Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for Green Technology

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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for

Green Technology

1 College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University

2 Department of Material Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University

Hongtao WANG

1,2

_{, Duan WENG}

2

Sino-US Workshop on Nano-materials, Energy and Environment Chengdu, September 15-16, 2011

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Sichuan University Tsinghua University

Content

Green technologies with drawbacks

Life cycle assessment (LCA) for technology

R&D

a holistic, quantitative, standardized method for environmental

assessment of technology

Driving forces for LCA in technology R&D

Our LCA R&D

(3)

Technology

and

Sustainable

Development

Technology Research & Development Industrial Systems & Society Environment & Natural Resource

but also cause

resource/

energy/environmental

impacts

along production,

use and disposal stages.

Technology R&D

has been shaping

industrial systems.

Technology R&D is held responsible, at least partly, for resource

and energy depletion as well as environmental impacts.

Meanwhile, technology R&D is needed to deal with resource, energy

and environmental challenges.

Products

deliver

functions/services

during use stage,

Obvious link

(4)

Green

Technologies

with

Drawbacks

Silicon Solar Cell

“Green” during generation of electricity,

but it takes 3-5 years to reclaim the

energy consumed during its manufacture.

Electric Automobile

“Green” during driving, but where the

electricity comes from?

Flue Gas Desulfurization

Lime-gypsum process: reduce SO

₂

emission remarkably, but energy use and

GHG emissions increased

(5)

Pb

‐

free

“ecomaterials” with

Bi

inside

Bi: a “neighbour” of Pb, but less toxic

Being widely tested in Pb-free

solder, electric ceramics, paints, dye,

glass, water pipe, battery,

bullets, …

But hidden environmental problems

Nearly 1/3 of Bi co-exists with Pb

Both depleted resources: Pb ~25 yr,

Bi ~30 yr

Big difference in global yields: Bi

~5000 t/yr, Pb ~6 million t/yr,

1200

times!

It’s a risk to the environment & a

risk to material scientists !

Lesson learned:

One merit can not justify

an ecomaterial

due to

multiple environmental

impacts.

(6)

TiO

₂

as

a

photocatalyst

for

waste

water

treatment

Production of TiO

₂

(per 1kg)

Fresh water 104kg V-Ti magnetite 5.58kg Energy 63.86MJ

Waste acid 6.4kg Waste water 70kg CO₂ 7.87kg

FeSO₄·7H₂O 3.5kg Waste solid 10.5kg Dust 0.3kg

Powder: hard to image … http://netserv.ipc.uni-linz.ac.at Thin film: less SO₂ needed

Lesson learned:

Environmental information

may support or deny the

design of experiment.

(7)

Environmental

assessment

for

technology

R&D

Call for a method that is able to

quantitatively compare different options and trade-offs,

covering multiple life cycle stages to avoid burden

shifting among stages (even from extraction to disposal,

so-called “from cradle to grave”) ,

covering multiple impact categories to avoid burden

shifting among them,

and standardized.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), i.e. ISO14040s,

is such a method

A scientific and standardized method, which

“provides

the best framework for assessing the potential

environmental impacts of products…”

(8)

Sichuan University Tsinghua University Inventory Table清单表 FU功能单位 Fe Oil N.Gas Hg Cd CO₂ CFC CH₄ SO₂ NOx NH₄+ PO₄ ……

Σ

Extractio n Manufact ure Distributi on Use & Maintain. Disposal & recycle

Life cycle modeling建模

Normalization归一化 & Weighting factors加权

Overall indicators

综合指标 Life Cycle Inventory Analysis (LCI)

生命周期清单分析

Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA)

生命周期影响评价 Characterization factor特征化因子 Impacts影响类型 (End-point) 人类健康（Human Health）资源消耗（Resources ）生态系统质量 (Ecosystem Quality) Characterization factor 特征化因子 Impacts影响类型 (Mid-point) …… Abiotic Res. Deplet. P. Human Toxicity Global Warming P. Acidification Potential Eutrophicatio n Potential Pri. Energy Demand Ozone Deplet. Potential

