructural scenario in terms of stakeholder objectives, few possibilities are included to elaborate upon sustainable land-use development. In response to the low performance of this assessment criterion, catalyst measures are discussed to support the implementation.     

Reductions in non-point source pollution through di erent management practices for an agricultural watershed in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area

Non-point source water pollution generated by agricultural production is considered a major environmental issue in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area(TGRA) of China.The Annualised Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution(AnnAGNPS) model was selected to assess the impact of the application of various management treats,including seven crops,five fertilizer levels and three-group management practice scenarios,on water quality from Heigou River Watershed in TGRA.The scenario subsets include conservation tillage pra...     

Quantifying potential profit from material recycling: a case study in brick manufacturing

Efforts to increase the use of waste materials as substitutes for virgin primary materials in industry are considered an important step toward sustainable industrial development. Some industries, however, have struggled to increase the recycling of materials for a variety of reasons. This study proposes a new approach to searching for recycling across industry boundaries. By focusing on an entire industry, the locations where economic and environmental benefit exists can be identified. This research identifies brick manufacturing facilities in the United States that are most likely to gain substantial economic benefit from the recycling of waste products. The results of this case study indicate that an industry-based approach can provide economically feasible pathways towards sustainable industrial development, especially for data rich manufacturing nations like the United States.     

The recycling cycle of materials as a design project tool

Currently, a large number of companies consider recycling of materials as an opportunity to maximize profits and to reduce the environmental impact generated by these materials after they are disposed. However, there is also a strong constraint on the use of recycled materials mainly due to the lack of technical/scientific information, which would relate their physical properties to their recycling cycle. This information should be used in the initial phase of the product design to serve as reference for the simulation of a project to point out the physical properties obtained from recycling the Projected material (Pm). Thus, it would be possible to foresee some recycling strategy to keep the good characteristics of recycled materials by encouraging their use, regardless of the product to be designed.Therefore, the Recycling Cycle of Materials (RCM) is a tool that provides scientific/technical support in the selection of materials. It uses the information related to the physical properties of the Pm as a parameter for product design after five recycling cycles. For the case study, this tool has been applied to obtain the basic material of ABS/PC blend. Subsequently, this blend was evaluated using DSC, FTIR, traction and impact methods to obtain delimiting data for the definition of the mechanical properties resulting from the application of RCM.