International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment最新文献

{"title":"Life cycle assessment of microalgal cultivation medium: biomass, glycerol, and beta-carotene production by <i>Dunaliella salina</i> and <i>Dunaliella tertiolecta</i>.","authors":"Gleison de Souza Celente, Rosana de Cassia de Souza Schneider, Jennifer Julich, Tiele Medianeira Rizzetti, Eduardo Alcayaga Lobo, Yixing Sui","doi":"10.1007/s11367-023-02209-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11367-023-02209-2","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Purpose: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;i&gt;Dunaliella&lt;/i&gt; is a halophilic genus of microalgae with high potential in the global food market. The microalgal cultivation process contributes to not only economic impact but also environmental impact, especially regarding the artificial medium composition. In this context, a life cycle assessment was carried out to analyze the impacts associated with the components of the modified Johnson medium (MJM) and to predict the best scenarios to cultivate &lt;i&gt;Dunaliella tertiolecta&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Dunaliella salina&lt;/i&gt; for biomass, glycerol, and beta-carotene production.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Method: &lt;/strong&gt;Two chains were analyzed separately: (1) &lt;i&gt;Dunaliella salina&lt;/i&gt; (strain DF 15) cultivated in 8 scenarios combining different nitrogen (0.1 and 1.0 g L&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; KNO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;) and magnesium (1.1-2.3 g L&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; MgCl&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;.6H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O) concentrations to produce biomass, glycerol, and beta-carotene and (2) &lt;i&gt;Dunaliella tertiolecta&lt;/i&gt; (strain CCAP 19/30) cultivated in 5 scenarios combining different nitrogen (0.1 and 1.0 g L&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; KNO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;) and salt (116.9-175.4 g L&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; sea salt) concentrations to produce biomass and glycerol. In addition, we evaluated the potential of cultivating these species to reduce the carbon footprint of the proposed scenarios.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results and discussion: &lt;/strong&gt;For &lt;i&gt;D. salina&lt;/i&gt;, S&lt;sub&gt;5&lt;/sub&gt; (1 g L&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; KNO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;, 1.1 g L&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; MgCl&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;.6H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O) had the lowest environmental damage for biomass (74.2 mPt) and glycerol production (0.95 Pt) and S&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; (0.1 g L&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; KNO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;, 1.9 g L&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; MgCl&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;.6H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O) for beta-carotene (3.88 Pt). T&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; (1 g L&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; KNO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;, 116.9 g L&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; sea salt) was the best for &lt;i&gt;D. tertiolecta&lt;/i&gt; for biomass (74 mPt) and glycerol (0.49 Pt). \"Respiratory inorganics,\" \"Non-renewable energy,\" and \"Global warming\" were the most impacted categories. \"Human health,\" \"Climate change,\" and \"Resources\" had the highest share of all damage categories. All the scenarios presented negative carbon emission after proposing using brine as alternative salt source: S&lt;sub&gt;5&lt;/sub&gt; was the best scenario (- 157.5 kg CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;-eq) for &lt;i&gt;D. salina&lt;/i&gt; and T&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; for &lt;i&gt;D. tertiolecta&lt;/i&gt; (- 213.6 kg CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;-eq).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion: &lt;/strong&gt;The LCA proved its importance in accurately predicting the optimal scenarios for MJM composition in the analyzed bioproducts, as confirmed by the Monte Carlo simulation. Although the absolute values of impacts and productivity cannot be directly compared to large-scale cultivation, the validity of the LCA results at this scale remains intact. Productivity gains could outweigh the impacts of \"surplus\" MJM components. Our study showcased the potential of combining &lt;i&gt;D. salina&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;D. tertiolecta&lt;/i&gt; cultivation with CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; capture, leading to a more environm","PeriodicalId":54952,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment","volume":" ","pages":"2269-2282"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11627462/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46242498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect factors for marine invasion impacts on biodiversity.","authors":"Philip Gjedde, Fabio Carrer, Johan Berg Pettersen, Francesca Verones","doi":"10.1007/s11367-024-02325-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11367-024-02325-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Marine vertebrate populations have halved in the past decades, and invasive species are a major driver for this loss. While many model the spread of invasive species, a model to assess impacts of marine invasions, after introduction, has hitherto been missing. We present the first regionalized effect factors for marine invasions. These factors gauge differences in biodiversity impacts after invasions, enabling life cycle impact assessments to highlight biodiversity impacts from invasive species.