LCA framework

– holistic

&

quantitative

LC Interpretation 解释

• Contribution 贡献分析 • Sensitivity 敏感性分析 • Comparison 对比分析 • Cost-Benefit 效益分析

Goal & Scope 目标与范围定义

• the product? 产品是什么？ • the questions? 问题是什么？ • the audience? 目标受众？ • the application? 目标应用？ To air 大气排放 Towater 水体排放 Solid waste 固废 Output 输出 Energy 能源 Data collection数据收集 Resou rce 资源 Input 输入 To soil 土壤排放 Materi als 原材料特征化指标 e.g. GWP = CO₂ x 1 + CH₄ x 25 + CFC x 10900 + … (kg CO2 equivalence)

(9)

Characterization

model

of

human

toxicity

因果链

cause-effect chain

mid-point and end-point

ground-, fresh- or marine water

lung, nose

overall cancer

Damage on human health

fate inhalation exposure dose -response Intake fraction agricultural or natural soil Outdoor air Indoor air home or worplace Algae fish Vegetation crop animal meat gastrointestinal tract crustacae oral exposure blood

other target organs

overall other non cancer

respiratory disease m,n cancer type

i,j other non cancer type k,l

overall respiratory inorganics

disease severity:

overall ionic radiation

USES-LCA 2.0 Recipe IMPACT 2002 CalTOX TRACI EPS USEtox EDIP USES-LCA 1.0CML MEEUP ground-, fresh- or marine water lung, nose overall cancer

other target organs

disease severity:

overall ionic radiation ground-, fresh- or

marine water

lung, nose

overall cancer

other target organs

disease severity:

overall ionic radiation

USES-LCA 2.0 Recipe IMPACT 2002 CalTOX TRACI EPS USEtox EDIP USES-LCA 1.0CML MEEUP

效果与指标

effect and indicators

区域化模型

regionalization

(10)

LCA

for

technology

R&D

LCA of silicon photovoltaic

Niels Jungbluth etal., Int J LCA 10 (1), 2005

(11)

Content

“Green” technologies with drawbacks

Life cycle assessment (LCA) for technology

R&D

Driving force for LCA in technology R&D

Requirements by funding agency and administration

Demand from industry and market

LCA R&D in our group

Outlook

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LCA

requirements

in

EU

FP7

To ensure environmental consideration embedded in research

and delivery of environmentally sound technologies

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An

example

of

Call

for

Proposal

in

2009

Budget: EUR 71.3 million

Research areas

Area 1: Transportation & Refuelling Infrastructure

Area 2: Hydrogen Production & Distribution

Area 3: Stationary Power Generation & CHP

Area 4: Early Markets

Area 5: Cross-cutting Issues

SP1-JTI-FCH.2009.5.5

Development of a framework for Life Cycle

Assessment (LCA)

http://www.fc-hyguide.eu

(14)

Similar

requirements

emerging

in

U.S.

For the last a few years, LCA has been absorbed by

federal as well as state-level rule-making proceedings and

policy initiatives.

Low-Carbon Fuel Standards (LCFSs) and Renewable

Energy Standard (RES) set out

minimum requirements

of

biofuels, which include quantitative thresholds of

life-cycle

Greenhouse Gas (GHG)

emission from biofuels relative to

that from equivalent amount of fossil fuels.

(15)

Carbon

Footprint

of

Apple

产品生命周期碳足迹

Carbon footprint

•

Public report due to market demand

•

Asking for the data from suppliers

•

Improvement based on the data, e.g. selection of aluminum v.s.

