Life Cycle Assessment - Essay Example

Life cycle assessment Environment prevention is still the first environmental strategy for many companies. Now, more and more industries started to integrate the concept of sustainable development considering not only economic and environmental dimensions but also society and social needs. The companies started to think to save natural resources for future generations. However, one may criticize the industries for putting the word 'sustainable' for everything without a real understanding and explanation what it is and how to achieve it. Sustainable development is a process of achieving human development in an inclusive, connected, equitable, prudent and secure manner (Gladwin et al., 1995). In these way sustainable enterprises, therefore is one that contributes to sustainable development by delivering simultaneously economic, social and environmental benefits so called triple bottom-line (Elkington, 1994). The global challenges associated with sustainability, viewed through the appropriate set of business lenses, can help to identify strategies and practices that contribute to a more sustainable world and simultaneously, drive share holders value (Hart and Milstein, 2003). The sustainable value framework developed by Hart & Milstein (2003) creates four- quadrant contains sustainability vision clean technology, pollution prevention and product stewardship. Sustainable value framework Hart & Milstein (2003) Now to sustain the business on the long term basis, products must be more energy efficient, reduce end of life waste, decrease pollution etc. To develop this kind of product, we have to promote environmentally conscious design which promotes energy efficient and environmentally sensitive energy generation. Environmentally conscious design works within the economic and technological constraints to develop and use new technologies that are sustainable in the long run. Environmental conscious designs of the products are the necessity of the time and to develop these products, we face could face numerous problems as well as challenges. Now to develop a product this is environmentally conscious and have the design to support it is the subject of various areas. The process of designing such products is very cumbersome. There is continuous process to improve the design of the products. In the process of development of products, industries are including the waste handling in the scope of process and marking efforts to reframe or design processes which can use the existing waste facilities and to avoid the need to invest in new treatment facilities. In the process of design reevaluation, some efforts have been taken to integrate materials integration techniques as a cost effective ways of reducing pollutant emissions. In the process of developing environmentally conscious subjects, one must assess environmental impacts through life cycle assessment. In the lifecycle assessment (LCA), we must evaluate environmental impacts on the every stage of development of the products i.e., from starting to end. More and more academics have applied life cycle assessment to all the development of industry in Europe. LCA has represented by life cycle problem. Recently LCA represents a new way of thinking about the industries results into most cost effective development. The use of natural products, new way applied to produce time, use of raw materials and natural resources which ultimately minimize waste and adverse impact on people as well as natural environment. In the life cycle process, products entire life cycle from design to final uses and disposal as well as reuse of raw materials has been included. LCA shows a new way to think about manufacturing of the produc6ts which includes the most efficient and productive use of raw materials and natural resources. It is a process which depends on minimizing wastes, avoiding adverse impact on workers and on the natural environment. In the LCA application, we analyze the complete life of the product i.e. from design, raw material and natural resource uses to products end use and disposal or reuse of the material as again as the raw material. It always tries to minimize use and wastage of raw materials, energy consumption and promote ways to reduce the environmental burden through various/ innovative production and designs and techniques. It is method probable have widespread acceptance for analyzing the environmental impacts of the products. Normally, life cycle design evaluates four process design criteria for a product (Johnson, 2003): material selection, manufacturing processes, consumer utilization and material recovery analysis. Material selection: In any product lifecycle process, the selection of material has the utmost importance because it decides the environmental impact/ burden of the product. Selection of material also has to satisfy the products cost criteria performance and quality with respect to minimize wastes production over the product life cycle. Here we have the option of using either recyclable or virgin or both types of materials. We can also adopt open or closed loop recycling processes which decides whether material at the end of products life could be recycled or reuse for the same products or different product. Manufacturing process analysis: In this process we consider the