WorldWideScience

Sample records for based life assessment

  1. Towards a Life Cycle Based Chemical Alternative Assessment (LCAA)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jolliet, O.; Huang, L.; Overcash, Michael

    2017-01-01

    approach combines the following elements: a) The manufacturing phase chemical inventory is based on the environmental genome of industrial products database, ensuring mass and energy balance, b) near-field exposure to consumer products during the use phase is determined based on the mass of chemical......There is a need for an operational quantitative screening-level assessment of alternatives, that is life-cycle based and able to serve both Life cycle Assessment (LCA and chemical alternatives assessment (CAA). This presentation therefore aims to develop and illustrate a new approach called “Life...... Cycle Based Chemical Alternative Assessment (LCAA)” that will quantify exposure and life cycle impacts consistently and efficiently over the main life cycle stages. The new LCAA approach is illustrated though a proof-of-concept case study of alternative plasticizers in vinyl flooring. The proposed LCAA...

  2. Fracture mechanics based life assessment in petrochemical plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Norasiah Ab Kasim; Abd Nassir Ibrahim; Ab Razak Hamzah; Shukri Mohd

    2004-01-01

    The increasing use of thick walled pressure vessels in petrochemical plants operating at high pressure under severe service conditions could lead to catastrophic failure. In the Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research (MINT), initial efforts are underway to apply fracture mechanics approach for assessment of significance of defects detected during periodic in service inspection (ISI) of industrial plants. This paper outlines the integrity management strategy based on fracture mechanics and proposes a new procedure for life assessment of petrochemical plants based on ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section XI, BSI PD 6493:1991, BSI 6539:1994, BSI Standard 7910:1999 and API 579:2000. Essential relevant data required for the assessment is listed. Several methods available for determination of fracture toughness are reviewed with limitations in their application to petrochemical plants. A new non destructive method for determination of fracture toughness based on hardness testing and normalized key roughness curve is given. Results of fracture mechanics based life assessment conducted for 100 mm thick ammonia converter of Ni r o steel and 70 mm thick plat forming reactor vessel of ASTM A 38 7 grade B steel in operational fertilizer and petroleum refining plants are presented. (Author)

  3. Life cycle impact assessment of bio-based plastics from sugarcane ethanol

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tsiropoulos, I.; Faaij, A. P C; Lundquist, L.; Schenker, U.; Briois, J. F.; Patel, M. K.

    2015-01-01

    The increasing production of bio-based plastics calls for thorough environmental assessments. Using life cycle assessment, this study compares European supply of fully bio-based high-density polyethylene and partially bio-based polyethylene terephthalate from Brazilian and Indian sugarcane ethanol

  4. Life Cycle Assessment and Risk Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Stig Irving

    Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool for environmental assessment of product and systems – over the whole life cycle from acquisition of raw materials to the end-of-life of the product – and encompassing all environmental impacts of emissions and resource usage, e.g. global warming, acidification...... cycle. The models for assessing toxic impacts in LCA are to a large extent based on those developed for RA, e.g. EUSES, and require basic information about the inherent properties of the emissions like solubility, LogKow,ED50 etc. Additionally, it is a prerequisite to know how to characterize...

  5. Challenges in implementing a Planetary Boundaries based Life-Cycle Impact Assessment methodology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ryberg, Morten; Owsianiak, Mikolaj; Richardson, Katherine

    2016-01-01

    of resolving the challenges and developing such methodology is discussed. The challenges are related to technical issues, i.e., modelling and including the Earth System processes and their control variables as impact categories in Life-Cycle Impact Assessment and to theoretical considerations with respect...... to the interpretation and use of Life-Cycle Assessment results in accordance with the Planetary Boundary framework. The identified challenges require additional research before a Planetary Boundaries based Life-Cycle Impact Assessment method can be developed. Research on modelling the impacts on Earth System processes......Impacts on the environment from human activities are now threatening to exceed thresholds for central Earth System processes, potentially moving the Earth System out of the Holocene state. To avoid such consequences, the concept of Planetary Boundaries was defined in 2009, and updated in 2015...

  6. Economic, energy and environmental evaluations of biomass-based fuel ethanol projects based on life cycle assessment and simulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu Suiran; Tao Jing

    2009-01-01

    This paper summarizes the research of Monte Carlo simulation-based Economic, Energy and Environmental (3E) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the three Biomass-based Fuel Ethanol (BFE) projects in China. Our research includes both theoretical study and case study. In the theoretical study part, 3E LCA models are structured, 3E Index Functions are defined and the Monte Carlo simulation is introduced to address uncertainties in BFE life cycle analysis. In the case study part, projects of Wheat-based Fuel Ethanol (WFE) in Central China, Corn-based Fuel Ethanol (CFE) in Northeast China, and Cassava-based Fuel Ethanol (CFE) in Southwest China are evaluated from the aspects of economic viability and investment risks, energy efficiency and airborne emissions. The life cycle economy assessment shows that KFE project in Guangxi is viable, while CFE and WFE projects are not without government's subsidies. Energy efficiency assessment results show that WFE, CFE and KFE projects all have positive Net Energy Values. Emissions results show that the corn-based E10 (a blend of 10% gasoline and 90% ethanol by volume), wheat-based E10 and cassava-base E10 have less CO 2 and VOC life cycle emissions than conventional gasoline, but wheat-based E10 and cassava-based E10 can generate more emissions of CO, CH 4 , N 2 O, NO x , SO 2 , PM 10 and corn-based E10 can has more emissions of CH 4 , N 2 O, NO x , SO, PM 10 .

  7. Life Cycle Assessment for Biofuels

    Science.gov (United States)

    A presentation based on life cycle assessment (LCA) for biofuels is given. The presentation focuses on energy and biofuels, interesting environmental aspects of biofuels, and how to do a life cycle assessment with some examples related to biofuel systems. The stages of a (biofuel...

  8. Life cycle sustainability assessment of chemical processes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xu, Di; Lv, Liping; Ren, Jingzheng

    2017-01-01

    In this study, an integrated vector-based three-dimensional (3D) methodology for the life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) of chemical process alternatives is proposed. In the methodology, a 3D criteria assessment system is first established by using the life cycle assessment, the life cycl...

  9. A case study by life cycle assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Shuyun

    2017-05-01

    This article aims to assess the potential environmental impact of an electrical grinder during its life cycle. The Life Cycle Inventory Analysis was conducted based on the Simplified Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) Drivers that calculated from the Valuation of Social Cost and Simplified Life Cycle Assessment Model (VSSM). The detailed results for LCI can be found under Appendix II. The Life Cycle Impact Assessment was performed based on Eco-indicator 99 method. The analysis results indicated that the major contributor to the environmental impact as it accounts for over 60% overall SLCA output. In which, 60% of the emission resulted from the logistic required for the maintenance activities. This was measured by conducting the hotspot analysis. After performing sensitivity analysis, it is evidenced that changing fuel type results in significant decrease environmental footprint. The environmental benefit can also be seen from the negative output values of the recycling activities. By conducting Life Cycle Assessment analysis, the potential environmental impact of the electrical grinder was investigated.

  10. Life-cycle cost assessment of seismically base-isolated structures in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Hao; Weng, Dagen; Lu, Xilin; Lu, Liang

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • The life-cycle cost of seismic base-isolated nuclear power plants is modeled. • The change law of life-cycle cost with seismic fortification intensity is studied. • The initial cost of laminated lead rubber bearings can be expressed as the function of volume. • The initial cost of a damper can be expressed as the function of its maximum displacement and tonnage. • The use of base-isolation can greatly reduce the expected damage cost, which leads to the reduction of the life-cycle cost. -- Abstract: Evaluation of seismically base-isolated structural life-cycle cost is the key problem in performance based seismic design. A method is being introduced to address the life-cycle cost of base-isolated reinforced concrete structures in nuclear power plants. Each composition of life-cycle cost is analyzed including the initial construction cost, the isolators cost and the excepted damage cost over life-cycle of the structure. The concept of seismic intensity is being used to estimate the expected damage cost, greatly simplifying the calculation. Moreover, French Cruas nuclear power plant is employed as an example to assess its life-cycle cost, compared to the cost of non-isolated plant at the same time. The results show that the proposed method is efficient and the expected damage cost is enormously reduced because of the application of isolators, which leads to the reduction of the life-cycle cost of nuclear power plants

  11. A First Case Study of a Life Cycle-Based Alternatives Assessment (LCAA)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fantke, Peter; Huang, L.; Overcash, Michael

    2017-01-01

    cycle impacts. Our approach is evaluated in a case study, through which we outline future research needs to fully operationalize a consistent and Life Cycle-based Alternatives Assessment (LCAA). We build on a flexible mass balance-based modeling system yielding cumulative multimedia transfer fractions...... and exposure pathway-specific Product Intake Fractions defined as chemical mass taken in by humans per unit mass of chemical in a product. When combined with chemical masses in products and further with toxicity information, this approach is a resourceful way to inform AA. Our case study reveals that replacing...... various population groups including workers, consumers and the general public, while life cycle impacts need to focus on categories relevant for a given AA chemical-product application. We systematically define the scope of AA and identify key elements for quantitatively considering exposure and life...

  12. Green tourism supply chain management based on life cycle impact assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexandra V. Michailidou

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Tourism is one of the most dynamic and far-reaching economic sectors in the world. Numerous different and complex activities are involved in the efficient development of tourism. These activities interrelate economic, environmental, social, cultural and political dimensions in the overall supply chain. However, apart from its key role as a driver of socio-economic progress, tourism is responsible for environmental deterioration, not only in areas popular with tourists, but also by enhancing climate change globally. This paper presents a robust method based on the Green Tourism Supply Chain Management (GTSCM concept, which can be used to estimate the effect on the environment that can be attributed to each link of the supply chain. The overall approach is based on Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA theory and corresponding models. A case study to demonstrate the applicability of this approach is presented for two large seaside hotels located in Chalkidiki, Greece. Chalkidiki is the most popular tourist destination in Northern Greece. A LCIA questionnaire was developed and input data for the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA obtained from the hotel managers. For this LCA SimaPro 8 software was used. The LCIA methods chosen were Eco-indicator 99 and CML 2001. The effect on fossil fuel consumption of both hotels due to their use of local transport and electricity was considerable but less than that needed for transporting the tourists by air to Chalkidiki. This paper clearly indicates that LCA and Life Cycle Thinking (LCT can form the basis for promoting GTSCM in the tourism industry.

  13. Life Cycle Assessment of Soybean-Based Biodiesel in Argentina for Export

    OpenAIRE

    Panichelli, Luis; Dauriat, Arnaud; Gnansounou, Edgard

    2009-01-01

    Background, aim and scope. Regional specificities are a key factor when analyzing the environmental impact of a biofuel pathway through a life cycle assessment (LCA). Due to different energy mixes, transport distances, agricultural practices and land use changes, results can significantly vary from one country to another. The Republic of Argentina is the first exporter of soybean oil and meal and the third largest soybean producer in the world, and therefore, soybean-based biodiesel producti...

  14. Simulation-based end-of-life care training during surgical clerkship: assessment of skills and perceptions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parikh, Priti P; Brown, Ronald; White, Mary; Markert, Ronald J; Eustace, Rosemary; Tchorz, Kathryn

    2015-06-15

    Assessment of interpersonal and psychosocial competencies during end-of-life care training is essential. This study reports the relationship between simulation-based end-of-life care Objective Structured Clinical Examination ratings and communication skills, trust, and self-assessed empathy along with the perceptions of students regarding their training experiences. Medical students underwent simulation-based end-of-life care OSCE training that involved standardized patients who evaluated students' communication skills and physician trust with the Kalamazoo Essential Elements Communication Checklist and the Wake Forest Physician Trust Scale. Students also completed the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy. Pearson correlation was used to examine the relationship between OSCE performance grades and communication, trust, and empathy scores. Student comments were analyzed using the constant comparative method of analysis to identify dominant themes. The 389 students (mean age 26.6 ± 2.8 y; 54.5% female) had OSCE grades that were positively correlated with physician trust scores (r = 0.325, P training to be a valuable learning experience and appreciated its placement early in clinical training. We found that simulation-based OSCE training in palliative and end-of-life care can be effectively conducted during a surgery clerkship. Moreover, the standardized patient encounters combined with the formal assessment of communication skills, physician trust, and empathy provide feedback to students at an early phase of their professional life. The positive and appreciative comments of students regarding the opportunity to practice difficult patient conversations suggest that attention to these professional characteristics and skills is a valued element of clinical training and conceivably a step toward better patient outcomes and satisfaction. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Life cycle assessment of renewable energy sources

    CERN Document Server

    Singh, Anoop; Olsen, Stig Irving

    2013-01-01

    Governments are setting challenging targets to increase the production of energy and transport fuel from sustainable sources. The emphasis is increasingly on renewable sources including wind, solar, geothermal, biomass based biofuel, photovoltaics or energy recovery from waste. What are the environmental consequences of adopting these other sources? How do these various sources compare to each other? Life Cycle Assessment of Renewable Energy Sources tries to answer these questions based on the universally adopted method of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This book introduces the concept and impor

  16. Uncertainty analysis in agent-based modelling and consequential life cycle assessment coupled models : a critical review

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Baustert, P.M.; Benetto, E.

    2017-01-01

    The evolution of life cycle assessment (LCA) from a merely comparative tool for the assessment of products to a policy analysis tool proceeds by incorporating increasingly complex modelling approaches. In more recent studies of complex systems, such as the agriculture sector or mobility, agent-based

  17. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT FOR PC BLEND 2 AIRCRAFT RADOME DEPAINTER

    Science.gov (United States)

    This report describes the life cycle assessment on a potential replacement solvent blend for aircraft radome depainting at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker Air Force Base. The life cycle assessment is composed of three separate but interrelated components: life cy...

  18. Land use impact evaluation in life cycle assessment based on ecosystem thermodynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wagendorp, Tim; Gulinck, Hubert; Coppin, Pol; Muys, Bart

    2006-01-01

    Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies of products with a major part of their life cycle in biological production systems (i.e. forestry and agriculture) are often incomplete because the assessment of the land use impact is not operational. Most method proposals include the quality of the land in a descriptive way using rank scores for an arbitrarily selected set of indicators. This paper first offers a theoretical framework for the selection of suitable indicators for land use impact assessment, based on ecosystem thermodynamics. According to recent theories on the thermodynamics of open systems, a goal function of ecosystems is to maximize the dissipation of exogenic exergy fluxes by maximizing the internal exergy storage under form of biomass, biodiversity and complex trophical networks. Human impact may decrease this ecosystem exergy level by simplification, i.e. decreasing biomass and destroying internal complexity. Within this theoretical framework, we then studied possibilities for assessing the land use impact in a more direct way by measuring the ecosystems' capacity to dissipate solar exergy. Measuring ecosystem thermal characteristics by using remote sensing techniques was considered a promising tool. Once operational, it could offer a quick and cheap alternative to quantify land use impacts in any terrestrial ecosystem of any size. Recommendations are given for further exploration of this method and for its integration into an ISO compatible LCA framework

  19. Life cycle assessment of village electrification based on straight jatropha oil in Chhattisgarh, India

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gmuender, Simon Michael; Zah, Rainer; Widmer, Rolf [Technology and Society Lab, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA), Ueberlandstr. 129, 8600 Duebendorf (Switzerland); Bhatacharjee, Somnath [Winrock India International, New Delhi (India); Classen, Mischa [First Climate AG, Zuerich (Switzerland); Mukherjee, Prodyut [Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Allied Trusts, New Delhi (India)

    2010-03-15

    A decentralized power generation plant fuelled by straight jatropha oil was implemented in 2006 in Ranidhera, Chhattisgarh, India. The goal of this study was to assess the environmental sustainability of that electrification project in order to provide a scientific basis for policy decisions on electrifying remote villages. A full Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted on jatropha-based rural electrification and then compared with other electrification approaches such as photovoltaic (PV), grid connection and a diesel-fuelled power generator. In summary, the jatropha-based electrification in Ranidhera reduces greenhouse gas emissions over the full life cycle by a factor of 7 compared to a diesel generator or grid connection. The environmental performance is only slightly improved, mainly due to the high air pollution from pre-heating the jatropha seeds. With additional measures oil extraction and overall efficiency could be further improved. However, environmental benefits can only be achieved if jatropha is cultivated on marginal land and land use competition can be excluded. Under these conditions, jatropha-based electricity generation might be a useful alternative to other renewable electrification options, as the technology is very sturdy and can be maintained even in remote and highly under-developed regions. (author)

  20. Transportation life cycle assessment (LCA) synthesis : life cycle assessment learning module series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-03-12

    The Life Cycle Assessment Learning Module Series is a set of narrated, self-advancing slideshows on : various topics related to environmental life cycle assessment (LCA). This research project produced the first 27 of such modules, which : are freely...

  1. Life cycle assessment (LCA)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thrane, Mikkel; Schmidt, Jannick Andresen

    2004-01-01

    The chapter introduces Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and its application according to the ISO 1404043 standards.......The chapter introduces Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and its application according to the ISO 1404043 standards....

  2. Interview-based assessment of cognition is a strong predictor of quality of life in patients with schizophrenia and severe negative symptoms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Breno F. Cruz

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To analyze the correlation between quality of life, symptoms, and cognition assessed by the interview-based Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS. Methods: Seventy-nine outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia were evaluated with the Quality of Life Scale – Brazilian version (QLS-BR, the SCoRS, and symptoms scales (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale [PANSS]. After determining the potential explanatory variables using Spearman’s correlation and Student’s t test results, we ran simple, multivariate, and decision-tree regression analyses to assess the impact of SCoRS and PANSS ratings on mean overall quality of life. Results: Cognitive deficits and negative symptoms were the best predictors of quality of life. A low degree of negative symptoms (PANSS negative < 11 was a strong predictor of better quality of life (QLS ∼ 75, regardless of SCoRS rating. Among participants with more severe negative symptoms, elevated cognitive impairment (interviewer SCoRS ∼ 44 was a predictor of worse quality of life (QLS ∼ 44. Conclusions: Cognitive impairment determined by interview-based assessment seems to be a strong predictor of quality of life in subjects with severe negative symptoms. These results support the usefulness of SCoRS for cognitive assessment that is relevant to the everyday life of patients with schizophrenia.

  3. Development of substance flow based Life Cycle Assessment tool for sewage sludge treatment and disposal

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yoshida, Hiroko; Clavreul, Julie; Scheutz, Charlotte

    Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a method to quantify environmental impacts of products or systems. It is often done by correlating material and energy demands with certain input characteristics. An attempt was made to evaluate the robustness of the substance flow based LCA for wastewater and sludg...

  4. Assessing Water Risks in the Mining Industry using Life Cycle Assessment Based Approaches

    OpenAIRE

    STEPHEN ALAN NORTHEY

    2018-01-01

    Recent advances life cycle assessment methodology provide an opportunity to gain a more holistic understanding of how the mining industry interacts with water resources. A detailed review of assessment methodology and water management in the mining industry was undertaken to identify research needs. Global datasets of water use statistics for mining operations were also developed, and an exhaustive analysis of how global mineral resources and production are spatially distributed across local ...

  5. Prediction of material creep behaviour for strain based life assessment applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rantala, J H; Hurst, R C [EC JRC IAM, Petten (Netherlands); Bregani, F [ENEL, Milan (Italy)

    1999-12-31

    In this work the idea of using constant load uniaxial creep test results instead of constant stress results for developing a CDM creep model for the P92 material is demonstrated. Due to limited availability of creep test results this work is based on incomplete test data and a general stress rupture line. In spite of these limitations a material creep model was developed for use in a FE analysis. Using P91 material as an example, a method is proposed to account for differences in strain evolution as a function of stress which normally manifests itself as lower strain values at low stresses in a normalised time-strain plot. This allows the CDM model to be used both in FE analysis and in strain-based life assessment engineering calculations. (orig.) 3 refs.

  6. Prediction of material creep behaviour for strain based life assessment applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rantala, J.H.; Hurst, R.C. [EC JRC IAM, Petten (Netherlands); Bregani, F. [ENEL, Milan (Italy)

    1998-12-31

    In this work the idea of using constant load uniaxial creep test results instead of constant stress results for developing a CDM creep model for the P92 material is demonstrated. Due to limited availability of creep test results this work is based on incomplete test data and a general stress rupture line. In spite of these limitations a material creep model was developed for use in a FE analysis. Using P91 material as an example, a method is proposed to account for differences in strain evolution as a function of stress which normally manifests itself as lower strain values at low stresses in a normalised time-strain plot. This allows the CDM model to be used both in FE analysis and in strain-based life assessment engineering calculations. (orig.) 3 refs.

  7. Life cycle based dynamic assessment coupled with multiple criteria decision analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sohn, Joshua; Kalbar, Pradip; Birkved, Morten

    2017-01-01

    the service life of the building. This case study uses both the established and the coupled MCDA assessment methods to quantify and assess the balance of impacts between the production of mineral wool insulation versus the production of space heat. The use of TOPSIS method for calculating single scores......This work looks at coupling Life cycle assessment (LCA) with a dynamic inventory and multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to improve the validity and reliability of single score results for complex systems. This is done using the case study of a representative Danish single family home over...... not matter which impact assessment is applied. However, for the scenarios where other impact categories vary inversely or independently from the climate change impact indicator, such as with renewable energy production, there is need for a more unconventional method, such as the TOPSIS method...

  8. Waste-to-energy: A review of life cycle assessment and its extension methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Zhaozhi; Tang, Yuanjun; Chi, Yong; Ni, Mingjiang; Buekens, Alfons

    2018-01-01

    This article proposes a comprehensive review of evaluation tools based on life cycle thinking, as applied to waste-to-energy. Habitually, life cycle assessment is adopted to assess environmental burdens associated with waste-to-energy initiatives. Based on this framework, several extension methods have been developed to focus on specific aspects: Exergetic life cycle assessment for reducing resource depletion, life cycle costing for evaluating its economic burden, and social life cycle assessment for recording its social impacts. Additionally, the environment-energy-economy model integrates both life cycle assessment and life cycle costing methods and judges simultaneously these three features for sustainable waste-to-energy conversion. Life cycle assessment is sufficiently developed on waste-to-energy with concrete data inventory and sensitivity analysis, although the data and model uncertainty are unavoidable. Compared with life cycle assessment, only a few evaluations are conducted to waste-to-energy techniques by using extension methods and its methodology and application need to be further developed. Finally, this article succinctly summarises some recommendations for further research.

  9. Life assessment of gas turbine blades after long term service

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Auerkari, Pertti; Salonen, Jorma [VTT, Espoo (Finland); Maekinen, Sari [Helsingin Energia, Helsinki (Finland); Karvonen, Ikka; Tanttari, Heikki [Lappeenrannan Laempoevoima, Lappeenranta (Finland); Kangas, Pekka [Neste Oil, Kilpilahti (Finland); Scholz, Alfred [Technische Univ. Darmstadt (Germany); Vacchieri, Erica [Ansaldo Richerche, Genoa (Italy)

    2010-07-01

    Turbine blade samples from three land based gas turbines have been subjected to systematic condition and life assessment after long term service (88000 - 109000 equivalent operating hours, eoh), when approaching the nominal or suggested life limits. The blades represent different machine types, materials and design generations, and uncooled blading outside the hottest front end of the turbine, i.e. blades with relatively large size and considerable expected life. For a reasonable assessment, a range of damage mechanisms need to be addressed and evaluated for the impact in the residual life. The results suggested significant additional safe life for all three blade sets. In some cases this could warrant yet another life cycle comparable to that of new blades, even after approaching the nominal end of life in terms of recommended equivalent operating hours. This is thought to be partly because of base load combined cycle operation and natural gas fuel, or modest operational loading if the design also accounted for more intensive cycling operation and more corrosive oil firing. In any case, long term life extension is only appropriate if not intervened by events of overloading, overheating or other sudden events such as foreign object damage (FOD), and if supported by the regular inspection and maintenance program to control in-service damage. Condition based assessment therefore remains an important part of the blade life management after the decision of accepted life extension. (orig.)

  10. Methodologies for Social Life Cycle Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Andreas; Le Bocq, Agathe; Nazakina, Liudmila

    2008-01-01

    Goal, Scope and Background. In recent years several different approaches towards Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) have been developed. The purpose of this review is to compare these approaches in order to highlight methodological differences and general shortcomings. SLCA has several similarit......Goal, Scope and Background. In recent years several different approaches towards Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) have been developed. The purpose of this review is to compare these approaches in order to highlight methodological differences and general shortcomings. SLCA has several...... similarities with other social assessment tools, but in order to limit the review, only claims to address social impacts from an LCA-like framework is considered. Main Features. The review is to a large extent based on conference proceedings and reports of which some are not easily accessible, since very...... stage in the product life cycle. Another very important difference among the proposals is their position towards the use of generic data. Several of the proposals argue that social impacts are connected to the conduct of the company leading to the conclusion that each individual company in the product...

  11. Novel Miscanthus Germplasm-Based Value Chains: A Life Cycle Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moritz Wagner

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, considerable progress has been made in miscanthus research: improvement of management practices, breeding of new genotypes, especially for marginal conditions, and development of novel utilization options. The purpose of the current study was a holistic analysis of the environmental performance of such novel miscanthus-based value chains. In addition, the relevance of the analyzed environmental impact categories was assessed. A Life Cycle Assessment was conducted to analyse the environmental performance of the miscanthus-based value chains in 18 impact categories. In order to include the substitution of a reference product, a system expansion approach was used. In addition, a normalization step was applied. This allowed the relevance of these impact categories to be evaluated for each utilization pathway. The miscanthus was cultivated on six sites in Europe (Aberystwyth, Adana, Moscow, Potash, Stuttgart and Wageningen and the biomass was utilized in the following six pathways: (1 small-scale combustion (heat—chips; (2 small-scale combustion (heat—pellets; (3 large-scale combustion (CHP—biomass baled for transport and storage; (4 large-scale combustion (CHP—pellets; (5 medium-scale biogas plant—ensiled miscanthus biomass; and (6 large-scale production of insulation material. Thus, in total, the environmental performance of 36 site × pathway combinations was assessed. The comparatively high normalized results of human toxicity, marine, and freshwater ecotoxicity, and freshwater eutrophication indicate the relevance of these impact categories in the assessment of miscanthus-based value chains. Differences between the six sites can almost entirely be attributed to variations in biomass yield. However, the environmental performance of the utilization pathways analyzed varied widely. The largest differences were shown for freshwater and marine ecotoxicity, and freshwater eutrophication. The production of insulation material

  12. Integration of Life Cycle Assessment Into Agent-Based Modeling : Toward Informed Decisions on Evolving Infrastructure Systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Davis, C.B.; Nikoli?, I.; Dijkema, G.P.J.

    2009-01-01

    A method is presented that allows for a life cycle assessment (LCA) to provide environmental information on an energy infrastructure system while it evolves. Energy conversion facilities are represented in an agent-based model (ABM) as distinct instances of technologies with owners capable of making

  13. Life-cycle assessment of semiconductors

    CERN Document Server

    Boyd, Sarah B

    2012-01-01

    Life-Cycle Assessment of Semiconductors presents the first and thus far only available transparent and complete life cycle assessment of semiconductor devices. A lack of reliable semiconductor LCA data has been a major challenge to evaluation of the potential environmental benefits of information technologies (IT). The analysis and results presented in this book will allow a higher degree of confidence and certainty in decisions concerning the use of IT in efforts to reduce climate change and other environmental effects. Coverage includes but is not limited to semiconductor manufacturing trends by product type and geography, unique coverage of life-cycle assessment, with a focus on uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of energy and global warming missions for CMOS logic devices, life cycle assessment of flash memory and life cycle assessment of DRAM. The information and conclusions discussed here will be highly relevant and useful to individuals and institutions. The book also: Provides a detailed, complete a...

  14. Life-cycle based dynamic assessment of mineral wool insulation in a Danish residential building application

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sohn, Joshua L.; Kalbar, Pradip; Banta, Gary T.

    2017-01-01

    There has been significant change in the way buildings are constructed and the way building energy performance is evaluated. Focus on solely the use phase of a building is beginning to be replaced by a life-cycle based performance assessment. This study assesses the environmental impact trade......-offs between the heat produced to meet a building's space heating load and insulation produced to reduce its space heating load throughout the whole life-cycle of a building. To obtain a more realistic valuation of this tradeoff, a dynamic heat production model, which accounts for political projections...... grid, which is potentially promoted at present in Danish regulation. It is further concluded that improvement of the mineral wool insulation production process could allow for greater levels of environmentally beneficial insulation and would also help in reducing the overall environmental burden from...

  15. Life cycle energy use and GHG emission assessment of coal-based SNG and power cogeneration technology in China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Sheng; Gao, Lin; Jin, Hongguang

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Life cycle energy use and GHG emissions are assessed for SNG and power cogeneration. • A model based on a Chinese domestic database is developed for evaluation. • Cogeneration shows lower GHG emissions than coal-power pathway. • Cogeneration has lower life cycle energy use than supercritical coal-power pathway. • Cogeneration is a good option to implement China’s clean coal technologies. - Abstract: Life cycle energy use and GHG emissions are assessed for coal-based synthetic natural gas (SNG) and power cogeneration/polygenereation (PG) technology and its competitive alternatives. Four main SNG applications are considered, including electricity generation, steam production, SNG vehicle and battery electric vehicle (BEV). Analyses show that if SNG is produced from a single product plant, the lower limits of its life cycle energy use and GHG emissions can be comparable to the average levels of coal-power and coal-BEV pathways, but are still higher than supercritical and ultra supercritical (USC) coal-power and coal-BEV pathways. If SNG is coproduced from a PG plant, when it is used for power generation, steam production, and driving BEV car, the life cycle energy uses for PG based pathways are typically lower than supercritical coal-power pathways, but are still 1.6–2.4% higher than USC coal-power pathways, and the average life cycle GHG emissions are lower than those of all coal-power pathways including USC units. If SNG is used to drive vehicle car, the life cycle energy use and GHG emissions of PG-SNGV-power pathway are both much higher than all combined coal-BEV and coal-power pathways, due to much higher energy consumption in a SNG driven car than in a BEV car. The coal-based SNG and power cogeneration technology shows comparable or better energy and environmental performances when compared to other coal-based alternatives, and is a good option to implement China’s clean coal technologies.

  16. Methodological Approach for the Sustainability Assessment of Development Cooperation Projects for Built Innovations Based on the SDGs and Life Cycle Thinking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephanie D. Maier

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes a methodological approach for a sustainability assessment of development cooperation projects. Between the scientific disciplines there is no agreement on the term of “sustainability”. Whereas the definition of sustainability within the context of development cooperation frequently highlights the long-term success of an intervention, the United Nations herald the inclusion of social, economic and environmental aspects. This paper proposes to bridge this gap by providing an analytical framework that uses nine impact category groups based on thematic priorities of sustainable development derived from the Sustainable Development Goals. Additionally, the long-term effectiveness of a project is taken into consideration. These impact category groups comprise the analytical framework, which is investigated by the Life Cycle Assessment and an indicator-based analysis. These data are obtained through empirical social research and the LCA inventory. The underlying concept is based on life cycle thinking. Taking up a multi-cycle model this study establishes two life cycles: first, the project management life cycle; and, second, the life cycle of a project’s innovation. The innovation’s life cycle is identified to have the greatest impact on the target region and the local people and is consequently of primary interest. This methodological approach enables an ex-post sustainability assessment of a built innovation of a development cooperation project and is tested on a case study on Improved Cooking Stoves in Bangladesh.

  17. An integrated factor analysis model for product eco-design based on full life cycle assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhou, Z.; Xiao, T.; Li, D.

    2016-07-01

    Among the methods of comprehensive analysis for a product or an enterprise, there exist defects and deficiencies in traditional standard cost analyses and life cycle assessment methods. For example, some methods only emphasize one dimension (such as economic or environmental factors) while neglecting other relevant dimensions. This paper builds a factor analysis model of resource value flow, based on full life cycle assessment and eco-design theory, in order to expose the relevant internal logic between these two factors. The model considers the efficient multiplication of resources, economic efficiency, and environmental efficiency as its core objectives. The model studies the status of resource value flow during the entire life cycle of a product, and gives an in-depth analysis on the mutual logical relationship of product performance, value, resource consumption, and environmental load to reveal the symptoms and potentials in different dimensions. This provides comprehensive, accurate and timely decision-making information for enterprise managers regarding product eco-design, as well as production and management activities. To conclude, it verifies the availability of this evaluation and analysis model using a Chinese SUV manufacturer as an example. (Author)

  18. Life cycle cost and economic assessment of biochar-based bioenergy production and biochar land application in Northwestern Ontario, Canada

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Krish Homagain; Chander Shahi; Nancy Luckai; Mahadev Sharma

    2017-01-01

    Background:Replacement of fossil fuel based energy with biochar-based bioenergy production can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions while mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change and global warming.However,the production of biochar-based bioenergy depends on a sustainable supply of biomass.Although,Northwestern Ontario has a rich and sustainable supply of woody biomass,a comprehensive life cycle cost and economic assessment of biochar-based bioenergy production technology has not been done so far in the region.Methods:In this paper,we conducted a thorough life cycle cost assessment (LCCA) of biochar-based bioenergy production and its land application under four different scenarios:1) biochar production with low feedstock availability;2) biochar production with high feedstock availability;3) biochar production with low feedstock availability and its land application;and 4) biochar production with high feedstock availability and its land application-using SimaPro(R),EIOLCA(R) software and spreadsheet modeling.Based on the LCCA results,we further conducted an economic assessment for the break-even and viability of this technology over the project period.Results:It was found that the economic viability of biochar-based bioenergy production system within the life cycle analysis system boundary based on study assumptions is directly dependent on costs of pyrolysis,feedstock processing (drying,grinding and pelletization) and collection on site and the value of total carbon offset provided by the system.Sensitivity analysis of transportation distance and different values of C offset showed that the system is profitable in case of high biomass availability within 200 km and when the cost of carbon sequestration exceeds CAD S60 per tonne of equivalent carbon (CO2e).Conclusions:Biochar-based bioenergy system is economically viable when life cycle costs and environmental assumptions are accounted for.This study provides a medium scale slow-pyrolysis plant scenario and

  19. Antifreeze life cycle assessment (LCA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kesić Jelena

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Antifreeze based on ethylene glycol is a commonly used commercial product The classification of ethylene glycol as a toxic material increased the disposal costs for used antifreeze and life cycle assessment became a necessity. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA considers the identification and quantification of raw materials and energy inputs and waste outputs during the whole life cycle of the analyzed product. The objectives of LCA are the evaluation of impacts on the environment and improvements of processes in order to reduce and/or eliminate waste. LCA is conducted through a mathematical model derived from mass and energy balances of all the processes included in the life cycle. In all energy processes the part of energy that can be transformed into some other kind of energy is called exergy. The concept of exergy considers the quality of different types of energy and the quality of different materials. It is also a connection between energy and mass transformations. The whole life cycle can be described by the value of the total loss of exergy. The physical meaning of this value is the loss of material and energy that can be used. The results of LCA are very useful for the analyzed products and processes and for the determined conditions under which the analysis was conducted. The results of this study indicate that recycling is the most satisfactory solution for the treatment of used antifreeze regarding material and energy consumption but the re-use of antifreeze should not be neglected as a solution.

  20. Life cycle assessment of energy consumption and environmental emissions for cornstalk-based ethyl levulinate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Zhiwei; Li, Zaifeng; Lei, Tingzhou; Yang, Miao; Qi, Tian; Lin, Lu; Xin, Xiaofei; Ajayebi, Atta; Yang, Yantao; He, Xiaofeng; Yan, Xiaoyu

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • The first LCA of cornstalk-based ethyl levulinate. • Life cycle energy consumption and environmental emissions were evaluated. • Detailed foreground data from a demonstration project in China was used. • Criteria emissions in the combustion stage were based on engine tests. • Sensitivity analysis was performed based on different cornstalk prices. - Abstract: This study analysed the sustainability of fuel-ethyl levulinate (EL) production along with furfural, as a by-product, from cornstalk in China. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted using the SimaPro software to evaluate the energy consumption (EC), greenhouse gas (GHG) and criteria emissions, from cornstalk growth to EL utilisation. The total life cycle EC was found to be 4.54 MJ/MJ EL, of which 94.7% was biomass energy. EC in the EL production stage was the highest, accounting for 96.8% of total EC. Fossil EC in this stage was estimated to be 0.095 MJ/MJ, which also represents the highest fossil EC throughout the life cycle (39.5% of the total). The ratio of biomass to fossil EC over the life cycle was 17.9, indicating good utilisation of renewable energy in cornstalk-based EL production. The net life cycle GHG emissions were 96.6 g CO_2-eq/MJ. The EL production stage demonstrated the highest GHG emissions, representing 53.4% of the total positive amount. Criteria emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and particulates ⩽10 μm (PM10) showed negative values, of −3.15 and −0.72 g/MJ, respectively. Nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and sulphur dioxide (SO_2) emissions showed positive values of 0.33 and 0.28 g/MJ, respectively, mainly arising from the EL production stage. According to the sensitivity analysis, increasing or removing the cornstalk revenue in the LCA leads to an increase or decrease in the EC and environmental emissions while burning cornstalk directly in the field results in large increases in emissions of NMVOC, CO, NO_x and PM10 but decreases in fossil EC, and SO_2 and GHG

  1. Life cycle assessment of mobile phone housing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Jian-xin; Wang, Ru-song; Fu, Hao; Liu, Jing-ru

    2004-01-01

    The life cycle assessment of the mobile phone housing in Motorola(China) Electronics Ltd. was carried out, in which materials flows and environmental emissions based on a basic production scheme were analyzed and assessed. In the manufacturing stage, such primary processes as polycarbonate molding and surface painting are included, whereas different surface finishing technologies like normal painting, electroplate, IMD and VDM etc. were assessed. The results showed that housing decoration plays a significant role within the housing life cycle. The most significant environmental impact from housing production is the photochemical ozone formation potential. Environmental impacts of different decoration techniques varied widely, for example, the electroplating technique is more environmentally friendly than VDM. VDM consumes much more energy and raw material. In addition, the results of two alternative scenarios of dematerialization showed that material flow analysis and assessment is very important and valuable in selecting an environmentally friendly process.

