Life cycle analysis (LCA) and

sustainability assessment

Richard A. Venditti
Forest Biomaterials
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-8005

Richard_Venditti@ncsu.edu
Go.ncsu.edu/venditti
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Tragedy of the Commons

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Cuyahoga River

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 World Population

Wikipedia, World Population

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 Sustainability?

• How do we supply societies needs without (irreversibly) harming the

environment or future generations’ ability to meet their needs?
– People – Planet - Profit

• We have many options to meet our demands.

• PAPER OR PLASTIC?

• How to choose the “best” option with respect to environmental concerns?

• Life cycle assessment helps to inform our choices.

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 What is a Life Cycle Assessment ?

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool to assess the potential

environmental impacts of products, systems, or services at all stages
in their life cycle

The most widely accepted methodology: ISO 14044:2006(E).

Alternative boundaries:

•Cradle to Gate: raw materials to finished good (no use or end life considerations)

•Cradle to Grave: Considers everything from harvesting materials to the disposal

of the finished goods

•Gate to Gate: Considers everything from receiving to shipping gate

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 Life Cycle Stages
Recycled Materials

Energy Energy
Energy Energy Energy

Raw
Production Transportation Use Disposal
Materials
Recycle

Waste Waste Waste

Waste
Waste
Emissions to Emissions to
air and water Emissions to Emissions to
air and water air and water air and water

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 LCA: Systems Thinking

• Systems thinking is the process of understanding how things influence

one another within a whole.

• In nature, systems thinking examples include ecosystems in which various

elements such as air, water, movement, plants, and animals work together
to survive or perish.

• In organizations, systems consist of people, structures, and processes that

work together to make an organization healthy or unhealthy.

• Systems Thinking has been defined as an approach to problem solving, by

viewing "problems" within the context of an overall system, rather than
reacting to specific parts, outcomes or events and potentially contributing to
further development of unintended consequences. (Wikepedia)

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 Interpretation: Systems Thinking:
Unintended Consequences
• For example, in the manufacturing of a metal alloy,
– one can use a different alloy to reduce GHG emissions during processing
– however, that might cause carcinogens from the process to go up,
– that might cause pollution prevention equipment to be considered,
– that might require more electricity,
– that might increase GHG emissions

• For example, in emerging countries it was considered to promote electric bikes

instead of old cars to reduce pollution
– bikes are more power efficient and could lead to a lower GHG per mile of
transport
– however, young people like the electric bikes
– many more electric bikes were put in use than cars taken out of service,
– the electric bikes need to be charged with electricity that comes from inefficient
coal power plants
– Net GHG emissions went up

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Important Aspects of Life Cycle
Assessment, ISO 14044:2006(E).

Goal and Scope

Definition

Inventory Analysis Interpretation

Impact Assessment

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 Goal definition

• Goal of study should unambiguously state (ISO 14044: 2006E):

– The intended application
– Reasons for carrying out the study
– Intended audience (who will the LCA be communicated to?)
– Whether the results are intended to be used in comparative assertions
intended for the public
• Comparative assertion: environmental claim regarding the
superiority or equivalence of one product versus a competing
product that performs the same function.
 Scope definition
• Scope definition must be in accordance with the goal definition
• Scope definition should consider and clearly describe (ISO 14044: 2006E):
– The product system studied
– The functions of the product(s) studied
– The functional unit
– The system boundary
– Allocation procedures
– LCIA methodology and types of impacts
– Interpretation to be used
– Data requirements
– Assumptions
– Value choices and optional elements
– Limitations
– Data quality requirements
– Type of critical review, if any
– Type and format of the report required for the study

– temporal scope
– technological scope
– allocation or system equivalency
 Functional Unit and Reference Flows

• Functional unit: Quantified performance of a

product system for use as a reference unit (ISO
14044: 2006E)
• Reference flow: measure of the outputs from
processes in a given product system required to
fulfill the function expressed by the functional
unit

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Time, gloss, color, opacity,
Functional Unit and Reference Flows
• Example: We are critically evaluating the environmental impact of lipstick.

• What is the functional unit?

• What is the reference flow?

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Functional Unit and Reference Flows
• Example: We are critically evaluating the environmental LCA of
students having breakfast. We believe there are two options that we
would like to study:
– A bowl of cereal
– A traditional eggs and meat breakfast

• What is the functional unit?

• What are the reference flow(s)?

