生命周期评价与清洁生产

以清洁生产为主的污染“防止”战略将取代以末端处理为主的污染“防治”战略。评价一项清洁生产技术，需要采用生命周期评价的方法对工艺、产品和能源进行整个生命周期的环境影响和资源消耗的分析。本文主要介绍生命周期评价的基本概念和基本方法，评述生命周期评价的研究结果的应用范围，并给出了生命周期评价研究的一些实例。     

促进生命周期方法的发展

在清洁生产第7次国际高级研讨会(CP7)上联合国环境规划署(UNEP)/环境毒理学与化学协会(SETAC)发起的生命周期举措,通过以战略和实践的观点看待产品、服务等的整个生命周期,推动清洁生产和可持续消费.在最近可持续发展世界峰会上,改变生产和消费方式的需求已经提到议程上.生命周期思想是造成这种转变的关键,且生命周期方法也为人和团体提供了从这种生命全过程出发去做的手段.生命周期思想是一种从整体上解决环境问题和机会的途径,且以减少整个生命周期中潜在的环境影响为目标来评价和设计产品的服务体系.生命周期各个阶段的影响都应该考…     

环境标志产品评价方法标准化研究

本文概述了环境标志产品生命周期评价的技术框架,并提出了定性,半定量生态周期评价以及简化生命周期评价的三种不同方法。     

推广生命周期的方法

第四次全体会议主席ChristinaGarcía-OrcoyenTormo(欧洲议会议员,西班牙)论述了欧盟的综合产品政策(IPP)的思想.与会者也就IPP和其他生命周期思想的方法发表了评论.IPP是欧盟近期内一个主要的环境优先项目,目的是通过在产品生命周期的各个阶段进行审查并且在必要时采取行动把环境的恶化程度降到最小.通过向可持续发展方向引导生产和消费,IPP可以产生可持续产品和服务.García-Orcoyen女士提到了“三重底线”概念和可持续发展的三个要素:经济、环境和社会.她强调在商业决策中必须采用生命周期手段,并且说IPP的一个重要特点就是鼓励…     

生命周期举措的发起

在联合环境规划署(UNEP)的第7次清洁生产高级研讨会的开幕式上,UNEP的执行主任KlausTpfer和环境毒理学与化学协会(SETAC)世界委员会主席LorraineMaltby共同发起了“生命周期举措”,这是两个组织共同努力的结果.其任务就是开发和推广实用工具,以评价与产品整个生命周期有关的机会、风险和交易.这一举措的动力是2000年5月31日的马尔默宣言,在此,参加第一次全球部长级环境论坛的环境部长们拥护“更清洁、更资源效率的生命周期经济技术的开发”.马尔默宣言是继联合国消费者保护指导方针1999年修订案之后产生的,其新的第G部分包括了一个…     

建筑产品与生命周期思考

生命周期理念,在与建筑和建设部门的关系中,特别应该进行建筑产品分析.在提高建筑物能源效率并为经济繁荣有所贡献的时候,这些产品发挥着基本的作用.已经做出的概算披露,在从自然索取的物质资源和产生的垃圾总量中,有一半来自建筑部门.为了对建筑产品的影响进行管理并把它降到最低,就必须利用生命周期的方法对所产生的影响进行检测.本文评论了生命周期理念并思考了最新的发展,材料与可持续建筑、环境产品宣言、所体现的能源以及北方与南方建筑产品评估中产生的差异,都是要讨论的话题.     

建筑产品与生命周期思考

生命周期理念,在与建筑和建设部门的关系中,特别应该进行建筑产品分析、在提高建筑物能源效率并为经济繁荣有所贡献的时候,这些产品发挥着基本的作用,已经做出的要算披露,在从自然索取的物质资源和产生的垃圾总量中,有一半来自建筑部门,为了对建筑产品的影响进行和理并把综降到最低,就必须利用生命周期的方法对所产生的影响进生检测,本文评论了生命周期理念并思考了最新的发展.材料与可持续建筑,环境产品宣言,所体现的能源以及北方与南言建筑产品评估中产生的差异,都是要讨论的话题.     

建筑产品与生命周期思考

生命周期理念,在与建筑和建设部门的关系中,特别应该进行建筑产品分析、在提高建筑物能源效率并为经济繁荣有所贡献的时候,这些产品发挥着基本的作用,已经做出的要算披露,在从自然索取的物质资源和产生的垃圾总量中,有一半来自建筑部门,为了对建筑产品的影响进行和理并把综降到最低,就必须利用生命周期的方法对所产生的影响进生检测,本文评论了生命周期理念并思考了最新的发展.材料与可持续建筑,环境产品宣言,所体现的能源以及北方与南言建筑产品评估中产生的差异,都是要讨论的话题.     