  2. Estimating pesticide emissions for life cycle assessment of agricultural products

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Røpke, Inge

    2004-01-01

    As the first country in Europe Denmark almost 2 years ago established an official center for Life Cycle Assessments and life cycle approaches as an element of the national IPP (Integrated Product Policy). The Danish EPA lends financial support to this important initiative, the aim of which is to: 1....... promote the use of Life Cycle Assessment and other product-oriented environmental tools in companies, 2. support companies and other in using environmental assessment of products and services, 3. ensure that the effort in the LCA area is based on a solid and scientific basis, and 4. maintain the well...... evaluation finished in September 2004. Important learnings for all who are engaged in dissemination of life cycle thinking in industry will be presented....

  3. Life cycle assessment of a wind farm and related externalities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schleisner, Liselotte

    2000-01-01

    This paper concentrates on the assessment of energy and emissions related to the production and manufacture of materials for an offshore wind farm as well as a wind farm on land based on a life cycle analysis (LCA) model. In Denmark a model has been developed for life cycle assessments of different...... materials. The model is able to assess the energy use related to the production, transportation and manufacture of 1 kg of material. The energy use is divided into fuels used in order to estimate the emissions through the life cycle. In the paper the model and the attached assumptions are described......, and the model is demonstrated for two wind farms. The externalities for the wind farms are reported, showing the importance of life cycle assessment for renewable energy technologies. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved....

  4. Implementing Life Cycle Assessment in systems development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bhander, Gurbakhash Singh; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; McAloone, Timothy Charles

    2003-01-01

    and the rapid changes in markets for many products. The overall aim of the paper is to provide an understanding of the environmental issues involved in the early stages of product development and the capacity of life cycle assessment techniques to address these issues. The paper aims to outline the problems...... for the designer in evaluating the environmental benignity of the product from the outset and to provide the designer with a framework for decision support based on the performance evaluation at different stages of the design process. The overall aim of this paper is to produce an in-depth understanding...... of possibilities which can be introduced in the design stage compared to the other life cycle stages of the product system. The paper collects experiences and ideas around the state-of-the-art in eco-design, from literature and personal experience and further provides eco-design life cycle assessment strategies...

  5. Marginal Generation Technology in the Chinese Power Market towards 2030 Based on Consequential Life Cycle Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhao, Guangling; Guerrero, Josep M.; Pei, Yingying

    2016-01-01

    Electricity consumption is often the hotspot of life cycle assessment (LCA) of products, industrial activities, or services. The objective of this paper is to provide a consistent, scientific, region-specific electricity-supply-based inventory of electricity generation technology for national...... and regional power grids. Marginal electricity generation technology is pivotal in assessing impacts related to additional consumption of electricity. China covers a large geographical area with regional supply grids; these are arguably equally or less integrated. Meanwhile, it is also a country with internal...

  6. Improvement actions in waste management systems at the provincial scale based on a life cycle assessment evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rigamonti, L; Falbo, A; Grosso, M

    2013-11-01

    This paper reports some of the findings of the 'GERLA' project: GEstione Rifiuti in Lombardia - Analisi del ciclo di vita (Waste management in Lombardia - Life cycle assessment). The project was devoted to support Lombardia Region in the drafting of the new waste management plan by applying a life cycle thinking perspective. The present paper mainly focuses on four Provinces in the Region, which were selected based on their peculiarities. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was adopted as the methodology to assess the current performance of the integrated waste management systems, to discuss strengths and weaknesses of each of them and to design their perspective evolution as of year 2020. Results show that despite a usual business approach that is beneficial to all the provinces, the introduction of technological and management improvements to the system provides in general additional energy and environmental benefits for all four provinces. The same improvements can be easily extended to the whole Region, leading to increased environmental benefits from the waste management sector, in line with the targets set by the European Union for 2020. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Potential pyrolysis pathway assessment for microalgae-based aviation fuel based on energy conversion efficiency and life cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo, Fang; Wang, Xin; Yang, Xiaoyi

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • High lipid content in microalgae increases energy conversion efficiency. • Indirect pathway has the highest mass ratio, energy ratio and energy efficiency. • The Isochrysis indirect pathway produces most kerosene component precursor. • The Isochrysis indirect pyrolysis pathway shows the best performance in LCA. - Abstract: Although the research of microalgae pyrolysis has been conducted for many years, there is a lack of investigations on energy efficiency and life cycle assessment. In this study, we investigated the biocrude yield and energy efficiency of direct pyrolysis, microalgae residue pyrolysis after lipid extraction (indirect pyrolysis), and different microalgae co-pyrolysis. This research also investigated the life cycle assessment of the three different pyrolysis pathways. A system boundary of Well-to-Wake (WTWa) was defined and included sub-process models, such as feedstock production, fuel production and pump-to-wheels (PTW) stages. The pathway of Isochrysis indirect pyrolysis shows the best performance in the mass ratio and energy ratio, produces the most kerosene component precursor, has the lowest WTWa total energy input, fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and resultes in the best energy efficiency. All the evidence indicates that Isochrysis R2 pathway is a potential and optimal pyrolysis pathway to liquid biofuels. The mass ratio of pyrolysis biocrude is shown to be the decisive factor for different microalgae species. The sensitivity analysis results also indicates that the life cycle indicators are particularly sensitive to the mass ratio of pyrolysis biocrude for microalgae-based hydrotreated pyrolysis aviation fuel.

  8. Comparative Human Health Impact Assessment of Engineered Nanomaterials in the Framework of Life Cycle Assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fransman, Wouter; Buist, Harrie; Kuijpers, Eelco; Walser, Tobias; Meyer, David; Zondervan-van den Beuken, Esther; Westerhout, Joost; Klein Entink, Rinke H; Brouwer, Derk H

    2017-07-01

    For safe innovation, knowledge on potential human health impacts is essential. Ideally, these impacts are considered within a larger life-cycle-based context to support sustainable development of new applications and products. A methodological framework that accounts for human health impacts caused by inhalation of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in an indoor air environment has been previously developed. The objectives of this study are as follows: (i) evaluate the feasibility of applying the CF framework for NP exposure in the workplace based on currently available data; and (ii) supplement any resulting knowledge gaps with methods and data from the life cycle approach and human risk assessment (LICARA) project to develop a modified case-specific version of the framework that will enable near-term inclusion of NP human health impacts in life cycle assessment (LCA) using a case study involving nanoscale titanium dioxide (nanoTiO 2 ). The intent is to enhance typical LCA with elements of regulatory risk assessment, including its more detailed measure of uncertainty. The proof-of-principle demonstration of the framework highlighted the lack of available data for both the workplace emissions and human health effects of ENMs that is needed to calculate generalizable characterization factors using common human health impact assessment practices in LCA. The alternative approach of using intake fractions derived from workplace air concentration measurements and effect factors based on best-available toxicity data supported the current case-by-case approach for assessing the human health life cycle impacts of ENMs. Ultimately, the proposed framework and calculations demonstrate the potential utility of integrating elements of risk assessment with LCA for ENMs once the data are available. © 2016 Society for Risk Analysis.

  9. Prioritization of Bioethanol Production Pathways in China based on Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment and Multi-Criteria Decision-Making

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ren, Jingzheng; Manzardo, Alessandro; Mazzi, Anna

    2015-01-01

    Purpose The study objectives are two-fold: (i) combining the life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) framework and the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methodology for sustainability assessment; (ii) determining the most sustainable scenario for bioethanol production in China according......’s proposed method investigates an illustrative case about three alternative bioethanol production scenarios (wheat-based, corn-based and cassava-based): the prior sequence (based on the sustainability performances) in descending order is cassava-based, corn-based and wheat-based. The proposed methodology...... is to test the combination of a MCDM methodology and LCSA for sustainability decision-making by studying three alternative pathways for bioethanol production in China. The proposed method feasibly enables the decision-makers/stakeholders to find the most sustainable scenario to achieve their objectives among...

  10. Accident risk-based life cycle assessment methodology for green and safe fuel selection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Khakzad, Sina; Khan, Faisal; Abbassi, Rouzbeh; Khakzad Rostami, N.

    2017-01-01

    Using the emissions produced during the entire life-cycle of a fuel or a product, Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is an effective technique widely used to estimate environmental impacts. However, most of the conventional LCA methods consider the impacts of voluntary releases such as discharged toxic

  11. Life-cycle assessment of biodiesel versus petroleum diesel fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coulon, R.; Camobreco, V.; Sheehan, J.; Duffield, J.

    1995-01-01

    The US Department of Energy's Office of Transportation Technologies, DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the US Department of Agriculture's Office of Energy, and Ecobalance are carrying out a comprehensive Life-Cycle Assessment of soy-based diesel fuel (biodiesel) to quantify the environmental aspects of the cradle-to-grave production and use of biodiesel. The purpose of the project is to produce an analytical tool and database for use by industry and government decision makers involved in alternative fuel use and production. The study also includes a parallel effort to develop a life-cycle model for petroleum diesel fuel. The two models are used to compare the life-cycle energy and environmental implications of petroleum diesel and biodiesel derived from soybean. Several scenarios are studied, analyzing the influence of transportation distances, agricultural practice and allocation rules used. The project also includes effort to integrate spatial data into the inventory analysis and probabilistic uncertainty considerations into the impact assessment stage. Traditional life-cycle inventory analysis includes an aggregation process that eliminates spatial, temporal, and threshold information. This project will demonstrate an approach to life-cycle inventory analysis that retains spatial data for use in impact assessment. Explicit probabilistic treatment of uncertainty in impact assessment will take account of scientific uncertainties, and will attempt to identify the level of spatial detail that most efficiently reduces impact assessment uncertainties

  12. Life cycle assessment of rice straw-based power generation in Malaysia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shafie, S.M.; Masjuki, H.H.; Mahlia, T.M.I.

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents an application of LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) with a view to analyzing the environment aspects of rice straw-based power generation in Malaysia. It also compares rice straw-based power generation with that of coal and natural gas. GHG (Greenhouse gas) emission savings were calculated. It finds that rice straw power generation can save GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions of about 1.79 kg CO 2 -eq/kWh compared to coal-based and 1.05 kg CO 2 -eq/kWh with natural gas based power generation. While the development of rice straw-based power generation in Malaysia is still in its early stage, these paddy residues offer a large potential to generate electricity because of their availability. Rice straw power plants not only could solve the problem of removing rice straw from fields without open burning, but also could reduce GHG emissions that contribute to climate change, acidification, and eutrophication, among other environmental problems. - Highlights: • Overall rice straw preparations contribute 224.48 g CO 2 -eq/kg rice straw. • The most constraints due to GHG (greenhouse gas) emission is from transportation. • Distance collection centre to plant less than 110 km to obtains minimum emissions. • Rice straw can save GHG emissions 1.79 kg CO 2 -eq/kWh compared to coal power. • GHG saving 1.05 kg CO 2 -eq/kWh compared to natural gas based power generation

  13. Assessment of quality of life of parents of children with osteogenesis imperfecta.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szczepaniak-Kubat, Anna; Kurnatowska, Olga; Jakubowska-Pietkiewicz, Elzbieta; Chlebna-Sokół, Danuta

    2012-01-01

    The aim of the work was an objective assessment of the quality of life of parents of children with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) and of its determinant factors. The survey answers of 25 parents were analyzed and contained demographic parameters, socioeconomic status information, quality of life of responses and type of support they have been receiving. In order to assess the effects of this children's disease on the quality of life of the parents, families were divided into two groups depending on the OI severity: group M--mild (type I and IV OI), group S--severe (type III OI). The objective of the work was carried out based on the WHOQOL-BREF quality of life questionnaire and measures of family status: education degree based on the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), a subjective assessment of the family's wealth (Perceived Family Wealth, PFW), and the family's financial resources (Family Affluence Scale, FAS). 56% of respondents assessed their global quality of life (Quality of Life, QL) as good, whereas 8% answered poor. Perception of general health status was similar. Life domains assessed in the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire received the following mean values on a scale from 4 to 20 points: physical--12.2 +/- 1.2, psychological--15.04 +/- 2.2, environmental--13.32 +/- 2, social relationships--14.28 +/- 1.5. In the severe OI group, the environmental domain was assessed as worse than in the mild OI group and this assessment was statistically significant, despite the fact that the group of families with severe cases of OI received more support from the appropriate institutions. Indicators of socioeconomic status did not affect the respondents' assessment of their global quality of life. In the tested group of families, the child's disease did not affect either the global quality of life assessment or health of the respondents or their quality of life in terms of physical and mental status and social relationships. The parents of children with

  14. Introducing Life Cycle Impact Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Huijbregts, Mark AJ

    2015-01-01

    This chapter serves as an introduction to the presentation of the many aspects of life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) in this volume of the book series ‘LCA Compendium’. It starts with a brief historical overview of the development of life cycle impact assessment driven by numerous national LCIA...... methodology projects and presents the international scientific discussions and methodological consensus attempts in consecutive working groups under the auspices of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) as well as the UNEP/ SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, and the (almost) parallel...

  15. Life Cycle Impact Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rosenbaum, Ralph K.; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Boulay, Anne-Marie

    2018-01-01

    This chapter is dedicated to the third phase of an LCA study, the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) where the life cycle inventory’s information on elementary flows is translated into environmental impact scores. In contrast to the three other LCA phases, LCIA is in practice largely automated...

  16. Environmental life cycle assessment of methanol and electricity co-production system based on coal gasification technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Śliwińska, Anna; Burchart-Korol, Dorota; Smoliński, Adam

    2017-01-01

    This paper presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) of greenhouse gas emissions generated through methanol and electricity co-production system based on coal gasification technology. The analysis focuses on polygeneration technologies from which two products are produced, and thus, issues related to an allocation procedure for LCA are addressed in this paper. In the LCA, two methods were used: a 'system expansion' method based on two approaches, the 'avoided burdens approach' and 'direct system enlargement' methods and an 'allocation' method involving proportional partitioning based on physical relationships in a technological process. Cause-effect relationships in the analysed production process were identified, allowing for the identification of allocation factors. The 'system expansion' method involved expanding the analysis to include five additional variants of electricity production technologies in Poland (alternative technologies). This method revealed environmental consequences of implementation for the analysed technologies. It was found that the LCA of polygeneration technologies based on the 'system expansion' method generated a more complete source of information on environmental consequences than the 'allocation' method. The analysis shows that alternative technologies chosen for generating LCA results are crucial. Life cycle assessment was performed for the analysed, reference and variant alternative technologies. Comparative analysis was performed between the analysed technologies of methanol and electricity co-production from coal gasification as well as a reference technology of methanol production from the natural gas reforming process. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Greenhouse impact assessment of peat-based Fischer-Tropsch diesel life-cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kirkinen, Johanna; Soimakallio, Sampo; Maekinen, Tuula; Savolainen, Ilkka

    2010-01-01

    New raw materials for transportation fuels need to be introduced, in order to fight against climate change and also to cope with increasing risks of availability and price of oil. Peat has been recognised suitable raw material option for diesel produced by gasification and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis. The energy content of Finnish peat reserves is remarkable. In this study, the greenhouse impact of peat-based FT diesel production and utilisation in Finland was assessed from the life-cycle point of view. In 100 year's time horizon the greenhouse impact of peat-based FT diesel is likely larger than the impact of fossil diesel. The impact can somewhat be lowered by producing peat from the agricultural peatland (strong greenhouse gas emissions from the decaying peatlayer are avoided) with new peat production technique, and utilising the produced biomass from the after-treatment area for diesel also. If diesel production is integrated with pulp and paper mill to achieve energy efficiency benefits and if the electricity demand can be covered by zero emission electricity, the greenhouse impact of peat-based FT diesel reduces to the level of fossil diesel when agricultural peatland is used, and is somewhat higher when forestry-drained peatland is used as raw material source.

  18. Influence of service life on Life Cycle Assessments

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Nunen, H.; Hendriks, N.A.; Erkelens, P.A.

    2003-01-01

    Environmental assessment is part of present decision making. But, because of difficulties the assessments are not as profound as could be. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a cradle-to-grave approach and consequently a time factor is embedded. Until now this time factor is fixed and calculations are

  19. Life cycle assessment of sewage sludge co-incineration in a coal-based power station.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Jingmin; Xu, Changqing; Hong, Jinglan; Tan, Xianfeng; Chen, Wei

    2013-09-01

    A life cycle assessment was conducted to evaluate the environmental and economic effects of sewage sludge co-incineration in a coal-fired power plant. The general approach employed by a coal-fired power plant was also assessed as control. Sewage sludge co-incineration technology causes greater environmental burden than does coal-based energy production technology because of the additional electricity consumption and wastewater treatment required for the pretreatment of sewage sludge, direct emissions from sludge incineration, and incinerated ash disposal processes. However, sewage sludge co-incineration presents higher economic benefits because of electricity subsidies and the income generating potential of sludge. Environmental assessment results indicate that sewage sludge co-incineration is unsuitable for mitigating the increasing pressure brought on by sewage sludge pollution. Reducing the overall environmental effect of sludge co-incineration power stations necessitates increasing net coal consumption efficiency, incinerated ash reuse rate, dedust system efficiency, and sludge water content rate. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Indicators for human toxicity in Life Cycle Impact Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krewitt, Wolfram; Pennington, David W.; Olsen, Stig Irving

    2002-01-01

    The main objectives of this task group under SETAC-Europe’s Second Working Group on Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA-WIA2) were to identify and discuss the suitability of toxicological impact measures for human health for use in characterization in LCIA. The current state of the art of defining......, as well as potency. Quantitative severity-based indicators yield measures in terms of Years of Life Lost (YOLL), Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY), Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) and other similar measures. DALYs and QALYs are examples of approaches that attempt to account for both years of life...... such as No Observed Effect Levels (NOEL). NOELs, and similar data, are determined in laboratory studies using rodents and are then extrapolated to more relevant human measures. Many examples also exist of measures and methods beyond potency-based indicators that attempt to account for differences in expected severity...

  1. The potentials and challenges of algae based biofuels: a review of the techno-economic, life cycle, and resource assessment modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quinn, Jason C; Davis, Ryan

    2015-05-01

    Microalgae biofuel production has been extensively evaluated through resource, economic and life cycle assessments. Resource assessments consistently identify land as non-limiting and highlight the need to consider siting based on combined geographical constraints of land and other critical resources such as water and carbon dioxide. Economic assessments report a selling cost of fuel that ranges between $1.64 and over $30 gal(-1) consistent with large variability reported in the life cycle literature, -75 to 534 gCO2-eq MJ(-1). Large drivers behind such variability stem from differences in productivity assumptions, pathway technologies, and system boundaries. Productivity represents foundational units in these assessments with current assumed yields in various assessments varying by a factor of 60. A review of the literature in these areas highlights the need for harmonized assessments such that direct comparisons of alternative processing technologies can be made on the metrics of resource requirements, economic feasibility, and environmental impact. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Life cycle assessment : Past, present, and future

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Guinée, Jeroen B.; Heijungs, Reinout; Huppes, Gjalt; Zamagni, Alessandra; Masoni, Paolo; Buonamici, Roberto; Ekvall, Tomas; Rydberg, Tomas

    2011-01-01

    Environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) has developed fast over the last three decades. Whereas LCA developed from merely energy analysis to a comprehensive environmental burden analysis in the 1970s, full-fledged life cycle impact assessment and life cycle costing models were introduced in the

  3. Life Cycle Impact Assessment in the Arctic: Challenges and Research Needs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johan Berg Pettersen

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Life cycle assessment (LCA is increasingly used for environmental assessment of products and production processes to support environmental decision-making both worldwide and in the Arctic. However, there are several weaknesses in the impact assessment methodology in LCA, e.g., related to uncertainties of impact assessment results, absence of spatial differentiation in characterization modeling, and gaps in the coverage of impact pathways of different “archetypal” environments. Searching for a new resource base and areas for operation, marine and marine-based industries are continuously moving north, which underlines the need for better life cycle impact assessment in the Arctic, particularly to aid in industrial environmental management systems and stakeholder communications. This paper aims to investigate gaps and challenges in the application of the currently available impact assessment methods in the Arctic context. A simplified Arctic mining LCA case study was carried out to demonstrate the relevance of Arctic emissions at the midpoint and endpoint levels, as well as possible influences of the Arctic context on the impact assessment results. Results of this study showed that significant research gaps remain in Arctic-dependent life cycle impact assessment, particularly on: (i the possible influences of the Arctic-specific features on characterization factors for impact assessment (such as seasonality, cold climate, precipitation, and marine dependence; and (ii the coverage of impact pathways, especially on the under-addressed marine impacts and marine/near-shore dispersion processes. Addressing those identified research gaps and demand for future Arctic life cycle impact assessment could increase the credibility of LCA as an environmental decision-making support tool for Arctic industries and better support sustainable Arctic development.

  4. Towards a life cycle sustainability assessment: making informed choices on products

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ciroth, Andreas [GreenDeltaTC, Berlin (Germany); Finkbeiner, Matthias; Traverso, Marzia [TU Berlin (Germany); Hildenbrand, Jutta [Chalmers University (United States); Kloepffer, Walter [Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment (Germany); Mazijn, Bernard [Ghent University (Belgium); Prakash, Siddharth [Oeko-Institut (Germany); Sonnemann, Guido; Valdivia, Sonia [UNEP (France); Ugaya, Cassia Maria Lie [Technological Federal University of Parana, ACV (Brazil); Vickery-Niederman, Gina [University of Arkansas (United States)

    2011-07-01

    In this introduction to the concept of life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA), we acknowledge the foundations laid by previous works and initiatives. One such initiative has been the ISO 14040 series (Environmental management -- Life cycle assessment -- Principles and framework), which in addition to the ISO 26000: Social Responsibility Guidance Standard, and the contribution of a number of international initiatives (Appendix A) have been essential for the development of this publication. The life cycle of a product involves flows of material, energy and money. Nonetheless, the picture is not complete unless we look also at the production and consumption impacts on all actors along the 'value chain' -- workers, local communities, consumers and society itself. Different life cycle assessment techniques allow individuals and enterprises to assess the impact of their purchasing decisions and production methods along different aspects of this value chain. An (Environmental) life cycle assessment (LCA) looks at potential impacts to the environment as a result of the extraction of resources, transportation, production, use, recycling and discarding of products; life cycle costing (LCC) is used to assess the cost implications of this life cycle; and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) examines the social consequences. However, in order to get the 'whole picture', it is vital to extend current life cycle thinking to encompass all three pillars of sustainability: (i) environmental, (ii) economic and (iii) social. This means carrying out an assessment based on environmental, economic and social issues -- by conducting an overarching life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA). This publication shows how all three techniques -- which all share similar methodological frameworks and aims -- can be combined to make the move towards an overarching LCSA possible. Because it is holistic, systemic and rigorous, (environmental) LCA is the preferred technique

  5. Towards a life cycle sustainability assessment: making informed choices on products

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ciroth, Andreas [GreenDeltaTC, Berlin (Germany); Finkbeiner, Matthias; Traverso, Marzia [TU Berlin (Germany); Hildenbrand, Jutta [Chalmers University (United States); Kloepffer, Walter [Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment (Germany); Mazijn, Bernard [Ghent University (Belgium); Prakash, Siddharth [Oeko-Institut (Germany); Sonnemann, Guido; Valdivia, Sonia [UNEP (France); Ugaya, Cassia Maria Lie [Technological Federal University of Parana, ACV (Brazil); Vickery-Niederman, Gina [University of Arkansas (United States)

    2011-07-01

    In this introduction to the concept of life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA), we acknowledge the foundations laid by previous works and initiatives. One such initiative has been the ISO 14040 series (Environmental management -- Life cycle assessment -- Principles and framework), which in addition to the ISO 26000: Social Responsibility Guidance Standard, and the contribution of a number of international initiatives (Appendix A) have been essential for the development of this publication. The life cycle of a product involves flows of material, energy and money. Nonetheless, the picture is not complete unless we look also at the production and consumption impacts on all actors along the 'value chain' -- workers, local communities, consumers and society itself. Different life cycle assessment techniques allow individuals and enterprises to assess the impact of their purchasing decisions and production methods along different aspects of this value chain. An (Environmental) life cycle assessment (LCA) looks at potential impacts to the environment as a result of the extraction of resources, transportation, production, use, recycling and discarding of products; life cycle costing (LCC) is used to assess the cost implications of this life cycle; and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) examines the social consequences. However, in order to get the 'whole picture', it is vital to extend current life cycle thinking to encompass all three pillars of sustainability: (i) environmental, (ii) economic and (iii) social. This means carrying out an assessment based on environmental, economic and social issues -- by conducting an overarching life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA). This publication shows how all three techniques -- which all share similar methodological frameworks and aims -- can be combined to make the move towards an overarching LCSA possible. Because it is holistic, systemic and rigorous, (environmental) LCA is the preferred technique when it comes to

  6. Recent developments in Life Cycle Assessment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Finnveden, Göran; Hauschild, Michael Z.; Ekvall, Tomas; Guinée, Jeroen B.; Heijungs, Reinout; Hellweg, Stefanie; Koehler, Annette; Pennington, David; Suh, Sangwon

    2009-01-01

    Life Cycle Assessment is a tool to assess the environmental impacts and resources used throughout a product's life cycle, i.e., from raw material acquisition, via production and use phases, to waste management. The methodological development in LCA has been strong, and LCA is broadly applied in

  7. Challenges and opportunities in using Life Cycle Assessment and Cradle to Cradle® for biodegradable bio-based polymers: a review

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Niero, Monia; Manat, Renil; Møller, Birger Lindberg

    2015-01-01

    Both Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Cradle to Cradle® (C2C) approaches can provide operative insightsin the design of biodegradable bio-based polymers. Some of the challenges shared by both LCA and C2Cthat need further investigation are the use of lab scale data versus primary data from establis......Both Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Cradle to Cradle® (C2C) approaches can provide operative insightsin the design of biodegradable bio-based polymers. Some of the challenges shared by both LCA and C2Cthat need further investigation are the use of lab scale data versus primary data from...... establishedtechnologies and the identification of the best option for the end of use stage, e.g. for use as packaging. Weconsider the case of a natural fiber-based composite material obtained from barley straw and present someinsights from both LCA and C2C perspectives in the identification of the best option for its end...

  8. Energy efficiency assessment by life cycle simulation of cassava-based fuel ethanol for automotive use in Chinese Guangxi context

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu Suiran; Tao Jing

    2009-01-01

    Interest has been renewed in bio-ethanol products for their contributions in moderating oil crises. So far, most research on bio-ethanol in China is based on pilot-level experimental studies. But this work only discloses information regarding material balances and reached yields without any further energy analysis. This paper aims to assess the energy efficiency of the cassava-based fuel ethanol (KFE) product from southwest China. For the purpose of a life cycle study of the KFE product as replacement transportation fuel, the study chose a 'vehicle fueled by cassava-based E10 (a blend of 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline by volume)' as the subject and accordingly defined the scope of this study. Then, the life cycle model of the KFE product concerning energetically relevant in- and outputs was built. Due to variations in data collected, as well as some estimates and assumptions used in this study, the Monte Carlo method was introduced to develop the statistical dispersion of calculated outputs of the assessing model. Assessment results show that, within the boundary of this study, KFE has a positive net energy value, with an energy ratio of around 0.70 MJ/MJ, which means 7 MJ into the processing for each MJ of KFE output

  9. Environmental sustainability assessment of hydropower plant in Europe using life cycle assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmud, M. A. P.; Huda, N.; Farjana, S. H.; Lang, C.

    2018-05-01

    Hydropower is the oldest and most common type of renewable source of electricity available on this planet. The end of life process of hydropower plant have significant environmental impacts, which needs to be identified and minimized to ensure an environment friendly power generation. However, identifying the environmental impacts and health hazards are very little explored in the hydropower processing routes despite a significant quantity of production worldwide. This paper highlight the life-cycle environmental impact assessment of the reservoir based hydropower generation system located in alpine and non-alpine region of Europe, addressing their ecological effects by the ReCiPe and CML methods under several impact-assessment categories such as human health, ecosystems, global warming potential, acidification potential, etc. The Australasian life-cycle inventory database and SimaPro software are utilized to accumulate life-cycle inventory dataset and to evaluate the impacts. The results reveal that plants of alpine region offer superior environmental performance for couple of considered categories: global warming and photochemical oxidation, whilst in the other cases the outcomes are almost similar. Results obtained from this study will take part an important role in promoting sustainable generation of hydropower, and thus towards environment friendly energy production.

  10. Careless responding in internet-based quality of life assessments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, Stefan; May, Marcella; Stone, Arthur A

    2018-04-01

    Quality of life (QoL) measurement relies upon participants providing meaningful responses, but not all respondents may pay sufficient attention when completing self-reported QoL measures. This study examined the impact of careless responding on the reliability and validity of Internet-based QoL assessments. Internet panelists (n = 2000) completed Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) short-forms (depression, fatigue, pain impact, applied cognitive abilities) and single-item QoL measures (global health, pain intensity) as part of a larger survey that included multiple checks of whether participants paid attention to the items. Latent class analysis was used to identify groups of non-careless and careless responders from the attentiveness checks. Analyses compared psychometric properties of the QoL measures (reliability of PROMIS short-forms, correlations among QoL scores, "known-groups" validity) between non-careless and careless responder groups. Whether person-fit statistics derived from PROMIS measures accurately discriminated careless and non-careless responders was also examined. About 7.4% of participants were classified as careless responders. No substantial differences in the reliability of PROMIS measures between non-careless and careless responder groups were observed. However, careless responding meaningfully and significantly affected the correlations among QoL domains, as well as the magnitude of differences in QoL between medical and disability groups (presence or absence of disability, depression diagnosis, chronic pain diagnosis). Person-fit statistics significantly and moderately distinguished between non-careless and careless responders. The results support the importance of identifying and screening out careless responders to ensure high-quality self-report data in Internet-based QoL research.

  11. Multiscale design and life-cycle based sustainability assessment of polymer nanocomposite coatings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uttarwar, Rohan G.

    simulations are performed using molecular dynamics methodology to study several structural and morphological features such as effect of polymer molecular weight, polydispersity, rheology, nanoparticle volume fraction, size, shape and chemical nature on the bulk mechanical and self-cleaning properties of the coating film. At macro-scale, a paint spray system which is used for automotive coating application is studied by using CFD-based simulation methodology to generate crucial information about the effects of nanocoating technology on environmental emissions and coating film quality. The cradle-to-grave life-cycle based sustainability assessment study address all the critical issues related to economic benefits, environmental implications and societal effects of nanocoating technology through case studies of automotive coating systems. It is accomplished by identifying crucial correlations among measurable parameters at different stages and developing sustainability indicator matrices for analysis of each stage of life-cycle. The findings from the research can have great potential to draft useful conclusions in favor of future development of coating systems with novel functionalities and improved sustainability.

  12. Teachers' assessments of children aged eight predict life satisfaction in adolescence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Honkanen, Meri; Meri, Honkanen; Hurtig, Tuula; Tuula, Hurtig; Taanila, Anja; Anja, Taanila; Moilanen, Irma; Irma, Moilanen; Koponen, Hannu; Hannu, Koponen; Mäki, Pirjo; Pirjo, Mäki; Veijola, Juha; Juha, Veijola; Puustjärvi, Anita; Anita, Puustjärvi; Ebeling, Hanna; Hanna, Ebeling; Koivumaa-Honkanen, Heli; Heli, Koivumaa-Honkanen

    2011-09-01

    The objective was to investigate how teachers' assessments of children predict life satisfaction in adolescence. This is a prospective cohort study on the population-based Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (n = 8,959). Information was gathered from parents, teachers and adolescents using questionnaires at the age of 7, 8 and 15. Response rates were 80-90%. Emotional and behavioural problems were assessed with Rutter Children's Behavioural Questionnaires for teachers (RB2) and parents (RA2) during the first grade at age 8. At adolescence, self-reported life satisfaction was measured with a question including five response alternatives. According to teachers' assessments, 13.9% of the children had high emotional or behavioural problems (RB2 ≥9). These assessments predicted life dissatisfaction in adolescence (OR(crude) = 1.77; 95% CI 1.43-2.20) in several models including also health behaviour and use of psychotropic medicine. However, introducing all the significant variables in the same model, RB2 lost its significance (OR = 1.28; 0.96-1.70), but good school achievement assessed by teachers was still a significant predictor. Life satisfaction in adolescence was associated with a variety of favourable concurrent factors. In conclusion teachers' assessments of children during the first school year predicted life satisfaction in adolescence. In mental health promotion, teachers' early assessments should be utilized for the benefit of children.

  13. Life Cycle Assessment of fresh dairy packaging at ELOPAK

    OpenAIRE

    Ruttenborg, Vegard

    2017-01-01

    Nearly all food and drink products require some packaging, and the impact from production and consumption is causing a strain on the environment. To counteract the bad effects, business is emphasizing the environmental performance of products and therefore utilising Life Cycle Assessment as a tool to quantify the environmental impacts from a products life cycle. Elopak, which is an International supplier of paper-based packaging for liquid food, is a such company. This thesis i...

  14. Addressing land use change and uncertainty in the life-cycle assessment of wheat-based bioethanol

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malça, João; Freire, Fausto

    2012-01-01

    Despite the significant growth in the number of published life-cycle assessments of biofuels, important aspects have not captured sufficient attention, namely soil carbon emissions from land use change (LUC) and uncertainty analysis. The main goal of this article is to evaluate the implications of different LUC scenarios and uncertainty in the life-cycle energy renewability efficiency and GHG (greenhouse gases) intensity of wheat-based bioethanol replacing gasoline. A comprehensive assessment of different LUC scenarios (grassland or cropland converted to wheat cultivation) and agricultural practices is conducted, which results in different carbon stock change values. The types of uncertainty addressed include parameter uncertainty (propagated into LC (life-cycle) results using Monte-Carlo simulation) and uncertainty concerning how bioethanol co-product credits are accounted for. Results show that GHG emissions have considerably higher uncertainty than energy efficiency values, mainly due to soil carbon emissions from direct LUC and N 2 O release from cultivated soil. Moreover, LUC dominates the GHG intensity of bioethanol. Very different GHG emissions are calculated depending on the LUC scenario considered. Conversion of full- or low-tillage croplands to wheat cultivation results in bioethanol GHG emissions lower than gasoline emissions, whereas conversion of grassland does not contribute to bioethanol GHG savings over gasoline in the short- to mid-term. -- Highlights: ► We address different LUC scenarios and uncertainty in the LCA of wheat bioethanol. ► GHG emissions have considerably higher uncertainty than energy efficiency values. ► Bioethanol contributes to primary energy savings over gasoline. ► Very different life-cycle GHG emissions are calculated depending on the LUC scenario. ► GHG savings over gasoline are only achieved if cropland is the reference land use.

  15. GIS-based regionalized life cycle assessment: how big is small enough? Methodology and case study of electricity generation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mutel, Christopher L; Pfister, Stephan; Hellweg, Stefanie

    2012-01-17

    We describe a new methodology for performing regionalized life cycle assessment and systematically choosing the spatial scale of regionalized impact assessment methods. We extend standard matrix-based calculations to include matrices that describe the mapping from inventory to impact assessment spatial supports. Uncertainty in inventory spatial data is modeled using a discrete spatial distribution function, which in a case study is derived from empirical data. The minimization of global spatial autocorrelation is used to choose the optimal spatial scale of impact assessment methods. We demonstrate these techniques on electricity production in the United States, using regionalized impact assessment methods for air emissions and freshwater consumption. Case study results show important differences between site-generic and regionalized calculations, and provide specific guidance for future improvements of inventory data sets and impact assessment methods.

  16. Integrative Application of Life Cycle Assessment and Risk Assessment to Environmental Impacts of Anthropogenic Pollutants at a Watershed Scale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Xiaodan; Yu, Shen; Ma, Hwongwen

    2018-01-01

    Intense human activities have led to increasing deterioration of the watershed environment via pollutant discharge, which threatens human health and ecosystem function. To meet a need of comprehensive environmental impact/risk assessment for sustainable watershed development, a biogeochemical process-based life cycle assessment and risk assessment (RA) integration for pollutants aided by geographic information system is proposed in this study. The integration is to frame a conceptual protocol of "watershed life cycle assessment (WLCA) for pollutants". The proposed WLCA protocol consists of (1) geographic and environmental characterization mapping; (2) life cycle inventory analysis; (3) integration of life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) with RA via characterization factor of pollutant of interest; and (4) result analysis and interpretation. The WLCA protocol can visualize results of LCIA and RA spatially for the pollutants of interest, which might be useful for decision or policy makers for mitigating impacts of watershed development.

  17. Towards Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marzia Traverso

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability is nowadays accepted by all stakeholders as a guiding principle for both public policy making and corporate strategies. However, the biggest challenge for most organizations remains in the real and substantial implementation of the sustainability concept. The core of the implementation challenge is the question, how sustainability performance can be measured, especially for products and processes. This paper explores the current status of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA for products and processes. For the environmental dimension well established tools like Life Cycle Assessment are available. For the economic and social dimension, there is still need for consistent and robust indicators and methods. In addition to measuring the individual sustainability dimensions, another challenge is a comprehensive, yet understandable presentation of the results. The “Life Cycle Sustainability Dashboard” and the “Life Cycle Sustainability Triangle” are presented as examples for communication tools for both experts and non expert stakeholders.