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 System Boundary (subjective)

• Which unit processes are included in the

LCA
• Must be consistent with the goal
• Deletion of a life cycle stage, process,
inputs or outputs only permitted if it does
not significantly affect the overall
conclusions
• Any decision to omit must be justified

• Ideally, the system boundary so that inputs

and outputs are all elementary flows
(exchanges with nature) and product flows

Refs: ISO 14044: 2006E

 System Boundary

• Cut off criteria: specification of the amount

of material or energy flow or the level of
environmental significance associated with
unit processes or product system to be
excluded from the study
– Mass, all the inputs that contribute less than X% to
the total mass input of the product system
– Energy, all the inputs that contribute less than X% to
the total energy input of the product system
– Environmental significance, any input that
contributes less than X% of a the environmental
significance of a specially selected environmentally
relevant individual data

• Similar criteria for outputs

Refs: ISO 14044: 2006E

 System Boundaries:
Switchgrass & Sweet Sorghum

Switchgrass Sweet Sorghum

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 Scope: Data Collection Methods
Literature

LCA Software
Databases

Measurements

Process Modelling
 Allocation Methods in LCA:
• Allocation: partitioning the input and output flows of a process or a
product system between the product system under study and one or
more of the other product systems
• Controversial:
– ISO methods recommend that allocation is
– avoided 1st,
– determined by a physical relationship 2nd,
– or by a non-physical relationship 3rd

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 Allocation Methods in LCA:

• ISO does not provide allocation rules, practitioner must decide

the rules and justify their use
• ISO requests that the sensitivity of the LCA results are
evaluated with respect to the allocation methods
• Bottom line: allocation method can determine which related
product in a life cycle is preferred
• Most common situations:
– Co-products
– Recycling

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 Allocation Issues: Co-products:

• Co-products Allocation: a single process produces

multiple products,
– Burdens can be partitioned by separating the system, mass
flows, monetary values….
– Must use process/product knowledge to determine
partioning method

Emissions

Raw Matls Product A

System
Power
Product B
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 Allocation Issues: Co-products:

• What are the co-products for a cow?

• How should the burdens be

allocated?
 Allocation Issues: Co-products:

• What are the co-products for paper?

• How should the burdens be

allocated?
 Allocation Issues: Recycling
• Recycling Allocation: a virgin product is recycled or re-used in a
subsequent life
– There exists operations that are required by the virgin and the recycled
products (shared operations)
– Example shared operations: virgin raw material production, final disposal
– Many ways to allocate the burdens of the common operations
– Controversial

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Important Aspects of Life Cycle
Assessment

Goal and Scope

Definition

Inventory Analysis Interpretation

Impact Assessment

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 Life Cycle Inventory Analysis(LCI):
• Life cycle inventory analysis: Phase of the life cycle
assessment involving the compilation and the quantification of
inputs and outputs for a product throughout its life cycle [ISO
14044:2006(E)]

• “an inventory analysis means to construct a flow model of a

technical system.”

• “environmentally indifferent flows such as diffuse heat and

emissions of water vapour as a combustion product are not
modelled” HHGLCA, 2004.

• A pertinent mass and energy balance….

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 Data Collection
• One of the most time consuming activities in a LCA
• Garbage in, garbage out
• Main data:
– Input flows of raw materials and energy
– Other “inputs” such as land use, type of energy source
– Product output flows
– Emissions to air, water and land and other environmental
impacts (eg., noise)
– Data to describe processes
• Example: production efficiencies, equipment, useful lifetimes of products,
travel distances…

• Should also have data to guide allocation

HHGLCA, 2004. 28
 Life Cycle Inventory (LCI):
• Definition of the process
• Definition of all mass and energy inputs to the process
• Defining all flows from the “technosphere” into and out of the
surrounding environment, called elementary flows