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Alien species are species that are introduced by humans to ecosystems where they are not native. We combine data from the IUCN red list and the MarINvaders database to identify the potentially disappeared fraction of native species within each marine coastal ecoregion after alien introduction. The effect factors indicate the biodiversity impact from invasions per alien introduction. However, the IUCN red list has a performance bias between taxonomic groups, and both the IUCN and the harmonized citizen science data from MarINvaders have a geographic observer's bias. We address some of this bias by evaluating the number of threatened species per number of assessed species, as well as including machine-learning derived data for data deficient species.</p><p><strong>Results and discussion: </strong>The resulting regional effect factors demonstrate high effects of invasions at high latitudes, which is in line with other findings. Our approach is founded on continuously growing citizen science data and so reflects the biases and uncertainties that follow with this uneven way of data sampling. On the other hand, the continuous data collection by citizen scientists will improve data coverage and thus improve the model. Vice versa, the model itself may be motivation for citizens scientists to collect more data.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The effect of marine invasions presented herein reflects current global information on the issue viewed in a perspective relevant for life cycle impact assessments. The developed effect factors can be used for further assessments that will aid decision-making for policies, industries, and consumers to work towards minimizing impacts of marine invasions and are developed to be compatible with different relevant fate factors.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11367-024-02325-7.</p>","PeriodicalId":54952,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment","volume":"29 9","pages":"1756-1763"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11358188/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142114938","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Environmental potential of fungal insulation: a prospective life cycle assessment of mycelium-based composites","authors":"Nicolas Alaux, Hana Vašatko, Dominik Maierhofer, Marcella Ruschi Mendes Saade, Milena Stavric, Alexander Passer","doi":"10.1007/s11367-023-02243-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-023-02243-0","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Purpose Bio-based insulation materials are one of the most promising solutions for reducing the environmental impacts of building envelopes. Among these materials, the environmental benefits of mycelium-based materials have merely been investigated, despite their promising technical and thermal properties. In this paper, we perform a first prospective cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) of mycelium-based composite blocks. Methods An attributional cradle-to-gate LCA of the laboratory production of mycelium-based composites was first performed, including 11 environmental impact indicators. Then, scenarios were defined to scale up the technology to the level of industrial production, including the remaining life cycle modules to perform a cradle-to-grave analysis. Biogenic and metabolic carbon were considered by applying the static −1/+1 approach and following the current LCA standards. Future-oriented energy and transport mixes were also included as an additional scenario, systematically modifying both the foreground and background data. Finally, the industrially scaled-up technology and alternative insulation materials were compared with these future conditions (as applied to both materials). Results and discussion Considering climate change, the results are encouraging in comparison to those for traditional plastic insulation, but do not necessarily surpass those for other existing materials such as rock wool. However, trade-offs are observed in other indicators, for which mycelium-based composites tend to perform worse than traditional insulation materials. The industrial scale-up reduced impacts for most indicators, but a considerable trade-off was observed with regard to terrestrial ecotoxicity. The main driver for the remaining greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was found to be the electricity use during the manufacturing phase. We consider the inclusion of the other life cycle stages as relevant, as this increased the GHG emissions by 10%. Limitations of the current LCA standards, however, are noted and discussed, especially regarding the cascading use of biogenic materials, and highlight the relevance of this case study. Conclusions Mycelium-based composites show a potential for future development, but careful attention should be paid to reducing electricity needs in their manufacturing process. Further improvements could also be made by using fast-growing biogenic materials as a substrate. In particular, we encourage researchers to include all of the life cycle stages in future studies, especially if biogenic emissions are considered.","PeriodicalId":54952,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment","volume":"110 