  18. Code boiler and pressure vessel life assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farr, J.R.

    1992-01-01

    In the United States of America and in Canada, laws and controls for determining life assessment for continued operation of equipment exist only for those pressure vessels built to Section III and evaluated according to Section XI. In this presentation, some of those considerations which are made in the USA and Canada for deciding on life or condition assessment of boilers and pressure vessels designed and constructed to other sections of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code are reviewed. Life assessment or condition assesssment is essential in determining what is necessary for continued operation. With no ASME rules being adopted by laws or regulations, other than OSHA in the USA and similar environmental controls in Canada, to control life assessment for continued operation, the equipment owner must decide if assessment is to be done and how much to do. Some of those considerations are reviewed along with methods and procedures to make an assessment along with a discussion of where the ASME B and PV Code currently stands regarding continued operation. (orig.)

  19. Life Cycle Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Reijnders, L.; Chen, W.Y.; Suzuki, T.; Lackner, M.

    2015-01-01

    Life cycle assessments of greenhouse gas emissions have been developed for analyzing products "from cradle to grave": from resource extraction to waste disposal. Life cycle assessment methodology has also been applied to economies, trade between countries, aspects of production, and waste

  20. Life cycle assessment of microalgae-based aviation fuel: Influence of lipid content with specific productivity and nitrogen nutrient effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Fang; Zhao, Jing; A, Lusi; Yang, Xiaoyi

    2016-12-01

    The aim of this work is to compare the life cycle assessments of low-N and normal culture conditions for a balance between the lipid content and specific productivity. In order to achieve the potential contribution of lipid content to the life cycle assessment, this study established relationships between lipid content (nitrogen effect) and specific productivity based on three microalgae strains including Chlorella, Isochrysis and Nannochloropsis. For microalgae-based aviation fuel, the effects of the lipid content on fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are similar. The fossil fuel consumption (0.32-0.68MJ·MJ -1 MBAF) and GHG emissions (17.23-51.04gCO 2 e·MJ -1 MBAF) increase (59.70-192.22%) with the increased lipid content. The total energy input decreases (2.13-3.08MJ·MJ -1 MBAF, 14.91-27.95%) with the increased lipid content. The LCA indicators increased (0-47.10%) with the decreased nitrogen recovery efficiency (75-50%). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Defining the baseline in social life cycle assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Andreas; Finkbeiner, Matthias; Jørgensen, Michael Søgaard

    2010-01-01

    A relatively broad consensus has formed that the purpose of developing and using the social life cycle assessment (SLCA) is to improve the social conditions for the stakeholders affected by the assessed product's life cycle. To create this effect, the SLCA, among other things, needs to provide...... valid assessments of the consequence of the decision that it is to support. The consequence of a decision to implement a life cycle of a product can be seen as the difference between the decision being implemented and 'non-implemented' product life cycle. This difference can to some extent be found...... using the consequential environmental life cycle assessment (ELCA) methodology to identify the processes that change as a consequence of the decision. However, if social impacts are understood as certain changes in the lives of the stakeholders, then social impacts are not only related to product life...

  2. Life cycle assessment of greenhouse gas emissions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Reijnders, L.; Chen, W.Y.; Seiner, J.; Suzuki, T.; Lackner, M.

    2012-01-01

    Life cycle assessments of greenhouse gas emissions have been developed for analyzing products "from cradle to grave": from resource extraction to waste disposal. Life cycle assessment methodology has also been applied to economies, trade between countries, aspects of production and to waste

  3. Life cycle assessment of greenhouse gas emissions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Reijnders, L.; Chen, W.-Y.; Suzuki, T.; Lackner, M.

    2017-01-01

    Life cycle assessments of greenhouse gas emissions have been developed for analyzing products “from cradle to grave”: from resource extraction to waste disposal. Life cycle assessment methodology has also been applied to economies, trade between countries, aspects of production, and waste

  4. Development and application of basis database for materials life cycle assessment in china

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiaoqing; Gong, Xianzheng; Liu, Yu

    2017-03-01

    As the data intensive method, high quality environmental burden data is an important premise of carrying out materials life cycle assessment (MLCA), and the reliability of data directly influences the reliability of the assessment results and its application performance. Therefore, building Chinese MLCA database is the basic data needs and technical supports for carrying out and improving LCA practice. Firstly, some new progress on database which related to materials life cycle assessment research and development are introduced. Secondly, according to requirement of ISO 14040 series standards, the database framework and main datasets of the materials life cycle assessment are studied. Thirdly, MLCA data platform based on big data is developed. Finally, the future research works were proposed and discussed.

  5. Resource consumption and environmental impacts of the agrofood sector: life cycle assessment of italian citrus-based products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beccali, Marco; Cellura, Maurizio; Iudicello, Maria; Mistretta, Marina

    2009-04-01

    Food production and consumption cause significant environmental burdens during the product life cycles. As a result of intensive development and the changing social attitudes and behaviors in the last century, the agrofood sector is the highest resource consumer after housing in the EU. This paper is part of an effort to estimate environmental impacts associated with life cycles of the agrofood chain, such as primary energy consumption, water exploitation, and global warming. Life cycle assessment is used to investigate the production of the following citrus-based products in Italy: essential oil, natural juice, and concentrated juice from oranges and lemons. The related process flowcharts, the relevant mass and energy flows, and the key environmental issues are identified for each product. This paper represents one of the first studies on the environmental impacts from cradle to gate for citrus products in order to suggest feasible strategies and actions to improve their environmental performance.

  6. Quality-of-life assessment in advanced cancer.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Donnelly, S

    2000-07-01

    In the past 5 years, quality-of-life (QOL) assessment measures such as the McGill, McMaster, Global Visual Analogue Scale, Assessment of QOL at the End of Life, Life Evaluation Questionnaire, and Hospice QOL Index have been devised specifically for patients with advanced cancer. The developers of these instruments have tried to respond to the changing needs of this specific population, taking into account characteristics including poor performance status, difficulty with longitudinal study, rapidly deteriorating physical condition, and change in relevant issues. Emphasis has been placed on patient report, ease and speed of completion, and the existential domain or meaning of life. Novel techniques in QOL measurement have also been adapted for palliative care, such as judgment analysis in the Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life. It is generally agreed that a single tool will not cover all QOL assessment needs.

  7. Developing the Social Life Cycle Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Andreas

    social audits. Through an interview with a social auditor it is suggested that the auditor varies the procedures for carrying out the audit in order to get the most valid result. For example, the auditor has to take into account the various tricks a company in a given context normally uses to cheat......This thesis seeks to add to the development of the Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA), which can be defined as an assessment method for assessing the social impacts connected to the life cycle of a product, service or system. In such development it is important to realise that the SLCA is only...... appealing to the extent that it does what it is supposed to do. In this thesis, this goal of SLCA is defined as to support improvements of the social conditions for the stakeholders throughout the life cycle of the assessed product, system or service. This effect should arise through decision makers...

  8. Improvement actions in waste management systems at the provincial scale based on a life cycle assessment evaluation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rigamonti, L., E-mail: lucia.rigamonti@polimi.it; Falbo, A.; Grosso, M.

    2013-11-15

    Highlights: • LCA was used for evaluating the performance of four provincial waste management systems. • Milano, Bergamo, Pavia and Mantova (Italy) are the provinces selected for the analysis. • Most of the data used to model the systems are primary. • Significant differences were found among the provinces located in the same Region. • LCA was used as a decision-supporting tool by Regione Lombardia. - Abstract: This paper reports some of the findings of the ‘GERLA’ project: GEstione Rifiuti in Lombardia – Analisi del ciclo di vita (Waste management in Lombardia – Life cycle assessment). The project was devoted to support Lombardia Region in the drafting of the new waste management plan by applying a life cycle thinking perspective. The present paper mainly focuses on four Provinces in the Region, which were selected based on their peculiarities. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was adopted as the methodology to assess the current performance of the integrated waste management systems, to discuss strengths and weaknesses of each of them and to design their perspective evolution as of year 2020. Results show that despite a usual business approach that is beneficial to all the provinces, the introduction of technological and management improvements to the system provides in general additional energy and environmental benefits for all four provinces. The same improvements can be easily extended to the whole Region, leading to increased environmental benefits from the waste management sector, in line with the targets set by the European Union for 2020.

  9. Improvement actions in waste management systems at the provincial scale based on a life cycle assessment evaluation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rigamonti, L.; Falbo, A.; Grosso, M.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • LCA was used for evaluating the performance of four provincial waste management systems. • Milano, Bergamo, Pavia and Mantova (Italy) are the provinces selected for the analysis. • Most of the data used to model the systems are primary. • Significant differences were found among the provinces located in the same Region. • LCA was used as a decision-supporting tool by Regione Lombardia. - Abstract: This paper reports some of the findings of the ‘GERLA’ project: GEstione Rifiuti in Lombardia – Analisi del ciclo di vita (Waste management in Lombardia – Life cycle assessment). The project was devoted to support Lombardia Region in the drafting of the new waste management plan by applying a life cycle thinking perspective. The present paper mainly focuses on four Provinces in the Region, which were selected based on their peculiarities. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was adopted as the methodology to assess the current performance of the integrated waste management systems, to discuss strengths and weaknesses of each of them and to design their perspective evolution as of year 2020. Results show that despite a usual business approach that is beneficial to all the provinces, the introduction of technological and management improvements to the system provides in general additional energy and environmental benefits for all four provinces. The same improvements can be easily extended to the whole Region, leading to increased environmental benefits from the waste management sector, in line with the targets set by the European Union for 2020

  10. Life Cycle Assessment of Energy Systems: Closing the Ethical Loophole of Social Sustainability

    OpenAIRE

    Sakellariou, Nikolaos

    2015-01-01

    AbstractLife Cycle Assessment of Energy Systems: Closing the Ethical Loophole of Social SustainabilitybyNikolaos SakellariouDoctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science, Policy, and ManagementUniversity of California, BerkeleyProfessor Alastair T. Iles, ChairThis dissertation investigates the historical and normative bases of what contemporary engineers consider to be the embodiment of sustainability: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). It explores the interplay among technology ethics, energy syst...

  11. Life Style Assessment: So What!

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aubry, William E.

    The construct life style was used by Alfred Adler to describe the characteristic way in which individuals act and think. Followers of his theories are now collecting evidence to support or validate his contentions. The assessment of client life styles serves: (1) to make the client aware of his misconceptions, (2) as a reference point for therapy,…

  12. Evaluation of Environmental Impacts for Rice Agroecosystems using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

    OpenAIRE

    S. Khoramdel; J. Shabahang; A. Amin Ghafouri

    2017-01-01

    In order to evaluate life cycle assessment (LCA) for rice agroecosystems based on mean of nitrogen fertilizer levels (less than 190, 190-200, 200-210, 210-220 and more than 220 kg N ha) during 1999-2012, an experiment was conducted. Four steps includung goal definition and scoping, inventory analysis, life cycle impact assessment and integration and interpretation were computed. Functional unit was considered as one tone paddy. Impact categories were acidification, eutrophication in aquatic a...

  13. Life cycle and nano-products: end-of-life assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Asmatulu, Eylem; Twomey, Janet; Overcash, Michael

    2012-01-01

    Understanding environmental impacts of nanomaterials necessitates analyzing the life cycle profile. The initial emphasis of nanomaterial life cycle studies has been on the environmental and health effects of nanoproducts during the production and usage stages. Analyzing the end-of-life (eol) stage of nanomaterials is also critical because significant impacts or benefits for the environment may arise at that particular stage. In this article, the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) Consumer Products Inventory (CPI) model was used, which contains a relatively large and complete nanoproduct list (1,014) as of 2010. The consumer products have wide range of applications, such as clothing, sports goods, personal care products, medicine, as well as contributing to faster cars and planes, more powerful computers and satellites, better micro and nanochips, and long-lasting batteries. In order to understand the eol cycle concept, we allocated 1,014 nanoproducts into the nine end-of-life categories (e.g., recyclability, ingestion, absorption by skin/public sewer, public sewer, burning/landfill, landfill, air release, air release/public sewer, and other) based on probable final destinations of the nanoproducts. This article highlights the results of this preliminary assessment of end-of-life stage of nanoproducts. The largest potential eol fate was found to be recyclability, however little literature appears to have evolved around nanoproduct recycling. At lower frequency is dermal and ingestion human uptake and then landfill. Release to water and air are much lower potential eol fates for current nanoproducts. In addition, an analysis of nano-product categories with the largest number of products listed indicated that clothes, followed by dermal-related products and then sports equipment were the most represented in the PEN CPI (http

  14. Life cycle and nano-products: end-of-life assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Asmatulu, Eylem; Twomey, Janet; Overcash, Michael, E-mail: mrovercash@earthlink.net [Wichita State University, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (United States)

    2012-03-15

    Understanding environmental impacts of nanomaterials necessitates analyzing the life cycle profile. The initial emphasis of nanomaterial life cycle studies has been on the environmental and health effects of nanoproducts during the production and usage stages. Analyzing the end-of-life (eol) stage of nanomaterials is also critical because significant impacts or benefits for the environment may arise at that particular stage. In this article, the Woodrow Wilson Center's Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) Consumer Products Inventory (CPI) model was used, which contains a relatively large and complete nanoproduct list (1,014) as of 2010. The consumer products have wide range of applications, such as clothing, sports goods, personal care products, medicine, as well as contributing to faster cars and planes, more powerful computers and satellites, better micro and nanochips, and long-lasting batteries. In order to understand the eol cycle concept, we allocated 1,014 nanoproducts into the nine end-of-life categories (e.g., recyclability, ingestion, absorption by skin/public sewer, public sewer, burning/landfill, landfill, air release, air release/public sewer, and other) based on probable final destinations of the nanoproducts. This article highlights the results of this preliminary assessment of end-of-life stage of nanoproducts. The largest potential eol fate was found to be recyclability, however little literature appears to have evolved around nanoproduct recycling. At lower frequency is dermal and ingestion human uptake and then landfill. Release to water and air are much lower potential eol fates for current nanoproducts. In addition, an analysis of nano-product categories with the largest number of products listed indicated that clothes, followed by dermal-related products and then sports equipment were the most represented in the PEN CPI (http

  15. Life Cycle Assessment in the Cereal and Derived Products Sector

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Renzulli, Pietro A.; Bacenetti, Jacopo; Benedetto, Graziella

    2015-01-01

    environmental improvement in such systems. Following a brief introduction to the cereal sector and supply chain, this chapter reviews some of the current cereal-based life cycle thinking literature, with a particular emphasis on LCA. Next, an analysis of the LCA methodological issues emerging from......This chapter discusses the application of life cycle assessment methodologies to rice, wheat, corn and some of their derived products. Cereal product systems are vital for the production of commodities of worldwide importance that entail particular environmental hot spots originating from...... their widespread use and from their particular nature. It is thus important for tools such as life cycle assessment (LCA) to be tailored to such cereal systems in order to be used as a means of identifying the negative environmental effects of cereal products and highlighting possible pathways to overall...

  16. A Range-Based Vehicle Life Cycle Assessment Incorporating Variability in the Environmental Assessment of Different Vehicle Technologies and Fuels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maarten Messagie

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available How to compare the environmental performance of different vehicle technologies? Vehicles with lower tailpipe emissions are perceived as cleaner. However, does it make sense to look only to tailpipe emissions? Limiting the comparison only to these emissions denies the fact that there are emissions involved during the production of a fuel and this approach gives too much advantage to zero-tailpipe vehicles like battery electric vehicles (BEV and fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV. Would it be enough to combine fuel production and tailpipe emissions? Especially when comparing the environmental performance of alternative vehicle technologies, the emissions during production of the specific components and their appropriate end-of-life treatment processes should also be taken into account. Therefore, the complete life cycle of the vehicle should be included in order to avoid problem shifting from one life stage to another. In this article, a full life cycle assessment (LCA of petrol, diesel, fuel cell electric (FCEV, compressed natural gas (CNG, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, hybrid electric, battery electric (BEV, bio-diesel and bio-ethanol vehicles has been performed. The aim of the manuscript is to investigate the impact of the different vehicle technologies on the environment and to develop a range-based modeling system that enables a more robust interpretation of the LCA results for a group of vehicles. Results are shown for climate change, respiratory effects, acidification and mineral extraction damage of the different vehicle technologies. A broad range of results is obtained due to the variability within the car market. It is concluded that it is essential to take into account the influence of all the vehicle parameters on the LCA results.

  17. Life cycle assessments of energy from solid waste

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Finnveden, Goeran; Johansson, Jessica; Lind, Per; Moberg, Aasa [Stockholm Univ. (Sweden). Dept. of Systems Ecology/Natural Resoruces Management Inst.]|[Defence Research Establishment, Stockholm (Sweden). Div. of Defence Analysis

    2000-09-01

    The overall aim of the present study is to evaluate different strategies for treatment of solid waste based on a life-cycle perspective. Important goals are to identify advantages and disadvantages of different methods for treatment of solid waste, and to identify critical factors in the systems, including the background systems, which may significantly influence the results. Included in the study are landfilling, incineration, recycling, digestion and composting. The waste fractions considered are the combustible and recyclable or compostable fractions of municipal solid waste. The methodology used is Life Cycle Assessment. The results can be used for policy decisions as well as strategic decisions on waste management systems.

  18. Specification of life cycle assessment in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abbaspour, M.; Kargari, N.; Mastouri, R.

    2008-01-01

    Life Cycle Assessment is an environmental management tool for assessing the environmental impacts of a product of a process. life cycle assessment involves the evaluation of environmental impacts through all stages of life cycle of a product or process. In other words life cycle assessment has a c radle to grave a pproach. Some results of life cycle assessment consist of pollution prevention, energy efficient system, material conservation, economic system and sustainable development. All power generation technologies affect the environment in one way or another. The main environmental impact does not always occur during operation of power plant. The life cycle assessment of nuclear power has entailed studying the entire fuel cycle from mine to deep repository, as well as the construction, operation and demolition of the power station. Nuclear power plays an important role in electricity production for several countries. even though the use of nuclear power remains controversial. But due to the shortage of fossil fuel energy resources many countries have started to try more alternation to their sources of energy production. A life cycle assessment could detect all environmental impacts of nuclear power from extracting resources, building facilities and transporting material through the final conversion to useful energy services

  19. An integrated life cycle inventory for demolition processes in the context of life cycle sustainability assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bozhilova-Kisheva, Kossara Petrova; Hu, Mingming; van Roekel, Eric

    2012-01-01

    According to the Life Cycle Assessment in Building and Construction: State-of-the-Art Report (2003), the dismantling and demolition stage of the building life cycle is only sometimes included in the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) when doing Life Cycle Assessments (LCA). The reason that it is less...... inventoried in a traditional LCA maybe because this stage is expected to have a negligible environmental impact comparing to other stages in the life cycle of the buildings. When doing a life cycle sustainability assessment considering not only environmental but also economic and social impacts, the impacts...

  20. Fatigue life assessment based on crack growth behavior in reduced activation ferritic/martensitic steel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nogami, Shuhei; Sato, Yuki; Hasegawa, Akira

    2010-01-01

    Crack growth behavior under low cycle fatigue in reduced activation ferritic/martensitic steel, F82H IEA-heat (Fe-8Cr-2W-0.2V-0.02Ta), was investigated to improve the fatigue life assessment method of fusion reactor structural material. Low cycle fatigue test was carried out at room temperature in air at a total strain range of 0.4-1.5% using an hourglass-type miniature fatigue specimen. The relationship between the surface crack length and life fraction was described using one equation independent of the total strain range. Therefore, the fatigue life and residual life could be estimated using the surface crack length. Moreover, the microcrack initiation life could be estimated using the total strain range if there was a one-to-one correspondence between the total strain range and number of cycles to failure. The crack growth rate could be estimated using the total strain range and surface crack length by introducing the concept of the normalized crack growth rate. (author)

  1. Recommendations for Life Cycle Impact Assessment in the European context - based on existing environmental impact assessment models and factors (International Reference Life Cycle Data System - ILCD handbook)

    OpenAIRE

    HAUSCHILD Michael; GOEDKOOP Mark; GUINEE Jerome; HEIJUNGS Reinout; HUIJBREGTS Mark; JOLLIET Olivier; MARGNI Manuele; DE SCHRYVER An

    2010-01-01

    To achieve more sustainable production and consumption patterns, we must consider the environmental implications of the whole supply-chain of products, both goods and services, their use, and waste management, i.e. their entire life cycle from ¿cradle to grave¿. In the Communication on Integrated Product Policy (IPP), (EC, 2003), the European Commission committed to produce a handbook on best practice in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Action ...

  2. Life Cycle Thinking in Impact Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bidstrup, Morten

    2015-01-01

    It has been advocated that life cycle thinking (LCT) should be applied in impact assessment (IA) to a greater extent, since some development proposals pose a risk of significant impacts throughout the interconnected activities of product systems. Multiple authors have proposed the usage of life...

  3. Residual life assessment of thick wall boiler parts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mehdizadeh, M.; Rayatpour, M.

    2004-01-01

    Thick wall components of boiler, such as headers, main steam lines and hot reheat lines, operate at high temperature and stress condition. This condition makes various failure mechanisms to activate during service exposure that gradually deteriorate the microstructure of components. Consequently, knowing about metallurgical condition and remaining life sensitive components particularly in power plants with at least 100,000 her life time is of considerable importance. In this regard, to eliminate unexpected interruptions and reduce the repairing costs, life assessment technology is being used. Various life assessment methods have been developed for power plants components and entered industrial fields. In the present work, remaining life of drums, headers and main steam lines of a power plant were evaluated, using microstructural, hardness changes and dimensional checking methods with non destructive tests. The results show that, the components have appropriate condition according to their service life. Further more, it was revealed that hardness evaluation technique is not a reliable evaluation criteria and various methods should be used for accurate life assessment

  4. Representing Voices from the Life-World in Evidence-Based Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kovarsky, Dana

    2008-01-01

    Background: Current models of evidence-based practice marginalize and even silence the voices of those who are the potential beneficiaries of assessment and intervention. These missing voices can be found in the reflections of clients on their own life-world experiences. Aims: This paper examines how voices from the life-world are silenced in…

  5. Environmental Impacts of Solar Thermal Systems with Life Cycle Assessment

    OpenAIRE

    De Laborderie , Alexis; Puech , Clément; Adra , Nadine; Blanc , Isabelle; Beloin-Saint-Pierre , Didier; Padey , Pierryves; Payet , Jérôme; Sie , Marion; Jacquin , Philippe

    2011-01-01

    Available on: http://www.ep.liu.se/ecp/057/vol14/002/ecp57vol14_002.pdf; International audience; Solar thermal systems are an ecological way of providing domestic hot water. They are experiencing a rapid growth since the beginning of the last decade. This study characterizes the environmental performances of such installations with a life-cycle approach. The methodology is based on the application of the international standards of Life Cycle Assessment. Two types of systems are presented. Fir...

  6. Assessment of decisions in the context of life attitudes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Klamut Ryszard

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Presented article attempts to show sense of life perspective as a determinant of decision making. It is assumed that the sense of life perspective described as life attitudes is significant in assessment of decision problem defined in the predecision phase of the decision making process. The predicted dependence was analysed in three categories of decision: self-development, financial and voting. The research was conducted on two groups of 186 and 86 participants. Two methods were used in the research: the Life Attitude Profile -Revised (LAP-R and the Decision Assessment Questionnaire. In statistical analysis, the canonical correlation analysis was used. The scores show that the life attitudes (especially: Purpose, Coherence, Life Control and Existential Vacuum are correlated with the assessment factor (especially: Cognitive Analysis and Affective Assessment of each tested category of decision. However, the most significant relationship is found in the self-development decision.

  7. Assessment of life interference in anxious children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rapee, Ronald; Thastum, Mikael; Chavira, Denise

    associated with mental disorders arguably the key issue of relevance to both sufferers and therapists. Yet among both childhood and adult disorders the primary focus in terms of assessment and treatment is on symptoms, with far less attention paid to the impact of these symptoms on the sufferer's life....... This imbalance has particularly characterised research on child anxiety where few studies have examined either the impact of anxiety disorders on children's lives or the effects of treatments on life interference. To some extent this lack of attention has come from a lack of well developed measures to assess...... life interference derived from symptoms of anxiety. Broader and more general life interference measures tend to have minimal relevance for children with anxiety disorders. The current paper will describe two measures of life interference that have been developed at the Centre for Emotional Health...

  8. Characterization factors for global warming in life cycle assessment based on damages to humans and ecosystems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Schryver, An M; Brakkee, Karin W; Goedkoop, Mark J; Huijbregts, Mark A J

    2009-03-15

    Human and ecosystem health damage due to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is generally poorly quantified in the life cycle assessment of products, preventing an integrated comparison of the importance of GHGs with other stressor types, such as ozone depletion and acidifying emissions. In this study, we derived new characterization factors for 63 GHGs that quantify the impact of an emission change on human and ecosystem health damage. For human health damage, the Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) per unit emission related to malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition, drowning, and cardiovascular diseases were quantified. For ecosystem health damage, the Potentially Disappeared Fraction (PDF) over space and time of various species groups, including plants, butterflies, birds, and mammals, per unit emission was calculated. The influence of value choices in the modeling procedure was analyzed by defining three coherent scenarios, based on Cultural theory perspectives. It was found that the characterization factor for human health damage by carbon dioxide (CO2) ranges from 1.1 x 10(-2) to 1.8 x 10(+1) DALY per kton of emission, while the characterization factor for ecosystem damage by CO2 ranges from 5.4 x 10(-2) to 1.2 x 10(+1) disappeared fraction of species over space and time ((km2 x year)/kton), depending on the scenario chosen. The characterization factor of a GHG can change up to 4 orders of magnitude, depending on the scenario. The scenario-specific differences are mainly explained by the choice for a specific time horizon and stresses the importance of dealing with value choices in the life cycle impact assessment of GHG emissions.

  9. Cost versus life cycle assessment-based environmental impact optimization of drinking water production plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Capitanescu, F; Rege, S; Marvuglia, A; Benetto, E; Ahmadi, A; Gutiérrez, T Navarrete; Tiruta-Barna, L

    2016-07-15

    Empowering decision makers with cost-effective solutions for reducing industrial processes environmental burden, at both design and operation stages, is nowadays a major worldwide concern. The paper addresses this issue for the sector of drinking water production plants (DWPPs), seeking for optimal solutions trading-off operation cost and life cycle assessment (LCA)-based environmental impact while satisfying outlet water quality criteria. This leads to a challenging bi-objective constrained optimization problem, which relies on a computationally expensive intricate process-modelling simulator of the DWPP and has to be solved with limited computational budget. Since mathematical programming methods are unusable in this case, the paper examines the performances in tackling these challenges of six off-the-shelf state-of-the-art global meta-heuristic optimization algorithms, suitable for such simulation-based optimization, namely Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm (SPEA2), Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II), Indicator-based Evolutionary Algorithm (IBEA), Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm based on Decomposition (MOEA/D), Differential Evolution (DE), and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The results of optimization reveal that good reduction in both operating cost and environmental impact of the DWPP can be obtained. Furthermore, NSGA-II outperforms the other competing algorithms while MOEA/D and DE perform unexpectedly poorly. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Non-destructive testing for plant life assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2005-01-01

    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is promoting industrial applications of nondestructive testing (NDT) technology, which includes radiography testing (RT) and related methods, to assure safety and reliability of operation of industrial facilities and processes. NDT technology is essentially needed for improvement of the quality of industrial products, safe performance of equipment and plants, including safety of metallic and concrete structures and constructions. The IAEA is playing an important role in promoting the NDT use and technology support to Member States, in harmonisation for training and certification of NDT personnel, and in establishing national accreditation and certifying bodies. All these efforts have led to a stage of maturity and self sufficiency in numerous countries especially in the field of training and certification of personnel, and in provision of services to industries. This has had a positive impact on the improvement of the quality of industrial goods and services. NDT methods are primarily used for detection, location and sizing of surface and internal defects (in welds, castings, forging, composite materials, concrete and many more). Various NDT methods are applied for preventive maintenance (aircraft, bridge), for the inspection of raw materials, half-finished and finished products, for in-service-inspection and for plant life assessment studies. NDT is essential for quality control of the facilities and products, and for fitness - for purpose assessment (so-called plant life assessment). NDT evaluates remaining operation life of plant components (processing lines, pipes, vessels) providing an accurate diagnosis that allows predicting extended life operation beyond design life. Status and trends on the NDT for plant life assessment have been discussed in many IAEA meetings related with NDT development, training and education. Experts have largely demonstrated that, using NDT methods, a comprehensive assessment of the life

  11. Life-Stage Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    This presentation discusses methods used to extrapolate from in vitro high-throughput screening (HTS) toxicity data for an endocrine pathway to in vivo for early life stages in humans, and the use of a life stage PBPK model to address rapidly changing physiological parameters. Adverse outcome pathways (AOPs), in this case endocrine disruption during development, provide a biologically-based framework for linking molecular initiating events triggered by chemical exposures to key events leading to adverse outcomes. The application of AOPs to human health risk assessment requires extrapolation of in vitro HTS toxicity data to in vivo exposures (IVIVE) in humans, which can be achieved through the use of a PBPK/PD model. Exposure scenarios for chemicals in the PBPK/PD model will consider both placental and lactational transfer of chemicals, with a focus on age dependent dosimetry during fetal development and after birth for a nursing infant. This talk proposes a universal life-stage computational model that incorporates changing physiological parameters to link environmental exposures to in vitro levels of HTS assays related to a developmental toxicological AOP for vascular disruption. In vitro toxicity endpoints discussed are based on two mechanisms: 1) Fetal vascular disruption, and 2) Neurodevelopmental toxicity induced by altering thyroid hormone levels in neonates via inhibition of thyroperoxidase in the thyroid gland. Application of our Life-stage computati

  12. Building a model based on scientific consensus for Life Cycle Impact Assessment of chemicals:

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Huijbregts, Mark; Jolliet, Olivier

    2008-01-01

    Achieving consensus among scientists is often a challenge - particularly in model development. In this article we describe a recent scientific consensus-building process for Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) models applied to chemical emissions - including the strategy, execution, and results...

  13. Complementary use of life cycle assessment and risk assessment for engineered nanomaterials: Lessons learned from chemicals?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grieger, Khara D.; Laurent, Alexis; Miseljic, Mirko

    2013-01-01

    Successful strategies to handle the potential health and environmental risks of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) often rely upon the well-established frameworks of life cycle assessment (LCA) and risk assessment (RA). However, current research and specific guidance on how to actually apply these two...... scientific research efforts have taken into account some key lessons learned from past experiences with chemicals at the same time that many key challenges remain to applying these frameworks to ENM. In that setting, two main proposed approaches to use LCA and RA together for ENM are identified: i) LC......-based RA, similar to traditional RA applied in a life cycle perspective, and ii) RA-complemented LCA, similar to conventional LCA supplemented by RA in specific life cycle steps. This study finds that these two approaches for using LCA and RA together for ENM are similar to those made for chemicals...

  14. Green Template for Life Cycle Assessment of Buildings Based on Building Information Modeling: Focus on Embodied Environmental Impact

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sungwoo Lee

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The increased popularity of building information modeling (BIM for application in the construction of eco-friendly green buildings has given rise to techniques for evaluating green buildings constructed using BIM features. Existing BIM-based green building evaluation techniques mostly rely on externally provided evaluation tools, which pose problems associated with interoperability, including a lack of data compatibility and the amount of time required for format conversion. To overcome these problems, this study sets out to develop a template (the “green template” for evaluating the embodied environmental impact of using a BIM design tool as part of BIM-based building life-cycle assessment (LCA technology development. Firstly, the BIM level of detail (LOD was determined to evaluate the embodied environmental impact, and constructed a database of the impact factors of the embodied environmental impact of the major building materials, thereby adopting an LCA-based approach. The libraries of major building elements were developed by using the established databases and compiled evaluation table of the embodied environmental impact of the building materials. Finally, the green template was developed as an embodied environmental impact evaluation tool and a case study was performed to test its applicability. The results of the green template-based embodied environmental impact evaluation of a test building were validated against those of its actual quantity takeoff (2D takeoff, and its reliability was confirmed by an effective error rate of ≤5%. This study aims to develop a system for assessing the impact of the substances discharged from concrete production process on six environmental impact categories, i.e., global warming (GWP, acidification (AP, eutrophication (EP, abiotic depletion (ADP, ozone depletion (ODP, and photochemical oxidant creation (POCP, using the life a cycle assessment (LCA method. To achieve this, we proposed an LCA method

  15. Social Life Cycle Assessment: An Introduction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Moltesen, Andreas; Bonou, Alexandra; Wangel, Arne

    2018-01-01

    An expansion of the LCA framework has been going on through the development of ‘social life cycle assessment’—S-LCA. The methodology, still in its infancy, has the goal of assessing social impacts related to a product’s life cycle. This chapter introduces S-LCA framework area and the related...

  16. eVerdEE: a web-based screening life-cycle assessment tool for European small and medium-sized enterprises

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naldesi, Luciano; Buttol, Patrizia; Masoni, Paolo; Misceo, Monica; Sára, Balázs

    2004-12-01

    "eLCA" is a European Commission financed project aimed at realising "On line green tools and services for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)". Knowledge and use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) by SMEs are strategic to introduce the Integrated Product Policy (IPP) in Europe, but methodology simplification is needed. LCA requires a large amount of validated general and sector specific data. Since their availability and cost can be insuperable barriers for SMEs, pre-elaborated data/meta-data, use of standards and low cost solutions are required. Within the framework of the eLCA project an LCA software - eVerdEE - based on a simplified methodology and specialised for SMEs has been developed. eVerdEE is a web-based tool with some innovative features. Its main feature is the adaptation of ISO 14040 requirements to offer easy-to-handle functions with solid scientific bases. Complex methodological problems, such as the system boundaries definition, the data quality estimation and documentation, the choice of impact categories, are simplified according to the SMEs" needs. Predefined "Goal and Scope definition" and "Inventory" forms, a user-friendly and well structured procedure are time and cost-effective. The tool is supported by a database containing pre-elaborated environmental indicators of substances and processes for different impact categories. The impact assessment is calculated automatically by using the user"s input and the database values. The results have different levels of interpretation in order to identify the life cycle critical points and the improvement options. The use of a target plot allows the direct comparison of different design alternatives.

  17. Technological and life cycle assessment of organics processing odour control technologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bindra, Navin [School of Engineering, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G2W1 (Canada); Dubey, Brajesh, E-mail: bkdubey@civil.iitkgp.ernet.in [School of Engineering, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G2W1 (Canada); Environmental Engineering Division, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal 721302 (India); Dutta, Animesh [School of Engineering, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G2W1 (Canada)

    2015-09-15

    As more municipalities and communities across developed world look towards implementing organic waste management programmes or upgrading existing ones, composting facilities are emerging as a popular choice. However, odour from these facilities continues to be one of the most important concerns in terms of cost & effective mitigation. This paper provides a technological and life cycle assessment of some of the different odour control technologies and treatment methods that can be implemented in organics processing facilities. The technological assessment compared biofilters, packed tower wet scrubbers, fine mist wet scrubbers, activated carbon adsorption, thermal oxidization, oxidization chemicals and masking agents. The technologies/treatment methods were evaluated and compared based on a variety of operational, usage and cost parameters. Based on the technological assessment it was found that, biofilters and packed bed wet scrubbers are the most applicable odour control technologies for use in organics processing faculties. A life cycle assessment was then done to compare the environmental impacts of the packed-bed wet scrubber system, organic (wood-chip media) bio-filter and inorganic (synthetic media) bio-filter systems. Twelve impact categories were assessed; cumulative energy demand (CED), climate change, human toxicity, photochemical oxidant formation, metal depletion, fossil depletion, terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, marine eutrophication, terrestrial eco-toxicity, freshwater eco-toxicity and marine eco-toxicity. The results showed that for all impact categories the synthetic media biofilter had the highest environmental impact, followed by the wood chip media bio-filter system. The packed-bed system had the lowest environmental impact for all categories. - Highlights: • Assessment of odour control technologies for organics processing facilities. • Comparative life cycle assessment of three odour control technologies was conducted

  18. Remaining life assessment of a high pressure turbine rotor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nguyen, Ninh; Little, Alfie

    2012-01-01

    This paper describes finite element and fracture mechanics based modelling work that provides a useful tool for evaluation of the remaining life of a high pressure (HP) steam turbine rotor that had experienced thermal fatigue cracking. An axis-symmetrical model of a HP rotor was constructed. Steam temperature, pressure and rotor speed data from start ups and shut downs were used for the thermal and stress analysis. Operating history and inspection records were used to benchmark the damage experienced by the rotor. Fracture mechanics crack growth analysis was carried out to evaluate the remaining life of the rotor under themal cyclic loading conditions. The work confirmed that the fracture mechanics approach in conjunction with finite element modelling provides a useful tool for assessing the remaining life of high temperature components in power plants.