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 LCI Example
Biomass (Wood) Production
 Life Cycle Inventory
Feedstock Production For Biofuels
Unmanaged
Loblolly Pine Eucalyptus Hardwood Forest Residues Switchgrass Sweet Sorghum
Productivity level L M H L M H L M H L M H L M H L M H
Liter per dry ton Liter per dry ton Liter per dry ton Liter per dry ton Liter per dry ton Liter per dry ton
Fuel consumption, collection - - - - - - - - - 0.05 0.04 0.03 - - - - - -
Plantation establishment and
0.86 0.65 0.52 2.47 1.85 1.48 - - - 0.61 0.45 0.36 - - - - - -
maintenance, diesel
Plantation establishment and
0.04 0.03 0.03 0.12 0.09 0.07 - - - 8.0 6.0 4.8 3.93 2.95 2.36 - - -
maintenance, gasoline
Harvesting, diesel 10.1 7.58 6.06 10.1 7.58 6.06 10.1 7.6 6.1 - - - 6.02 4.51 3.61 4.13 3.1 2.48
Storage 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.84 0.84 0.84
Dry ton*km Dry ton*km Dry ton*km Dry ton*km Dry ton*km Dry ton*km
Transportation forest to facility 79 69 62 78 67 60 219 190 170 327 283 253 - - -
Transportation farm to storage - - - - - - - - - - - - 51 44 39 175 152 136
Transportation storage to facility - - - - - - - - - - - - 9.5 9.5 9.5 31 31 31
Fertilizer kg per Dry Ton kg per Dry Ton kg per Dry Ton kg per Dry Ton kg per Dry Ton kg per Dry Ton
UREA 2.1 1.6 1.3 2.9 2.2 1.7 - - - 0.13 0.1 0.08 - - -
Phosphorus - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.6 1.2 0.96 3.43 2.57 2.06
Potassium - - - - - - - - - - - - 15.83 11.88 9.5 1.7 1.27 1.02
Lime - - - - - - - - - - - - 62.28 46.71 37.37 - - -
Nitrogen - - - - - - - - - - - - 8.47 6.36 5.08 - - -
Herbicide kg per Dry Ton kg per Dry Ton kg per Dry Ton kg per Dry Ton kg per Dry Ton kg per Dry Ton
General herbicide, glyphosate 0.03 0.01 0.01 0.08 0.04 0.03 - - - 0.002 0.001 0.001 - - - - - -
Pursuit - - - - - - - - - - - - 2.36 1.77 1.41 - - -
MSO - - - - - - - - - - - - 3.31 2.48 1.99 - - -
2,4 - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.14 0.85 0.68 - - -
Alzarine 90 DF - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 0.19 0.14 0.11
Dipel ES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 0.2 0.15 0.12

Note: 500,000 BDT/year, 10% covered area

 Air Emissions
Air Emissions Inventory
Inventory: Example

Total: 174 air emissions tracked

Water Emissions Inventory: Example

Total: 153 water emissions

tracked
 Life Cycle Inventory:

• We will do a gate to gate inventory

analysis of making a mop.

– What are the raw materials input?

– What kinds of energy input?

– What are the emissions?

– What are the products?

– What are the wastes?

Important Aspects of Life Cycle
Assessment

Goal and Scope

Definition

Inventory Analysis Interpretation

Impact Assessment

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 Impact Assessment
Definition:

Phase of life cycle assessment aimed at understanding and evaluating

the magnitude and significance of the potential environmental
impacts for a product system throughout its life cycle of the product
[ISO 14044:2006E].

It is used to ensure that projects, programs and policies are

economically viable, socially equitable and environmentally
sustainable. (cbd.int/impact)

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 Impact Assessment:
What Needs to be Included?

• Ecological Systems Degradation

• Resource Depletion
• Human Health & Welfare

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 Impact Assessment: ISO Standard
• Some assessments use midpoints, other use endpoints.

• LC Inventory Results: flows of mass or energy Most certain

• Midpoints: examples: radiation, smog, ozone layer…. Less certain
• Endpoints: Human health, ecosystems, resources Even less certain

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 Impact Assessment: ISO Standard

• Overall steps for LCA are defined in ISO

14044: 2006(E)

• Mandatory elements for an impact

assessment
– Selection of impact categories
– Assignment of inventory analysis results to
impact categories (classification)
– Calculation of impact category indicator results
(characterization)
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 Impact Assessment:
Selection of Impact Categories
• TRACI, The Tool for the Reduction and Assessment
of Chemical and
Other Environmental Impacts, Environmental Protection Agency:

•Global Warming
•Acidification
•Human health: Carcinogenics
•Human Health: Non carcinogenics
•Human Health: Particulates
•Eutrophication
•Ozone Depletion
•Ecotoxicity
•Smog Formation
•Fossil Fuel Use
 Impact Assessment:
Selection of Impact Categories

• Some things are not included in TRACI:

– Odor
– Noise
– Radiation
– Waste heat
– Accidents
– Land (in the future)
– Water (in the future)
– Others? ____________________
 Carbon Footprint:
Impact Assessment Method
• Partial life cycle analysis

• Historicially: the total set of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions

caused by an organization, event, product or person (UK Carbon
Trust, 2009)
• Practically: A measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2)
and methane (CH4) emissions of a defined population, system or
activity, considering all relevant sources, sinks and storage within
the spatial and temporal boundary of the population, system or
activity of interest. Calculated as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)
using the relevant 100‐year global warming potential (GWP100)
(Wright et al, Carbon Mgmt, 2011)