(16)

More

products,

labels

and

certification

…

Certification programs - LCA

(17)

Content

“Green” technologies with drawbacks

Life cycle assessment (LCA) for technology

R&D

Driving force for LCA in technology R&D

Our LCA R&D

Chinese LCA database (CLCD) & Tools (eBalance)

Methodology development

(18)

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CLCD

0.4 (by

Aug.2011)

> 300 unit processes and still growing ……

Sectors

Products/services

Energy Oil fuel: crude oil, diesel, petrol, kerosene…

Coal fuel: raw coal, coke…

Gas fuel: natural gas, coke oven gas, LPG…

Electricity: coal-fired power, hydroelectricity, grid mix…

Heat: steam

Metal Ferro: cast iron, ferroalloy, steel, alloy steel, …

Non-ferro: aluminum, copper, zinc, lead, nickle, …

Non-metal cement, glass, ceramic, limestone ……

Chemicals _Inorganic: _{sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid}_{, nitric acid}_{, soda, sodium}

hydroxide, titanium dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, ammonia, chlorine …

Organic: ethylene, propylene, methanol, ethyne, resin, plastic, painting, rubber, fibre…

Transportation Road, rail, inland water transportation

Waste treatment

Waste gas treatment: desulfurization

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CLCD

&

eBalance

software

by

CLCD

&

eBalance:

first

LCA

database

and

software

in

China,

released

on

Sept.

19,

2010

eBalance

equiped

with

CLCD

Ecoinvent

ELCD

Support

China

LCA

studies

Free download:

www.itke.com.cn

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ECER

weighting

method

Energy conservation & emission reduction policy 2011-2015 targets 2011-2015 comparable targets (T_i)

Reduction of energy use per GDP 18% 16%

Reduction of water use per industrial add value

30% 30%

Reduction of CO2 emission per GDP 17% 17%

Reduction of SO2 emission in total 8% 34%

Reduction of COD emission in total 8% 34%

Reduction of NOx emission in total 10% 36%

Reduction of NH3-N emission in total 10% 36%

* estimated GDP growth = 7%

A

distance

‐

to

‐

target

method

based

on

Chinese

Energy

Conservation

&

Emission

Reduction

(ECER)

policy

targets

i i i Ti N S 1 A 5 1 × =

∑

= i i i i i i i

N

T

S

0 5 1 0 0

A

/

)

A

(

−

_×

=

∑

= ’

Δ

ECER score:

T

_i

: comparable

targets (reduction

rate in five years per

GDP)

N

_i

: normalization

references of 2010 in

China

A

_i

: domestic life

cycle sum

(22)

Case

study:

comparison

of

three

flue

gas

desulfuration

technologies

1 .

Select baseline and comparative schemes

No desulfurization - baseline

Dry method (Ca(OH)2)

Treatment of flue gas containing 1kg of SO2 Desulfurization schemes Unit No desulfurizati on(baseline) Dry method (scheme 1) Wet method (scheme 2) Semi-dry method (scheme 3) Main inventory of desulfuri zation technolo gies Electricity ‐ 1.222 0.8299 1.0706 kwh Steam ‐ 1.157 kg Ca(OH)2 ‐ 1.476 ‐ ‐ kg MgO ‐ ‐ 1.367 ‐ kg CaO ‐ ‐ 0.479 ‐ kg NaOH ‐ ‐ 0.063 ‐ kg Na2CO3 ‐ ‐ ‐ 2.362 kg water ‐ 38.194 49.479 76.144 kg SO2 1 0.1 0.1 0.15 kg

Wet method (

MgO)

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2. Build

up

life

cycle

model

and

data

collection

Secondary data were from CLCD database Primary data were from on site investigate (eBalance screenshots)

Investigate the consumption and emission data of desulfurization process, and trace back to the raw material production.

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3. Indicators

calculation

and

comparative

analysis

Treatment of flue gas containing 1kg of SO2 Desulfurization schemes Unit No desulfurization (baseline) Target reached scheme Dry method (Ca(OH)2) Wet method (MgO) Semi-dry (Na2CO3) LCA indicat ors CEC - - 0.64 13.6 1.18 kgce Water use - - 43.8 60.8 132 kg GWP - - 2.82 9.52 5.11 kg CO2 e. SO2 1 0.54 0.109 0.159 0.165 kg COD - - 0.00344 0.00414 0.00604 kg ECER

CEC - - 1.20E-12 2.56E-11 2.22E-12 -GWP - - 2.01E-12 6.81E-12 3.66E-12 -SO2 6.89E-11 3.72E-11 7.50E-12 1.10E-11 1.13E-11 -COD - - 5.31E-13 6.39E-13 9.33E-13 -Water use - - 1.13E-12 1.58E-12 3.41E-12