  19. Total environmental impacts of biofuels from corn stover using a hybrid life cycle assessment model combining process life cycle assessment and economic input-output life cycle assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Changqi; Huang, Yaji; Wang, Xinye; Tai, Yang; Liu, Lingqin; Liu, Hao

    2018-01-01

    Studies on the environmental analysis of biofuels by fast pyrolysis and hydroprocessing (BFPH) have so far focused only on the environmental impacts from direct emissions and have included few indirect emissions. The influence of ignoring some indirect emissions on the environmental performance of BFPH has not been well investigated and hence is not really understood. In addition, in order to avoid shifting environmental problems from one medium to another, a comprehensive assessment of environmental impacts caused by the processes must quantify the environmental emissions to all media (air, water, and land) in relation to each life cycle stage. A well-to-wheels assessment of the total environmental impacts resulting from direct emissions and indirect emissions of a BFPH system with corn stover is conducted using a hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA) model combining the economic input-output LCA and the process LCA. The Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and other environmental Impacts (TRACI) has been used to estimate the environmental impacts in terms of acidification, eutrophication, global climate change, ozone depletion, human health criteria, photochemical smog formation, ecotoxicity, human health cancer, and human health noncancer caused by 1 MJ biofuel production. Taking account of all the indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the net GHG emissions (81.8 g CO 2 eq/MJ) of the biofuels are still less than those of petroleum-based fuels (94 g CO 2 eq/MJ). Maize production and pyrolysis and hydroprocessing make major contributions to all impact categories except the human health criteria. All impact categories resulting from indirect emissions except eutrophication and smog air make more than 24% contribution to the total environmental impacts. Therefore, the indirect emissions are important and cannot be ignored. Sensitivity analysis has shown that corn stover yield and bio-oil yield affect the total environmental impacts of the biofuels

  20. Healthy food choices are happy food choices: Evidence from a real life sample using smartphone based assessments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wahl, Deborah R; Villinger, Karoline; König, Laura M; Ziesemer, Katrin; Schupp, Harald T; Renner, Britta

    2017-12-06

    Research suggests that "healthy" food choices such as eating fruits and vegetables have not only physical but also mental health benefits and might be a long-term investment in future well-being. This view contrasts with the belief that high-caloric foods taste better, make us happy, and alleviate a negative mood. To provide a more comprehensive assessment of food choice and well-being, we investigated in-the-moment eating happiness by assessing complete, real life dietary behaviour across eight days using smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment. Three main findings emerged: First, of 14 different main food categories, vegetables consumption contributed the largest share to eating happiness measured across eight days. Second, sweets on average provided comparable induced eating happiness to "healthy" food choices such as fruits or vegetables. Third, dinner elicited comparable eating happiness to snacking. These findings are discussed within the "food as health" and "food as well-being" perspectives on eating behaviour.

  1. Assessing the quality of life history information in publicly available databases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thorson, James T; Cope, Jason M; Patrick, Wesley S

    2014-01-01

    Single-species life history parameters are central to ecological research and management, including the fields of macro-ecology, fisheries science, and ecosystem modeling. However, there has been little independent evaluation of the precision and accuracy of the life history values in global and publicly available databases. We therefore develop a novel method based on a Bayesian errors-in-variables model that compares database entries with estimates from local experts, and we illustrate this process by assessing the accuracy and precision of entries in FishBase, one of the largest and oldest life history databases. This model distinguishes biases among seven life history parameters, two types of information available in FishBase (i.e., published values and those estimated from other parameters), and two taxa (i.e., bony and cartilaginous fishes) relative to values from regional experts in the United States, while accounting for additional variance caused by sex- and region-specific life history traits. For published values in FishBase, the model identifies a small positive bias in natural mortality and negative bias in maximum age, perhaps caused by unacknowledged mortality caused by fishing. For life history values calculated by FishBase, the model identified large and inconsistent biases. The model also demonstrates greatest precision for body size parameters, decreased precision for values derived from geographically distant populations, and greatest between-sex differences in age at maturity. We recommend that our bias and precision estimates be used in future errors-in-variables models as a prior on measurement errors. This approach is broadly applicable to global databases of life history traits and, if used, will encourage further development and improvements in these databases.

  2. Quality of life assessment of children with thalassemia

    OpenAIRE

    Masyitah Sri Wahyuni; Muhammad Ali; Nelly Rosdiana; Bidasari Lubis

    2011-01-01

    Background Thalassemia is a chronic disease that is becoming a major health problem in the world, including the Mediterranean, as well as Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. This condition clearly affects the patient's quality of life, because of the condition itself and the effects of treatment. Assessment is needed to detennine actions to be taken to improve the quality of life in thalassemic children. Objective To assess the differences in quality of life of thalassemic children comp...

  3. Application of Life Cycle Assessment on Electronic Waste Management: A Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xue, Mianqiang; Xu, Zhenming

    2017-04-01

    Electronic waste is a rich source of both valuable materials and toxic substances. Management of electronic waste is one of the biggest challenges of current worldwide concern. As an effective and prevailing environmental management tool, life cycle assessment can evaluate the environmental performance of electronic waste management activities. Quite a few scientific literatures reporting life cycle assessment of electronic waste management with significant outcomes have been recently published. This paper reviewed the trends, characteristics, research gaps, and challenges of these studies providing detailed information for practitioners involved in electronic waste management. The results showed that life cycle assessment studies were most carried out in Europe, followed by Asia and North America. The research subject of the studies mainly includes monitors, waste printed circuit boards, mobile phones, computers, printers, batteries, toys, dishwashers, and light-emitting diodes. CML was the most widely used life cycle impact assessment method in life cycle assessment studies on electronic waste management, followed by EI99. Furthermore, 40% of the reviewed studies combined with other environmental tools, including life cycle cost, material flow analysis, multi-criteria decision analysis, emergy analysis, and hazard assessment which came to more comprehensive conclusions from different aspects. The research gaps and challenges including uneven distribution of life cycle assessment studies, life cycle impact assessment methods selection, comparison of the results, and uncertainty of the life cycle assessment studies were examined. Although life cycle assessment of electronic waste management facing challenges, their results will play more and more important role in electronic waste management practices.

  4. Psychometric Analysis of the Work/Life Balance Self-Assessment Scale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smeltzer, Suzanne C; Cantrell, Mary Ann; Sharts-Hopko, Nancy C; Heverly, Mary Ann; Jenkinson, Amanda; Nthenge, Serah

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Work/Life Balance Self-Assessment scale among nurse faculty involved in doctoral education. A national random sample of 554 respondents completed the Work/Life Balance Self-Assessment scale, which addresses 3 factors: work interference with personal life (WIPL), personal life interference with work (PLIW), and work/personal life enhancement (WPLE). A principal components analysis with varimax rotation revealed 3 internally consistent aspects of work-life balance, explaining 40.5% of the variance. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients for reliability of the scale were .88 for the total scale and for the subscales, .93 (WIPL), .85 (PLIW), and .69 (WPLE). The Work/Life Balance Self-Assessment scale appears to be a reliable and valid instrument to examine work-life balance among nurse faculty.

  5. Use of dynamic Bayesian networks for life extension assessment of ageing systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramírez, Pedro A. Pérez; Utne, Ingrid Bouwer

    2015-01-01

    Extending the operating lifetime of ageing technical systems is of great interest for industrial applications. Life extension requires identifying and selecting decision alternatives which allow for a safe and economic operation of the system beyond its design lifetime. This article proposes a dynamic Bayesian network for assessing the life extension of ageing repairable systems. The main objective of the model is to provide decision support based on the system performance during a finite time horizon, which is defined by the life extension period. The model has three main applications: (i) assessing and selecting optimal decision alternatives for the life extension at present time, based on historical data; (ii) identifying and minimizing the factors that have a negative impact on the system performance; and (iii) reassessing and optimizing the decision alternatives during operation throughout the life extension period, based on updating the model with new operational data gathered. A case study illustrates the application of the model for life extension of a real firewater pump system in an oil and gas facility. The case study analyzes three decision alternatives, where preventive maintenance and functional test policies are optimized, and the uncertainty involved in each alternative is computed. - Highlights: • A dynamic Bayesian network is used for predicting the system performance. • The performance is measured with relevant variables: cost; unavailability; safety. • The model can be used when scarce data is available, no degradation data is needed. • The uncertainty associated to each alternative is computed in the model. • A detailed case study of a real safety system shows the applicability of the model

  6. Experimental Creep Life Assessment for the Advanced Stirling Convertor Heater Head

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krause, David L.; Kalluri, Sreeramesh; Shah, Ashwin R.; Korovaichuk, Igor

    2010-01-01

    The United States Department of Energy is planning to develop the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG) for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for potential use on future space missions. The ASRG provides substantial efficiency and specific power improvements over radioisotope power systems of heritage designs. The ASRG would use General Purpose Heat Source modules as energy sources and the free-piston Advanced Stirling Convertor (ASC) to convert heat into electrical energy. Lockheed Martin Corporation of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, is integrating the ASRG systems, and Sunpower, Inc., of Athens, Ohio, is designing and building the ASC. NASA Glenn Research Center of Cleveland, Ohio, manages the Sunpower contract and provides technology development in several areas for the ASC. One area is reliability assessment for the ASC heater head, a critical pressure vessel within which heat is converted into mechanical oscillation of a displacer piston. For high system efficiency, the ASC heater head operates at very high temperature (850 C) and therefore is fabricated from an advanced heat-resistant nickel-based superalloy Microcast MarM-247. Since use of MarM-247 in a thin-walled pressure vessel is atypical, much effort is required to assure that the system will operate reliably for its design life of 17 years. One life-limiting structural response for this application is creep; creep deformation is the accumulation of time-dependent inelastic strain under sustained loading over time. If allowed to progress, the deformation eventually results in creep rupture. Since creep material properties are not available in the open literature, a detailed creep life assessment of the ASC heater head effort is underway. This paper presents an overview of that creep life assessment approach, including the reliability-based creep criteria developed from coupon testing, and the associated heater head deterministic and probabilistic analyses. The approach also

  7. Integrated manure utilization system life-cycle value assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Row, J.; Neabel, D. [Pembina Inst. for Appropriate Development, Drayton Valley, AB (Canada)

    2005-10-15

    A life-cycle assessment of the Alberta Research Council (ARC) and Highmark Renewables' development of an integrated manure utilization system (IMUS) were presented. The assessment focused on an evaluation of factors of primary importance to government, investors and the livestock industry. IMUS technology uses manure as a resource to produce electricity, heat, bio-based fertilizer and reusable water. Results of the assessment indicated that IMUS plants have the potential to be financially viable if a power purchase of $90 MWh on average can be purchased from a 30,000 head livestock operation. A capital cost of under $11 million is necessary, and an established biofertilizer price of $50 per tonne should be established. An IMUS plant was estimated to reduce life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions by 70 to 80 per cent when compared to land spreading. Reductions are accomplished through displacing electricity from the provincial grid and reducing nitrous oxide (N{sub 2}O) emissions from spreading of manure The IMUS plants lessen environment impacts by reducing the extraction and consumption of non-renewable resources, and by displacing an estimated 11,700 GJ of coal and natural gas per 1000 head of cattle per year. In addition, various pathogens within manure are eliminated. The plants have the potential to eliminate the environmental hazards associated with the disposal of deadstock. The systems reduce manure odour, lessen truck traffic and are expected to contribute to rural economic diversification. Barriers to further implementation of IMUS were discussed, as well as emerging opportunities for IMUS developers. It was concluded that the initial assessments of the IMUS were positive. Further investigation is needed to determine actual life-cycle performance of the operations. 18 refs., 3 tabs., 3 figs.

  8. Model of environmental life cycle assessment for coal mining operations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burchart-Korol, Dorota; Fugiel, Agata; Czaplicka-Kolarz, Krystyna; Turek, Marian

    2016-08-15

    This paper presents a novel approach to environmental assessment of coal mining operations, which enables assessment of the factors that are both directly and indirectly affecting the environment and are associated with the production of raw materials and energy used in processes. The primary novelty of the paper is the development of a computational environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) model for coal mining operations and the application of the model for coal mining operations in Poland. The LCA model enables the assessment of environmental indicators for all identified unit processes in hard coal mines with the life cycle approach. The proposed model enables the assessment of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) based on the IPCC method and the assessment of damage categories, such as human health, ecosystems and resources based on the ReCiPe method. The model enables the assessment of GHGs for hard coal mining operations in three time frames: 20, 100 and 500years. The model was used to evaluate the coal mines in Poland. It was demonstrated that the largest environmental impacts in damage categories were associated with the use of fossil fuels, methane emissions and the use of electricity, processing of wastes, heat, and steel supports. It was concluded that an environmental assessment of coal mining operations, apart from direct influence from processing waste, methane emissions and drainage water, should include the use of electricity, heat and steel, particularly for steel supports. Because the model allows the comparison of environmental impact assessment for various unit processes, it can be used for all hard coal mines, not only in Poland but also in the world. This development is an important step forward in the study of the impacts of fossil fuels on the environment with the potential to mitigate the impact of the coal industry on the environment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Shelf-life Assessment of Food Undergoing Oxidation-A Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calligaris, Sonia; Manzocco, Lara; Anese, Monica; Nicoli, Maria Cristina

    2016-08-17

    Oxidation is the most common event leading to the end of shelf life of microbiologically stable foods. Thus, a reliable shelf-life assessment is crucial to verify how long the product will last before it becomes oxidized to an unacceptable level to the consumers. Shelf-life assessment strategies of foods and beverages suffering oxidation are critically discussed focusing on definition of the acceptability limit, as well as the choice of the proper oxidative indicators, and methodologies for shelf-life testing. Testing methodologies for shelf-life determination under actual and accelerated storage conditions are considered, highlighting possible uncertainties, pitfalls, and future research needs.

  10. Life cycle assessment of fuel ethanol produced from soluble sugar in sweet sorghum stalks in North China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ding, Ning; Yang, Yang; Cai, Hao; Liu, Jingru; Ren, Lantian; Yang, Jianxin; Xie, Guang Hui

    2017-09-01

    This paper describes the results of a life cycle assessment of sweet sorghum stalk (SSS)-based ethanol in North China. We determined the environmental performance of SSS-based ethanol and examined its advantages and disadvantages, as compared to gasoline, focusing on the life cycle of feedstock production, transportation, ethanol production and distribution, and use. The GREET transportation model and the method developed by the Centre of Environmental Sciences at Leiden University (CML method) were used to compile a life cycle inventory and to assess environmental impacts. Results indicate that SSS-based ethanol has advantages in terms of energy consumption, with a well to wheel decrease of 85% fossil energy and 44% global warming potential, as compared with gasoline. Abiotic depletion potential, acidification potential, and photochemical ozone creation potential were also 50–90% lower than in the case of gasoline, while human health toxic potential was 36% lower. However, SSS-based sorghum did not have advantages over gasoline in terms of life cycle cost, land use, and water consumption. Results indicate that such an evaluation cannot just consider a few types of environmental impacts, researchers should promote systematic and comprehensive life cycle assessment of ethanol to guide the development of an energy strategy for China.

  11. Toward a life cycle-based, diet-level framework for food environmental impact and nutritional quality assessment: a critical review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heller, Martin C; Keoleian, Gregory A; Willett, Walter C

    2013-11-19

    Supplying adequate human nutrition within ecosystem carrying capacities is a key element in the global environmental sustainability challenge. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been used effectively to evaluate the environmental impacts of food production value chains and to identify opportunities for targeted improvement strategies. Dietary choices and resulting consumption patterns are the drivers of production, however, and a consumption-oriented life cycle perspective is useful in understanding the environmental implications of diet choices. This review identifies 32 studies that use an LCA framework to evaluate the environmental impact of diets or meals. It highlights the state of the art, emerging methodological trends and current challenges and limitations to such diet-level LCA studies. A wide range of bases for analysis and comparison (i.e., functional units) have been employed in LCAs of foods and diet; we conceptually map appropriate functional unit choices to research aims and scope and argue for a need to move in the direction of a more sophisticated and comprehensive nutritional basis in order to link nutritional health and environmental objectives. Nutritional quality indices are reviewed as potential approaches, but refinement through ongoing collaborative research between environmental and nutritional sciences is necessary. Additional research needs include development of regionally specific life cycle inventory databases for food and agriculture and expansion of the scope of assessments beyond the current focus on greenhouse gas emissions.

  12. Reliability assessment of creep rupture life for Gr. 91 steel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Woo-Gon; Park, Jae-Young; Kim, Seon-Jin; Jang, Jinsung

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • Statistical analysis of a number of creep rupture data based on Z parameter. • Determination of the constant C in LM parameter and long-term creep life prediction. • Generation of random variables for Z s and Z cr by Monte-Carlo simulation in a SCRI model. • Examples for design application were reasonably drawn from the viewpoints of reliability. - Abstract: This paper presents reliability assessment of the long-term creep life of Gr. 91 steel, which is a major structural material for high temperature structural components of Generation-IV reactor systems. A number of creep rupture data for Gr. 91 steel were collected through literature surveys, and the long-term creep life was predicted by Larson–Miller parameter. A “Z parameter” method was used to describe the magnitude of the deviation of the creep rupture data to a master curve. A “Service Condition-creep Rupture property Interference (SCRI) model” based on the Z parameter was used to simultaneously consider the scattering of the creep rupture data of materials and the fluctuations of service conditions in reliability assessment. A statistical analysis of the creep rupture data was conducted by the Z parameter. To carry out the SCRI model, a number of random variables for Z s describing service conditions and Z cr describing the dispersion of the creep rupture data were generated using a Monte-Carlo simulation technique. As examples for application, the creep rupture life under a certain service conditions of Gr. 91 steel was reasonably drawn from the viewpoints of reliability

  13. Life cycle assessment of electronic waste treatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hong, Jinglan; Shi, Wenxiao; Wang, Yutao; Chen, Wei; Li, Xiangzhi

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Life cycle assessment of electronic waste recycling is quantified. • Key factors for reducing the overall environmental impact are indentified. • End-life disposal processes provide significant environmental benefits. • Efficiently reduce the improper disposal amount of e-waste is highly needed. • E-waste incineration can generate significant environmental burden. - Abstract: Life cycle assessment was conducted to estimate the environmental impact of electronic waste (e-waste) treatment. E-waste recycling with an end-life disposal scenario is environmentally beneficial because of the low environmental burden generated from human toxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, and marine ecotoxicity categories. Landfill and incineration technologies have a lower and higher environmental burden than the e-waste recycling with an end-life disposal scenario, respectively. The key factors in reducing the overall environmental impact of e-waste recycling are optimizing energy consumption efficiency, reducing wastewater and solid waste effluent, increasing proper e-waste treatment amount, avoiding e-waste disposal to landfill and incineration sites, and clearly defining the duties of all stakeholders (e.g., manufacturers, retailers, recycling companies, and consumers)

  14. Life cycle assessment of electronic waste treatment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hong, Jinglan, E-mail: hongjing@sdu.edu.cn [Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China); Shandong University Climate Change and Health Center, Public Health School, Shandong University, Jinan 250012 (China); Shi, Wenxiao [Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China); Wang, Yutao [School of Life Science, Shandong University, Shanda South Road 27, Jinan 250100 (China); Chen, Wei [Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China); Li, Xiangzhi, E-mail: xiangzhi@sdu.edu.cn [School of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012 (China)

    2015-04-15

    Highlights: • Life cycle assessment of electronic waste recycling is quantified. • Key factors for reducing the overall environmental impact are indentified. • End-life disposal processes provide significant environmental benefits. • Efficiently reduce the improper disposal amount of e-waste is highly needed. • E-waste incineration can generate significant environmental burden. - Abstract: Life cycle assessment was conducted to estimate the environmental impact of electronic waste (e-waste) treatment. E-waste recycling with an end-life disposal scenario is environmentally beneficial because of the low environmental burden generated from human toxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, and marine ecotoxicity categories. Landfill and incineration technologies have a lower and higher environmental burden than the e-waste recycling with an end-life disposal scenario, respectively. The key factors in reducing the overall environmental impact of e-waste recycling are optimizing energy consumption efficiency, reducing wastewater and solid waste effluent, increasing proper e-waste treatment amount, avoiding e-waste disposal to landfill and incineration sites, and clearly defining the duties of all stakeholders (e.g., manufacturers, retailers, recycling companies, and consumers)

  15. Promoting Prospective Elementary Teachers' Learning to Use Formative Assessment for Life Science Instruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabel, Jaime L.; Forbes, Cory T.; Zangori, Laura

    2015-06-01

    To support elementary students' learning of core, standards-based life science concepts highlighted in the Next Generation Science Standards, prospective elementary teachers should develop an understanding of life science concepts and learn to apply their content knowledge in instructional practice to craft elementary science learning environments grounded in students' thinking. To do so, teachers must learn to use high-leverage instructional practices, such as formative assessment, to engage students in scientific practices and connect instruction to students' ideas. However, teachers may not understand formative assessment or possess sufficient science content knowledge to effectively engage in related instructional practices. To address these needs, we developed and conducted research within an innovative course for preservice elementary teachers built upon two pillars—life science concepts and formative assessment. An embedded mixed methods study was used to evaluate the effect of the intervention on preservice teachers' (n = 49) content knowledge and ability to engage in formative assessment practices for science. Findings showed that increased life content knowledge over the semester helped preservice teachers engage more productively in anticipating and evaluating students' ideas, but not in identifying effective instructional strategies to respond to those ideas.

  16. Students' satisfaction to hybrid problem-based learning format for basic life support/advanced cardiac life support teaching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chilkoti, Geetanjali; Mohta, Medha; Wadhwa, Rachna; Saxena, Ashok Kumar; Sharma, Chhavi Sarabpreet; Shankar, Neelima

    2016-11-01

    Students are exposed to basic life support (BLS) and advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) training in the first semester in some medical colleges. The aim of this study was to compare students' satisfaction between lecture-based traditional method and hybrid problem-based learning (PBL) in BLS/ACLS teaching to undergraduate medical students. We conducted a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional survey among 118 1 st -year medical students from a university medical college in the city of New Delhi, India. We aimed to assess the students' satisfaction between lecture-based and hybrid-PBL method in BLS/ACLS teaching. Likert 5-point scale was used to assess students' satisfaction levels between the two teaching methods. Data were collected and scores regarding the students' satisfaction levels between these two teaching methods were analysed using a two-sided paired t -test. Most students preferred hybrid-PBL format over traditional lecture-based method in the following four aspects; learning and understanding, interest and motivation, training of personal abilities and being confident and satisfied with the teaching method ( P < 0.05). Implementation of hybrid-PBL format along with the lecture-based method in BLS/ACLS teaching provided high satisfaction among undergraduate medical students.

  17. Application of structural reliability and risk assessment to life prediction and life extension decision making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meyer, T.A.; Balkey, K.R.; Bishop, B.A.

    1987-01-01

    There can be numerous uncertainties involved in performing component life assessments. In addition, sufficient data may be unavailable to make a useful life prediction. Structural Reliability and Risk Assessment (SRRA) is primarily an analytical methodology or tool that quantifies the impact of uncertainties on the structural life of plant components and can address the lack of data in component life prediction. As a prelude to discussing the technical aspects of SRRA, a brief review of general component life prediction methods is first made so as to better develop an understanding of the role of SRRA in such evaluations. SRRA is then presented as it is applied in component life evaluations with example applications being discussed for both nuclear and non-nuclear components

  18. Addressing the effect of social life cycle assessments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Andreas; Dreyer, Louise Camilla; Wangel, Arne

    2012-01-01

    the validity of these hypotheses. Results: Three in some cases potentially overlapping SLCA approaches are presented, assumed to create a beneficial effect in the life cycle in different ways. However, empirical and theoretical findings show that the beneficial effects proposed to arise from the use of each......Purpose: In the recently published ‘Guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products’, it is stated that the ultimate objective of developing the social life cycle assessment (SLCA) is to promote improvements of social conditions for the stakeholders in the life cycle. This article addresses...... how the SLCA should be developed so that its use promotes these improvements. Methods: Hypotheses of how the use of SLCA can promote improvement of social conditions in the life cycle are formulated, after which theories and empirical findings from relevant fields of research are used to address...

  19. A framework for social life cycle impact assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dreyer, Louise Camilla; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Schierbeck, Jens

    2006-01-01

    Goal, Scope and Background. To enhance the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) as a tool in business decision-making, a methodology for Social life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) is being developed. Social LCA aims at facilitating companies to conduct business in a socially responsible manner...... by providing information about the potential social impacts on people caused by the activities in the life cycle of their product. The development of the methodology has been guided by a business perspective accepting that companies, on the one hand, have responsibility for the people affected...... in the life cycle rather than to the individual industrial processes, as is the case in Environmental LCA. Inventory analysis is therefore focused on the conduct of the companies engaged in the life cycle. A consequence of this view is that a key must be determined for relating the social profiles...

  20. Assessing Smart Phones for Generating Life-space Indicators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wan, Neng; Qu, Wenyu; Whittington, Jackie; Witbrodt, Bradley C; Henderson, Mary Pearl; Goulding, Evan H; Schenk, A Katrin; Bonasera, Stephen J; Lin, Ge

    2013-04-01

    Life-space is a promising method for estimating older adults' functional status. However, traditional life-space measures are costly and time consuming because they often rely on active subject participation. This study assesses the feasibility of using the global positioning system (GPS) function of smart phones to generate life-space indicators. We first evaluated the location accuracy of smart phone collected GPS points versus those acquired by a commercial GPS unit. We then assessed the specificity of the smart phone processed life-space information against the traditional diary method. Our results suggested comparable location accuracy between the smart phone and the standard GPS unit in most outdoor situations. In addition, the smart phone method revealed more comprehensive life-space information than the diary method, which leads to higher and more consistent life-space scores. We conclude that the smart phone method is more reliable than traditional methods for measuring life-space. Further improvements will be required to develop a robust application of this method that is suitable for health-related practices.

  1. Spatial differentiated effect assessment for aquatic eutrophication in Life Cycle Assessment.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Penailillo, Reinaldo

    2005-01-01

    The conventional evaluation of aquatic eutrophication in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) expresses the contribution of nitrogen and/or phosphorus emissions to biomass production in terms of the equivalent emission of a reference substance. This assessment doe

  2. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and exergetic life cycle assessment (ELCA) of the production of biodiesel from used cooking oil (UCO)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Talens Peiro, L.; Lombardi, L.; Villalba Mendez, G.; Gabarrell i Durany, X.

    2010-01-01

    The paper assesses the life cycle of biodiesel from used cooking oil (UCO). Such life cycle involves 4 stages: 1) collection, 2) pre-treatment, 3) delivery and 4) transesterification of UCO. Generally, UCO is collected from restaurants, food industries and recycling centres by authorised companies. Then, UCO is pre-treated to remove solid particles and water to increase its quality. After that, it is charged in cistern trucks and delivered to the biodiesel facility to be then transesterified with methanol to biodiesel. The production of 1 ton of biodiesel is evaluated by a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to assess the environmental impact and by an Exergetic Life Cycle Assessment (ELCA) to account for the exergy input to the system. A detailed list of material and energy inputs is done using data from local companies and completed using Ecoinvent 1.2 database. The results show that the transesterification stage causes 68% of the total environmental impact. The major exergy inputs are uranium and natural gas. If targets set by the Spanish Renewable Energy Plan are achieved, the exergy input for producing biodiesel would be reduced by 8% in the present system and consequently environmental impacts and exergy input reduced up to 36% in 2010.

  3. Use of NDE and FM for the assessment of remaining life of steam turbines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alley, T [Duke Power Co., Charlotte, NC (United States); Stone, R [Electric Power Research Inst., Charlotte, NC (United States). Nondestructive Evaluation Center

    1988-12-31

    Catastrophic failures of rotating turbine components, such as the Gallatin rotor burst in 1974 and the shrunk-on disk rupture at Hinkley Point in 1969, alerted the utility industry to the failure potential of these components. Such failures can cause severe financial loss; endanger personnel; and, in nuclear plants, damage safety related equipment. To adequately predict the remaining life of a turbine rotor requires accurate information about component flaws, material properties, future operating loads, relevant failure mechanisms, and an approach to combine this information to make an assessment of remaining life. EPRI has supported the development of improved ultrasonic test equipment for use from the rotor bore (bore-sonic examination) and a fracture mechanics based life assessment code called SAFER (Stress and Fracture Evaluation of Rotors). The EPRI NDE Center has supported the transfer of this technology to industry. This presentation deals with the NDE Center`s transfer of the NDE and life assessment technology to industry and discusses a particular application by Duke Power Company at their Allen Plant, Unit 1 to extend the operating life of an IP/LP turbine. (author).

  4. Use of NDE and FM for the assessment of remaining life of steam turbines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alley, T.; Stone, R.

    1988-01-01

    Catastrophic failures of rotating turbine components, such as the Gallatin rotor burst in 1974 and the shrunk-on disk rupture at Hinkley Point in 1969, alerted the utility industry to the failure potential of these components. Such failures can cause severe financial loss; endanger personnel; and, in nuclear plants, damage safety related equipment. To adequately predict the remaining life of a turbine rotor requires accurate information about component flaws, material properties, future operating loads, relevant failure mechanisms, and an approach to combine this information to make an assessment of remaining life. EPRI has supported the development of improved ultrasonic test equipment for use from the rotor bore (bore-sonic examination) and a fracture mechanics based life assessment code called SAFER (Stress and Fracture Evaluation of Rotors). The EPRI NDE Center has supported the transfer of this technology to industry. This presentation deals with the NDE Center's transfer of the NDE and life assessment technology to industry and discusses a particular application by Duke Power Company at their Allen Plant, Unit 1 to extend the operating life of an IP/LP turbine. (author)

  5. Reactor vessel assessment and the development of a reactor vessel life extension program for Calvert Cliffs Units One and Two

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Montgomery, B.; Hijeck, P.J.

    1988-01-01

    A study has been undertaken to provide a general assessment of the life extension capabilities for the Calvert Cliffs Units One and Two reactor pressure vessels. The purpose of the study is to assess the general life extension capabilities for the Calvert Cliffs reactor pressure vessels based upon an extension and variation of the Surry pilot plant life extension study. This assessment provided a detailed reactor vessel surveillance program for plant life extension along with a hierarchy of specific tasks necessary for attaining maximum useful life. The assessment identified a number of critical issues which may impact life attainment and extension along with potential solutions to address these issues to ensure the life extension option is not precluded

  6. The clinical significance of quality of life assessments in oncology: a summary for clinicians

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sloan, Jeff A.; Frost, Marlene H.; Berzon, Rick; Dueck, Amylou; Guyatt, Gordon; Moinpour, Carol; Sprangers, Mirjam; Ferrans, Carol; Cella, David

    2006-01-01

    BACKGROUND: A series of six manuscripts with an introduction appeared in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, based upon the collective effort of 30 individuals with an interest and expertise in assessing the clinical significance of quality of life (QOL) assessments. The series of manuscripts described the

  7. Life Cycle Assessment Of Danish Concrete Waste Recycled In Road Base Applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Butera, Stefania; Birgisdottir, H.; Astrup, Thomas Fruergaard

    2013-01-01

    LCA was used to assess the environmental impacts from recycling of C&DW in road construction. The scenario comprised all stages in the end of life of C&D concrete, including recovery of materials, as well as avoided production of the substituted goods. Results show the importance of transportation...... of the material, especially when considering global warming, acidification and human toxicity categories. Ecotoxicity is dominated by leaching of pollutants from the concrete material, where Cr and Sb play a major role. Compared to landfilling of the same waste stream, reuse in road construction provides lower...

  8. ASSESSMENT OF QUALITY OF LIFE OF PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shiji Chalipat

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND Raising a child with chronic disability is stressful and demanding task which can affect the quality of life of the parent/caregiver adversely. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life of parents of children aged between 2-12 years with cerebral palsy. MATERIALS AND METHODS This was a cross sectional descriptive questionnaire based study, which included 30 parents of children with cerebral palsy between 2-12 years of age attending Paediatric OPD or Rehabilitation services. Interviews were conducted using a semistructured questionnaire and quality of life was assessed using World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOLBREF- Questionnaire-short version. Statistical analysis was done with descriptive statistics using SPSS version 10. RESULTS The mean score of the social domain of quality of life of caregivers was the lowest (9.33±1.49 SD followed by psychological (18.23±1.50 SD. Seventy percent of parents reported their overall quality of life as neither good nor poor and 66.67% of parents were satisfied with their own health. CONCLUSION Quality of life of parents of children with CP was affected in all domains, with predominant affection of social domain. More than half of parents were satisfied with their own general health and they reported overall quality of life was neither good nor poor.

  9. An approach to incorporate risks into a product's life-cycle assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pirhonen, P.

    1995-01-01

    Life-cycle assessment is usually based on regular discharges that occur at a more or less constant rate. Nevertheless, the more factors that are taken into account in the LCA the better picture it gives on the environmental aspects of a product. In this study an approach to incorporate accidental releases into a products' life-cycle assessment was developed. In this approach accidental releases are divided into two categories. The first category consists of those unplanned releases which occur with a predicted level and frequency. Due to the high frequency and small release size at a time, these accidental releases can be compared to continuous emissions. Their global impacts are studied in this approach. Accidental releases of the second category are sudden, unplanned releases caused by exceptional situations, e.g. technical failure, action error or disturbances in process conditions. These releases have a singular character and local impacts are typical of them. As far as the accidental releases of the second category are concerned, the approach introduced in this study results in a risk value for every stage of a life-cycle, the sum of which is a risk value for the whole life-cycle. Risk value is based on occurrence frequencies of incidents and potential environmental damage caused by releases. Risk value illustrates the level of potential damage caused by accidental releases related to the system under study and is meant to be used for comparison of these levels of two different products. It can also be used to compare the risk levels of different stages of the life-cycle. An approach was illustrated using petrol as an example product. The whole life-cycle of petrol from crude oil production to the consumption of petrol was studied

  10. Life-cycle assessment of corn-based butanol as a potential transportation fuel.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, M.; Wang, M.; Liu, J.; Huo, H.; Energy Systems

    2007-12-31

    Butanol produced from bio-sources (such as corn) could have attractive properties as a transportation fuel. Production of butanol through a fermentation process called acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) has been the focus of increasing research and development efforts. Advances in ABE process development in recent years have led to drastic increases in ABE productivity and yields, making butanol production worthy of evaluation for use in motor vehicles. Consequently, chemical/fuel industries have announced their intention to produce butanol from bio-based materials. The purpose of this study is to estimate the potential life-cycle energy and emission effects associated with using bio-butanol as a transportation fuel. The study employs a well-to-wheels analysis tool--the Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model developed at Argonne National Laboratory--and the Aspen Plus{reg_sign} model developed by AspenTech. The study describes the butanol production from corn, including grain processing, fermentation, gas stripping, distillation, and adsorption for products separation. The Aspen{reg_sign} results that we obtained for the corn-to-butanol production process provide the basis for GREET modeling to estimate life-cycle energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The GREET model was expanded to simulate the bio-butanol life cycle, from agricultural chemical production to butanol use in motor vehicles. We then compared the results for bio-butanol with those of conventional gasoline. We also analyzed the bio-acetone that is coproduced with bio-butanol as an alternative to petroleum-based acetone. Our study shows that, while the use of corn-based butanol achieves energy benefits and reduces greenhouse gas emissions, the results are affected by the methods used to treat the acetone that is co-produced in butanol plants.

  11. Environmental assessment of amine-based carbon capture Scenario modelling with life cycle assessment (LCA)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brekke, Andreas; Askham, Cecilia; Modahl, Ingunn Saur; Vold, Bjoern Ivar; Johnsen, Fredrik Moltu

    2012-07-01

    This report contains a first attempt at introducing the environmental impacts associated with amines and derivatives in a life cycle assessment (LCA) of gas power production with carbon capture and comparing these with other environmental impacts associated with the production system. The report aims to identify data gaps and methodological challenges connected both to modelling toxicity of amines and derivatives and weighting of environmental impacts. A scenario based modelling exercise was performed on a theoretical gas power plant with carbon capture, where emission levels of nitrosamines were varied between zero (gas power without CCS) to a worst case level (outside the probable range of actual carbon capture facilities). Because of extensive research and development in the areas of solvents and emissions from carbon capture facilities in the latter years, data used in the exercise may be outdated and results should therefore not be taken at face value.The results from the exercise showed: According to UseTox, emissions of nitrosamines are less important than emissions of formaldehyde with regard to toxicity related to operation of (i.e. both inputs to and outputs from) a carbon capture facility. If characterisation factors for emissions of metals are included, these outweigh all other toxic emissions in the study. None of the most recent weighting methods in LCA include characterisation factors for nitrosamines, and these are therefore not part of the environmental ranking.These results shows that the EDecIDe project has an important role to play in developing LCA methodology useful for assessing the environmental performance of amine based carbon capture in particular and CCS in general. The EDecIDe project will examine the toxicity models used in LCA in more detail, specifically UseTox. The applicability of the LCA compartment models and site specificity issues for a Norwegian/Arctic situation will be explored. This applies to the environmental compartments

  12. Optimal design of CHP-based microgrids: Multiobjective optimisation and life cycle assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Di; Evangelisti, Sara; Lettieri, Paola; Papageorgiou, Lazaros G.

    2015-01-01

    As an alternative to current centralised energy generation systems, microgrids are adopted to provide local energy with lower energy expenses and gas emissions by utilising distributed energy resources (DER). Several micro combined heat and power technologies have been developed recently for applications at domestic scale. The optimal design of DERs within CHP-based microgrids plays an important role in promoting the penetration of microgrid systems. In this work, the optimal design of microgrids with CHP units is addressed by coupling environmental and economic sustainability in a multi-objective optimisation model which integrates the results of a life cycle assessment of the microgrids investigated. The results show that the installation of multiple CHP technologies has a lower cost with higher environmental saving compared with the case when only a single technology is installed in each site, meaning that the microgrid works in a more efficient way when multiple technologies are selected. In general, proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are chosen as the basic CHP technology for most solutions, which offers lower environmental impacts at low cost. However, internal combustions engines (ICE) and Stirling engines (SE) are preferred if the heat demand is high. - Highlights: • Optimal design of microgrids is addressed by coupling environmental and economic aspects. • An MILP model is formulated based on the ε-constraint method. • The model selects a combination of CHP technologies with different technical characteristics for optimum scenarios. • The global warming potential (GWP) and the acidification potential (AP) are determined. • The output of LCA is used as an input for the optimisation model

  13. Life-Cycle Assessment of a Distributed-Scale Thermochemical Bioenergy Conversion System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hongmei Gu; Richard Bergman

    2016-01-01

    Expanding bioenergy production from woody biomass has the potential to decrease net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve the energy security of the United States. Science-based and internationally accepted life-cycle assessment (LCA) is an effective tool for policy makers to make scientifically informed decisions on expanding renewable energy production from...