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136158777","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Life cycle analysis of semi-intensive and intensive sheep milk production","authors":"Maria Ravani, Georgios Liantas, Maria V. Alvanou, Evangelia Tampaki, Ioanna Chatzigeorgiou, Ioannis Α. Giantsis, Georgios K. Ntinas","doi":"10.1007/s11367-023-02245-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-023-02245-y","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54952,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment","volume":"161 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136316463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Life cycle assessment of a two-seater all-electric aircraft","authors":"Rickard Arvidsson, Anders Nordelöf, Selma Brynolf","doi":"10.1007/s11367-023-02244-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-023-02244-z","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Purpose Aviation is an important contributor to climate change and other environmental problems. Electrification is one option for reducing the environmental impacts of aviation. The aim of this study is to provide the first life cycle assessment (LCA) results representing an existing commercial, two-seater, all-electric aircraft. Methods An attributional cradle-to-grave LCA was conducted with a functional unit of 1 h flight time. Data and records from an aircraft manufacturer informed much of the study. Detailed modelling of important aircraft components is provided, including the battery, motor, inverter, instrument panel and seats. Impact results are compared to those from a similar but fossil fuel–based two-seater aircraft. A wide range of impact categories was considered, while the focus was on global warming, resource depletion, particulate matter, acidification and ozone formation. Results and discussion The main contributors to almost all impact categories are the airframe, the lithium-ion battery and emissions (in the use phase). The airframe has a major impact as it contains energy-intensive, carbon fibre–reinforced composites, the impact of which can be reduced by recycling. The battery dominates mineral resource depletion categories and contributes notably to emission-based categories. Producing batteries using non-fossil energy or shifting to less resource-intensive, next-generation batteries would reduce their impact. Use-phase impacts can be reduced by sourcing non-fossil electricity. Despite the need for multiple battery pack replacements, the comparison with the fossil fuel option (based on equal lifetimes) still showed the electric aircraft contributing less to global warming, even in a high-carbon electricity scenario. By contrast, when it concerned mineral resources, the electric aircraft had greater impact than the fossil fuel based one. Conclusions A sufficiently long lifetime is key to bringing the all-electric aircraft’s environmental impacts (such as global warming) below those of fossil fuel–based aircraft. The high burden of the airframe and batteries can then be outweighed by the benefit of more efficient and emission-free electric propulsion. However, this comes with a trade-off in terms of increased mineral resource use.","PeriodicalId":54952,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment","volume":"36 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136316451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Towards use of life cycle–based indicators to support continuous improvement in the environmental performance of avocado orchards in New Zealand","authors":"Shreyasi Majumdar, Sarah J. McLaren","doi":"10.1007/s11367-023-02238-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-023-02238-x","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Purpose A life cycle assessment (LCA) study was undertaken for the orchard stage of the NZ avocado value chain, to guide the development of indicators for facilitating continuous improvement in its environmental profile. Methods The functional unit (FU) was 1 kg Hass avocados produced in NZ, up to the orchard gate. The baseline model assessed avocados produced in fully productive orchards, using input data collected from 49 orchards across 281 ha in the three main avocado growing regions of New Zealand. In addition, the non-productive and low production years of avocado orchards were assessed using data from four newly established avocado operations spread across 489 ha. Climate change, eutrophication, water use, freshwater ecotoxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity results were calculated for each orchard. Finally, national scores were calculated for each impact category from the weighted averages of the individual orchard results in the baseline sample of the three studied regions. Results There was significant variability between orchards in different input quantities, as well as impact scores. The impact assessment results showed that fuel use and fertiliser/soil conditioner production and use on orchard were consistently the main hotspots for all impact categories except water use, where impacts were generally dominated by indirect water use (irrespective of whether the orchards were irrigated or not). When considering the entire orchard lifespan, the commercially productive stage of the orchard life contributed the most to all impact category results. However, the impacts associated with 1 kg avocados, when allocated based on the total impacts across the orchard lifespan, were 13–26% higher than the baseline results which considered only the commercially productive years of the orchard life. Conclusion The study identified the priority areas for