-Overall indicator

6.89E-11 3.72E-11 1.24E-11 4.56E-11 2.16E-11 -Improve degree 46% 82.0% 33.8% 68.7%

- Conclusion: dry method > semi-dry method >> wet method；

wet method failed to reach the target

Effect: can be used for technology comparison and selection, as well as the formulation of

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4. Improvement

analysis

– identify

cause

and

improvement

direction

Desulfurization

technology Process CEC Water use GWP SO2 COD Overall ECER

Dry method

Desulfurization 0(0.0%) 9.91E-13(8.0%) 0(0.0%) 6.89E-12(55.6%) 0(0.0%) 7.88E-12(63.5%)

Electricity generation 8.80E-13(7.1%) 1.04E-13(0.8%) 9.29E-13(7.5%) 5.67E-13(4.6%) 4.60E-13(3.7%) 2.94E-12(23.7%)

Steam production 9.77E-15(0.1%) 1.20E-15(0.0%) 2.85E-13(2.3%) 6.29E-15(0.1%) 5.11E-15(0.0%) 3.07E-13(2.5%)

Ca(OH)2 production 3.15E-13(2.5%) 3.91E-14(0.3%) 8.00E-13(6.5%) 3.64E-14(0.3%) 6.63E-14(0.5%) 1.26E-12(10.2%) Total 1.20E-12(9.7%) 1.13E-12(9.1%) 2.01E-12(16.2%) 7.50E-12(60.5%) 5.31E-13(4.3%) 1.24E-11(100.0%)

Wet method

MgO production 2.48E-11(54.4%) 2.09E-13(0.5%) 5.81E-12(12.7%) 3.66E-12(8.0%) 2.88E-13(0.6%) 3.48E-11(76.3%)

CaO production 1.32E-13(0.3%) 6.92E-15(0.0%) 3.37E-13(0.7%) 1.53E-14(0.0%) 2.49E-14(0.1%) 5.16E-13(1.1%)

NaOH production 2.66E-14(0.1%) 6.27E-15(0.0%) 3.45E-14(0.1%) 1.71E-14(0.0%) 1.39E-14(0.0%) 9.84E-14(0.2%) Total 2.56E-11(56.1%) 1.58E-12(3.5%) 6.81E-12(14.9%) 1.10E-11(24.1%) 6.39E-13(1.4%) 4.56E-11(100.0%)

Semi-dry method

Na2CO3 production 1.45E-12(6.7%) 1.34E-12(6.2%) 2.84E-12(13.1%) 5.04E-13(2.3%) 5.30E-13(2.5%) 6.67E-12(30.9%) Total 2.22E-12(10.3%) 3.41E-12(15.8%) 3.66E-12(16.9%) 1.13E-11(52.3%) 9.33E-13(4.3%) 2.16E-11(100.0%)

Contribution analysis: process contribution, indicator contribution Sensitivity analysis: impacts of consumptions and emissions

Improvement potential analysis: analysis the changeable technology and

management factors that influence the amount of consumption and emission, assess the change range and improvement potential

Propose improvement scheme in consideration of the cost-benefit of technology,

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Results & Analysis Life cycle model

Data

quality

evaluation

&

control

1.1 Goal and scope definition 1.2 Foreground dataset collection 1.3 Background dataset selection

1.4 LCI & LCIA calculation Data collection 2.1 Uncertainty of foreground process data 2.2 Uncertainty of background process data Quality evaluation 2.3 Mento-carlo simulation 2.4 Uncer-tainty results 3.1 Sensiti-vity results 3.4 Key raw data 3.3 Key LCI indicators 3.2 Key LCIA indicators 1.5 LCA results

2. Data quality evaluation 3. Data quality control 1. LCA steps Quality check NO YES Evaluation based on pedigree matrix, starting with raw data and math. relationships 1.6 Life cycle Interpretation and report Whole procedures will be fully supported by eBalance