  14. Life cycle assessment of Italian citrus-based products. Sensitivity analysis and improvement scenarios.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beccali, Marco; Cellura, Maurizio; Iudicello, Maria; Mistretta, Marina

    2010-07-01

    Though many studies concern the agro-food sector in the EU and Italy, and its environmental impacts, literature is quite lacking in works regarding LCA application on citrus products. This paper represents one of the first studies on the environmental impacts of citrus products in order to suggest feasible strategies and actions to improve their environmental performance. In particular, it is part of a research aimed to estimate environmental burdens associated with the production of the following citrus-based products: essential oil, natural juice and concentrated juice from oranges and lemons. The life cycle assessment of these products, published in a previous paper, had highlighted significant environmental issues in terms of energy consumption, associated CO(2) emissions, and water consumption. Starting from such results the authors carry out an improvement analysis of the assessed production system, whereby sustainable scenarios for saving water and energy are proposed to reduce environmental burdens of the examined production system. In addition, a sensitivity analysis to estimate the effects of the chosen methods will be performed, giving data on the outcome of the study. Uncertainty related to allocation methods, secondary data sources, and initial assumptions on cultivation, transport modes, and waste management is analysed. The results of the performed analyses allow stating that every assessed eco-profile is differently influenced by the uncertainty study. Different assumptions on initial data and methods showed very sensible variations in the energy and environmental performances of the final products. Besides, the results show energy and environmental benefits that clearly state the improvement of the products eco-profile, by reusing purified water use for irrigation, using the railway mode for the delivery of final products, when possible, and adopting efficient technologies, as the mechanical vapour recompression, in the pasteurisation and

  15. Temporal discounting in life cycle assessment: A critical review and theoretical framework

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yuan, Chris; Wang, Endong; Zhai, Qiang; Yang, Fan

    2015-01-01

    Temporal homogeneity of inventory data is one of the major problems in life cycle assessment (LCA). Addressing temporal homogeneity of life cycle inventory data is important in reducing the uncertainties and improving the reliability of LCA results. This paper attempts to present a critical review and discussion on the fundamental issues of temporal homogeneity in conventional LCA and propose a theoretical framework for temporal discounting in LCA. Theoretical perspectives for temporal discounting in life cycle inventory analysis are discussed first based on the key elements of a scientific mechanism for temporal discounting. Then generic procedures for performing temporal discounting in LCA is derived and proposed based on the nature of the LCA method and the identified key elements of a scientific temporal discounting method. A five-step framework is proposed and reported in details based on the technical methods and procedures needed to perform a temporal discounting in life cycle inventory analysis. Challenges and possible solutions are also identified and discussed for the technical procedure and scientific accomplishment of each step within the framework. - Highlights: • A critical review for temporal homogeneity problem of life cycle inventory data • A theoretical framework for performing temporal discounting on inventory data • Methods provided to accomplish each step of the temporal discounting framework

  16. Review of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment and Potential for Its Adoption at an Automotive Company

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter Tarne

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to guide the next steps of a PhD thesis through a structured review of the state of the art and implementation of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA, and to identify challenges and potentials for its adoption at an automotive company. First, the structured literature review was conducted on LCSA to screen the current methodological and practical implementations and to identify the main research needs in the field. Second, a research on the current status of LCSA within the automotive industry was carried out by means of investigation of published sources of 15 Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM. By combining the results of both steps and consulting with decision makers, the challenges and potential for adopting LCSA at an automotive company were identified. The main challenges for adoption of LCSA were found to be: (1 the consistent execution of the three life cycle based assessment methods; (2 the comparatively low maturity of Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA; and (3 the adequate presentation and interpretation of results. Next steps towards implementation would be a case study to gather experience on the combined execution of the three life cycle based assessments at an automotive company. Furthermore, it should be determined what the needs of decision makers at an automotive company are regarding the aggregation and interpretation of environmental, social, and economic impacts.

  17. Life Cycle Impact Assessment Research Developments and Needs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) developments are explained along with key publications which record discussions which comprised ISO 14042 and SETAC document development, UNEP SETAC Life Cycle Initiative research, and research from public and private research institutions. It ...

  18. Improved Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Crop Production at the Catchment Scale via a Process-Based Nitrogen Simulation Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Wenjie; van der Werf, Hayo M G; Salmon-Monviola, Jordy

    2015-09-15

    One of the major challenges in environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of crop production is the nonlinearity between nitrogen (N) fertilizer inputs and on-site N emissions resulting from complex biogeochemical processes. A few studies have addressed this nonlinearity by combining process-based N simulation models with LCA, but none accounted for nitrate (NO3(-)) flows across fields. In this study, we present a new method, TNT2-LCA, that couples the topography-based simulation of nitrogen transfer and transformation (TNT2) model with LCA, and compare the new method with a current LCA method based on a French life cycle inventory database. Application of the two methods to a case study of crop production in a catchment in France showed that, compared to the current method, TNT2-LCA allows delineation of more appropriate temporal limits when developing data for on-site N emissions associated with specific crops in this catchment. It also improves estimates of NO3(-) emissions by better consideration of agricultural practices, soil-climatic conditions, and spatial interactions of NO3(-) flows across fields, and by providing predicted crop yield. The new method presented in this study provides improved LCA of crop production at the catchment scale.

  19. Quality of life assessment in dogs and cats receiving chemotherapy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vøls, Kåre Kryger; Heden, Martin Anker; Kristensen, Annemarie Thuri

    2017-01-01

    This study aimed to review currently reported methods of assessing the effects of chemotherapy on the quality of life (QoL) of canine and feline patients and to explore novel ways to assess QoL in such patients in the light of the experience to date in human pediatric oncology. A qualitative comp...... of potentially relevant parameters in future QoL assessments may benefit owner decision making....... to assess QoL in toddlers. Each of the identified publications including QoL-assessment in dogs and cats receiving chemotherapy applied a different method of QoL-assessment. In addition, the veterinary QoL-assessments were mainly focused on physical clinical parameters, whereas the emotional (6/11), social...... (4/11) and role (4/11) domains were less represented. QoL-assessment of cats and dogs receiving chemotherapy is in its infancy. The most commonly reported method to assess QoL was questionnaire based and mostly included physical and clinical parameters. Standardizing and including a complete range...

  20. Life cycle assessment based environmental impact estimation model for pre-stressed concrete beam bridge in the early design phase

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Kyong Ju; Yun, Won Gun; Cho, Namho; Ha, Jikwang

    2017-01-01

    The late rise in global concern for environmental issues such as global warming and air pollution is accentuating the need for environmental assessments in the construction industry. Promptly evaluating the environmental loads of the various design alternatives during the early stages of a construction project and adopting the most environmentally sustainable candidate is therefore of large importance. Yet, research on the early evaluation of a construction project's environmental load in order to aid the decision making process is hitherto lacking. In light of this dilemma, this study proposes a model for estimating the environmental load by employing only the most basic information accessible during the early design phases of a project for the pre-stressed concrete (PSC) beam bridge, the most common bridge structure. Firstly, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted on the data from 99 bridges by integrating the bills of quantities (BOQ) with a life cycle inventory (LCI) database. The processed data was then utilized to construct a case based reasoning (CBR) model for estimating the environmental load. The accuracy of the estimation model was then validated using five test cases; the model's mean absolute error rates (MAER) for the total environmental load was calculated as 7.09%. Such test results were shown to be superior compared to those obtained from a multiple-regression based model and a slab area base-unit analysis model. Henceforth application of this model during the early stages of a project is expected to highly complement environmentally friendly designs and construction by facilitating the swift evaluation of the environmental load from multiple standpoints. - Highlights: • This study is to develop the model of assessing the environmental impacts on LCA. • Bills of quantity from completed designs of PSC Beam were linked with the LCI DB. • Previous cases were used to estimate the environmental load of new case by CBR model. • CBR

  1. Life cycle assessment based environmental impact estimation model for pre-stressed concrete beam bridge in the early design phase

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Kyong Ju, E-mail: kjkim@cau.ac.kr; Yun, Won Gun, E-mail: ogun78@naver.com; Cho, Namho, E-mail: nhc51@cau.ac.kr; Ha, Jikwang, E-mail: wlrhkd29@gmail.com

    2017-05-15

    The late rise in global concern for environmental issues such as global warming and air pollution is accentuating the need for environmental assessments in the construction industry. Promptly evaluating the environmental loads of the various design alternatives during the early stages of a construction project and adopting the most environmentally sustainable candidate is therefore of large importance. Yet, research on the early evaluation of a construction project's environmental load in order to aid the decision making process is hitherto lacking. In light of this dilemma, this study proposes a model for estimating the environmental load by employing only the most basic information accessible during the early design phases of a project for the pre-stressed concrete (PSC) beam bridge, the most common bridge structure. Firstly, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted on the data from 99 bridges by integrating the bills of quantities (BOQ) with a life cycle inventory (LCI) database. The processed data was then utilized to construct a case based reasoning (CBR) model for estimating the environmental load. The accuracy of the estimation model was then validated using five test cases; the model's mean absolute error rates (MAER) for the total environmental load was calculated as 7.09%. Such test results were shown to be superior compared to those obtained from a multiple-regression based model and a slab area base-unit analysis model. Henceforth application of this model during the early stages of a project is expected to highly complement environmentally friendly designs and construction by facilitating the swift evaluation of the environmental load from multiple standpoints. - Highlights: • This study is to develop the model of assessing the environmental impacts on LCA. • Bills of quantity from completed designs of PSC Beam were linked with the LCI DB. • Previous cases were used to estimate the environmental load of new case by CBR model. • CBR

  2. Social Life Cycle Assessment Revisited

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruqun Wu

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available To promote the development of Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA, we conducted a comprehensive review of recently developed frameworks, methods, and characterization models for impact assessment for future method developers and SLCA practitioners. Two previous reviews served as our foundations for this review. We updated the review by including a comprehensive list of recently-developed SLCA frameworks, methods and characterization models. While a brief discussion from goal, data, and indicator perspectives is provided in Sections 2 to 4 for different frameworks/methods, the focus of this review is Section 5 where discussion on characterization models for impact assessment of different methods is provided. The characterization models are categorized into two types following the UNEP/SETAC guidelines: type I models without impact pathways and type II models with impact pathways. Different from methods incorporating type I/II characterization models, another LCA modeling approach, Life Cycle Attribute Assessment (LCAA, is also discussed in this review. We concluded that methods incorporating either type I or type II models have limitations. For type I models, the challenge lies in the systematic identification of relevant stakeholders and materiality issues; while for type II models, identification of impact pathways that most closely and accurately represent the real-world causal relationships is the key. LCAA may avoid these problems, but the ultimate questions differ from those asked by the methods using type I and II models.

  3. A review of preference-based measures for the assessment of quality of life in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mpundu-Kaambwa, Christine; Chen, Gang; Huynh, Elisabeth; Russo, Remo; Ratcliffe, Julie

    2018-03-22

    To examine the psychometric properties and suitability for use within the context of cerebral palsy research in children and adolescents of generic preference-based outcome measures (PROMs). Nine electronic databases were searched in this systematic review. The consensus-based standards for the selection of health measurement instruments (COSMIN) checklist were used to measure the psychometric properties of the PROMs. A meta-analysis was used to pool correlation coefficients for convergent validity using the Schmidt-Hunter method. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I-squared statistic (I 2 ). Four preference-based PROMs were identified from eight studies: Health Utilities Index-Mark 2 and 3 (HUI-2 and HUI-3, respectively), the Assessment Quality of Life-4 dimension (AQoL-4D) and the EuroQol-5 dimension 3 level (EQ-5D-3L). Only the HUI system was primarily developed for application with children/adolescents though health-state values for scoring the PROM were elicited from adults. The HUI-3 covered the most relevant constructs though it excludes important modules of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) such as activity limitations and participation restrictions. In terms of psychometric properties, evidence was presented for only five of COSMIN measurement properties: reliability (HUI3), measurement error (HUI-3), content validity (HUI-2 and HUI-3), Hypotheses testing (HUI-3 and AQoL-4D) and criterion validity (HUI-3). No papers reported on internal consistency, structural validity, cross-cultural validity or responsiveness of the preference-based measures in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy. This review highlights the dearth in studies using preference-based PROMs to measure HRQOL associated with cerebral palsy in children and adolescents. The HUI-3 demonstrated the strongest psychometric properties, though it does not cover all dimensions relevant to this population.

  4. Health-related quality of life in patients with skull base tumours.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Kelleher, M O

    2012-02-03

    The objective of the investigation was to report on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients diagnosed with skull base tumours using the Short Form Health Survey questionnaire (SF-36). Those patients suffering with vestibular schwannoma were examined to determine the effect facial nerve function had on their quality of life. It took place at the tertiary referral centre at the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh. A prospective study of 70 consecutive patients was taken, who harboured the following tumours: 54 vestibular schwannomas, 13 meningiomas, two haemangioblastomas and one hypoglossal schwannoma. Patients were interviewed using the short form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Facial nerve function was assessed in those patients who had vestibular schwannomas. The entire cohort of live skull base patients were assessed after a median follow-up time of 38.4 months. Patients with vestibular schwannoma treated conservatively with interval MRI had a quality of life similar to t he normal population. Those who underwent surgery had a significant difference in two of the SF-36 domains. No statistically significant correlation was found at final assessment between the degree of facial nerve functioning and any of the domains of SF-36. Patients with non-vestibular tumours had an impaired HRQoL in seven of the eight domains. Patients with skull base tumours have a significant impairment of their HRQoL. A conservative policy of follow up with interval MRI for patients with small vestibular schwannomas may therefore be more appropriate to preserve their HRQoL. Facial nerve outcome has little influence on quality of life in vestibular schwannoma patients.

  5. Life-cycle assessment of Nebraska bridges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-05-01

    Life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is a necessary component in bridge management systems (BMSs) for : assessing investment decisions and identifying the most cost-effective improvement alternatives. The : LCCA helps to identify the lowest cost alternati...

  6. [Development of "assessment guideline of family power for healthy life"].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fukushima, M; Shimanouchi, S; Kamei, T; Takagai, E; Hoshino, Y; Sugiyama, I

    1997-12-01

    The purpose of this study is to develop "assessment guideline of family power for healthy life" aiming at expanding self-care power of family in community nursing practice. The subjects of this study covered those families in one hundred and fifty six instances that we had seized as subject for nursing care and study. The method of this study had constructed assessment guideline inductively out of each case, and modified it by applying to cases of families with health problems and others. As a result, we had formed nine items of "family power for healthy life" and three items of "conditions influencing family power for healthy life" for "assessment guideline of family power for healthy life".

  7. Area of Concern: a new paradigm in life cycle assessment for ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purpose: As a class of environmental metrics, footprints have been poorly defined, have shared an unclear relationship to life cycle assessment (LCA), and the variety of approaches to quantification have sometimes resulted in confusing and contradictory messages in the marketplace. In response, a task force operating under the auspices of the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative project on environmental life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) has been working to develop generic guidance for developers of footprint metrics. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a universal footprint definition and related terminology as well as to discuss modelling implications.MethodsThe task force has worked from the perspective that footprints should be based on LCA methodology, underpinned by the same data systems and models as used in LCA. However, there are important differences in purpose and orientation relative to LCA impact category indicators. Footprints have a primary orientation toward society and nontechnical stakeholders. They are also typically of narrow scope, having the purpose of reporting only in relation to specific topics. In comparison, LCA has a primary orientation toward stakeholders interested in comprehensive evaluation of overall environmental performance and trade-offs among impact categories. These differences create tension between footprints, the existing LCIA framework based on the area of protection paradigm and the core LCA standards ISO14040/44.Res

  8. Techno-Economics & Life Cycle Assessment (Presentation)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dutta, A.; Davis, R.

    2011-12-01

    This presentation provides an overview of the techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) capabilities at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and describes the value of working with NREL on TEA and LCA.

  9. Getting the chemicals right: Gaps and opportunities in addressing inorganics in life cycle assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fantke, Peter; Kirchhübel, Nienke

    2017-01-01

    and certain cationic metals is included in existing characterization models within life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). However, a variety of additional inorganic substances used e.g. in the textile, personal care, and building and construction industry are included neither in current life cycle inventory...... databases, nor current LCIA methods. Without the integration of the various economically relevant and potentially human toxic and/or ecotoxic inorganic substances such as inorganic salts, acids, bases and elements, however, no satisfying conclusions regarding the environmental sustainability of any......Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to compare products and product systems in terms of their environmental sustainability and for that LCA needs to include all potential impacts on humans and the environment. Currently, quantifying the toxicity potential of several thousand organic substances...

  10. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Sediment Remediation at the London Olympic Park

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, D.; Al-Tabbaa, A.

    2013-12-01

    In recent years, there is an emerging 'green and sustainable remediation' (GSR) movement. It is drawing increasing attention from both the government and the industry, because this GSR movement is promising in accelerating process in addressing the contaminated land issue, by overcoming regulatory barriers, encouraging technological innovation, and balancing life cycle environmental stewardship with economic vitality and social well-being. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been increasingly used by both researchers and industrial practitioners in an initiative to make environmental remediation greener and more sustainable. Life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA), aiming at expanding the traditional LCA model in both breadth and depth (e.g. to incorporate both environmental and social-economic sustainability), is an important research direction in the existing LCA research field. The present study intends to develop a LCSA method based on a hybrid LCA model and economic input-output (EIO) data. The LCSA method is applied to a contaminated sediment remediation project conducted at the London Olympic Park site.

  11. Assessment for Learning in Inquiry Based Science Education

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fornaguera, Cristina Carulla

    The study looks at assessment for learning and Inquiry Based Science Education —IBSE— as concepts established in a diversity of geographical areas, where the traditional summative assessment shapes what most individuals share as being experienced as assessment. Based on Leontiev and Radford...... the analytical process. The main contribution was the analysis and the results of researcher movement from a view of assessment considering learning as a psychological process in the mind, independent of the everyday life of individuals, towards one considering the inseparability of collective and individual...... as identifying and differentiating forms of researching assessment, changing the researcher’s perspective on research, and imagining a new theoretical approach to assessment for learning....

  12. The factor of time in the life cycle assessment of housing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Klunder, G.; van Nunen, H.

    2003-01-01

    Conducting life cycle assessments, or LCAs, involves many uncertainties, including those related to the factor of time. Time is very important in the environmental assessment of housing, because of the relatively long service life of houses. During a house's service life many changes occur, which

  13. Life cycle assessment and life cycle costing of bioethanol from sugarcane in Brazil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luo, Lin; Van der Voet, Ester; Huppes, Gjalt

    2009-01-01

    Brazil has always been the pioneer in the application of bioethanol as a main fuel for automobiles, hence environmental and economic analyses of the Brazilian ethanol industries are of crucial importance. This study presents a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) on gasoline and ethanol as fuels, and with two types of blends of gasoline with bioethanol, all used in a midsize car. The focus is on a main application in Brazil, sugarcane based ethanol. The results of two cases are presented: base case - bioethanol production from sugarcane and electricity generation from bagasse; future case - bioethanol production from both sugarcane and bagasse and electricity generation from wastes. In both cases sugar is co-produced. The life cycles of fuels include gasoline production, agricultural production of sugarcane, ethanol production, sugar and electricity co-production, blending ethanol with gasoline to produce E10 (10% of ethanol) and E85 (85%), and finally the use of gasoline, E10, E85 and pure ethanol. Furthermore, a life cycle costing (LCC) was conducted to give an indication on fuel economy in both cases. The results show that in the base case less GHG is emitted; while the overall evaluation of these fuel options depends on the importance attached to different impacts. The future case is certainly more economically attractive, which has been the driving force for development in the ethanol industry in Brazil. Nevertheless, the outcomes depend very much on the assumed price for crude oil. In LCC a steady-state cost model was used and only the production cost was taken into account. In the real market the prices of fuels are very much dependent on the taxes and subsidies. Technological development can help in lowering both the environmental impact and the prices of the ethanol fuels. (author)

  14. Conceptual Framework To Extend Life Cycle Assessment ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a decision-making tool that accounts for multiple impacts across the life cycle of a product or service. This paper presents a conceptual framework to integrate human health impact assessment with risk screening approaches to extend LCA to include near-field chemical sources (e.g., those originating from consumer products and building materials) that have traditionally been excluded from LCA. A new generation of rapid human exposure modeling and high-throughput toxicity testing is transforming chemical risk prioritization and provides an opportunity for integration of screening-level risk assessment (RA) with LCA. The combined LCA and RA approach considers environmental impacts of products alongside risks to human health, which is consistent with regulatory frameworks addressing RA within a sustainability mindset. A case study is presented to juxtapose LCA and risk screening approaches for a chemical used in a consumer product. The case study demonstrates how these new risk screening tools can be used to inform toxicity impact estimates in LCA and highlights needs for future research. The framework provides a basis for developing tools and methods to support decision making on the use of chemicals in products. This paper presents a conceptual framework for including near-field exposures into Life Cycle Assessment using advanced human exposure modeling and high-throughput tools

  15. Life Cycle Assessment in Management of Socially Responsible Enterprise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tkaczyk Stanisław

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The following paper presents dangerous and evident phenomenon of communicational chaos in the field of environment protection and sustainable development in a turbulent external environment. It is pointed that this phenomenon gives organizations an opportunity to take pretended pro-environmental actions, such as socially critical greenwashing. As a counterbalance to those practices, a concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR is presented, underlining the possibility of developing honest environmental marketing basing on methods such as Life Cycle Assessment.

  16. Life cycle assessment of biomass-to-energy systems in Ireland modelled with biomass supply chain optimisation based on greenhouse gas emission reduction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murphy, Fionnuala; Sosa, Amanda; McDonnell, Kevin; Devlin, Ger

    2016-01-01

    The energy sector is the major contributor to GHG (greenhouse gas emissions) in Ireland. Under EU Renewable energy targets, Ireland must achieve contributions of 40%, 12% and 10% from renewables to electricity, heat and transport respectively by 2020, in addition to a 20% reduction in GHG emissions. Life cycle assessment methodology was used to carry out a comprehensive, holistic evaluation of biomass-to-energy systems in 2020 based on indigenous biomass supply chains optimised to reduce production and transportation GHG emissions. Impact categories assessed include; global warming, acidification, eutrophication potentials, and energy demand. Two biomass energy conversion technologies are considered; co-firing with peat, and biomass CHP (combined heat and power) systems. Biomass is allocated to each plant according to a supply optimisation model which ensures minimal GHG emissions. The study shows that while CHP systems produce lower environmental impacts than co-firing systems in isolation, determining overall environmental impacts requires analysis of the reference energy systems which are displaced. In addition, if the aims of these systems are to increase renewable energy penetration in line with the renewable electricity and renewable heat targets, the optimal scenario may not be the one which achieves the greatest environmental impact reductions. - Highlights: • Life cycle assessment of biomass co-firing and CHP systems in Ireland is carried out. • GWP, acidification and eutrophication potentials, and energy demand are assessed. • Biomass supply is optimised based on minimising GHG emissions. • CHP systems cause lower environmental impacts than biomass co-firing with peat. • Displacing peat achieves higher GHG emission reductions than replacing fossil heat.

  17. The environmental performance of current and future passenger vehicles: Life cycle assessment based on a novel scenario analysis framework

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bauer, Christian; Hofer, Johannes; Althaus, Hans-Jörg; Del Duce, Andrea; Simons, Andrew

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • We perform Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of current and future passenger vehicles. • We include gasoline, diesel and natural gas as well as battery and fuel cell cars. • An integrated vehicle simulation framework guarantees consistency. • Only electric cars with “clean” electricity and H_2 allow for pollution mitigation. • Complete LCA is mandatory for environmental evaluation of vehicle technologies. - Abstract: This paper contains an evaluation of the environmental performance of a comprehensive set of current and future mid-size passenger vehicles. We present a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) based on a novel integrated vehicle simulation framework, which allows for consistency in vehicle parameter settings and consideration of future technological progress. Conventional and hybrid gasoline, diesel and natural gas cars as well as battery and fuel cell electric vehicles (BEV and FCV) are analyzed, taking into account electricity and hydrogen production chains from fossil, nuclear and renewable energy resources. Our results show that a substantial mitigation of climate change can be obtained with electric passenger vehicles, provided that non-fossil energy resources are used for electricity and hydrogen production. However, in terms of other environmental burdens such as acidification, particulate matter formation, and toxicity, BEV may in some cases and FCV are likely to perform worse than modern fossil fueled cars as a consequence of emissions along vehicle and fuel production chains. Therefore, the electrification of road transportation should be accompanied by an integration of life cycle management in vehicle manufacturing chains as well as energy and transport policies in order to counter potential environmental drawbacks.

  18. Comprehensive assessment of cancer patients' concerns and the association with quality of life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yokoo, Minori; Akechi, Tatsuo; Takayama, Tomoko; Karato, Atsuya; Kikuuchi, Yuki; Okamoto, Naoyuki; Katayama, Kayoko; Nakanotani, Takako; Ogawa, Asao

    2014-07-01

    Comprehensive assessment of perceived concerns can be used to guide supportive care appropriate to individual cancer patients. This study sought to determine the prevalence of cancer patients' concerns and the degree to which these concerns contribute to patients' quality of life. Participants were patients with all types of cancer, who completed an Internet survey questionnaire regarding comprehensive concerns about physical, psychological, psychosocial and economic aspects of having cancer. The questionnaire was based on the newly developed Comprehensive Concerns Assessment Tool and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire. We obtained complete data from 807 patients. Factors related to 'self-management' concerns were the most common (61.2%), followed by concerns about 'psychological symptoms' (48.5%), 'medical information' (46.2%), 'daily living' (29.9%), 'pain' (17.6%), 'constipation' (15.6%) and other 'physical symptoms' (15.2%). Multiple regression analysis revealed that all concerns except those about 'medical information' significantly contributed to quality of life. Cancer patients' concerns were shown to be multidimensional and significantly associated with quality of life. Thus, assessment of patients' concerns should be multidimensional in nature, and a multidisciplinary care team should help patients improve their quality of life. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  19. Remaining life assessment and plant life extension in high temperature components of power and petrochemical plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fleming, A.

    2003-01-01

    This paper explains the reasons why plant life can so easily be extended beyond the original design life. It details the means by which plant life extension is normally achieved, a structured plan for achieving such plant life extension at reasonable cost and some of the key techniques used in assessing the remaining life and discusses the simple repair options available. (author)

  20. Implementing Life Cycle Assessment in Product development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bhander, Gurbakhash Singh

    2003-01-01

    The overall aim of the paper is to provide an understanding of the environmental issues involved in the early stages of product development and the capacity of life cycle assessment techniques to address these issues. The paper aims to outline the problems for the designer in evaluating the envir......The overall aim of the paper is to provide an understanding of the environmental issues involved in the early stages of product development and the capacity of life cycle assessment techniques to address these issues. The paper aims to outline the problems for the designer in evaluating......, and of the opportunities for introducing environmental criteria in the design process through meeting the information requirements of the designer on the different life cycle stages, producing an in-depth understanding of the attitudes of practitioners among product developers to the subject area, and an understanding...... of possible future directions for product development. An Environmentally Conscious Design method is introduced and trade-offs are presented between design degrees of freedom and environmental solutions. Life cycle design frameworks and strategies are addressed. The paper collects experiences and ideas around...

  1. Fatigue mechanics - An assessment of a unified approach to life prediction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Newman, J.C. Jr.; Phillips, E.P.; Swain, M.H.; Everett, R.A. Jr.

    1992-01-01

    Consideration is given to the development of a total-life prediction methodology for aerospace structures based solely on crack propagation from a microstructural defect at stress concentrations. Crack-growth lives were calculated for a given loading condition by integrating the crack-growth-rate-against-delta K relationships for crack growth from a microstructural defect size to failure. Both small- and large-crack growth rate data were used. The assessment was based on data on 2024-T3 aluminum alloy, 2090-T8E41 aluminum-lithium alloy, annealed Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy, and high-strength 4340 steel under either constant-amplitude or spectrum loading. Good agreement was found between fatigue lives measured on notched specimens with those computed from the total-life analysis. 29 refs

  2. Lithium iron phosphate based battery – Assessment of the aging parameters and development of cycle life model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Omar, Noshin; Monem, Mohamed Abdel; Firouz, Yousef; Salminen, Justin; Smekens, Jelle; Hegazy, Omar; Gaulous, Hamid; Mulder, Grietus; Van den Bossche, Peter; Coosemans, Thierry; Van Mierlo, Joeri

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Extended life cycle tests. • Investigation of the battery life cycle at different working conditions. • Investigation of the impact fast charging on the battery performances. • Extraction all required relationship for development of a cycle life model. • Development of a new life cycle model. - Abstract: This paper represents the evaluation of ageing parameters in lithium iron phosphate based batteries, through investigating different current rates, working temperatures and depths of discharge. From these analyses, one can derive the impact of the working temperature on the battery performances over its lifetime. At elevated temperature (40 °C), the performances are less compared to at 25 °C. The obtained mathematical expression of the cycle life as function of the operating temperature reveals that the well-known Arrhenius law cannot be applied to derive the battery lifetime from one temperature to another. Moreover, a number of cycle life tests have been performed to illustrate the long-term capabilities of the proposed battery cells at different discharge constant current rates. The results reveal the harmful impact of high current rates on battery characteristics. On the other hand, the cycle life test at different depth of discharge levels indicates that the battery is able to perform 3221 cycles (till 80% DoD) compared to 34,957 shallow cycles (till 20% DoD). To investigate the cycle life capabilities of lithium iron phosphate based battery cells during fast charging, cycle life tests have been carried out at different constant charge current rates. The experimental analysis indicates that the cycle life of the battery degrades the more the charge current rate increases. From this analysis, one can conclude that the studied lithium iron based battery cells are not recommended to be charged at high current rates. This phenomenon affects the viability of ultra-fast charging systems. Finally, a cycle life model has been developed, which

  3. Developing Green GDP Accounting for Thai Agricultural Sector Using the Economic Input Output - Life Cycle Assessment to Assess Green Growth

    OpenAIRE

    Attavanich, Witsanu; Mungkung, Rattanawan; Mahathanaseth, Itthipong; Sanglestsawai, Santi; Jirajari, Athiwatr

    2016-01-01

    There is no indicator measuring Thailand’s green growth by valuing the resource degradation and environmental damage costs. This article aims to estimate Thailand’s green gross domestic (GDP) that takes into account environmental damage costs with the detailed analysis on the agricultural sector using the Economic Input Output - Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) approach. The representative product in each sector was selected based on the available life cycle inventory data, economic values and...

  4. Life cycle assessment of biomass-to-liquid fuels - Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jungbluth, N.; Buesser, S.; Frischknecht, R.; Tuchschmid, M.

    2008-02-15

    This study elaborates a life cycle assessment of using of BTL-fuels (biomass-to-liquid). This type of fuel is produced in synthesis process from e.g. wood, straw or other biomass. The life cycle inventory data of the fuel provision with different types of conversion concepts are based on the detailed life cycle assessment compiled and published within a European research project. The inventory of the fuel use emissions is based on information published by automobile manufacturers on reductions due to the use of BTL-fuels. Passenger cars fulfilling the EURO3 emission standards are the basis for the comparison. The life cycle inventories of the use of BTL-fuels for driving in passenger cars are investigated from cradle to grave. The full life cycle is investigated with the transportation of one person over one kilometre (pkm) as a functional unit. This includes all stages of the life cycle of a fuel (biomass and fuel production, distribution, combustion) and the necessary infrastructure (e.g. tractors, conversion plant, cars and streets). The use of biofuels is mainly promoted for the reason of reducing the climate change impact and the use of scarce non-renewable resources e.g. crude oil. The possible implementation of BTL-fuel production processes would potentially help to achieve this goal. The emissions of greenhouse gases due to transport services could be reduced by 28% to 69% with the BTL-processes using straw, forest wood or short-rotation wood as a biomass input. The reduction potential concerning non-renewable energy resources varies between 37% und 61%. A previous study showed that many biofuels cause higher environmental impacts than fossil fuels if several types of ecological problems are considered. The study uses two single score impact assessment methods for the evaluation of the overall environmental impacts, namely the Eco-indicator 99 (H,A) and the Swiss ecological scarcity 2006 method. The transportation with the best BTL-fuel from short

  5. Research Trends on Defect and Life Assessment of High Temperature Structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Hyeong Yeon; Lee Jae Han

    2008-01-01

    This report presents the analysis on the state-of-the-art research trends on defect assessment and life evaluation of high temperature structure based on the papers presented in the two international conferences of ASME PVP 2007 / CREEP 8 which was held in 2007 and ICFDSM VI(International Conference on Fatigue Damage of Structural Materials VI) which was held in 2006

  6. Life cycle reliability assessment of new products—A Bayesian model updating approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peng, Weiwen; Huang, Hong-Zhong; Li, Yanfeng; Zuo, Ming J.; Xie, Min

    2013-01-01

    The rapidly increasing pace and continuously evolving reliability requirements of new products have made life cycle reliability assessment of new products an imperative yet difficult work. While much work has been done to separately estimate reliability of new products in specific stages, a gap exists in carrying out life cycle reliability assessment throughout all life cycle stages. We present a Bayesian model updating approach (BMUA) for life cycle reliability assessment of new products. Novel features of this approach are the development of Bayesian information toolkits by separately including “reliability improvement factor” and “information fusion factor”, which allow the integration of subjective information in a specific life cycle stage and the transition of integrated information between adjacent life cycle stages. They lead to the unique characteristics of the BMUA in which information generated throughout life cycle stages are integrated coherently. To illustrate the approach, an application to the life cycle reliability assessment of a newly developed Gantry Machining Center is shown

  7. Model of environmental life cycle assessment for coal mining operations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burchart-Korol, Dorota, E-mail: dburchart@gig.eu; Fugiel, Agata, E-mail: afugiel@gig.eu; Czaplicka-Kolarz, Krystyna, E-mail: kczaplicka@gig.eu; Turek, Marian, E-mail: mturek@gig.eu

    2016-08-15

    This paper presents a novel approach to environmental assessment of coal mining operations, which enables assessment of the factors that are both directly and indirectly affecting the environment and are associated with the production of raw materials and energy used in processes. The primary novelty of the paper is the development of a computational environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) model for coal mining operations and the application of the model for coal mining operations in Poland. The LCA model enables the assessment of environmental indicators for all identified unit processes in hard coal mines with the life cycle approach. The proposed model enables the assessment of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) based on the IPCC method and the assessment of damage categories, such as human health, ecosystems and resources based on the ReCiPe method. The model enables the assessment of GHGs for hard coal mining operations in three time frames: 20, 100 and 500 years. The model was used to evaluate the coal mines in Poland. It was demonstrated that the largest environmental impacts in damage categories were associated with the use of fossil fuels, methane emissions and the use of electricity, processing of wastes, heat, and steel supports. It was concluded that an environmental assessment of coal mining operations, apart from direct influence from processing waste, methane emissions and drainage water, should include the use of electricity, heat and steel, particularly for steel supports. Because the model allows the comparison of environmental impact assessment for various unit processes, it can be used for all hard coal mines, not only in Poland but also in the world. This development is an important step forward in the study of the impacts of fossil fuels on the environment with the potential to mitigate the impact of the coal industry on the environment. - Highlights: • A computational LCA model for assessment of coal mining operations • Identification of

  8. Model of environmental life cycle assessment for coal mining operations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burchart-Korol, Dorota; Fugiel, Agata; Czaplicka-Kolarz, Krystyna; Turek, Marian

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents a novel approach to environmental assessment of coal mining operations, which enables assessment of the factors that are both directly and indirectly affecting the environment and are associated with the production of raw materials and energy used in processes. The primary novelty of the paper is the development of a computational environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) model for coal mining operations and the application of the model for coal mining operations in Poland. The LCA model enables the assessment of environmental indicators for all identified unit processes in hard coal mines with the life cycle approach. The proposed model enables the assessment of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) based on the IPCC method and the assessment of damage categories, such as human health, ecosystems and resources based on the ReCiPe method. The model enables the assessment of GHGs for hard coal mining operations in three time frames: 20, 100 and 500 years. The model was used to evaluate the coal mines in Poland. It was demonstrated that the largest environmental impacts in damage categories were associated with the use of fossil fuels, methane emissions and the use of electricity, processing of wastes, heat, and steel supports. It was concluded that an environmental assessment of coal mining operations, apart from direct influence from processing waste, methane emissions and drainage water, should include the use of electricity, heat and steel, particularly for steel supports. Because the model allows the comparison of environmental impact assessment for various unit processes, it can be used for all hard coal mines, not only in Poland but also in the world. This development is an important step forward in the study of the impacts of fossil fuels on the environment with the potential to mitigate the impact of the coal industry on the environment. - Highlights: • A computational LCA model for assessment of coal mining operations • Identification of

  9. Life cycle integrated thermoeconomic assessment method for energy conversion systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kanbur, Baris Burak; Xiang, Liming; Dubey, Swapnil; Choo, Fook Hoong; Duan, Fei

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • A new LCA integrated thermoeconomic approach is presented. • The new unit fuel cost is found 4.8 times higher than the classic method. • The new defined parameter increased the sustainability index by 67.1%. • The case studies are performed for countries with different CO 2 prices. - Abstract: Life cycle assessment (LCA) based thermoeconomic modelling has been applied for the evaluation of energy conversion systems since it provided more comprehensive and applicable assessment criteria. This study proposes an improved thermoeconomic method, named as life cycle integrated thermoeconomic assessment (LCiTA), which combines the LCA based enviroeconomic parameters in the production steps of the system components and fuel with the conventional thermoeconomic method for the energy conversion systems. A micro-cogeneration system is investigated and analyzed with the LCiTA method, the comparative studies show that the unit cost of fuel by using the LCiTA method is 3.8 times higher than the conventional thermoeconomic model. It is also realized that the enviroeconomic parameters during the operation of the system components do not have significant impacts on the system streams since the exergetic parameters are dominant in the thermoeconomic calculations. Moreover, the improved sustainability index is found roundly 67.2% higher than the previously defined sustainability index, suggesting that the enviroeconomic and thermoeconomic parameters decrease the impact of the exergy destruction in the sustainability index definition. To find the feasible operation conditions for the micro-cogeneration system, different assessment strategies are presented. Furthermore, a case study for Singapore is conducted to see the impact of the forecasted carbon dioxide prices on the thermoeconomic performance of the micro-cogeneration system.