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 Impact Assessment: Classification
From Life cycle inventory:

Carbon dioxide GHG Effect

Chlorofluorocarbons
Ground Level
Methane Ozone

NOx
Acid Rain
VOC

Pollutants Environmental
Effects

• Classification sorts pollutants according to the effects they have on the environment
 Impact Assessment: Characterization

Multiplication factor
1kg 1kg CO2 eq
Carbon dioxide X1 GHG Effect
(units of kg of
1kg 21 kg CO2 eq CO2 eq)
Methane X 21

Not all pollutants are created equally

Reference: http://www.epa.gov/RDEE/energy‐resources/calculator.html#results
 Cradle to Grave: TRACI Impacts:
Gasoline and Biofuels
100.
90.
80.
70.
% of Largest Score

60.
50.
40.
30.
20.
10.
0.

Loblolly Pine Eucalyptus Unmanaged Hardwoods

Forest Residues Forest Residues (no burden) Switchgrass

Gasoline
 Optional items in life cycle assesment
(not often done)
• Normalization of each category, how much does this process contribute to
an environmental issue relative to a reference
– Process emits 20 units of CO2 (Global warming potential)
– Country emits 2,000,000 units of CO2 (Global warming potential)
– Normalized impact =20/2,000,000= .00001 normalized (Global warming
potential)

• Weighting, how important is one environmental impact category relative to

another
– “I think human health cancer is twice as bad as fossil fuel depletion”

• Single score: add up the normalized and weighted values of all impact
categories
– “Product A has a single score less than Product B”
 Impact Assessment: Weighting
• Weighting relates the relative importance of impact categories
• Eco‐Indicator 99
– Questionnaire sent to 365 Swiss LCA interest groups
– Panel members ranked and weighted three damage categories
• SUBJECTIVE: Red Dot indicates the weighting for Eco Indicator 99

Impact Category Mean Rounded St. Deviation Median

Human Health 36% 40% 19% 33%
Ecosystem Quality 43% 40% 20% 33%
Resources 21% 20% 14% 23%

[Mettier 1999] Mettier T.: Der Vergleich von

Schutzguetern ‐ Ausgewaehlte Resultate einer
Panel‐Befragung. In: Hofstetter P., Mettier T.,
Tietje O. (eds.), Ansaetze zum Vergleich von
Umweltschaeden, Nachbearbeitung des 9.
Diskussionsforums Oekobilanzen vom 4.
Dezember 1998, ETH Zürich, Switzerland, 1999
Important Aspects of Life Cycle
Assessment

Goal and Scope

Definition

Inventory Analysis Interpretation

Impact Assessment

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 Interpretation: ISO Standard

• Overall steps for LCA are defined in ISO 14044: 2006(E)

• 1. Should identify the significant issues based on the inventory and

assessment phases of the LCA
• 2. The interpretation should conduct these checks
– Completeness check
• Is relevant data present?
– Sensitivity check
• How sensitive are the LCA results to an assumption? To test: make a
change to the assumption and recalculate the LCA results.
– Consistency check
• Did the LCA abide by the stated goals and scope
• 3. Include conclusions, limitations and recommendations

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 Uncertainty Analysis
• Monte Carlo Simulation
– Data uncertainty
– Model uncertainty
• Probability of lower environmental
impacts
• Agricultural Vs. forest feedstocks
 Conclusion Example:
Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass to Ethanol:
69% reduction in GHG

Lifecycle GHG Thresholds

120%
Specified in EISA
100% (percent reduction from 2005
100%
baseline)
80%
Renewable
20%
60% Gasoline fuel
Advanced
40% 31% Ethanol 50%
biofuel
20% Biomass‐
50%
based diesel
0%
Global Warming Potential Cellulosic
60%
biofuel
 Summary
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool to assess the potential
environmental impacts of products, systems, or services at all stages
in their life cycle [ISO 14044: 2006(E)].

Avoid unintended consequences with systems thinking

The major parts of an LCA:

Goal and Scope
LC Inventory: mass and energy balances
Impact Assessment
Analysis and Interpretation

Impact Assessment: identifying the future potential consequences of

a current or proposed action

LCA studies have many components that are subjective (beware):

Choice of boundaries
Choice of allocation methods
Valuation of impact categories
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 Questions???