different processes which are sustainable to reduce energy consumption and minimizing the waste. This requires effective monitoring of all the process of product life cycle. Consumer use analysis: This step required lots of data collection and analysis about how consumer uses the products and during all the analysis, the environmental impact of the product uses has to be analyzed. Material recovery analysis: It's also one of the most important aspects of products lifecycle assessment. It includes different possibilities of designing which facilitates recycling or remanufacturing or reuse of product or its components. Including these types of analysis and facilities into product life cycle provide us the advantage of cost effectiveness through easy dismantling or disassembly of the product at the end of the life cycle. During the product design processes, environmentally conscious designs has to be evaluated on the basis of its abilities to save energy and resources in the future during its complete life cycle. This process could be adopted by interfacing environmental experts who build life cycle models and designer which build different product models. After the discussion and information analysis, a model is developed which satisfy both the aspects i.e. environmental and design. Design aspects include its recycleability, ease of disassembly. Ease of disposal, its reuse and impact on the environment. Life cycle design process starts with life cycle thinking concept. Life cycle thinking should be taken into account during generation of ideas and creation of new products. Needs analysis of a product has to take place with reference to customers demand and legislation related to environment. The next procedure after product design in the life cycle analysis is a formulation of 5 groups of requirements (environmental, legal, cost, cultural and performance) related to environmental issues in product development process. According to Keoleian and Menerey (1995) environmental requirement should minimize raw materials consumption energy consumption, waste generation, health and safety risks and ecological degradation. Next we will identify environmental specification of new products and then one has to conduct environmental specification of a new product and then has to conduct environmental impact analysis of the product. Different life cycle design tools, methodologies, databases, approaches can be applied. Next phase of the product life cycle will be the implementation phase. This phase includes cleaner production practices. Finally, product has to be evaluated on the basis of its environmental performance in order to assess its impact. Information collected can be used internally to redesign the product or to improve performance. Now when we consider electrical equipments/products like kettle, some 80% of the environmental impact of domestic appliances arises from energy consumption use (Hinnells, 1995). So naturally the product like kettle has to design to save energy. In one simple version of life cycle assessment for the kettle we can form a matrix through which Materials, Energy and 'Toxicity' (pollution issues) are identified for three stages of the life cycle: production, use and disposal. Materials Energy Toxicity Production Plastics, metal for wiring and element Electricity, gas, fuel oil.... Pollution from metals extraction and refining. Pollution from oil extraction and from petrochemical plants. Pollution from energy sources. Use Water Electricity Pollution from power generation and distribution (SO2, NO2, CO2 etc...) Disposal Diesel (fuel for transport to tip) Possible pollution associated with landfills in general The kettles have relatively long useful lives leads to the conclusion that electricity consumption in use is responsible for most of the environmental impacts across the kettle's whole life cycle. Designing a kettle with better environmental performance should then start by trying to reduce the energy it consumes per mug of tea made. More energy efficient kettles have been developed, incorporating changes such as double-walled construction to reduce heat loss and even an indicator to show whether or not the water in the kettle remains hot enough to use for making hot drinks without being re-boiled. Recent development of ideas like environmentally responsible kettle have included recycleable kettle. But if we analyze the complete life cycle of the kettle we will find that the energy consumption over the life of kettle is more important that its recyclability. So our main aim will be to improve the product (Kettle). To assess energy consumption over the whole life cycle of kettle and to develop an energy efficient kettle, one has to understand how people use the kettle apart from technological changes which may conserve more and more energy. However it may be possible that alternations in people use of product may also save energy. In case of Kettle, more and more time to retain warmness of the liquid and its display on the kettle may alter the use of it by the people and results in energy saving. Comparison of new design like double wall insulation and temperature display ultimately help in to save the energy. Reduction in energy consumption basically depends upon the technology used for heating and one such technology is microwave but for