  10. Life cycle assessment of the application of nanoclays in wire coating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tellaetxe, A; Blázquez, M; Unzueta, I; Arteche, A; Egizabal, A; Ermini, V; Rose, J; Chaurand, P

    2012-01-01

    A life cycle assessment (LCA) is carried out to compare nanoclay-reinforced polymer wire coatings with conventional ones. While the conventional wire coatings contain standard halogen free retardants, in reinforced coatings, montmorillonite (nanoclay) is incorporated into electric cable linings as a rheological agent for an increased resistance to fire. In addition, a reduced load of standard halogen free retardants is obtained. The synergistic effect of the montmorillonite on traditional flame retardant additives (by the formation of a three-dimensional char network) can lead to a revolution in wire production. The application of nanoclays contributes also to anti-dripping effect and flexibility increase. Some producers have already started commercializing wire with nanotechnology-based coating; in the short term the use of nanoclay in wire coating production will probably reach a significant market share replacing traditional formulations. The main aim of this study is to compare the environmental impacts along the life cycle of a traditional wire coating (mineral flame retardants like ATH or MDH in a polymer matrix) with the nanoclay-reinforced wire coating, where the montmorillonite replaces a low percentage of the mineral flame retardant. The system boundaries of the study include the following unit processes: nanoclay production, thermoplastic material and mineral flame retardants production, cable coating manufacturing by extrusion and different end of life scenarios (recycling, incineration and landfill disposal). Whereas nanoreinforced composites have shown and increased fire retardance, the addition of nanomaterials seems to have no significant relevance in the environmental assessment. However, the lack of nano-specific characterization factors for nanomaterials and emission rates associated to the different life cycle stages -mainly in the extrusion and use phase, where accidental combustions can take place- still remains a challenge for realistic life

  11. Life-Cycle Assessments of Selected NASA Ground-Based Test Facilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sydnor, George Honeycutt

    2012-01-01

    In the past two years, two separate facility-specific life cycle assessments (LCAs) have been performed as summer student projects. The first project focused on 13 facilities managed by NASA s Aeronautics Test Program (ATP), an organization responsible for large, high-energy ground test facilities that accomplish the nation s most advanced aerospace research. A facility inventory was created for each facility, and the operational-phase carbon footprint and environmental impact were calculated. The largest impacts stemmed from electricity and natural gas used directly at the facility and to generate support processes such as compressed air and steam. However, in specialized facilities that use unique inputs like R-134a, R-14, jet fuels, or nitrogen gas, these sometimes had a considerable effect on the facility s overall environmental impact. The second LCA project was conducted on the NASA Ames Arc Jet Complex and also involved creating a facility inventory and calculating the carbon footprint and environmental impact. In addition, operational alternatives were analyzed for their effectiveness at reducing impact. Overall, the Arc Jet Complex impact is dominated by the natural-gas fired boiler producing steam on-site, but alternatives were provided that could reduce the impact of the boiler operation, some of which are already being implemented. The data and results provided by these LCA projects are beneficial to both the individual facilities and NASA as a whole; the results have already been used in a proposal to reduce carbon footprint at Ames Research Center. To help future life cycle projects, several lessons learned have been recommended as simple and effective infrastructure improvements to NASA, including better utility metering and data recording and standardization of modeling choices and methods. These studies also increased sensitivity to and appreciation for quantifying the impact of NASA s activities.

  12. Comparative life cycle assessment and life cycle costing of lodging in the Himalaya

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bhochhibhoya, Silu; Pizzol, Massimo; Achten, Wouter M.J.; Maskey, Ramesh Kumar; Zanetti, Michela; Cavalli, Raffaele

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The main aim of the study is to assess the environmental and economic impacts of the lodging sector located in the Himalayan region of Nepal, from a life cycle perspective. The assessment should support decision making in technology and material selection for minimal environmental and

  13. Fatigue Life Assessment of Structures Using Electro-Mechanical Impedance Technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhalla, S

    2012-01-01

    This paper describes a new experimental approach for fatigue life assessment of structures based on the equivalent stiffness determined by surface bonded piezo-impedance transducers through the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique. The remaining life of the component (in terms of the cycles of loading that can be sustained) is non-dimensionally correlated with the equivalent identified stiffness. The proposed approach circumvents the determination of the absolute stiffness of the joint and employs the admittance signature of the surface-bonded piezo-transducers directly. The second part of the paper briefly describes the recent advances made in the field of impedance based structural health monitoring (SHM) in terms of low-cost hardware system and improved damage diagnosis through the integration of global dynamic and EMI techniques using the same set of piezo-sensors. Other recent applications such as bio-sensors and traffic sensors pioneered at the Smart Structures and Dynamics Laboratory (SSDL) are also briefly covered.

  14. The value of the exergetic life cycle assessment besides the LCA

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cornelissen, Rene; Hirs, Gerard

    2002-01-01

    In this paper the value of the exergetic life cycle assessment (ELCA) has been analysed. The ELCA uses the framework of the life cycle assessment (LCA) and can be seen as the exergy analysis of a complete life cycle. The value of the ELCA besides the LCA has been discussed. It is shown that the ELCA

  15. Life cycle assessment of peat utilisation in Finland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maelkki, H.

    1997-01-01

    Environmental issues related to the production of peat and its use in energy generation have been the subject of public debate and research over the past few years in Finland. Peat is both an indigenous and a locally utilised fuel. Finland has no fossil fuel resources, and the transportation distances of imported fuels into Finland are normally long. In Finland the large peat resources can be utilised locally and peat-burning power plants are situated near the peatlands. Peat production and energy conversion methods are being continuously developed to make use of the environmentally and technically best available technology. In Finland peat formation exceeds peat utilisation and an increase in peat utilisation is therefore sustainable. The life cycle assessment concept gives an opportunity to evaluate and improve the environmental quality of peat utilisation options. The study focuses on an inventory analysis, but some of the most common methods of impact assessment with valuation are also included. The study also includes a comparison of fossil fuels and a discussion part. All the calculated results are based on net emissions. The background emissions of natural peatland are subtracted from the emissions of the utilisation phases. Milled peat and sod peat are reported in this study. Horticultural peat is studied simultaneously, but it will be reported later. The Sod Wave, Haku and Tehoturve methods are studied for the production of peat. The power plants of the study are Kempele heating plant and Rauhalahti cogeneration plant. The functional unit is 1 MWh produced total energy. The temporal boundaries vary from 112 to 128 years, depending on the peat production methods used. The restoration time is 100 years in all options. The emissions of greenhouse gases are based on the reports of The Finnish Research Programme on Climate Change. The water emissions are based on control monitoring reports from 1994 and 1995. The water emissions of the restoration phase are

  16. Software Integration of Life Cycle Assessment and Economic Analysis for Process Evaluation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kalakula, Sawitree; Malakula, Pomthong; Siemanonda, Kitipat

    2013-01-01

    This study is focused on the sustainable process design of bioethanol production from cassava rhizome. The study includes: process simulation, sustainability analysis, economic evaluation and life cycle assessment (LCA). A steady state process simulation if performed to generate a base case design...... of the bioethanol conversion process using cassava rhizome as a feedstock. The sustainability analysis is performed to analyze the relevant indicators in sustainability metrics, to definedesign/retrofit targets for process improvements. Economic analysis is performed to evaluate the profitability of the process........ Also, simultaneously with sustainability analysis, the life cycle impact on environment associated with bioethanol production is performed. Finally, candidate alternative designs are generated and compared with the base case design in terms of LCA, economics, waste, energy usage and enviromental impact...

  17. Maintenance and life assessment of steam generators at Embalse Nuclear Station

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luna, P.; Diaz, G.; Sveruga, H.; Sainz, R.

    2006-01-01

    The Embalse Nuclear Generating Station (ENGS) has four vertical I-800 U-tubes Steam Generators (SGs) manufactured by Babcock and Wilcox (B and W). They are one of the most important components from the point of view of safety and cost-related elements for potential life extensions in case of a replacement thereof. A Life Management program has been started covering the entire plant and starting with the Life Assessment (LA) of this component which consists in a systematic way to evaluate aging mechanisms focused on the plant refurbishment and life extension. Because of this, maintenance-based ageing assessment from beginning of operation is analyzed and current LA-frame maintenance and inspections programs are carried out in order to maintain a high availability of the SGs then to enable the planning for the plant life extension. The most important taken actions have been the Eddy Current (EC) In Service Inspection program which performs 100% of the tubes of two SG every 1.5 years started in 1992, the mechanical cleaning by blasting of the internal tube surface, the sludge removal from the secondary side tubesheet, the divider plate replacement, the installation of antivibration bars (AVB's), installation of TSP inspection ports and an exhaustive inspection of the secondary internals as a preliminary result of the Life Assessment started during early 2000. The most relevant aging mechanism up to 2004 was the Flow Accelerated Corrosion (FAC) of U-bend supports and consequent fretting of tubes. The eddy current inspections allowed the fretting degradation to be detected and mitigated by installing AVB's. Currently, efficiency of this mitigating action is being performed by vibration measurements and visual inspections. However, other degradation mechanism that could have origin due to the U-bend FAC like loose part damage (LPD) is being to be analyzed since could be an issue in the future. At present, FAC degradation on the cold leg side and sludge deposition on the

  18. Comparative environmental life cycle assessment of composite materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    De Vegt, O.M.; Haije, W.G.

    1997-12-01

    The aim of the present study is to compare and quantify the environmental impact of three rotorblades made of different materials and to establish which stage in the life cycle contributes most. The life cycle of a product can be represented by the production phase, including depletion of raw materials (mining) and production (machining) of products, the utilisation phase, including use of energy, maintenance and cleaning, and the disposal phase, including landfill, incineration, recycling, etc. The environmental impact of a product is not only determined by the materials selected but also by the function of the product itself. E.g. when natural fibres are applied in vehicles as a substitution for metals the environmental impact in the use phase will be reduced due to a lower energy consumption caused by a lower car weight. The influence on the environmental impact of the production phase must also be taken into account. The material relation between the production phase and the use phase and the disposal phase is complicated. In general the lifetime of a product use phase can be extended (positive aspect), e.g. by application of a coating onto the surface. Due to the coating the product can not easily be recycled, which is a negative aspect. The three types of composites used in the rotorblade of the wind energy converter considered in this study are: flaxfibre reinforced epoxy, carbon fibre reinforced epoxy and glassfibre reinforced polyester. The assessment is performed using the computer program Simapro 3, which is based on the Dutch CML method for the environmental life-cycle assessment of products using the Eco-Indicator 95 evaluation method. The CML method defines five phases for an LCA: goal definition and scoping; inventory; classification; impact assessment; and improvement analysis. The improvement analysis is not part of this work. Performing an LCA is a time-consuming process due to the detailed information that is required. In chapter five some

  19. Vocational Education Students' Generic Working Life Competencies: Developing a Self-Assessment Instrument

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kyndt, Eva; Janssens, Ine; Coertjens, Liesje; Gijbels, David; Donche, Vincent; Van Petegem, Peter

    2014-01-01

    The current study reports on the process of developing a self-assessment instrument for vocational education students' generic working life competencies. The instrument was developed based on a competence framework and in close collaboration with several vocational education teachers and intermediary organisations offering various human…

  20. Representativeness of environmental impact assessment methods regarding Life Cycle Inventories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esnouf, Antoine; Latrille, Éric; Steyer, Jean-Philippe; Helias, Arnaud

    2018-04-15

    Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) characterises all the exchanges between human driven activities and the environment, thus representing a powerful approach for tackling the environmental impact of a production system. However, LCA practitioners must still choose the appropriate Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) method to use and are expected to justify this choice: impacts should be relevant facing the concerns of the study and misrepresentations should be avoided. This work aids practitioners in evaluating the adequacy between the assessed environmental issues and studied production system. Based on a geometrical standpoint of LCA framework, Life Cycle Inventories (LCIs) and LCIA methods were localized in the vector space spanned by elementary flows. A proximity measurement, the Representativeness Index (RI), is proposed to explore the relationship between those datasets (LCIs and LCIA methods) through an angular distance. RIs highlight LCIA methods that measure issues for which the LCI can be particularly harmful. A high RI indicates a close proximity between a LCI and a LCIA method, and highlights a better representation of the elementary flows by the LCIA method. To illustrate the benefits of the proposed approach, representativeness of LCIA methods regarding four electricity mix production LCIs from the ecoinvent database are presented. RIs for 18 LCIA methods (accounting for a total of 232 impact categories) were calculated on these LCIs and the relevance of the methods are discussed. RIs prove to be a criterion for distinguishing the different LCIA methods and could thus be employed by practitioners for deeper interpretations of LCIA results. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Development and Validation of the Life Sciences Assessment: A Measure of Preschool Children's Conceptions of Basic Life Sciences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maherally, Uzma Nooreen

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a science assessment tool termed the Life Sciences Assessment (LSA) in order to assess preschool children's conceptions of basic life sciences. The hypothesis was that the four sub-constructs, each of which can be measured through a series of questions on the LSA, will make a significant…

  2. Sensitivity analysis in life cycle assessment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Groen, E.A.; Heijungs, R.; Bokkers, E.A.M.; Boer, de I.J.M.

    2014-01-01

    Life cycle assessments require many input parameters and many of these parameters are uncertain; therefore, a sensitivity analysis is an essential part of the final interpretation. The aim of this study is to compare seven sensitivity methods applied to three types of case stud-ies. Two

  3. A life cycle assessment framework combining nutritional and environmental health impacts of diet: a case study on milk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stylianou, Katerina S.; Heller, Martin C.; Fulgoni III, Victor L.

    2016-01-01

    of less healthy foods (sugar-sweetened beverages). Further studies are needed to test whether this conclusion holds within a more comprehensive assessment of environmental and nutritional health impacts. Conclusions This case study provides the first quantitative epidemiology-based estimate......Purpose While there has been considerable effort to understand the environmental impact of a food or diet, nutritional effects are not usually included in food-related life cycle assessment (LCA). Methods We developed a novel Combined Nutritional and Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (CONE......-LCA) framework that evaluates and compares in parallel the environmental and nutritional effects of foods or diets. We applied this framework to assess human health impacts, expressed in Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), in a proof-of conceptcase study that investigated the environmental and nutritional...

  4. Life management of power plant based on structural damage testing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tallermo, H; Klevtsov, I [Thermal Engineering Department of Tallinn Technical University, Tallinn (Estonia); Arras, V [Eesti Energia, Tallinn (Estonia)

    1999-12-31

    Life management system is based on the valid nowadays in Estonian power plants regulation documentation. The system allows to estimate stress distribution in components, find computational assessment of cumulated creep damage, determine when and where it is necessary to cut off the particular number of microsamples or take replicas. Finally, the real metal condition may be assessed on the basis of metallographic specimen research and reasonable 3-R decision - run, repair, replacement - made on further component use. (orig.) 6 refs.

  5. Life management of power plant based on structural damage testing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tallermo, H.; Klevtsov, I. [Thermal Engineering Department of Tallinn Technical University, Tallinn (Estonia); Arras, V. [Eesti Energia, Tallinn (Estonia)

    1998-12-31

    Life management system is based on the valid nowadays in Estonian power plants regulation documentation. The system allows to estimate stress distribution in components, find computational assessment of cumulated creep damage, determine when and where it is necessary to cut off the particular number of microsamples or take replicas. Finally, the real metal condition may be assessed on the basis of metallographic specimen research and reasonable 3-R decision - run, repair, replacement - made on further component use. (orig.) 6 refs.

  6. Life cycle energy, environment and economic assessment of soybean-based biodiesel as an alternative automotive fuel in China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hu, Zhiyuan; Tan, Piqiang; Lou, Diming; Yan, Xiaoyu

    2008-01-01

    Life cycle energy, environment and economic assessment for conventional diesel (CD) and soybean-based biodiesel (SB) in China was carried out in this paper. The results of the assessment have shown that compared with CD, SB has similar source-to-tank (StT) total energy consumption, 76% lower StT fossil energy consumption, 79% higher source-to-wheel (StW) nitrogen oxides (NO X ) emissions, 31%, 44%, 36%, 29%, and 67% lower StW hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), sulfur oxides (SO X ), and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, respectively. SB is thus considered to be much more renewable and cleaner than CD. However, the retail price of SB at gas stations would be about 86% higher than that of CD without government subsidy according to the cost assessment and China had to import large amount of soybean to meet the demand in recent years. Therefore, although SB is one of the most promising clean and alternative fuels, currently it is not a good choice for China. It is strategically important for China to diversify the feedstock for biodiesel and to consider other kinds of alternative fuels to substitute CD. (author)

  7. [Culture and quality of life assessment in Chinese populations].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xia, Ping; Li, Ning-Xiu; Liu, Chao-Jie; Lü, Yu-Bo; Zhang, Qiang; Ou, Ai-Hua

    2010-07-01

    To investigate the impact of cultural factors on quality of life (QOL) and to identify appropriate ways of dividing sub-populations for population norm-based quality of life assessment. The WHOQOL-BREF was used as a QOL instrument. Another questionnaire was developed to assess cultural values. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken in 1090 Guangzhou residents, which included 635 respondents from communities and 455 patients who visited outpatient departments of hospitals. Cronbach's a coefficients and item-domain correlation coefficients were calculated to test the reliability and validity of the WHOQOL-BREF, respectively. Student t test, ANOVA and stepwise multiple linear regression analysis were performed to identify the variables that might have an impact on the QOL. Two regression models with and without including cultural variables were constructed, and the extent of impact exerted by the cultural factors was assessed through a comparison of the change of adjusted R square values. A total of 1052 (96%) valid questionnaire were returned. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the WHOQOL-BREF ranged from 0.67 to 0.78. Age, education, occupation and family income were correlated with all of the domains of the WHOQOL-BREF. Chronic condition was correlated with physical, psychological, and social relationship domains of the WHOQOL-BREF. Gender was correlated with physical and psychological domains of the WHOQOL-BREF. The multiple regression analysis showed that social and demographic factors contributed to 6.3%, 13.6%, 10.4% and 8.7% of the predicted variances for the physical, psychological, social relationship, and environment domains, respectively. Social support, horizontal collectivism, vertical individualism, escape acceptance, fear of death, health value, supernatural belief had a significant impact on QOL. However, social support was the only one factor that had an impact on all of the four QOL domains. It is necessary to divide sub-cultural populations for

  8. Assessment of primary school students’ level of understanding the concepts of 2nd grade life sciences course based on different variables

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Altıntaş Gülşen

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The course of Life Sciences is one of the pivot courses taught in the first three years of primary school. Ensuring children get to know their environment and gain correct information related to their problems by making them investigate their natural and socio-cultural environment as well as providing them with necessary information, skills and behaviors for environmental adaptation are among the main purposes of Life Sciences course. The concepts to be instilled in students in line with these purposes are important. Since concepts are mostly intellectual and non-physical, they can only exist tangibly through examples. This study aims to assess Primary School Students’ Level of Understanding the Concepts of 2nd Grade Life Sciences Course Based on Different Variables. 17 concepts included in the 2nd Grade Life Sciences course within the subject of School Excitement were addressed within the study, and students were requested to define and exemplify these concepts. A total of 102 students from five different primary schools of upper-middle and lower socioeconomic classes located in Manisa and Istanbul were included in the study in line with the intentional maximum diversity sample selection. The answers given by students for each concept were categorized and analyzed in terms of liking or disliking home, school, technology and the course of Life Sciences.

  9. Risk Assessment and Life Cycle Assessment, Environmental Strategies, Nordic Workshop, Vedbæk 1999

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Poll, Christian

    At a Nordic workshop on Product-oriented Environmental Strategies the roles of risk and hazard assessment and life cycle assessment of products in the future regulation of chemicals were discussed by participants representing administration, academia and industry from the Nordic countries....... This report compiles the papers and presentations given at the workshop. The papers present and discuss the different assessment tools and procedures - for individual chemicals through hazard and risk assessments and for products, materials and services through life-cycle assessment. The report also contains......, consultants and private enterprises to consider these well-established tools as individually necessary for the future regulation of the chemical pressure on the environment and to accept them as complementary to each other. Together with other process- or chain oriented tools like Substance or Material Flow...

  10. Assessment of chemical emissions in life cycle impact assessment - focus on low substance data availability and

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Henrik Fred

    2004-01-01

    impact approaches, i.e. the assessment factor-based PNEC approach and the PAF-based approach, shows pros and cons for both. However, taking the comparative nature of LCA and its aim for best estimate into account, and combining this with the possibilities for reducing the data demand of an EC50-based PAF......Life cycle assessment (LCA) studies on products or services seem generally to be carried out without a proper inclusion of potential toxic impacts from emissions of chemicals. The first goal of the thesis is to investigate this statement and to clarify whether or not the outcome of an LCA can...... of substance data on known emissions. To be able to characterize the potential toxic impacts on humans and the environment of chemical emissions, substance data on fate and effect are needed. The second goal of this thesis is to investigate how to deal with low substance data availability on especially effect...

  11. Life Cycle Assessment on Cement Treated Recycling Base (CTRB Construction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sudarno Sudarno

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available LCA is one of the few environmental management techniques that are used to perform a risk assessment, environmental performance evaluation, environmental auditing, and environmental impact assessment and must be applied to the construction CTRB. The purpose of this study was to determine the amount of energy consumption is used and determine the amount of emissions (CO2 in the implementation of the Foundation Layer Top (base course with the former asphalt pavement aggregate blended cement / Recycling Cement Treated Base (CTRB. This study uses: (i Compilation and data inventory of relevant inputs and outputs of a product system; (ii Evaluating the potential environmental impacts associated with the data input and output; (iii Interpret the results of the inventory analysis and impact assessment in relation to the research objectives. The results showed that Energy consumption in the implementation of recycling pavement (CTRB is 225.46 MJ / km of roads and the resulting GHG emissions 17,43Ton CO2 / km of roads. Previous researchers to calculate the energy consumption of road works on the implementation of conventional (hotmix is 383.46 MJ / km of roads and the resulting GHG emissions 28.24 Ton CO2 / km of roads. If the calculated difference between a job and Hotmix CTRB and then a comparison is made CTRB energy consumption is 158 MJ / km of road, this happens 70.07% savings and GHG emissions resulting difference is 10.81 tons of CO2 / km of road, resulting in a decrease in 62,02%.

  12. Bioeconomy with algae - Life cycle sustainability assessment including biophysical climate impacts (ALBEDO) of an algae-based biorefinery

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hingsamer, Maria; Bird, Neil; Kaltenegger, Ingrid; Jungmeier, Gerfried; Kleinegris, Dorinde; Lamers, Packo; Boussiba, Sammy; Rodolfi, Liliana; Norsker, Niels Henrik; Jacobs, Fons; Fenton, Marcus; Ranjbar, Reza; Hujanen, Mervi; Sanz, Macarena

    2017-01-01

    The viability of using microalgae for energy production depends on the overall sustainability (environmental, economic, social). The project FUEL4ME applies a life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) providing scientific indicators for economic (e.g. operational costs, investment cost, trade

  13. Bridging Arctic environmental science and life cycle assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johnsen, Fredrik Moltu

    2014-01-01

    Current research aims to make the impact assessment module of life cycle assessment (LCA) less site-generic and thus more relevant to particular regions. The Arctic region attracts its share of interest when it comes to environmental issues, but little research has been performed with the explicit...

  14. Life cycle assessment of asphalt pavement maintenance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    This study aims at developing a life cycle assessment (LCA) model to quantify the impact of pavement preservation on energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The construction stage contains material, manufacture, transportation and plac...

  15. Environmental impact assessment of european non-ferro mining industries through life-cycle assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hisan Farjana, Shahjadi; Huda, Nazmul; Parvez Mahmud, M. A.

    2018-05-01

    European mining industries are the vast industrial sector which contributes largely on their economy which constitutes of ferro and non-ferro metals and minerals industries. The non-ferro metals extraction and processing industries require focus of attention due to sustainability concerns as their manufacturing processes are highly energy intensive and impacts globally on environment. This paper analyses major environmental effects caused by European metal industries based on the life-cycle impact analysis technologies. This research work is the first work in considering the comparative environmental impact analysis of European non-ferro metal industries which will reveal their technological similarities and dissimilarities to assess their environmental loads. The life-cycle inventory datasets are collected from the EcoInvent database while the analysis is done using the CML baseline and ReCipe endpoint method using SimaPro software version 8.4. The CML and ReCipe method are chosen because they are specialized impact assessment methods for European continent. The impact categories outlined for discussion here are human health, global warming and ecotoxicity. The analysis results reveal that the gold industry is vulnerable for the environment due to waste emission and similar result retained by silver mines a little bit. But copper, lead, manganese and zinc mining processes and industries are environment friendly in terms of metal extraction technologies and waste emissions.

  16. Assessing the influence of actinic keratosis on patients' quality of life - The AKQoL questionnaire

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Esmann, S; Vinding, G R; Christensen, K B

    2013-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Limited knowledge is available regarding quality of life in patients with actinic keratosis (AK). OBJECTIVES: To develop and validate a disease-specific questionnaire - the Actinic Keratosis Quality of Life questionnaire (AKQoL) - to assess the quality of life of patients with AK....... METHODS: Based on an extensive literature search and patient interviews, the AKQoL was developed in a stepwise approach. An initial mega-questionnaire was composed and subsequently shortened based on statistical differences between patients and controls. A test-retest was done to establish the reliability....... Items are scored on a standard 4-point Likert scale and summarized in a total score of maximum 27 points. A higher score indicates greater quality of life impairment. CONCLUSIONS: A nine-item questionnaire for patients with AK was developed. The AKQoL has three domains covering emotions, function...

  17. Assessing environmental impacts in a life cycle perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

    2005-01-01

    is focused on the product system which comprises all the processes which the product and its components meet throughout their lives- from the extraction of raw materials via manufacture, use and waste management to final disposal, or in short from the cradle to the grave (see Figure 1). The focus......What are the environmental impacts from an armchairor a cellular phone or a steak, if you take into account all the activities needed to produce, maintain, use or consume and eventually dispose of it? Life cycle impact assessment is the part of life cycle assessment (LCA) where the inventory...... of material flows in the life cycle of a product are translated into environmental impacts and consumption of resources, and questions like these are given an answer. The environmental impacts may range from very local (e.g. land use) to global (like climate change). As an environmental analysis tool, LCA...

  18. Updating of U.S. Wood Product Life-Cycle Assessment Data for Environmental Product Declarations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richard Bergman; Elaine Oneil; Maureen Puettmann; Ivan Eastin; Indroneil Ganguly

    2014-01-01

    The marketplace has an increasing desire for credible and transparent product eco-labels based on life-cycle assessment (LCA) data, especially involving international trade. Over the past several years, stakeholders in the U.S. wood products industry have developed many such “eco-labels” under the ISO standard of LCA-based environmental product declarations (EPDs). The...

  19. Towards life cycle sustainability assessent of cities. A review of background knowledge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albertí, Jaume; Balaguera, Alejandra; Brodhag, Christian; Fullana-I-Palmer, Pere

    2017-12-31

    This article analyses whether existing LCA and sustainability methods can be used in the assessment of a city or an urban region. The approach is performed through the review of current existing LCA-based and sustainability standards and guidelines. A focus is put into those LCA-based standards specially designed for the built environment. Moreover, a review of non-LCA based standards, indices and guides for the assessment of the sustainability of countries, cities or urban regions is done. The purpose is to check if these assessment tools can provide good results in the absence of LCA-based assessments for cities and urban regions. This review demonstrates the lack of consensus in the definition of both, the city and its boundaries, which hinders the development of useful sustainability standards. Furthermore, it is concluded that current sustainability assessment tools miss, at least, one of these aspects: (i) holistic point of view, (ii) focus on various environmental impacts, (iii) a Life Cycle (LC) perspective, and (iv) the possibility to compare the results among different cities or urban regions. From the LCA perspective, the deficiencies found also include the need for a definition of the function, functional unit (FU), and reference flow (RF) of neighbourhoods, cities, and urban regions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Quality of life in patients with vitiligo: a cross-sectional study based on Vitiligo Quality of Life index (VitiQoL).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hedayat, Kosar; Karbakhsh, Mojgan; Ghiasi, Maryam; Goodarzi, Azadeh; Fakour, Yousef; Akbari, Zahra; Ghayoumi, Afsaneh; Ghandi, Narges

    2016-06-07

    Vitiligo is a multi-factorial pigmentary skin disorder. Recently, the importance of emotional and psychological issues is proposed in incidence, progression, relapse and remission of vitiligo. There are limited studies conducted in developing countries, which assess life quality of patients with vitiligo. The aim of this study was the application and evaluation of a disease-specific quality of life index in Iranian patients, for the first time. This cross-sectional biphasic study was conducted on 25 patients as a pilot and another 173 patients as the main study group, in Razi Hospital, Tehran, Iran, 2013-2014. Persian version of Vitiligo Quality of Life index (VitiQoL) was developed with backward-forward method. Based on the pilot study, the validity and reliability were assessed. The Vitiligo Area and Score Index (VASI), VitiQoL, and their relationship, demographic and clinical characteristic of patients were measured. The Mean and standard deviation of the VitiQoL score was 30.5 ± 14.5 (range 0-60 in Persian version). There was a significant relationship between VASI score and VitiQoL (p = 0.015, r = 0.187). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed three important factors within VitiQoL: participation limitation, stigma, and behavior. In subscale analysis based on behavior factor, female patients had poorer quality of life (p = 0.02). Concomitant psychiatric problems, e.g. anxiety and depression, were not associated with QOL; however, they were near to being meaningful (p = 0.06, r = 0.14). VitiQoL is a valid index in estimating life quality of vitiligo patients and has proper relation to disease severity. Focusing on patient's life quality is an important entity in the management of vitiligo patients; relevant supportive group-based consultations and therapies are also important arms when approaching vitiligo.

  1. An Internet-Based Physical Activity Intervention to Improve Quality of Life of Inactive Older Adults

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Broekhuizen, Karen; de Gelder, Jelle; Wijsman, Carolien A

    2016-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Increasing physical activity is a viable strategy for improving both the health and quality of life of older adults. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess if an Internet-based intervention aimed to increase physical activity was effective in improving quality of life of inact...

  2. Analysis of material recovery facilities for use in life-cycle assessment

    OpenAIRE

    Pressley, Phillip N.; Levis, James W.; Damgaard, Anders; Barlaz, Morton A.; DeCarolis, Joseph F.

    2015-01-01

    Insights derived from life-cycle assessment of solid waste management strategies depend critically on assumptions, data, and modeling at the unit process level. Based on new primary data, a process model was developed to estimate the cost and energy use associated with material recovery facilities (MRFs), which are responsible for sorting recyclables into saleable streams and as such represent a key piece of recycling infrastructure. The model includes four modules, each with a different proc...

  3. Health-related quality of life assessments in osteoarthritis during NSAID treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Bock, G H; Hermans, J; van Marwijk, H W; Kaptein, A A; Mulder, J D

    1996-08-01

    There is some evidence that nabumetone (1000 mg once daily) in comparison with piroxicam (20 mg once daily) in patients with OA in general practice is associated with a lower incidence and less severe occurrence of stomach pain but with more withdrawals due to lack of efficacy. The aim of this analysis was to investigate whether these differences are reflected in health-related quality of life assessments. Patients (n = 198) included in this study were selected in general practice according to a protocol. The patients were randomized and treated for a period of six weeks. Clinical assessments were performed by the general practitioner (CP) during treatment. The Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), the Activities of Daily Living (ADL), and a pain questionnaire were filled out by the patients before and after treatment. As measured with the SIP, the ADL and the pain questionnaire, there were no significant differences between nabumetone and piroxicam. The correlations between (changes in) patient assessments and (changes in) clinical assessments were low. The differences between the two drugs regarding withdrawals and adverse events were not reflected by patient health-related quality of life assessments. There was a low correlation between patient health-related quality of life assessment and clinical assessments. To get a complete picture of the efficacy and safety of a drug, patient health-related quality of life assessments should be a part of a clinical trial.

  4. Assessment of end-of-life design in solid-state lighting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dzombak, Rachel; Padon, Jack; Salsbury, Josh; Dillon, Heather

    2017-08-01

    Consumers in the US market and across the globe are beginning to widely adopt light emitting diode (LED) lighting products while the technology continues to undergo significant changes. While LED products are evolving to consume less energy, they are also more complex than traditional lighting products with a higher number of parts and a larger number of electronic components. Enthusiasm around the efficiency and long expected life span of LED lighting products is valid, but research to optimize product characteristics and design is needed. This study seeks to address that gap by characterizing LED lighting products' suitability for end of life (EOL) recycling and disposal. The authors disassembled and assessed 17 different lighting products to understand how designs differ between brands and manufacture year. Products were evaluated based on six parameters to quantify the design. The analysis indicates that while the efficiency of LED products has improved dramatically in the recent past, product designers and manufacturers could incorporate design strategies to improve environmental performance of lighting products at end-of-life.

  5. Life Cycle Assessment of Wall Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramachandran, Sriranjani

    Natural resource depletion and environmental degradation are the stark realities of the times we live in. As awareness about these issues increases globally, industries and businesses are becoming interested in understanding and minimizing the ecological footprints of their activities. Evaluating the environmental impacts of products and processes has become a key issue, and the first step towards addressing and eventually curbing climate change. Additionally, companies are finding it beneficial and are interested in going beyond compliance using pollution prevention strategies and environmental management systems to improve their environmental performance. Life-cycle Assessment (LCA) is an evaluative method to assess the environmental impacts associated with a products' life-cycle from cradle-to-grave (i.e. from raw material extraction through to material processing, manufacturing, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and finally, disposal or recycling). This study focuses on evaluating building envelopes on the basis of their life-cycle analysis. In order to facilitate this analysis, a small-scale office building, the University Services Building (USB), with a built-up area of 148,101 ft2 situated on ASU campus in Tempe, Arizona was studied. The building's exterior envelope is the highlight of this study. The current exterior envelope is made of tilt-up concrete construction, a type of construction in which the concrete elements are constructed horizontally and tilted up, after they are cured, using cranes and are braced until other structural elements are secured. This building envelope is compared to five other building envelope systems (i.e. concrete block, insulated concrete form, cast-in-place concrete, steel studs and curtain wall constructions) evaluating them on the basis of least environmental impact. The research methodology involved developing energy models, simulating them and generating changes in energy consumption due to the above mentioned

  6. Life Cycle Assessment and Optimization-Based Decision Analysis of Construction Waste Recycling for a LEED-Certified University Building

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Murat Kucukvar

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The current waste management literature lacks a comprehensive LCA of the recycling of construction materials that considers both process and supply chain-related impacts as a whole. Furthermore, an optimization-based decision support framework has not been also addressed in any work, which provides a quantifiable understanding about the potential savings and implications associated with recycling of construction materials from a life cycle perspective. The aim of this research is to present a multi-criteria optimization model, which is developed to propose economically-sound and environmentally-benign construction waste management strategies for a LEED-certified university building. First, an economic input-output-based hybrid life cycle assessment model is built to quantify the total environmental impacts of various waste management options: recycling, conventional landfilling and incineration. After quantifying the net environmental pressures associated with these waste treatment alternatives, a compromise programming model is utilized to determine the optimal recycling strategy considering environmental and economic impacts, simultaneously. The analysis results show that recycling of ferrous and non-ferrous metals significantly contributed to reductions in the total carbon footprint of waste management. On the other hand, recycling of asphalt and concrete increased the overall carbon footprint due to high fuel consumption and emissions during the crushing process. Based on the multi-criteria optimization results, 100% recycling of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, cardboard, plastic and glass is suggested to maximize the environmental and economic savings, simultaneously. We believe that the results of this research will facilitate better decision making in treating construction and debris waste for LEED-certified green buildings by combining the results of environmental LCA with multi-objective optimization modeling.

  7. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in patients with late-life depression: A case series

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sonal Mathur

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Depression is the most common mental illness in the elderly, and cost-effective treatments are required. Therefore, this study is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT on depressive symptoms, mindfulness skills, acceptance, and quality of life across four domains in patients with late-onset depression. A single case design with pre- and post-assessment was adopted. Five patients meeting the specified inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruited for the study and assessed on the behavioral analysis pro forma, geriatric depression scale, Hamilton depression rating scale, Kentucky inventory of mindfulness skills, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire II, The World Health Organization quality of life Assessment Brief version (WHOQO-L-BREF. The therapeutic program consisted of education regarding the nature of depression, training in formal and informal mindfulness meditation, and cognitive restructuring. A total of 8 sessions over 8 weeks were conducted for each patient. The results of this study indicate clinically significant improvement in the severity of depression, mindfulness skills, acceptance, and overall quality of life in all 5 patients. Eight-week MBCT program has led to reduction in depression and increased mindfulness skills, acceptance, and overall quality of life in patients with late-life depression.

