1. Environmental Accounting and Life Cycle Analysis

2. What is Life Cycle Analysis? zA tool to understand environmental impacts associated with products, processes, and activities zLCA is a systems approach to evaluating environmental consequences of a product or process zIt takes a “cradle to grave” or “cradle to cradle” perspective. zA systematic set of procedures for examining the environmental impacts of a product or service throughout its life cycle

3. Applications zAlternative Fuels/energy sources zAlternative materials (Aluminum vs. Steel body, Asphalt vs. concrete, wood vs. brick zAlternative processes (Corn-biomass ethanol) zAlternative products (cloth diapers vs. disposable diapers) zAlternative packaging (cans vs. tetra-packs) zAlternative end of life management options (recycle, incinerate, dispose) zEnvironmental, economic tradeoffs

4. Components of an LCA zDefining the purpose and scope zLife-cycle Inventory zLife-cycle Impact Assessment zLife-cycle Improvement Analysis

5. Steps in LCA zDescribe product life cycle zInventory raw material inputs and waste output zAssess environmental impacts zIdentify improvements

6. Product Life Cycle Product Intermediate Inputs

7. Example: Plastic Bottles

8. Inventory Inputs and Wastes Raw Material Extraction Consumption Distribution Manufacturing Material Processing Waste Management Amount of Water, Energy, Raw Materials, and Land Use Amount of Gaseous, Liquid, Solid Waste

9. Life Cycle Inventory zAll materials used identified yListed and quantified zData is collected on extraction, intermediate inputs, manufacturing, transportation, use and end of life management processes. zImpact on environment defined at each stage in the life cycle (extraction, make, use, and dispose) zA number of environmental impacts considered (air emissions, water emissions, solid waste, acidification,global warming etc) zAllocation procedures in case of multiple products

10. Example Inventory for 1 Kg of PVC Plastic

11. Impact Assessment zFrom emission inventory to effects zClassification, Characterization (relative effects) and Valuation yResource effects yHuman Health Effects yNon-Health effects (Aesthetics, material damage, Crop damage) yEcological effects yAggregation/ tradeoffs yValuation with $

12. Examples of Environmental Impact Categories Developed by Five International Organizations

14. Improvement Analysis zSystematic evaluation of needs and opportunities to reduce environmental burden associated with entire life cycle of the product. zCan be both quantitative and qualitative. zLifecycle costing {private and public costs at each stage}

15. Using Life Cycle Analysis Results zRemember the 2-sector input-output model? ElectricityWater Electricity 0.3330.167 Water 0.2860.375 zWhat is the total output of different sectors needed to meet an exogenous electricity demand of $1?

16. $1 Electricity 0.333 Electricity0.286 Water 0.333*.333Elect 0.333*0.286 Water 0.286*0.167Elect 0.286*375 water Tot. Electricity = $1 +0.333+ (0.333*.333 +0.286*.167) +……=1.693 Total Water = 0.286 + (0.333*0.286 +0.286*0.375) +…….= 0.775 Direct- Requirement

17. Economic input-output life cycle analysis [EIO-LCA] zWhat if we know how much SO 2 is emitted for each $1 of electricity produced? ElectricityWater Electricity 0.3330.167 Water 0.2860.375 SO2 g/$ 25 5 zWhat are total S02 emissions when demand for electricity increases by $1?

18. Algebraic Method zX 1 =1+0.333X 1 +0.167X 2 ---------(1) zX 2 =0 +0.286X 1 +0.375X 2 --------(2) zSolving for X1 and X2 we get zX1=1.6932, X2=0.7748 zThese represent total requirement to meet $1 electricity demand zTotal SO2 emissions = 1.6932*25 +0.7748*5 = 46.204 grams

19. EIO-LCA Software zEIO-LCA does this type of calculations for 498 sectors and a large number of environmental impacts zFuel use (11 fuels) zNon-renewable ores use (Fe, Cu, Au, Ag, Al….) zConventional air pollutants zToxic Releases (TRI) zHazardous solid waste generation (RCRA) zFertilizer use (eutrophication) (7) zSummary indicators: Energy, CMU-ET(toxicity weighting), GWP, ODP, Acidification Potential zWeb version available at http://www.eiolca.net

20. Steps in using EIO-LCA software zDevelop a list of inputs expressed in $ cost zIdentify appropriate commodity sector using the search function on the software (simple version) zSelect the commodity sector and enter the $ value for one input at a time. Click on “Display results” zYou can also look at individual impacts by selecting them in the prior screen zNote down summary results for that input zRepeat for other inputs and then sum all impacts.