建筑产品与生命周期思考

生命周期理念，在与建筑和建设部门的关系中，特别应该进行建筑产品分析，在提高建筑物能源效率并为经济繁荣有所贡献的时候，这些产品发挥着基本的作用，已经做出的概算披露，在从自然索取的物质资源和产生的垃圾总量中，有一半来自建筑部门，为了对建筑产品的影响进行管理并把它降到最低，就必须利用生命周期的方法对所产生的影响进行检测，本文评论了生命周期理念并思考了最新的发展，材料与可持续建筑、环境产品宣言、所体现的能源以及北方与南方建筑产品评估中产生的差异，都是要讨论的话题。     

图书与报告

联合国环境署出版物可供全球使用的生命周期评价方法生命周期评价 (L CA)方法用于评价一种产品在其整个寿命期间 ,即从原料提取和加工 ,通过制造、分销和使用 ,直至最后予以处置等整个寿命周期各个阶段上对环境所造成的影响 .它既可以作为一种定量工具加以使用 ,又可作为一种思想方法供我们考虑生产和消费问题 .虽然这个L CA概念是 15年前就提出了 ,但有证据表明迄今还没有充分发挥它的潜力 .联合国环境署的这本新书的出版就是旨在评价 L CA方法和促进它的应用 .本书的内容包括一篇对 L CA方法的扼要综述以及一项对 L CA使用情况的全…     

Wirkungsabschätzungsmethoden und Querverbindungen im Rahmen der Ökobilanz – Unterschiede zum Risk Assessment

This review defines the differences between impact assessment as component of life cycle assessment (LCA) and risk assessment. From the early LCAs, the article describes the development to the LCAs in the current meaning, deals with today’s practice of impact assessment, reviews the philosophy of impact assessment and ends with the “new” impact categories which have not yet found their way into the practice of LCA.     

Anwendung energetischer und nicht-energetischer Ressourcen in Energiesystemen: Vergleichende Bewertung

Goal and Scope

Which impact does the use of non-energetic abiotic resources (ores, minerals, etc.) have in life cycles of energy systems based on biogenic and fossil fuels? Is this kind of resource use less or more environmentally harmful than the utilisation of energetic abiotic resources (mineral oil, natural gas, etc.) in the same life cycles? This paper aims at answering these questions. In Part 1, a methodology is presented and applied to the life cycles of selected energy systems. Part 2 presents and discusses the results.

Method

This study looks at the complete life cycles of selected energy systems. The methodology used bases on the state-of-the-art of life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. For the assessment of energetic abiotic resource use, a widely recognised method can be used. For the assessment of non-energetic abiotic resource use, no overall recognised methodological approach exists. That is why for this aspect two different methods are exemplarily applied and compared with each other.

Results and Conclusion

Results will be presented and discussed in Part 2.

Recommendation and Perspective

Recommendation and conclusions will be derived from study results in Part 2.     

Carbon emission analysis of a residential building in China through life cycle assessment

In this paper, a quantitative life cycle model for carbon emission accounting was developed based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) theory. A residential building in Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city (Tianjin, China) was selected as a sample, which had been constructed according to the concept of green environmental protection and sustainable development. In the scenario of this research, material production, construction, use and maintenance, and demolition phases were assessed by building carbon emission models. Results show that use and maintenance phase and material production phase are the most significant contributors to the life cycle carbon emissions of a building. We also analyzed some factor influences in LCA, including the thickness of the insulating layer and the length of building service life. The analysis suggest that thicker insulating layer does not necessarily produce less carbon emissions in the light of LCA, and if service life of a building increases, its carbon emissions during the whole life cycle will rise as well but its unit carbon emission will decrease inversely. Some advices on controlling carbon emissions from buildings are also provided.     

基于生命周期评价理论的建筑物环境影响评价系统

建筑物对环境有着巨大的影响。基于生命周期评价(LCA)理论,从材料的开采生产,建筑物的建造、运行直至建筑物被拆除来研究建筑物的环境影响。在一个涉及建筑材料、建筑设备以及建设场地的环境影响数据库的基础上,开发了一个建筑物的环境影响的评价模型BEPAS(BuildingEnvironmentalPerformanceAnalysisSystem)。模型从3个方面:建筑设备运行、建筑材料和建筑场地来研究建筑的环境影响。最后,测算了一个案例,分析了其环境影响水平。     

Ein Indikator für den Einsatz gefährlicher Stoffe in Produkten und Prozessen: Monoethylenglykol-Äquivalente

In order to quantify hazardous substance use in production processes, a special methodology has been designed within the context of the EcoGrade integrated environmental assessment method developed by the Öko-Institut, Institute for Applied Ecology. This methodology uses monoethylene glycol (MEG) equivalents as an indicator value for hazardous substance use. MEG equivalents permit direct, noxious-substance-focussed comparison of processes and products (Bunke 2001). The assessment is based upon the standardized risk phrases assigned to the component substances. The MEG equivalent methodology is a refinement and application of the potency factor model (Wirkfaktorenmodell) of the German Technical Rule for Hazardous Substances (Technische Regel für Gefahrstoffe, TRGS) 440 (AGS 2001). The data required for the assessment procedure are available within companies (safety data sheets) or are readily accessible publicly (hazardous substance databanks). A further benefit is that inventory analysis of hazardous substances using the method presented here makes it possible to take hazardous substance use into account in a systematic manner within life-cycle assessment (LCA) studies. The methodology has been tested for the example of residential buildings. Note: The terms ‘hazardous substance’, ‘noxious substance’ and ‘hazardous constituent’ are used in this paper in the sense of substances that have one of the hazard attributes set out in Article 3 of the German Chemicals Act (Chemikaliengesetz).     