  8. Life cycle assessment of second generation (2G) and third generation (3G) mobile phone networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scharnhorst, Wolfram; Hilty, Lorenz M; Jolliet, Olivier

    2006-07-01

    The environmental performance of presently operated GSM and UMTS networks was analysed concentrating on the environmental effects of the End-of-Life (EOL) phase using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method. The study was performed based on comprehensive life cycle inventory and life cycle modelling. The environmental effects were quantified using the IMPACT2002+ method. Based on technological forecasts, the environmental effects of forthcoming mobile telephone networks were approximated. The results indicate that a parallel operation of GSM and UMTS networks is environmentally detrimental and the transition phase should be kept as short as possible. The use phase (i.e. the operation) of the radio network components account for a large fraction of the total environmental impact. In particular, there is a need to lower the energy consumption of those network components. Seen in relation to each other, UMTS networks provide an environmentally more efficient mobile communication technology than GSM networks. In assessing the EOL phase, recycling the electronic scrap of mobile phone networks was shown to have clear environmental benefits. Under the present conditions, material recycling could help lower the environmental impact of the production phase by up to 50%.

  9. Adverse childhood experiences and health-related quality of life in adulthood: revelations from a community needs assessment

    OpenAIRE

    Salinas-Miranda, Abraham A.; Salemi, Jason L.; King, Lindsey M.; Baldwin, Julie A.; Berry, Estrellita ?Lo?; Austin, Deborah A.; Scarborough, Kenneth; Spooner, Kiara K.; Zoorob, Roger J.; Salihu, Hamisu M.

    2015-01-01

    Background Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) have been previously linked to quality of life, health conditions, and life expectancy in adulthood. Less is known about the potential mechanisms which mediate these associations. This study examined how ACE influences adult health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a low-income community in Florida. Methods A community-based participatory needs assessment was conducted from November 2013 to March 2014 with 201 residents of Tampa, Florida, USA. H...

  10. Energy use and climate change improvements of Li/S batteries based on life cycle assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arvidsson, Rickard; Janssen, Matty; Svanström, Magdalena; Johansson, Patrik; Sandén, Björn A.

    2018-04-01

    We present a life cycle assessment (LCA) study of a lithium/sulfur (Li/S) cell regarding its energy use (in electricity equivalents, kWhel) and climate change (in kg carbon dioxide equivalents, CO2 eq) with the aim of identifying improvement potentials. Possible improvements are illustrated by departing from a base case of Li/S battery design, electricity from coal power, and heat from natural gas. In the base case, energy use is calculated at 580 kWhel kWh-1 and climate change impact at 230 kg CO2 eq kWh-1 of storage capacity. The main contribution to energy use comes from the LiTFSI electrolyte salt production and the main contribution to climate change is electricity use during the cell production stage. By (i) reducing cell production electricity requirement, (ii) sourcing electricity and heat from renewable sources, (iii) improving the specific energy of the Li/S cell, and (iv) switching to carbon black for the cathode, energy use and climate change impact can be reduced by 54 and 93%, respectively. For climate change, our best-case result of 17 kg CO2 eq kWh-1 is of similar magnitude as the best-case literature results for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The lithium metal requirement of Li/S batteries and LIBs are also of similar magnitude.

  11. The work environment disability-adjusted life year for use with life cycle assessment: a methodological approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scanlon, Kelly A; Gray, George M; Francis, Royce A; Lloyd, Shannon M; LaPuma, Peter

    2013-03-06

    Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a systems-based method used to determine potential impacts to the environment associated with a product throughout its life cycle. Conclusions from LCA studies can be applied to support decisions regarding product design or public policy, therefore, all relevant inputs (e.g., raw materials, energy) and outputs (e.g., emissions, waste) to the product system should be evaluated to estimate impacts. Currently, work-related impacts are not routinely considered in LCA. The objectives of this paper are: 1) introduce the work environment disability-adjusted life year (WE-DALY), one portion of a characterization factor used to express the magnitude of impacts to human health attributable to work-related exposures to workplace hazards; 2) outline the methods for calculating the WE-DALY; 3) demonstrate the calculation; and 4) highlight strengths and weaknesses of the methodological approach. The concept of the WE-DALY and the methodological approach to its calculation is grounded in the World Health Organization's disability-adjusted life year (DALY). Like the DALY, the WE-DALY equation considers the years of life lost due to premature mortality and the years of life lived with disability outcomes to estimate the total number of years of healthy life lost in a population. The equation requires input in the form of the number of fatal and nonfatal injuries and illnesses that occur in the industries relevant to the product system evaluated in the LCA study, the age of the worker at the time of the fatal or nonfatal injury or illness, the severity of the injury or illness, and the duration of time lived with the outcomes of the injury or illness. The methodological approach for the WE-DALY requires data from various sources, multi-step instructions to determine each variable used in the WE-DALY equation, and assumptions based on professional opinion. Results support the use of the WE-DALY in a characterization factor in LCA. Integrating

  12. A residual life prediction model based on the generalized σ -N curved surface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zongwen AN

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In order to investigate change rule of the residual life of structure under random repeated load, firstly, starting from the statistic meaning of random repeated load, the joint probability density function of maximum stress and minimum stress is derived based on the characteristics of order statistic (maximum order statistic and minimum order statistic; then, based on the equation of generalized σ -N curved surface, considering the influence of load cycles number on fatigue life, a relationship among minimum stress, maximum stress and residual life, that is the σmin(n- σmax(n-Nr(n curved surface model, is established; finally, the validity of the proposed model is demonstrated by a practical case. The result shows that the proposed model can reflect the influence of maximum stress and minimum stress on residual life of structure under random repeated load, which can provide a theoretical basis for life prediction and reliability assessment of structure.

  13. Life cycle impact assessment modeling for particulate matter: A new approach based on physico-chemical particle properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Notter, Dominic A

    2015-09-01

    Particulate matter (PM) causes severe damage to human health globally. Airborne PM is a mixture of solid and liquid droplets suspended in air. It consists of organic and inorganic components, and the particles of concern range in size from a few nanometers to approximately 10μm. The complexity of PM is considered to be the reason for the poor understanding of PM and may also be the reason why PM in environmental impact assessment is poorly defined. Currently, life cycle impact assessment is unable to differentiate highly toxic soot particles from relatively harmless sea salt. The aim of this article is to present a new impact assessment for PM where the impact of PM is modeled based on particle physico-chemical properties. With the new method, 2781 characterization factors that account for particle mass, particle number concentration, particle size, chemical composition and solubility were calculated. Because particle sizes vary over four orders of magnitudes, a sound assessment of PM requires that the exposure model includes deposition of particles in the lungs and that the fate model includes coagulation as a removal mechanism for ultrafine particles. The effects model combines effects from particle size, solubility and chemical composition. The first results from case studies suggest that PM that stems from emissions generally assumed to be highly toxic (e.g. biomass combustion and fossil fuel combustion) might lead to results that are similar compared with an assessment of PM using established methods. However, if harmless PM emissions are emitted, established methods enormously overestimate the damage. The new impact assessment allows a high resolution of the damage allocatable to different size fractions or chemical components. This feature supports a more efficient optimization of processes and products when combating air pollution. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Assessing the Environmental Impact of Flax Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composite from a Consequential Life Cycle Assessment Perspective

    OpenAIRE

    Yelin Deng; Yajun Tian

    2015-01-01

    The study implements the consequential life cycle assessment (CLCA) to provide a market based perspective on how overall environmental impact will change when shifting glass fibres to flax fibres as reinforcements in composite fabrication. With certain assumptions, the marginal flax fibre supply is identified to be a combination of Chinese flax fibre (70%) and French flax fibre (30%). Due to inferior cultivars and coal-fired electricity in Chinese flax cultivation, the CLCA study reveals that...

  15. Questionnaire-based assessment of executive functioning: Case studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kronenberger, William G; Castellanos, Irina; Pisoni, David B

    2018-01-01

    Delays in the development of executive functioning skills are frequently observed in pediatric neuropsychology populations and can have a broad and significant impact on quality of life. As a result, assessment of executive functioning is often relevant for the development of formulations and recommendations in pediatric neuropsychology clinical work. Questionnaire-based measures of executive functioning behaviors in everyday life have unique advantages and complement traditional neuropsychological measures of executive functioning. Two case studies of children with spina bifida are presented to illustrate the clinical use of a new questionnaire measure of executive and learning-related functioning, the Learning, Executive, and Attention Functioning Scale (LEAF). The LEAF emphasizes clinical utility in assessment by incorporating four characteristics: brevity in administration, breadth of additional relevant content, efficiency of scoring and interpretation, and ease of availability for use. LEAF results were consistent with another executive functioning checklist in documenting everyday behavior problems related to working memory, planning, and organization while offering additional breadth of assessment of domains such as attention, processing speed, and novel problem-solving. These case study results demonstrate the clinical utility of questionnaire-based measurement of executive functioning in pediatric neuropsychology and provide a new measure for accomplishing this goal.

  16. The Mental Health Recovery Measure Can Be Used to Assess Aspects of Both Customer-Based and Service-Based Recovery in the Context of Severe Mental Illness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliveira-Maia, Albino J; Mendonça, Carina; Pessoa, Maria J; Camacho, Marta; Gago, Joaquim

    2016-01-01

    Within clinical psychiatry, recovery from severe mental illness (SMI) has classically been defined according to symptoms and function (service-based recovery). However, service-users have argued that recovery should be defined as the process of overcoming mental illness, regaining self-control and establishing a meaningful life (customer-based recovery). Here, we aimed to compare customer-based and service-based recovery and clarify their differential relationship with other constructs, namely needs and quality of life. The study was conducted in 101 patients suffering from SMI, recruited from a rural community mental health setting in Portugal. Customer-based recovery and function-related service-based recovery were assessed, respectively, using a shortened version of the Mental Health Recovery Measure (MHRM-20) and the Global Assessment of Functioning score. The Camberwell Assessment of Need scale was used to objectively assess needs, while subjective quality of life was measured with the TL-30s scale. Using multiple linear regression models, we found that the Global Assessment of Functioning score was incrementally predictive of the MHRM-20 score, when added to a model including only clinical and demographic factors, and that this model was further incremented by the score for quality of life. However, in an alternate model using the Global Assessment of Functioning score as the dependent variable, while the MHRM-20 score contributed significantly to the model when added to clinical and demographic factors, the model was not incremented by the score for quality of life. These results suggest that, while a more global concept of recovery from SMI may be assessed using measures for service-based and customer-based recovery, the latter, namely the MHRM-20, also provides information about subjective well-being. Pending confirmation of these findings in other populations, this instrument could thus be useful for comprehensive assessment of recovery and subjective

  17. Life Cycle Assessment of Slurry Management Technologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wesnæs, Marianne; Wenzel, Henrik; Petersen, Bjørn Molt

    This report contains the results of Life Cycle Assessments of two slurry management technologies - acidification and decentred incineration. The LCA foundation can be used by the contributing companies for evaluating the environmental sustainability of a specific technology from a holistic Life...... Cycle perspective. Through this the companies can evaluate the environmental benefits and disadvantages of introducing a specific technology for slurry management. From a societal perspective the results can contribute to a clarification of which slurry management technologies (or combination...... of technologies) having the largest potential for reducing the overall environmental impacts....

  18. Healthy food choices are happy food choices : evidence from a real life sample using smartphone based assessments

    OpenAIRE

    Wahl, Deborah R.; Villinger, Karoline; König, Laura M.; Ziesemer, Katrin; Schupp, Harald T.; Renner, Britta

    2017-01-01

    Research suggests that "healthy" food choices such as eating fruits and vegetables have not only physical but also mental health benefits and might be a long-term investment in future well-being. This view contrasts with the belief that high-caloric foods taste better, make us happy, and alleviate a negative mood. To provide a more comprehensive assessment of food choice and well-being, we investigated in-the-moment eating happiness by assessing complete, real life dietary behaviour across ei...

  19. Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) using the ecological scarcity ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    After it is done, the inventory will be interpreted to the environmental impacts in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). Two LCIA methods identified were “midpoint and endpoint” approaches. The ecological scarcity (ecopoints) is an LCIA method using “midpoint” approach. From the analysis to both life cycle stages, analysis ...

  20. Semantic catalogs for life cycle assessment data

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kuczenski, Brandon; Davis, Christopher B.; Rivela, Beatriz; Janowicz, Krzysztof

    2016-01-01

    Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a highly interdisciplinary field that requires knowledge from different domains to be gathered and interpreted together. Although there are relatively few major data sources for LCA, the data themselves are presented with highly heterogeneous formats, interfaces, and

  1. French environmental communication on sunflower and rapeseed oils based on life cycle assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Badey Laureen

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available The French “Grenelle” laws sparked a French national experiment trialling the environmental labelling of fast-moving consumer goods. The data required for this labelling scheme are generated by carrying out a life cycle assessment (LCA. The aim of this study is to provide all necessary information to fit the national experiment for two standard oils: sunflower oil and rapeseed oil. The complete oil life cycle was studied, from oilseed farming through to the end-of-life of the packaging. We focused heavily on the impacts of crushing and refining. The seed processing data was collected from different plants that are representative of the French crushing/refining industry and packaging site practice. The data inventory was used to calculate the identified environmental labelling indicators, i.e. greenhouse gas (GHG emissions and water consumption. The production of 100g of refined bulk sunflower and rapeseed emits 89 and 127 g equivalent CO2 and consumes 1.7 L and 0.8 L of water, respectively. Most impacts on the studied indicators stem from the farming phase. Energy and water consumptions during crushing and refining also weigh on the studied indicators. The results of this study provide a relevant overview of all sunflower and rapeseed oils produced in France, and are usable as standard values for vegetable oil producers and users. Oil supply chain operators can use these values to compare to their own process values and gauge the improvements brought about by their ecodesign strategies. For example, using a biomass boiler, using less packaging, and making different choices on seed suppliers can lead to a lower set of impact values.

  2. Life cycle assessment perspectives on delivering an infant in the US

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Campion, Nicole; Thiel, Cassandra L.; DeBlois, Justin; Woods, Noe C.; Landis, Amy E.; Bilec, Melissa M.

    2012-01-01

    This study introduces life cycle assessment as a tool to analyze one aspect of sustainability in healthcare: the birth of a baby. The process life cycle assessment case study presented evaluates two common procedures in a hospital, a cesarean section and a vaginal birth. This case study was conducted at Magee-Womens Hospital of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which delivers over 10,000 infants per year. The results show that heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), waste disposal, and the production of the disposable custom packs comprise a large percentage of the environmental impacts. Applying the life cycle assessment tool to medical procedures allows hospital decision makers to target and guide efforts to reduce the environmental impacts of healthcare procedures. - Highlights: ► Life cycle assessment helps identify the environmental impacts of medical procedures. ► Disposable custom packs represent a large portion of environmental impacts of births. ► Electricity loading contributes to global warming potential and respiratory effects. ► Impact improvements should focus on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and disposable custom packs.

  3. Marginal Generation Technology in the Chinese Power Market towards 2030 Based on Consequential Life Cycle Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guangling Zhao

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Electricity consumption is often the hotspot of life cycle assessment (LCA of products, industrial activities, or services. The objective of this paper is to provide a consistent, scientific, region-specific electricity-supply-based inventory of electricity generation technology for national and regional power grids. Marginal electricity generation technology is pivotal in assessing impacts related to additional consumption of electricity. China covers a large geographical area with regional supply grids; these are arguably equally or less integrated. Meanwhile, it is also a country with internal imbalances in regional energy supply and demand. Therefore, we suggest an approach to achieve a geographical subdivision of the Chinese electricity grid, corresponding to the interprovincial regional power grids, namely the North, the Northeast, the East, the Central, the Northwest, and the Southwest China Grids, and the China Southern Power Grid. The approach combines information from the Chinese national plans on for capacity changes in both production and distribution grids, and knowledge of resource availability. The results show that nationally, marginal technology is coal-fired electricity generation, which is the same scenario in the North and Northwest China Grid. In the Northeast, East, and Central China Grid, nuclear power gradually replaces coal-fired electricity and becomes the marginal technology. In the Southwest China Grid and the China Southern Power Grid, the marginal electricity is hydropower towards 2030.

  4. Development of a support system to make economic and technical assessments for the issues relating to plant life extension

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takao, T.; Soneda, N.; Sakai, T.

    1994-01-01

    To realize the life extension of nuclear power plants, overall evaluation for the plant is required, which covers technology, economy such as cost of repair or/and replacement of components, and regal regulations for licensing. A prototype of integrated assessment support system for life extension ''INPLEX'' have developed in order to evaluate the technical and economic issues relating to the plant life extension and to make a life extension scenario. Analysis procedure of INPLEX is as follows. A comparison of the cost between the life extension and the reconstruction is made to see whether the life extension is cost effective or not. Next, components required detailed assessments are selected, and the residual life assessment of these components are made. After those procedures life extension measures are selected and the implementation time schedule is set on the basis of the formulas for predicting the degradation of the components and the component reliability data. Finally the implementation time schedule is optimized from the viewpoint of economy, and the life extension scenario is proposed. INPLEX also has the data base ''PRINS'', in which information and data related to life extension are registered, such as component degradation experiences, degradation management methodologies, degradation mitigation measures, and so on. PRINS can be referred at any time during the operation of INPLEX

  5. Analysis of current research addressing complementary use of life-cycle assessment and risk assessment for engineered nanomaterials: have lessons been learned from previous experience with chemicals?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grieger, Khara Deanne; Laurent, Alexis; Miseljic, Mirko

    2012-01-01

    of research focused on applying LCA and RA together for NM, it appears that current research efforts have taken into account some key ‘‘lessons learned’’ from previous experience with chemicals while many key challenges remain for practically applying these methods to NM. We identified two main approaches...... for using these methods together for NM: ‘‘LC-based RA’’ (traditional RA applied in a life-cycle perspective) and ‘‘RA-complemented LCA’’ (conventional LCA supplemented by RA in specific life-cycle steps). Hence, the latter is the only identified approach which genuinely combines LC- and RA-based methods......While it is generally agreed that successful strategies to address the health and environmental impacts of engineered nanomaterials (NM) should consider the well-established frameworks for conducting life-cycle assessment (LCA) and risk assessment (RA), scientific research, and specific guidance...

  6. Life cycle thinking and assessment tools on environmentally-benign electronics: Convergent optimization of materials use, end-of-life strategy and environmental policies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Xiaoying

    The purpose of this study is to integrate the quantitative environmental performance assessment tools and the theory of multi-objective optimization within the boundary of electronic product systems to support the selection among design alternatives in terms of environmental impact, technical criteria, and economic feasibility. To meet with the requirements that result from emerging environmental legislation targeting electronics products, the research addresses an important analytical methodological approach to facilitate environmentally conscious design and end-of-life management with a life cycle viewpoint. A synthesis of diverse assessment tools is applied on a set of case studies: lead-free solder materials selection, cellular phone design, and desktop display technology assessment. In the first part of this work, an in-depth industrial survey of the status and concerns of the U.S. electronics industry on the elimination of lead (Pb) in solders is described. The results show that the trade-offs among environmental consequences, technology challenges, business risks, legislative compliance and stakeholders' preferences must be explicitly, simultaneously, and systematically addressed in the decision-making process used to guide multi-faceted planning of environmental solutions. In the second part of this work, the convergent optimization of the technical cycle, economic cycle and environmental cycle is addressed in a coherent and systematic way using the application of environmentally conscious design of cellular phones. The technical understanding of product structure, components analysis, and materials flow facilitates the development of "Design for Disassembly" guidelines. A bottom-up disassembly analysis on a "bill of materials" based structure at a micro-operational level is utilized to select optimal end-of-life strategies on the basis of economic feasibility. A macro-operational level life cycle model is used to investigate the environmental consequences

  7. Life cycle assessment of electronic waste treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Jinglan; Shi, Wenxiao; Wang, Yutao; Chen, Wei; Li, Xiangzhi

    2015-04-01

    Life cycle assessment was conducted to estimate the environmental impact of electronic waste (e-waste) treatment. E-waste recycling with an end-life disposal scenario is environmentally beneficial because of the low environmental burden generated from human toxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, and marine ecotoxicity categories. Landfill and incineration technologies have a lower and higher environmental burden than the e-waste recycling with an end-life disposal scenario, respectively. The key factors in reducing the overall environmental impact of e-waste recycling are optimizing energy consumption efficiency, reducing wastewater and solid waste effluent, increasing proper e-waste treatment amount, avoiding e-waste disposal to landfill and incineration sites, and clearly defining the duties of all stakeholders (e.g., manufacturers, retailers, recycling companies, and consumers). Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Life Cycle Assessment of Polymers in Qatar

    OpenAIRE

    ÖZERKAN, Nesibe Gözde; ADEED, Mariam AIMa’; KAHRAMAN, Ramazan

    2011-01-01

    Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is gaining wider acceptance as a method that evaluates the environmental burdens associated with a product, process or activity by identifying and quantifying energy and materials used and wastes released to the environment, and assesses the impact of those energy and material used and released to the environment. It is also considered as one of the best environmental management tools that can be used to compare alternative eco-performances of recycling or disposal...

  9. Agreement in Quality of Life Assessment between Adolescents with Intellectual Disability and Their Parents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golubovic, Spela; Skrbic, Renata

    2013-01-01

    Intellectual disability affects different aspects of functioning and quality of life, as well as the ability to independently assess the quality of life itself. The paper examines the agreement in the quality of life assessments made by adolescents with intellectual disability and their parents compared with assessments made by adolescents without…

  10. Methodical Approach to Assessment of Quality of Labour Life of Industrial Employees Using Example of Engineering Enterprises

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stamatin Oleksandr V.

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available The goal of the article is presentation of results of study of factors of influence upon quality of labour life of industrial employees and justification of a scorecard of its assessment at the micro-economic level with the use of statistical methods of study. The article proves that the quality of labour life is based on enterprise capabilities, which depend on economic results, identified by the use of financial, material and human resources, effectiveness of the innovation and investment activity. The article reveals main factors that influence the quality of labour life of industrial employees using example of engineering enterprises: labour remuneration, social provisions, possibility to develop personnel, progressive state of fixed assets, financial sustainability of the enterprise, and effectiveness of investing into innovation activity. The article proves expediency of use of statistical methods of study for assessment of quality of labour life of employees, namely: multi-dimensional factor analysis, neural networks and folded additive technique. Their use helped to reveal indicators that are the most sensitive to managerial impact for ensuring quality of labour life. The article justifies stages of methodical approach to assessment of the quality of labour life of industrial employees, which was applied at engineering enterprises, which proves its significance and theoretical substantiation.

  11. Evaluation of two streamlined life cycle assessment methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hochschomer, Elisabeth; Finnveden, Goeran; Johansson, Jessica

    2002-02-01

    Two different methods for streamlined life cycle assessment (LCA) are described: the MECO-method and SLCA. Both methods are tested on an already made case-study on cars fuelled with petrol or ethanol, and electric cars with electricity produced from hydro power or coal. The report also contains some background information on LCA and streamlined LCA, and a deschption of the case study used. The evaluation of the MECO and SLCA-methods are based on a comparison of the results from the case study as well as practical aspects. One conclusion is that the SLCA-method has some limitations. Among the limitations are that the whole life-cycle is not covered, it requires quite a lot of information and there is room for arbitrariness. It is not very flexible instead it difficult to develop further. We are therefore not recommending the SLCA-method. The MECO-method does in comparison show several attractive features. It is also interesting to note that the MECO-method produces information that is complementary compared to a more traditional quantitative LCA. We suggest that the MECO method needs some further development and adjustment to Swedish conditions

  12. Carbon Footprint Analysis for Mechanization of Maize Production Based on Life Cycle Assessment: A Case Study in Jilin Province, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haina Wang

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The theory on the carbon footprint of agriculture can systematically evaluate the carbon emissions caused by artificial factors from the agricultural production process, which is the theoretical basis for constructing low-carbon agriculture and has important guiding significance for realizing low-carbon agriculture. Based on farm production survey data from Jilin Province in 2014, this paper aims to obtain a clear understanding of the carbon footprint of maize production through the following method: (1 one ton of maize production was evaluated systematically by using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA; (2 the carbon emissions of the whole system were estimated based on field measurement data, (3 using the emission factors we estimated Jilin’s carbon footprint for the period 2006–2013, and forecasted it for the period from 2014 to 2020 using the grey system model GM (1, 1.

  13. Application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in Sugar Industries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Astuti, Arieyanti Dwi; Astuti, Rahayu Siwi Dwi; Hadiyanto, Hadiyanto

    2018-02-01

    Sugar is one of the main commodities that are needed for human life. The demand of sugar is very high with the trend increase from year to year. This condition makes the sugar industry become a leading industry that must be maintained sustainability. The sustainability of the sugar industry is influenced by the use of energy and natural resources and the resulting environmental impacts. Therefore, an effort is needed to analyze the environmental aspects and potential environmental impacts resulting from a product (sugar), by using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA is a very important tool for the analysis of a process/system from its cradle to grave. This technique is very useful in the estimation of energy usage and environmental load of a product/system. This paper aims to describe the main elements of sugar industries using Life Cycle Assessment.

  14. Patient-Reported Outcomes for Quality of Life Assessment in Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review of Measurement Properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kotecha, Dipak; Ahmed, Amar; Calvert, Melanie; Lencioni, Mauro; Terwee, Caroline B; Lane, Deirdre A

    2016-01-01

    Atrial fibrillation is a large and growing burden across all types of healthcare. Both incidence and prevalence are expected to double in the next 20 years, with huge impact on hospital admissions, costs and patient quality of life. Patient wellbeing determines the management strategy for atrial fibrillation, including the use of rhythm control therapy and the clinical success of heart rate control. Hence, evaluation of quality of life is an emerging and important part of the assessment of patients with atrial fibrillation. Although a number of questionnaires to assess quality of life in atrial fibrillation are available, a comprehensive overview of their measurement properties is lacking. We performed a systematic review of the measurement properties of atrial fibrillation-specific health-related quality of life questionnaires. Methodological quality was assessed using the Consensus based Standards for selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) checklist, with measurement properties rated for quality against optimal criteria and levels of evidence. We screened 2,216 articles, of which eight articles describing five questionnaires were eligible for inclusion: Atrial Fibrillation 6 (AF6), Atrial Fibrillation Effect on QualiTy-of-Life (AFEQT), Atrial Fibrillation Quality of Life Questionnaire (AFQLQ), Atrial Fibrillation Quality of Life (AFQoL), and Quality of Life in Atrial Fibrillation (QLAF). Good reliability (internal consistency and test-retest reliability) was demonstrated for AF6, AFEQT, AFQLQ and AFQoL. Content, construct and criterion validity were positively rated only in AFEQT. Responsiveness was positively rated only in AFEQT, but with limited evidence. Overall, AFEQT showed strong positive evidence for 2 of 9 measurement properties, compared to one for AFQoL and none for the remaining questionnaires. Given the low ratings for many measurement properties, no single questionnaire can be recommended, although AFEQT performed strongest. Further

  15. Assessing the impact of care farms on quality of life and offending

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Elsey, Helen; Farragher, Tracey; Tubeuf, Sandy; Bragg, Rachel; Elings, Marjolein; Brennan, Cathy; Gold, Rochelle; Shickle, Darren; Wickramasekera, Nyantara; Richardson, Zoe; Cade, Janet; Murray, Jenni

    2018-01-01

    Objectives To assess the feasibility of conducting a cost-effectiveness study of using care farms (CFS) to improve quality of life and reduce reoffending among offenders undertaking community orders (COs). To pilot questionnaires to assess quality of life, connection to nature, lifestyle behaviours,

  16. Developing IAM for Life Cycle Safety Assessment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Toxopeus, Marten E.; Lutters, Diederick; Nee, Andrew Y.C.; Song, Bin; Ong, Soh-Khim

    2013-01-01

    This publication discusses aspects of the development of an impact assessment method (IAM) for safety. Compared to the many existing IAM’s for environmentally oriented LCA, this method should translate the impact of a product life cycle on the subject of safety. Moreover, the method should be

  17. Assessment of Environmental and Economic Impacts of Vine-Growing Combining Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costing and Multicriterial Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giacomo Falcone

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The wine sector is going through a significant evolution dealing with the challenges of competition issues in international markets and with necessary commitments to sustainability improvement. In the wine supply chain, the agricultural phase represents a potential source of pollution and costs. From the farmers’ point of view, these contexts require them to be more attentive and find a compromise among environmental benefits, economic benefits, and costs linked to farming practices. This paper aims to make a sustainability assessment of different wine-growing scenarios located in Calabria (Southern Italy that combines conflicting insights, i.e., environmental and economic ones, by applying Life Cycle Assessment (LCA and Life Cycle Costing (LCC to identify the main hotspots and select the alternative scenarios closest to the ideal solution through the VIKOR multicriteria method. In particular, the latter allowed us to obtain synthetic indices for a two-dimensional sustainability assessment. Conventional practices associated to the espalier training system represent the best compromise from both environmental and economic points of view, due to the higher yield per hectare. The choices regarding Functional Unit (FU and indicators were shown to have a high influence on results.

  18. Integrating Problem-Based Learning and Simulation: Effects on Student Motivation and Life Skills.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roh, Young Sook; Kim, Sang Suk

    2015-07-01

    Previous research has suggested that a teaching strategy integrating problem-based learning and simulation may be superior to traditional lecture. The purpose of this study was to assess learner motivation and life skills before and after taking a course involving problem-based learning and simulation. The design used repeated measures with a convenience sample of 83 second-year nursing students who completed the integrated course. Data from a self-administered questionnaire measuring learner motivation and life skills were collected at pretest, post-problem-based learning, and post-simulation time points. Repeated-measures analysis of variance determined that the mean scores for total learner motivation (F=6.62, P=.003), communication (F=8.27, Plearning (F=4.45, P=.016) differed significantly between time points. Post hoc tests using the Bonferroni correction revealed that total learner motivation and total life skills significantly increased both from pretest to postsimulation and from post-problem-based learning test to postsimulation test. Subscales of learner motivation and life skills, intrinsic goal orientation, self-efficacy for learning and performance, problem-solving skills, and self-directed learning skills significantly increased both from pretest to postsimulation test and from post-problem-based learning test to post-simulation test. The results demonstrate that an integrating problem-based learning and simulation course elicits significant improvement in learner motivation and life skills. Simulation plus problem-based learning is more effective than problem-based learning alone at increasing intrinsic goal orientation, task value, self-efficacy for learning and performance, problem solving, and self-directed learning.

  19. Extending Vulnerability Assessment to Include Life Stages Considerations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodgson, Emma E; Essington, Timothy E; Kaplan, Isaac C

    2016-01-01

    Species are experiencing a suite of novel stressors from anthropogenic activities that have impacts at multiple scales. Vulnerability assessment is one tool to evaluate the likely impacts that these stressors pose to species so that high-vulnerability cases can be identified and prioritized for monitoring, protection, or mitigation. Commonly used semi-quantitative methods lack a framework to explicitly account for differences in exposure to stressors and organism responses across life stages. Here we propose a modification to commonly used spatial vulnerability assessment methods that includes such an approach, using ocean acidification in the California Current as an illustrative case study. Life stage considerations were included by assessing vulnerability of each life stage to ocean acidification and were used to estimate population vulnerability in two ways. We set population vulnerability equal to: (1) the maximum stage vulnerability and (2) a weighted mean across all stages, with weights calculated using Lefkovitch matrix models. Vulnerability was found to vary across life stages for the six species explored in this case study: two krill-Euphausia pacifica and Thysanoessa spinifera, pteropod-Limacina helicina, pink shrimp-Pandalus jordani, Dungeness crab-Metacarcinus magister and Pacific hake-Merluccius productus. The maximum vulnerability estimates ranged from larval to subadult and adult stages with no consistent stage having maximum vulnerability across species. Similarly, integrated vulnerability metrics varied greatly across species. A comparison showed that some species had vulnerabilities that were similar between the two metrics, while other species' vulnerabilities varied substantially between the two metrics. These differences primarily resulted from cases where the most vulnerable stage had a low relative weight. We compare these methods and explore circumstances where each method may be appropriate.

  20. Insulation Cork Boards—Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of an Organic Construction Material

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silvestre, José D.; Pargana, Nuno; de Brito, Jorge; Pinheiro, Manuel D.; Durão, Vera

    2016-01-01

    Envelope insulation is a relevant technical solution to cut energy consumption and reduce environmental impacts in buildings. Insulation Cork Boards (ICB) are a natural thermal insulation material whose production promotes the recycling of agricultural waste. The aim of this paper is to determine and evaluate the environmental impacts of the production, use, and end-of-life processing of ICB. A “cradle-to-cradle” environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed according to International LCA standards and the European standards on the environmental evaluation of buildings. These results were based on site-specific data and resulted from a consistent methodology, fully described in the paper for each life cycle stage: Cork oak tree growth, ICB production, and end-of-life processing-modeling of the carbon flows (i.e., uptakes and emissions), including sensitivity analysis of this procedure; at the production stage—the modeling of energy processes and a sensitivity analysis of the allocation procedures; during building operation—the expected service life of ICB; an analysis concerning the need to consider the thermal diffusivity of ICB in the comparison of the performance of insulation materials. This paper presents the up-to-date “cradle-to-cradle” environmental performance of ICB for the environmental categories and life-cycle stages defined in European standards. PMID:28773516

  1. Insulation Cork Boards-Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of an Organic Construction Material.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silvestre, José D; Pargana, Nuno; de Brito, Jorge; Pinheiro, Manuel D; Durão, Vera

    2016-05-20

    Envelope insulation is a relevant technical solution to cut energy consumption and reduce environmental impacts in buildings. Insulation Cork Boards (ICB) are a natural thermal insulation material whose production promotes the recycling of agricultural waste. The aim of this paper is to determine and evaluate the environmental impacts of the production, use, and end-of-life processing of ICB. A "cradle-to-cradle" environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed according to International LCA standards and the European standards on the environmental evaluation of buildings. These results were based on site-specific data and resulted from a consistent methodology, fully described in the paper for each life cycle stage: Cork oak tree growth, ICB production, and end-of-life processing-modeling of the carbon flows ( i.e. , uptakes and emissions), including sensitivity analysis of this procedure; at the production stage-the modeling of energy processes and a sensitivity analysis of the allocation procedures; during building operation-the expected service life of ICB; an analysis concerning the need to consider the thermal diffusivity of ICB in the comparison of the performance of insulation materials. This paper presents the up-to-date "cradle-to-cradle" environmental performance of ICB for the environmental categories and life-cycle stages defined in European standards.

  2. Insulation Cork Boards—Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of an Organic Construction Material

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José D. Silvestre

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Envelope insulation is a relevant technical solution to cut energy consumption and reduce environmental impacts in buildings. Insulation Cork Boards (ICB are a natural thermal insulation material whose production promotes the recycling of agricultural waste. The aim of this paper is to determine and evaluate the environmental impacts of the production, use, and end-of-life processing of ICB. A “cradle-to-cradle” environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA was performed according to International LCA standards and the European standards on the environmental evaluation of buildings. These results were based on site-specific data and resulted from a consistent methodology, fully described in the paper for each life cycle stage: Cork oak tree growth, ICB production, and end-of-life processing-modeling of the carbon flows (i.e., uptakes and emissions, including sensitivity analysis of this procedure; at the production stage—the modeling of energy processes and a sensitivity analysis of the allocation procedures; during building operation—the expected service life of ICB; an analysis concerning the need to consider the thermal diffusivity of ICB in the comparison of the performance of insulation materials. This paper presents the up-to-date “cradle-to-cradle” environmental performance of ICB for the environmental categories and life-cycle stages defined in European standards.

  3. Life cycle assessment of construction and demolition waste management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Butera, Stefania; Christensen, Thomas Højlund; Astrup, Thomas Fruergaard

    2015-01-01

    Life cycle assessment (LCA) modelling of construction and demolition waste (C&DW) management was carried out. The functional unit was management of 1 Mg mineral, source separated C&DW, which is either utilised in road construction as a substitute for natural aggregates, or landfilled. The assessed...... of the use of C&DW. Typical uncertainties related to contaminant leaching were addressed. For most impact categories, utilisation of C&DW in road construction was preferable to landfilling; however, for most categories, utilisation resulted in net environmental burdens. Transportation represented the most...... of the impact assessment was critical for modelling the leaching impacts. Compared with the overall life cycle of building and construction materials, leaching emissions were shown to be potentially significant for toxicity impacts, compared with contributions from production of the same materials, showing...

  4. Assessment of the quality of life in cities. Environmental conditions and mobility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sonja Forward

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of the paper is to provide knowledge about the practice of life quality assessment by different disciplines in connection with different types of public measures in the area of town planning and design, transportation and mobility. In this way we want to improve the understanding of responsible politicians and experts about assessment of quality of life. It is an introductory paper to a research about analysis of how mobility policies affect quality of life. The main product will be advice for improved assessment processes. The developed instruments will be tested in a pilot study.

  5. Life cycle assessment of cell phones in Brazil based on two reverse logistics scenarios

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniela da Gama e Silva Volpe Moreira de Moraes

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This article is a result of a cell phone collection obtained at the Center for Information Technology Renato Archer (CTI under the AMBIENTRONIC Program, an initiative that supports the Brazilian electronic sector in the development of technologies for sustainability. The objective of this article is to assess two reverse logistic scenarios of cell phones using the technique of life-cycle assessment (LCA. The first scenario reflects the current scenario in Brazil, where batteries are recycled in Brazil and the other parts of the phones are outsourced to Europe. The second scenario is a proposal of full treatment in Brazil. The results indicate that the second scenario has a lower potential impact with important reduction of acidification, photochemical oxidation, eutrophication and the use of non-renewable energy. Furthermore, fully implementing reverse logistics in Brazil will enable socioeconomic benefits from the sale of materials and the generation of employment and income.