Usefulspaces.net 53
 Acidification

• Acidification is the increasing concentration of hydrogen ion [H+] within a

local environment.
– Acids (e.g., nitric acid and sulfuric acid)
– Other substances that increase aciditiy by chemical/biological events (e.g.,
ammonia)
– By natural circumstances such as the change in soil concentrations because of
the growth of local plant species.
• Acidifying substances are often air emissions, which may travel for
hundreds of miles prior to wet deposition as acid rain, fog, or snow or dry
deposition as dust or smoke particulate matter on the soil or water.
• Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from fossil fuel combustion have been
the largest contributors to acidification.
• Substances which cause acidification can cause damage to
– lakes, streams, rivers, and various plants and animals.
– building materials, paints, and other human-built structures,
 Eutrophication

• The ‘enrichment of an aquatic ecosystem with nutrients (nitrates, phosphates) that accelerate biological
productivity (growth of algae and weeds) and an undesirable accumulation of algal biomass’

• Eutrophication is responsible for 60% of the impaired river reaches in the US, most widespread pollution
problem in estuaries

• Although nitrogen and phosphorus are important parts of fertilization of agricultural lands/vegetation,
excessive releases may provide undesired effects on the waterways in which they travel.
• While phosphorus usually has a more negative impact on freshwater lakes and streams nitrogen is often
more detrimental to coastal environments
 Climate Change (Global Warming)

• Global warming is an average increase in the temperature of the atmosphere

near the Earth’s surface and in the troposphere, which can contribute to
changes in global climate patterns.
• Global warming can occur from both natural and human activities.
• During the past 200 years,
– the sources of GHG’s have increased (mostly caused from the increased
combustion of fossil fuels
– the sinks have decreased (e.g.,deforestation and land use changes).
 Ozone depletion
• Ozone (O3) within the stratosphere provides protection from radiation
• Decreases in this O3 can lead to skin cancers and cataracts in humans
• This O3 has been documented to have effects on crops, other plants, marine life, and human-built
materials.
• Substances reported and linked to decreasing the stratospheric O3 level:
– Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which are used as refrigerants
– foam blowing agents
– solvents
– halons such as used as fire extinguishing agents

• Ozone Depletion Index = Σi ei x ODPi

• ei emission in kg
• ODPi ozone depletion potential of substance i
 The human health criteria pollutants
category
• The Clean Air Act requires EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards for six common air pollutants (also known as "criteria
pollutants"):
– particle pollution (often referred to as particulate matter),
– ground-level ozone,
– carbon monoxide,
– sulfur oxides,
– nitrogen oxides,
– and lead.
• These pollutants can harm human health and the environment, and cause property damage.
• Of the six pollutants, particle pollution and ground-level ozone are the most widespread health threats.
• EPA calls these pollutants "criteria" air pollutants because it regulates them by developing human health-based and/or environmentally-
based criteria (science-based guidelines) for setting permissible levels
• http://www.epa.gov/air/criteria.html
 Photochemical smog formation

• Ground-level (troposphere) ozone created by various chemical reactions, between

nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in sunlight.
• Human health effects result in a variety of respiratory issues including increasing
symptoms of bronchitis, asthma, and emphysema.
• Permanent lung damage may result from prolonged exposure to ozone.
• Ecological impacts include damage to various ecosystems and crop damage.
• The primary sources of ozone precursors:
– motor vehicles
– electric power utilities
– industrial facilities
 Human health cancer, Human health non-cancer, and
ecotoxicity

• Based on the USEtox model

• USEtox is developed with two spatial scales: continental and global.
(and is international)
• The environmental compartments (media) within the continental
scale includes:
– urban air
– rural air
– agricultural soil
– industrial soil
– freshwater
– coastal marine water
• USEtox includes inhalation, ingestion of drinking water, produce,
meat, milk, and freshwater and marine fish.
 Resource Depletion: fossil fuel use.
• Non-site specific recommendation for fossil fuel use characterization
• Solid and liquid fuels are not perfect substitutes
• Depletion of coal ≠ depletion of petroleum
• Scenarios developed to replace current energy sources

• Amount of energy to make the replacement fuel minus the energy to make the conventional fuel is called the
“increase in energy input requirements per unit of consumption of fuel i”, Ni (a characterization factor)

• Fi is the consumption of fuel i per unit product

• Fossil fuel index = = Σi Ni x Fi
 Resource Depletion:
land use, and water use.

• land and water not yet incorporated

• Future use recommendations are expected to be site-
specific due to
– high variability in water availability
– unique properties of location, meteorology, and existing
ecosystems