Evaluating the environmental impacts of an urban wetland park based on emergy accounting and life cycle assessment: A case study in Beijing

In this paper, emergy accounting (EA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) methods are employed to investigate a typical urban wetland park, the Green Lake Urban Wetland Park (GLUWP) of Beijing, in terms of its environmental and capital inputs, ecosystem services and organic matter yields, environmental support, and sustainability. The LCA method is also used to obtain a quantitative estimation of the environmental impact of discharges during the entire life cycle of the GLUWP. Various emergy-based indices, such as emergy yield ratio (EYR), environmental load ratio (ELR), emergy sustainability index (ESI), net economic benefit (Np), and environmental impacts of process-based LCA, including global warming potential (GWP), eutrophication (EU), nonrenewable resource depletion (RU), energy consumption (EN), acidification potential (AP), photochemical oxidant creation potential (POCP), particulate matter (PM) and wastes (W), are calculated. The results show that the GLUWP has higher proportions of renewable resource input, less pressure on the environment, more environmental support and better ecological and economic benefits, which can be considered as an environment-friendly and long-term sustainable ecological practice, compared with another constructed wetland in Beijing. Meanwhile, the dominant environmental impact is induced by POCP with the construction phase contributing the most on the entire life cycle. It is expected that increasing green area, extensively using environment-friendly materials, optimizing construction techniques and reducing power consumption can promote the sustainability of the GLUWP.     

Life cycle assessment of the winter wheat-summer maize production system on the North China Plain

A life cycle assessment (LCA) method was used to examine the environmental impact of the winter wheat-summer maize production system on the North China Plain. The LCA considered the entire system required to produce 1 ton each of winter wheat and summer maize. The analysis included raw material extraction and transportation, agrochemical production and transportation, and arable farming in the field. First, all emissions and resource consumption connected to the different processes were listed in a life cycle inventory (LCI) and related to a common unit (1 ton of grain). Subsequently, a life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) was conducted, in which the inventory data were aggregated into indicators for environmental effects, including energy depletion, climate change, acidification, aquatic eutrophication, human toxicity, aquatic and terrestrial ecotoxicity. For winter wheat systems, energy depletion and acidification were the most relevant environmental impacts, and energy depletion and aquatic eutrophication were the primary concerns for summer maize systems. The results revealed that the most important source of environmental impact in the winter wheat-summer maize production system in Huantai County was the production and application of nitrogen fertilisers. The environmental impacts of winter wheat were much stronger than those of summer maize due to higher inputs and lower use efficiency of agrochemicals.     

Identification and assessment of environmental burdens of Chinese copper production from a life cycle perspective

The environmental burdens of Chinese copper production have been identified and quantified in the context of typical technologies, materials supplies and environmental emissions by a life cycle approach. Primary and secondary copper production using copper ores and scraps, respectively, were analyzed in detail. The flash and bath smelting approaches and the recycling of copper scraps were selected as representative copper production processes. A quantitative analysis was also conducted to assess the influence of material transport distance in copper production. Life cycle assessment （LCA） results showed that resources depletion and human health contribute significantly to environmental burdens in Chinese copper production. In addition, the secondary copper production has dramatically lower environmental burdens than the primary production. There is no obvious distinction in overall environmental burdens in primary copper production by flash or bath smelting approach. However, resources depletion is lower and the damage to human health is higher for flash smelting approach. Ecosystem quality damage is slight for both approaches. Environ- mental burdens from the mining stage contribute most in all life cycle stages in primary copper production. In secondary copper production, the electrolytic refining stage dominates. Based on the life cycle assessment results, some suggestions for improving environmental performance were proposed to meet the sustainable development of Chinese copper industry.     

Central and individual air-conditioning systems — A comparison of environmental impacts and resource consumption in a life cycle perspective

This paper compares individual (split) and central systems of air-conditioning in a life cycle perspective, taking into account the environmental impacts and resource consumption during resource extraction, material production, production of the air-conditioning units, their use, disposal and recycling. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used in conducting this comparison.

Central systems have a longer lifetime than individual systems, lower electricity consumption and maintenance requirements during the use phase, and a higher recycling potential during the disposal phase. However, to transfer cool air, central systems use a large quantity of water pipes or air ducts, the production of which contributes significantly to resource use. The LCA study reveals that, on the whole, the central systems generally use less resources than split systems and result in lower environmental impacts.

The paper suggests a need for producers of air-conditioners to consider a change from being suppliers of air-conditioning hardware to being suppliers of cool air in order to overcome the initial cost constraints of central systems and realize their environmental and economic improvement potential to the benefit of the environment, and the industry as well as customers.