focussed improvement efforts (in particular, fertiliser and fuel use for all impact categories, and agrichemical use for the ecotoxicity impacts). Second, the regional- and national-level impact scores obtained in this study can be used as benchmarks in indicator development to show growers their relative ranking in terms of environmental performance. When using the indicators and benchmarks in a monitoring scheme, consideration should be given to developing separate benchmarks (using area-based functional units) for young orchards. It will also be necessary to develop a better understanding of the reasons for the variability in inputs and impacts so that benchmarks can be tailored to account fairly and equitably for the variability between orchards and regions.","PeriodicalId":54952,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment","volume":"48 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135112099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Increasing temporal resolution in greenhouse gas accounting of electricity consumption divided into Scopes 2 and 3: case study of Germany","authors":"Daria Blizniukova, Peter Holzapfel, Jan Frederick Unnewehr, Vanessa Bach, Matthias Finkbeiner","doi":"10.1007/s11367-023-02240-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-023-02240-3","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Purpose As renewable energy sources (RES) experience short-term variability, electricity greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions also fluctuate. Increasing temporal resolution in electricity emissions accounting allows capturing these fluctuations. However, existing time-resolved models either neglect indirect impacts, adopt a generation perspective, or are based on non-public country-specific data. We provide an approach for calculating time-resolved GHG emission factors (EFs) of electricity consumption based on open access data for European countries and examine the temporal variability of German EFs. Methods Time-resolved electricity GHG EFs are calculated within the framework of attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) with up to quarter-hourly resolution. The approach involves top-down calculation of annual combustion emissions, validation and scaling of time-resolved electricity generation data, as well as calculation of inland consumption EFs for each interval throughout a year. The EFs are divided by the stages of net generation, consumption by hydro-pumped storage (HPS), and transmission and distribution (T&amp;D) losses, as well as Scopes 2 and 3, enabling GHG Protocol Corporate Standard-compliant reporting. The approach is exemplarily applied to Germany and its transmission system operator zones at quarter-hourly resolution for the years from 2017 to 2020 to investigate the relation between grid mix composition and temporal variability of EFs. Results and discussion The annual average EF of the German consumption mix, encompassing direct and upstream emissions, declined from 499 (2017) to 377 g CO 2 e/kWh (2020), while quarter-hourly variability increased by 12%. Neglecting upstream emissions and intermediate steps between generation and consumption in Germany in 2020 resulted in an underestimation of 13% on an annual level, while quarter-hourly Scope 3 EFs reached up to 100 g CO 2 e/kWh. On a sub-national level, annual average EFs varied between 157 g CO 2 e/kWh (TenneT zone) and 505 g CO 2 e/kWh (50Hertz zone) in 2020. Temporal variability is the greatest in electricity systems with both fossil-fuel and renewable capacity sufficient to dominate short-term electricity generation. At an advanced level of RES integration, the fluctuations of EFs start declining, as demonstrated by the TenneT case. Conclusion An increased temporal resolution in electricity emissions accounting can enhance a posteriori LCA results’ accuracy during the energy transition phase. The provided EFs link the life cycle-based perspective with time-resolved emissions accounting. With increasing reliance on RES, indirect emissions, including those related to energy storage, will gain in significance. The next step should focus on integrating physical cross-border electricity exchanges to complete the consumption perspective, as well as examining practical implementation to other countries.","PeriodicalId":54952,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135883583","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction: Life-cycle cost (LCC) applied to hydrogen technologies: a review","authors":"Agatino Nicita, Gaetano Squadrito, Gaetano Maggio","doi":"10.1007/s11367-023-02242-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-023-02242-1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54952,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135885055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Life cycle assessment of a marine biorefinery producing protein, bioactives and polymeric packaging material","authors":"Lorraine Amponsah, Christopher Chuck, Sophie Parsons","doi":"10.1007/s11367-023-02239-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-023-02239-w","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Purpose Algal research has been dominated by the use of marine biomass (mainly microalgae) as feedstock in the production of second-generation biofuels, albeit with limited economic success. A promising alternative strategy is the valorisation of seaweed (macroalgae), with the cascaded extraction of its high-value components, as well as lower-value components further downstream, under the ‘biorefinery concept’. The goal of this study was to assess the environmental performance of one such marine biorefinery situated