kettle it is still not used. Gauging water level in the kettle also reduces the consumption of energy. Kettle design could be improved by water gauge. This provides the user to quantify the exact amount of water to be boiled and sustainable energy savings could be achieved. Next step will be to insulate kettle more properly so that it requires less energy to re-boil the water. Double layer insulation of air between two layers reduces the energy loss as well as keep outer wall cool and easy to handle. Putting a temperature indicator to the kettle shows the inner temperature of the kettle which ultimately reduces the number of re-boil and therefore saves energy. Once these features have been included in the design of the kettle it is necessary to test these design modification on the basis of environmental performance. To gauge the environmental impact one has to survey on behavioral issues of the users. LCA has proven over all the time to overcome many of the problems faced in conventional design approaches (Finnveden, 1999; Sarigiannis, and Triacchini, 2000). Most important of all, LCA establishes link between the environmental impacts, operations and economics of a process; it offers an expanded environmental perspective, considering impacts from resource extraction to the end product use and disposal (Finnveden et al., 2003; Perriman, 1993). LCA has an ability to focus both process feasibility and environmental concern along with other attributes. LCA always includes environmental objective together with technologies and economic concern and the design stage to determine cost efficient solution. Employing the LCA within the design process and decision making system provide us the optimal design and best management practices. LCA encompasses all the environmental impacts of resource use, land use and emission associated with all the process required by the product (Klopffer and Rippen, 1992; Smith, and Barker, 1995). But limitations of the LCA system are that it deals only with the environmental impacts of a product (system), thus ignoring financial, political, and social and other factors. This does not, of course, imply that these other aspects are less relevant for the overall evaluation of a product (Alexander, et al., 2000; Robert, 2000). LCA study takes the maximum time due to its in-depth and detailed study which largely depends on its scope and goals. The most important limitation is that any LCA will necessarily involve assumptions and subjective valuation procedures. A second big problem is the availability and quality of data. Very clearly, the issue of the quality of data, of how to find missing data and/or correct unreliable data, still requires much methodological and scientific work. References: 1. Gladwin, T., Kennelly, J., & Krause, T. (1995) Shifting paradigms for sustainable development: Implications for management theory and research. Academy of Management Review, 20(4): 878-907. 2. Hinnells M J (1995) Evaluation of environmental impacts of domestic appliances and implications for public policy: PhD thesis, Manchester Metropolitan University. 3. Hart, Stuart L. and Milstein Mark B. (2003) Creating sustainable value, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 17, No. 2. 4. Elkington, J. (1994). Towards the sustainable corporation: Win-win-win business strategies for sustainable development. California Management Review, 36(3): 90-100. 5. Johnson, E., (2003). Handbook on Life Cycle Assessment Operational Guide to the ISO Standards: Jeroen B. Guinee, Kluwer Academic, Hardback Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 23(1): p. 129-130. 6. Keoleian G. A., Koch Jonathan E., Menerey Dan (1995), Life Cycle Design Framework and Demonstration Projects, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA/600/R-95/107, July 7. Finnveden, G., (1999). Methodological aspects of life cycle assessment of integrated solid waste management systems. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 26(3-4): p. 173-187. 8. Sarigiannis, D.A. and G. Triacchini, (2000). Meso-scale life-cycle impact assessment of novel technology policies: The case of renewable energy. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 78(1-3): p. 145-171. 9. Finnveden, G., et al., (2003). Strategic environmental assessment methodologies--applications within the energy sector. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 23(1): p. 91-123. 10. Perriman, R.J., (1993). A summary of SETAC guidelines for life cycle assessment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 1(3-4): p. 209-212. 11. Klopffer, W. and G. Rippen, (1992). Life cycle analysis and ecological balance: Methodical approaches to assessment of environmental aspects of products. Environment International, 18(1): p. 55-61. 12. Smith, G.G. and R.H. Barker, (1995). Life cycle analysis of a polyester garment. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 14(3-4): p. 233-249. 13. Alexander, B., et al., (2000). Process synthesis and optimisation tools for environmental design: methodology and structure. Computers & Chemical Engineering, 24(2-7): p. 1195-1200. 14. Robert, K.-H., (2000). Tools and concepts for sustainable development, how do they relate to a general framework for sustainable development, and to each other Journal of Cleaner Production, 8(3): p. 243-254. Read More