in the UK. Methods Attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted on a hypothetical marine biorefinery coproducing fucoidan, laminarin, protein and alginate/cellulose packaging material (target product), from cultivated Saccharina latissima . The functional unit was the production of 1 kg of packaging material. A total of 6 scenarios were modelled, varying in coproduct management methodology (system expansion, mass allocation or economic allocation) and applied energy mix (standard or green energy). Sensitivity analysis was also conducted, evaluating the systems response to changes in allocation methodology; product market value; biomass composition and transport mode and distance. LCA calculations were performed using OpenLCA (version 1.10.3) software, with background processes modelled using the imported Ecoinvent 3.6 database. Environmental impacts were quantified under ReCiPe methodology at the midpoint level, from the ‘Heirarchist’ (H) perspective. Results and discussion The overall global warming impacts ranged from 1.2 to 4.52 kg CO 2 eq/kg biopolymer, with the application of economic allocation; 3.58 to 7.06 kg CO 2 eq/kg with mass allocation and 14.19 to 41.52 kg CO 2 eq/kg with system expansion — the lower limit representing the instance where green electricity is used and the upper where standard electricity is employed. While implementing the green energy mix resulted in a 67% reduction in global warming impacts, it also incurred a 2–9 fold increase in overall impacts in the categories of terrestrial acidification, human non-carcinogenic toxicity, land-use and terrestrial ecotoxicity. Economic allocation resulted in burden shifting most favourable to the packaging material pathway. Conclusions This study demonstrates that the road to environmental optimisation in marine biorefineries is fraught with trade-offs. From the perspective of LCA — and by extension, the eco-design process that LCA is used to inform — when evaluating such product systems, it serves to strike a balance between performance across a broad spectrum of environmental impact categories, along with having consideration for the nature of energy systems incorporated and LCA methodological elements. Graphical Abstract","PeriodicalId":54952,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment","volume":"73 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135995140","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Regional management options for floating marine litter in coastal waters from a life cycle assessment perspective","authors":"Rose Nangah Mankaa, Marzia Traverso","doi":"10.1007/s11367-023-02236-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-023-02236-z","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Purpose Despite the increasing number of publications focusing on the management of marine plastic debris, most research is carried out using an upstream perspective, focused on sources and pathways of marine litter accumulation, as well as actions to prevent plastics from entering the environment. The aim of this paper is therefore to investigate a combination of waste management technologies for marine litter in order to inform decision-making on environmental impact hotspots at regional level. Method A study of the North Sea German Bight identified existing technologies suitable for the collection and treatment of floating marine debris including, recycling of plastics, mechanical biological treatment (MBT), and landfilling. Processing data for reported marine litter compositions in the region are used to inform the modelling of a waste management strategic plan (WMSP) aimed at valorising various fractions. Hence, collected floating marine litter is separated into derelict fishing gear (DFG) and mixed marine litter (MML) which are sent respectively to a recycling plant for plastic granulates production and to an MBT plant for recovery of metals and electricity generation. Environmental impacts of the WMSP are evaluated using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology and compared with incineration considered as the prevalent waste scenario. Results and discussion As partly expected, the LCA results reveal higher environmental performance in all impact categories for the incineration scenario. In particular, the WMSP contributes to Global Warming Potential (GWP) more than 10 orders of magnitude less than the incineration scenario. However, the breakdown of results related to the WMSP indicates the highest contribution to environmental impacts attributed to electricity and heat generation from refused-derived fuel and emissions at the combined heat and power plant, as well as electricity and diesel consumption. Lowest contributions are attributed to the recycling plant. The sensitivity analysis revealed low contributions to GWP if plastic debris such as DFG is diverted to recycling while toxicity-related categories are improved by efficient metal and energy recovery at the MBT plant. Conclusion Findings of this study show that no single treatment method is enough rather a combination of different treatment pathways should be designed considering the composition and properties of accumulated marine litter in a specific area. However, recovering plastic litter and diverting useful materials from waste-to-energy to recycling improve the environmental performance. Reviews suggest inclusion of valorisation treatment options in future WMSPs of marine litter such as plastic-to-fuel technologies.","PeriodicalId":54952,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment","volume":"59 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136210714","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}