  6. Accounting for ecosystem services in Life Cycle Assessment, Part II: toward an ecologically based LCA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yi; Baral, Anil; Bakshi, Bhavik R

    2010-04-01

    Despite the essential role of ecosystem goods and services in sustaining all human activities, they are often ignored in engineering decision making, even in methods that are meant to encourage sustainability. For example, conventional Life Cycle Assessment focuses on the impact of emissions and consumption of some resources. While aggregation and interpretation methods are quite advanced for emissions, similar methods for resources have been lagging, and most ignore the role of nature. Such oversight may even result in perverse decisions that encourage reliance on deteriorating ecosystem services. This article presents a step toward including the direct and indirect role of ecosystems in LCA, and a hierarchical scheme to interpret their contribution. The resulting Ecologically Based LCA (Eco-LCA) includes a large number of provisioning, regulating, and supporting ecosystem services as inputs to a life cycle model at the process or economy scale. These resources are represented in diverse physical units and may be compared via their mass, fuel value, industrial cumulative exergy consumption, or ecological cumulative exergy consumption or by normalization with total consumption of each resource or their availability. Such results at a fine scale provide insight about relative resource use and the risk and vulnerability to the loss of specific resources. Aggregate indicators are also defined to obtain indices such as renewability, efficiency, and return on investment. An Eco-LCA model of the 1997 economy is developed and made available via the web (www.resilience.osu.edu/ecolca). An illustrative example comparing paper and plastic cups provides insight into the features of the proposed approach. The need for further work in bridging the gap between knowledge about ecosystem services and their direct and indirect role in supporting human activities is discussed as an important area for future work.

  7. A creep life assessment method for boiler pipes using small punch creep test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Izaki, Toru; Kobayashi, Toshimi; Kusumoto, Junichi; Kanaya, Akihiro

    2009-01-01

    The small punch creep (SPC) test is considered as a highly useful method for creep life assessment for high temperature plant components. SPC uses miniature-sized specimens and does not cause any serious sampling damages, and its assessment accuracy is at a high level. However, in applying the SPC test to the residual creep life assessment of the boiler in service, there are some issues to be studied. In order to apply SPC test to the residual creep life assessment of the 2.25Cr-1Mo steel boiler pipe, the relationship between uniaxial creep stress and the SPC test load has been studied. The virgin material, pre-crept, weldment and service aged samples of 2.25Cr-1Mo steel were tested. It was confirmed that the relationship between uniaxial creep stress and the SPC test load at the same rupture time can be described as a single straight line independent of test conditions and materials. Therefore a life assessment is possible by using SPC test in place of uniaxial creep tests. The creep life assessment using SPC was applied to actual thermal power plant components which are in service.

  8. Assessment of HIV/AIDS and Life Skills Delivery in Primary Schools in Tanzania

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rushahu, Bernadetha Gabriel

    2015-01-01

    This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS and the Life Skills Education delivery in primary schools in Tanzania. Specifically the study investigated pupils' views about the effect of HIV/AIDS and Life Skills teaching in primary schools in Tanzania; assessed pupils' knowledge related to HIV/AIDS and Life Skills education, and…

  9. French nuclear plants PWR vessel integrity assessment and life management

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bezdikian, G. [Electricite de France (EDF), Div. Production Nucleaire, 93 - Saint-Denis (France); Quinot, P. [FRAMATOME, Dept. Bloc Reacteur et Boucles Primaires, 92 - Paris-La-Defence (France); Faidy, C.; Churier-Bossennec, H. [Electricite de France (EDF), Div. Ingenierie et Service, 69 - Villeurbanne (France)

    2001-07-01

    The Reactor Pressure Vessel life management of 56 PWR 3 loop and 4 loop reactors units was engaged by the French Utility EDF (Electricite de France) a few years ago and is yet on going on. This paper will present the work carried out within the framework of justifying why the 34 three loop reactor vessels will remain acceptable for operation for a lifetime of at least 40-years. A summary of the measures will be given. An overall review of actions will be presented describing the French approach, using important existing databases, including studies related to irradiation surveillance monitoring program and end of life fluence assessment. The last results obtained are based on generic integrity analyses for all categories of situations (normal upset emergency and faulted conditions) until the end of lifetime, postulating circumferential an radial kinds of flaw located in the stainless steel cladding or shallow sub-cladding area. The results of structural integrity analyses beginning with elastic computations and completed with three-dimensional finite element elastic plastic computations for envelope cases, are compared with code criteria for operating plants. The objective is to evaluate the margins on different parameters as RTNDT (Reference Nil Ductility Transition Temperature), toughness or crack size, to justify the global fitness for service of all these Reactor Pressure Vessels. The paper introduces EDF's maintenance strategy, related to integrity assessment, for those nuclear power plants under operation, based on NDE in-service inspection of the first thirty millimeters in the thickness of the wall and major surveillance programs of the vessels. (author)

  10. French nuclear plants PWR vessel integrity assessment and life management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bezdikian, G.; Quinot, P.; Faidy, C.; Churier-Bossennec, H.

    2001-01-01

    The Reactor Pressure Vessel life management of 56 PWR 3 loop and 4 loop reactors units was engaged by the French Utility EDF (Electricite de France) a few years ago and is yet on going on. This paper will present the work carried out within the framework of justifying why the 34 three loop reactor vessels will remain acceptable for operation for a lifetime of at least 40-years. A summary of the measures will be given. An overall review of actions will be presented describing the French approach, using important existing databases, including studies related to irradiation surveillance monitoring program and end of life fluence assessment. The last results obtained are based on generic integrity analyses for all categories of situations (normal upset emergency and faulted conditions) until the end of lifetime, postulating circumferential an radial kinds of flaw located in the stainless steel cladding or shallow sub-cladding area. The results of structural integrity analyses beginning with elastic computations and completed with three-dimensional finite element elastic plastic computations for envelope cases, are compared with code criteria for operating plants. The objective is to evaluate the margins on different parameters as RTNDT (Reference Nil Ductility Transition Temperature), toughness or crack size, to justify the global fitness for service of all these Reactor Pressure Vessels. The paper introduces EDF's maintenance strategy, related to integrity assessment, for those nuclear power plants under operation, based on NDE in-service inspection of the first thirty millimeters in the thickness of the wall and major surveillance programs of the vessels. (author)

  11. Electronic versus paper-based assessment of health-related quality of life specific to HIV disease: reliability study of the PROQOL-HIV questionnaire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duracinsky, Martin; Lalanne, Christophe; Goujard, Cécile; Herrmann, Susan; Cheung-Lung, Christian; Brosseau, Jean-Paul; Schwartz, Yannick; Chassany, Olivier

    2014-04-25

    Electronic patient-reported outcomes (PRO) provide quick and usually reliable assessments of patients' health-related quality of life (HRQL). An electronic version of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Quality of Life-human immunodeficiency virus (PROQOL-HIV) questionnaire was developed, and its face validity and reliability were assessed using standard psychometric methods. A sample of 80 French outpatients (66% male, 52/79; mean age 46.7 years, SD 10.9) were recruited. Paper-based and electronic questionnaires were completed in a randomized crossover design (2-7 day interval). Biomedical data were collected. Questionnaire version and order effects were tested on full-scale scores in a 2-way ANOVA with patients as random effects. Test-retest reliability was evaluated using Pearson and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC, with 95% confidence interval) for each dimension. Usability testing was carried out from patients' survey reports, specifically, general satisfaction, ease of completion, quality and clarity of user interface, and motivation to participate in follow-up PROQOL-HIV electronic assessments. Questionnaire version and administration order effects (N=59 complete cases) were not significant at the 5% level, and no interaction was found between these 2 factors (P=.94). Reliability indexes were acceptable, with Pearson correlations greater than .7 and ICCs ranging from .708 to .939; scores were not statistically different between the two versions. A total of 63 (79%) complete patients' survey reports were available, and 55% of patients (30/55) reported being satisfied and interested in electronic assessment of their HRQL in clinical follow-up. Individual ratings of PROQOL-HIV user interface (85%-100% of positive responses) confirmed user interface clarity and usability. The electronic PROQOL-HIV introduces minor modifications to the original paper-based version, following International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) ePRO Task

  12. Assessment and Treatment Considerations for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at End of Life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glick, Debra M; Cook, Joan M; Moye, Jennifer; Kaiser, Anica Pless

    2018-01-01

    Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may first emerge, reemerge, or worsen as individuals approach end of life and may complicate the dying process. Unfortunately, lack of awareness of the occurrence and/or manifestation of PTSD at end of life can lead to PTSD going unaddressed. Even if PTSD is properly diagnosed, traditional evidence-based trauma-focused treatments may not be feasible or advisable with this group as many patients at end of life often lack the physical and mental stamina to participate in traditional psychotherapy. This article reviews the clinical and empirical literature on PTSD at end of life, as well as discusses assessment and psychotherapy treatment issues with this neglected population. In addition, it expands on the current reviews of this literature 1-3 by extrapolating results from nontraditional treatment approaches with other patient populations. Elements of these approaches with patients sharing similar characteristics and/or comorbidities with patients with PTSD at end of life may provide additional benefits for the latter population. Clinical implications and suggestions for interdisciplinary care providers are provided.

  13. Life cycle assessment perspectives on delivering an infant in the US

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Campion, Nicole [University of Pittsburgh, 949 Benedum Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (United States); Thiel, Cassandra L., E-mail: clt31@pitt.edu [University of Pittsburgh, 949 Benedum Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (United States); DeBlois, Justin [University of Pittsburgh, 949 Benedum Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (United States); Woods, Noe C. [Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, 300 Halket Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15235 (United States); Landis, Amy E. [Arizona State University, P.O. Box 875306, Tempe, AZ 85287-5306 (United States); Bilec, Melissa M. [University of Pittsburgh, 949 Benedum Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (United States)

    2012-05-15

    This study introduces life cycle assessment as a tool to analyze one aspect of sustainability in healthcare: the birth of a baby. The process life cycle assessment case study presented evaluates two common procedures in a hospital, a cesarean section and a vaginal birth. This case study was conducted at Magee-Womens Hospital of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which delivers over 10,000 infants per year. The results show that heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), waste disposal, and the production of the disposable custom packs comprise a large percentage of the environmental impacts. Applying the life cycle assessment tool to medical procedures allows hospital decision makers to target and guide efforts to reduce the environmental impacts of healthcare procedures. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Life cycle assessment helps identify the environmental impacts of medical procedures. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Disposable custom packs represent a large portion of environmental impacts of births. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Electricity loading contributes to global warming potential and respiratory effects. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Impact improvements should focus on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and disposable custom packs.

  14. Development of life cycle water-demand coefficients for coal-based power generation technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ali, Babkir; Kumar, Amit

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • We develop water consumption and withdrawals coefficients for coal power generation. • We develop life cycle water footprints for 36 coal-based electricity generation pathways. • Different coal power generation technologies were assessed. • Sensitivity analysis of plant performance and coal transportation on water demand. - Abstract: This paper aims to develop benchmark coefficients for water consumption and water withdrawals over the full life cycle of coal-based power generation. This study considered not only all of the unit operations involved in the full electricity generation life cycle but also compared different coal-based power generating technologies. Overall this study develops the life cycle water footprint for 36 different coal-based electricity generation pathways. Power generation pathways involving new technologies of integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) or ultra supercritical technology with coal transportation by conventional means and using dry cooling systems have the least complete life cycle water-demand coefficients of about 1 L/kW h. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to study the impact of power plant performance and coal transportation on the water demand coefficients. The consumption coefficient over life cycle of ultra supercritical or IGCC power plants are 0.12 L/kW h higher when conventional transportation of coal is replaced by coal-log pipeline. Similarly, if the conventional transportation of coal is replaced by its transportation in the form of a slurry through a pipeline, the consumption coefficient of a subcritical power plant increases by 0.52 L/kW h

  15. Area of Concern: A new paradigm in life cycle assessment for the development of footprint metrics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ridoutt, Bradley G.; Pfister, Stephan; Manzardo, Alessandro

    2016-01-01

    As a class of environmental metrics, footprints have been poorly defined, have shared an unclear relationship to life cycle assessment (LCA), and the variety of approaches to quantification have sometimes resulted in confusing and contradictory messages in the marketplace. In response, a task force...... operating under the auspices of the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative project on environmental life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) has been working to develop generic guidance for developers of footprint metrics. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a universal footprint definition and related...... terminology as well as to discuss modelling implications. The task force has worked from the perspective that footprints should be based on LCA methodology, underpinned by the same data systems and models as used in LCA. However, there are important differences in purpose and orientation relative to LCA...

  16. Dealing with Emergy Algebra in the Life Cycle Assessment Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) represents one of the four steps of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, which is a standardized procedure (ISO 14040:2006) to estimate the environmental impacts generated by the production, use and disposal of goods and services. In this co...

  17. An attributional life cycle assessment for an Italian residential multifamily building.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vitale, Pierluca; Arena, Umberto

    2017-09-06

    The study describes an attributional life cycle assessment carried out according to the ISO standards and focused on an Italian multifamily residential building. The aim was developing an exhaustive and reliable inventory of high-quality primary data, comparing the environmental impacts along the three stages of the building life cycle. The pre-use phase takes into account the production of all the construction materials, transportation, and on-site assembling. The use phase quantifies the resource consumptions for 50 years of the building utilization and ordinary maintenance. The end-of-life phase includes the building demolition and the management of generated wastes. The results quantify how the design criteria affect the environmental performances of the residential building along its life cycle. The role of the pre-use phase appears remarkable for global warming potential (GWP), due to the huge impacts of steel and concrete production processes. The use phase gives the largest contributions, which reach 77% and 84% of the total, for the categories of global warming and non-renewable energy. The end-of-life phase provides limited avoided impacts. A comparative analysis quantifies the improvements achievable with an alternative type of partitions and external walls. Acronyms: AC: air conditioning; C&DW: construction and demolition waste; CFL: compact fluorescent lamp; DHW: domestic hot water; EC: European Commission; EU: European Union; GDP: gross domestic product; GHG: greenhouse gases; GWP: global warming potential; LCA: life cycle assessment; LCI: life cycle inventory; LCIA: life cycle impact assessment; MFA: material flow analysis; NREP: non-renewable energy potential; RINP: respiratory inorganics potential; WFD: Waste Framework Directive.

  18. The Mental Health Recovery Measure can be used to assess aspects of both customer-based and service-based recovery in the context of severe mental illness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Albino J Oliveira-Maia

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Within clinical psychiatry, recovery from severe mental illness has classically been defined according to symptoms and function (service-based recovery. However, service-users have argued that recovery should be defined as the process of overcoming mental illness, regaining self-control and establishing a meaningful life (customer-based recovery. Here we aimed to compare customer-based and service-based recovery and clarify their differential relationship with other constructs, namely needs and quality of life. The study was conducted in 101 patients suffering from severe mental illness, recruited from a rural community mental health setting in Portugal. Customer-based recovery and function-related service-based recovery were assessed respectively using a shortened version of the Mental Health Recovery Measure (MHRM-20 and the Global Assessment of Functioning score. The Camberwell Assessment of Need scale was used to objectively assess needs, while subjective quality of life was measured with the TL-30s scale. Using multiple linear regression models, we found that the Global Assessment of Functioning score was incrementally predictive of the MHRM-20 score, when added to a model including only clinical and demographic factors, and that this model was further incremented by the score for quality of life. However, in an alternate model using the Global Assessment of Functioning score as the dependent variable, while the MHRM-20 score contributed significantly to the model when added to clinical and demographic factors, the model was not incremented by the score for quality of life. These results suggest that, while a more global concept of recovery from severe mental illness may be assessed using measures for service-based and customer-based recovery, the latter, namely the MHRM-20, also provides information about subjective well-being. Pending confirmation of these findings in other populations, this instrument could thus be useful for

  19. Maximum utilization of primary reformer catalyst tubes careful assessment of remaining life-An experience at an ammonia plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malik, M.A.

    2005-01-01

    Condition evaluation and residual life assessment of Reformer Catalyst Tubes has always been a point of concern for Ammonia and Methanol Plant operators. Failure of catalyst tubes results in total plant shutdown and consequent production loss. On the other hand, replacement of these tubes entails major cost impact on the company's budget, being a capital expenditure. A careful Residual Life Assessment of the tubes is therefore of utmost importance for maximum utilization of these tubes without jeopardizing plant operational reliability. This paper presents an experience of extracting maximum service life from the catalyst tubes of Primary Reformer of an Ammonia Plant. Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC) has been operating the plant since 1982, having a designed capacity of 1100 MTPD. Its Primary Reformer has 288 catalyst tubes of IN-519 material (24Cr-24Ni-Nb). The design temperature and pressures are 925 degree C and 38kg/Cm respectively. Thanks to the optimum operating conditions, regular inspections and careful assessment of the residual life, the tubes have achieved more than double of the designed life and are still operating reliably. To evaluate the tube's health, Ultrasonic Inspection (UT) was carried out in 1987 and 1994 using attenuation technique. The tubes with maximum attenuation were marked for further evaluation. Accelerated Creep Rupture Test was carried out on sample tubes periodically (1996, 2001 and 2004). Tubes were selected on the basis of UT results, TMT (Tube Metal Temperature) monitoring and Inspection findings. Based on the combined results of DT, NDT, equipment history and foreseen operational parameters, the life of these tubes was carefully assessed periodically. The tubes have been in service for more than 23 years (design life: 11 years) and a further life of 04 years has been predicted as per last assessment.The experience of successful health evaluation and residual life assessment has saved substantial cost involved in tubes replacement

  20. Life Cycle Assessment of Biogas Production from Marine Macroalgae: a Latvian Scenario

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pilicka, Iluta; Blumberga, Dagnija; Romagnoli, Francesco

    2011-01-01

    There is potential environmental benefit to be gained from the use of algae because of their ability to fix CO2, no need for direct land use and utilization of bio-waste (rich in potassium, phosphate and nitrogen based compounds) as a nutrients. The aim of the research is to assess the impact of biogas production and the final use in a cogeneration unit system from a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in comparison with a similar reference system using a non-renewable source (e.g. natural gas). The paper is intended to be a preliminary study for understanding the implementation of this novel technology in a Latvian context.

  1. Life cycle assessment (LCA of lead-free solders from the environmental protection aspect

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mitovski Aleksandra M.

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Life-cycle assessment (LCA presents a relatively new approach, which allows comprehensive environmental consequences analysis of a product system over its entire life. This analysis is increasingly being used in the industry, as a tool for investigation of the influence of the product system on the environment, and serves as a protection and prevention tool in ecological management. This method is used to predict possible influences of a certain material to the environment through different development stages of the material. In LCA, the product systems are evaluated on a functionally equivalent basis, which, in this case, was 1000 cubic centimeters of an alloy. Two of the LCA phases, life-cycle inventory (LCA and life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA, are needed to calculate the environmental impacts. Methodology of LCIA applied in this analysis aligns every input and output influence into 16 different categories, divided in two subcategories. The life-cycle assessment reaserch review of the leadfree solders Sn-Cu, SAC (Sn-Ag-Cu, BSA (Bi-Sb-Ag and SABC (Sn-Ag-Bi-Cu respectively, is given in this paper, from the environmental protection aspect starting from production, through application process and finally, reclamation at the end-of-life, i.e. recycling. There are several opportunities for reducing the overall environmental and human health impacts of solder used in electronics manufacturing based on the results of the LCA, such as: using secondary metals reclaimed through post-industrial recycling; power consumption reducing by replacing older, less efficient reflow assembly equipment, or by optimizing the current equipment to perform at the elevated temperatures required for lead-free soldering, etc. The LCA analysis was done comparatively in relation to widely used Sn-Pb solder material. Additionally, the impact factors of material consumption, energy use, water and air reserves, human health and ecotoxicity have been ALSO considered including

  2. Shelf-life dating of shelf-stable strawberry juice based on survival analysis of consumer acceptance information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buvé, Carolien; Van Bedts, Tine; Haenen, Annelien; Kebede, Biniam; Braekers, Roel; Hendrickx, Marc; Van Loey, Ann; Grauwet, Tara

    2018-07-01

    Accurate shelf-life dating of food products is crucial for consumers and industries. Therefore, in this study we applied a science-based approach for shelf-life assessment, including accelerated shelf-life testing (ASLT), acceptability testing and the screening of analytical attributes for fast shelf-life predictions. Shelf-stable strawberry juice was selected as a case study. Ambient storage (20 °C) had no effect on the aroma-based acceptance of strawberry juice. The colour-based acceptability decreased during storage under ambient and accelerated (28-42 °C) conditions. The application of survival analysis showed that the colour-based shelf-life was reached in the early stages of storage (≤11 weeks) and that the shelf-life was shortened at higher temperatures. None of the selected attributes (a * and ΔE * value, anthocyanin and ascorbic acid content) is an ideal analytical marker for shelf-life predictions in the investigated temperature range (20-42 °C). Nevertheless, an overall analytical cut-off value over the whole temperature range can be selected. Colour changes of strawberry juice during storage are shelf-life limiting. Combining ASLT with acceptability testing allowed to gain faster insight into the change in colour-based acceptability and to perform shelf-life predictions relying on scientific data. An analytical marker is a convenient tool for shelf-life predictions in the context of ASLT. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

  3. Life cycle assessment for next generating vehicles. Feasibility study of alternative fuel vehicles and electric vehicles; Jisedai jidosha no life cycle assessment. Daitai nenryo jidosha oyobi denki jidosha no feasibility study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hanyu, T; Iida, N [Keio University, Tokyo (Japan)

    1997-10-01

    To show environmental assessment of introduction of substitute fuel vehicles is important information to formulate the future vehicles policy. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is put forward to simulate such potential, allows us to state the reduction environmental impacts of substitute vehicles on their total life cycle. The purpose of this study is assessment and analysis of the life cycle CO2 emission for substitute fuel vehicles, such as, alternative fuel vehicles, electric vehicles, and hybrid electric vehicles. 8 refs., 9 figs., 3 tabs.

  4. Life cycle assessment of bio-jet fuel from hydrothermal liquefaction of microalgae

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fortier, Marie-Odile P.; Roberts, Griffin W.; Stagg-Williams, Susan M.; Sturm, Belinda S.M.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • A life cycle assessment of bio-jet fuel from wastewater algae was performed. • We used experimental data from algae cultivation through hydrothermal liquefaction. • We performed Monte Carlo and sensitivity analyses with ranges of parameter values. • Transport of moderately dewatered algae increased life cycle climate change impacts. • Collocation and heat integration reduce life cycle greenhouse gas emissions by 76%. - Abstract: Bio-jet fuel is increasingly being produced from feedstocks such as algae and tested in flight. As the industry adopts bio-jet fuels from various feedstocks and conversion processes, life cycle assessment (LCA) is necessary to determine whether these renewable fuels result in lower life cycle greenhouse gas (LC-GHG) emissions than conventional jet fuel. An LCA was performed for a functional unit of 1 GJ of bio-jet fuel produced through thermochemical conversion (hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL)) of microalgae cultivated in wastewater effluent. Two pathways were analyzed to compare the impacts of siting HTL at a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to those of siting HTL at a refinery. Base cases for each pathway were developed in part using primary data from algae production in wastewater effluent and HTL experiments of this algae at the University of Kansas. The LC-GHG emissions of these cases were compared to those of conventional jet fuel, and a sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo analyses were performed. When algal conversion using HTL was modeled at a refinery versus at the WWTP site, the transportation steps of biomass and waste nutrients were major contributors to the LC-GHG emissions of algal bio-jet fuel. The LC-GHG emissions were lower for the algal bio-jet fuel pathway that performs HTL at a WWTP (35.2 kg CO 2eq /GJ for the base case) than for the pathway for HTL at a refinery (86.5 kg CO 2eq /GJ for the base case). The LCA results were particularly sensitive to the extent of heat integration, the source of

  5. Assessing College Student-Athletes' Life Stress: Initial Measurement Development and Validation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Frank Jing-Horng; Hsu, Ya-Wen; Chan, Yuan-Shuo; Cheen, Jang-Rong; Kao, Kuei-Tsu

    2012-01-01

    College student-athletes have unique life stress that warrants close attention. The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid measurement assessing college student-athletes' life stress. In Study 1, a focus group discussion and Delphi method produced a questionnaire draft, termed the College Student-Athletes' Life Stress Scale. In…

  6. Numerical and experimental investigations into life assessment of blade-disc connections of gas turbines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Issler, Stephan; Roos, Eberhard

    2003-01-01

    The positively engaged connection between blade and disc of a gas turbine s highly stressed by fatigue and creep fatigue loadings. For this purpose, a ew calculating method based on inelastic finite element analyses considering he main influences on damage was developed at MPA Stuttgart. Low cycle fatigue (LCF) tests with component-like specimens have been conducted for verification. Experimental data and life assessment results based on the Smith, Watson and Topper parameters were compared well

  7. Investigation of ageing status assessment and lifetime evaluation based on actual operation conditions of QNPC NPP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huilie, S.; Chun, G.; Hongyun, L.; Yinqiang, C.; Jun, T.; Wenbing, W.

    2009-01-01

    Qinshan NPP has been successfully operated for over 18 years with 30 year's design life. For 2nd PSR preparation and life extension strategies, a comprehensive status assessment and lifetime evaluation project is performed by NPP and SG research organization (CNPO). Assessment is subjects to main degradation mechanism of SG materials, including tube IGA/IGSCC tube pitting, fatigue of pressure boundary. Based on two primary functions of PWR steam generator, a comprehensive lifetime evaluation system and indicators has been established for keeping structural integrity of SG pressure boundary and thermal output performance. A series of specific assessment activities are implemented for defining actual ageing status and estimating safety and function margin of SG, including SG impurities hideout return analysis, fatigue evaluation of feedwater pipes based thermal stratification number simulation, fatigue evaluation of pressure boundary based on actual transition records, structure integrity assessment for lower chamber with defect, tube fouling analysis and trending etc. Assessment results shows, even extending operation to 50 years, SG would still keep sufficient safety and function margin, SG is not the neck of NPP life extension. (author)

  8. Impact assessment modelling of matter-less stressors in the context of Life Cycle Assessment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cucurachi, Stefano

    2014-01-01

    In the last three decades, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework has grown to establish itself as the leading tool for the assessment of the environmental impacts of product systems.LCA studies are now conducted globally both in and outside the academia and also used as a basis for policy

  9. Assessment of quality of life in patients with post kalaazar dermal leishmaniasis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pal, Biplab; Murti, Krishna; Siddiqui, Niyamat Ali; Das, Pradeep; Lal, Chandra Shekhar; Babu, Rajendra; Rastogi, Manoj Kumar; Pandey, Krishna

    2017-07-24

    Post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) is a dermatological disorder caused by protozoal parasite Leishmania donovani. PKDL cases are thought to be a reservoir of parasites and may increase cases of visceral leishmaniasis. The disease is not life threatening but cosmetic disfigurement associated with it may impair the patients' quality of life. This study aimed to assess the health related quality of life in patients with post kalaazar dermal leishmanasis for the first time. A total of 92 PKDL cases and 96 healthy participants filled out the questionnaires. The Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and SF 36 questionnaire were used to assess the quality of life. Data on socio-demographic and clinical features were also collected. The collected data were analyzed by using SPSS software (version 16), Student's t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied for comparison of means. PKDL patients experienced very large impact on their quality of life. The mean score of DLQI was 11.41. Highest impact was found in symptoms and feelings and lowest impact was observed for personal relationship domain. Patients below 20 years age group found to have lower quality of life. There was a significant difference in mean DLQI scores with regard to age and severity of lesions (P  0.05). PKDL significantly impaired the patient's quality of life. Further studies to assess the impact of treatment on quality of life in these patients are recommended.

  10. Assessment of quality of life among children with bronchial asthma ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background: The global disease burden associated with bronchial asthma has continued to increase particularly among children. Asthma-related quality of life is a health related assessment of disease impact on patient and care givers. Aim: To determine the perceived quality of life (QOL) among children with bronchial ...

  11. Evaluation of Environmental Impacts for Rice Agroecosystems using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Khoramdel

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available In order to evaluate life cycle assessment (LCA for rice agroecosystems based on mean of nitrogen fertilizer levels (less than 190, 190-200, 200-210, 210-220 and more than 220 kg N ha during 1999-2012, an experiment was conducted. Four steps includung goal definition and scoping, inventory analysis, life cycle impact assessment and integration and interpretation were computed. Functional unit was considered as one tone paddy. Impact categories were acidification, eutrophication in aquatic and tresstrial ecosystems and global warming. The results showed that the highest paddy yield was obtained 5.35 t.ha-1 in 190-200 kg N ha. The maximum aquatic eutrophication potential was computed for more than 220 kg N ha-1 with 0.79 PO4 equiv./t paddy. EcoX per one tone paddy and maximum environmental impacts was belonged to aquatic eutrophication (0.13 Eco-index per one tone paddy. It seems that system management including green manure, nitrogen fixing species and reduced tillage could be regarded to reduce problematic environmental impacts in rice production systems.

  12. Comparative alternative materials assessment to screen toxicity hazards in the life cycle of CIGS thin film photovoltaics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eisenberg, Daniel A.; Yu, Mengjing; Lam, Carl W.; Ogunseitan, Oladele A.; Schoenung, Julie M.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • Comparative alternatives assessment of thin film manufacturing technologies. • Development of chemical alternatives assessment in a life cycle context. • Screening of manufacturing and solar cell hazardous substances simultaneously. -- Abstract: Copper–indium–gallium–selenium–sulfide (CIGS) thin film photovoltaics are increasingly penetrating the market supply for consumer solar panels. Although CIGS is attractive for producing less greenhouse gas emissions than fossil-fuel based energy sources, CIGS manufacturing processes and solar cell devices use hazardous materials that should be carefully considered in evaluating and comparing net environmental benefits of energy products. Through this research, we present a case study on the toxicity hazards associated with alternative materials selection for CIGS manufacturing. We applied two numeric models, The Green Screen for Safer Chemicals™ and the Toxic Potential Indicator. To improve the sensitivity of the model outputs, we developed a novel, life cycle thinking based hazard assessment method that facilitates the projection of hazards throughout material life cycles. Our results show that the least hazardous CIGS solar cell device and manufacturing protocol consist of a titanium substrate, molybdenum metal back electrode, CuInS 2 p-type absorber deposited by spray pyrolysis, ZnS buffer deposited by spray ion layer gas reduction, ZnO:Ga transparent conducting oxide (TCO) deposited by sputtering, and the encapsulant polydimethylsiloxane

  13. Life cycle assessment: Existing building retrofit versus replacement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darabi, Nura

    The embodied energy in building materials constitutes a large part of the total energy required for any building (Thormark 2001, 429). In working to make buildings more energy efficient this needs to be considered. Integrating considerations about life cycle assessment for buildings and materials is one promising way to reduce the amount of energy consumption being used within the building sector and the environmental impacts associated with that energy. A life cycle assessment (LCA) model can be utilized to help evaluate the embodied energy in building materials in comparison to the buildings operational energy. This thesis takes into consideration the potential life cycle reductions in energy and CO2 emissions that can be made through an energy retrofit of an existing building verses demolition and replacement with a new energy efficient building. A 95,000 square foot institutional building built in the 1960`s was used as a case study for a building LCA, along with a calibrated energy model of the existing building created as part of a previous Masters of Building Science thesis. The chosen case study building was compared to 10 possible improvement options of either energy retrofit or replacement of the existing building with a higher energy performing building in order to see the life cycle relationship between embodied energy, operational energy, and C02 emissions. As a result of completing the LCA, it is shown under which scenarios building retrofit saves more energy over the lifespan of the building than replacement with new construction. It was calculated that energy retrofit of the chosen existing institutional building would reduce the amount of energy and C02 emissions associated with that building over its life span.

  14. Site-dependent life-cycle impact assessment of acidification

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Potting, Josepha Maria Barbara; Schöpp, W.; Blok, Kornelis

    1998-01-01

    The lack of spatial differentiation in current life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) affects the relevance of the assessed impact. This article first describes a framework for constructing factors relating the region of emission to the acidifying impact on its deposition areas. Next, these factors...... are established for 44 European regions with the help of the RAINS model, an integrated assessment model that combines information on regional emission levels with information on long-range atmospheric transport to estimate patterns of deposition and concentration for comparison with critical loads and thresholds...

  15. The full size validation of remanent life assessment methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hepworth, J.K.; Williams, J.A.

    1988-03-01

    A range of possible life assessment techniques for the remanent life appraisal of creeping structures is available in the published literature. However, due to the safety implications, the true conservatism of such methods cannot be assessed on operating plant. Consequently, the CEGB set up a four vessel programme in the Pressure Vessel Test Facility at the Marchwood Engineering Laboratories of the CEGB to underwrite and quantify the accuracy of these methods. The application of two non-destructive methods, namely strain monitoring and hardness measurement, to the data generated during about 12,000 hours of testing is examined. The current state of development of these methods is reviewed. Finally, the future CEGB programme relating to these vessels is discussed. (author)

  16. ASSESSMENT OF QUALITY OF LIFE: PRESENT AND FUTURE METHODOLOGICAL CHALLENGES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isabel Benítez

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The growing importance of quality of life in diverse domains, such as health, school performance and social participation, has led to the development of new conceptualisations and assessments of the construct. This diversity of perspectives brings about many benefits, but it also creates an obstacle for the formulation of a single unifying definition of the construct and, therefore, an agreed instrument or assessment framework. The aim of this study is to discuss the current methodological challenges in the measurement of quality of life. Firstly, we provide a brief description of the construct as defined in various areas, then we examine the new methodological developments and different applications. We also present an overview of the different possibilities for future developments in defining and measuring quality of life in national and international studies.

  17. Housing and mobility demands of individual households and their life cycle assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saner, Dominik; Heeren, Niko; Jäggi, Boris; Waraich, Rashid A; Hellweg, Stefanie

    2013-06-04

    Household consumption, apart from governmental consumption, is the main driver of worldwide economy. Attached to each household purchase are economic activities along the preceding supply chain, with the associated resource use and emissions. A method to capture and assess all these resource uses and emissions is life cycle assessment. We developed a model for the life cycle assessment of housing and land-based mobility (excluding air travel) consumption of individual households a small village in Switzerland. Statistical census and dwelling register data are the foundations of the model. In a case study performed on a midsized community, we found a median value of greenhouse gas emissions of 3.12 t CO2 equiv and a mean value of 4.30 t CO2 equiv per capita and year for housing and mobility. Twenty-one percent of the households in the investigated region were responsible for 50% of the total greenhouse gas emissions, meaning that if their emissions could be halved the total emissions of the community would be reduced by 25%. Furthermore, a cluster analysis revealed that driving factors for large environmental footprints are demands of large living area heated by fossil energy carriers, as well as large demands of motorized private transportation.

  18. Climate impacts of bioenergy: Inclusion of carbon cycle and albedo dynamics in life cycle impact assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bright, Ryan M.; Cherubini, Francesco; Strømman, Anders H.

    2012-01-01

    Life cycle assessment (LCA) can be an invaluable tool for the structured environmental impact assessment of bioenergy product systems. However, the methodology's static temporal and spatial scope combined with its restriction to emission-based metrics in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) inhibits its effectiveness at assessing climate change impacts that stem from dynamic land surface–atmosphere interactions inherent to all biomass-based product systems. In this paper, we focus on two dynamic issues related to anthropogenic land use that can significantly influence the climate impacts of bioenergy systems: i) temporary changes to the terrestrial carbon cycle; and ii) temporary changes in land surface albedo—and illustrate how they can be integrated within the LCA framework. In the context of active land use management for bioenergy, we discuss these dynamics and their relevancy and outline the methodological steps that would be required to derive case-specific biogenic CO 2 and albedo change characterization factors for inclusion in LCIA. We demonstrate our concepts and metrics with application to a case study of transportation biofuel sourced from managed boreal forest biomass in northern Europe. We derive GWP indices for three land management cases of varying site productivities to illustrate the importance and need to consider case- or region-specific characterization factors for bioenergy product systems. Uncertainties and limitations of the proposed metrics are discussed. - Highlights: ► A method for including temporary surface albedo and carbon cycle changes in Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) is elaborated. ► Concepts are applied to a single bioenergy case whereby a range of feedstock productivities are shown to influence results. ► Results imply that case- and site-specific characterization factors can be essential for a more informed impact assessment. ► Uncertainties and limitations of the proposed methodologies are elaborated.

  19. Quality of life in patients with coronary heart disease-I: Assessment tools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu Cheuk-Man

    2003-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Health-related quality of life (HRQL assessment is an important measure of the impact of the disease, effect of treatment and other variables affecting people's lives. The review focused on the assessment of HRQL in patient with coronary heart disease (CHD by appropriate tools. Although no consensus exists about the precise definition of HRQL, a plethora of instruments have been developed to assess it. Two broad types – generic and disease-specific – have been developed but there is some debate about their relative merits. There is a wide selection of instruments available but choice should be based on a careful consideration of an instrument's psychometric properties, the breadth and depth with which it addresses relevant health domains and the specific clinical or research purpose for which it is intended.

  20. Life cycle assessment of polysaccharide materials: a review

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Shen, L.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/310872022; Patel, M.K.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/18988097X

    2008-01-01

    Apart from conventional uses of polysaccharide materials, such as food, clothing, paper packaging and construction, new polysaccharide products and materials have been developed. This paper reviews life cycle assessment (LCA) studies in order to gain insight of the environmental profiles of

  1. Transportation Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Synthesis, Phase II

    Science.gov (United States)

    2018-04-24

    The Transportation Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Synthesis includes an LCA Learning Module Series, case studies, and analytics on the use of the modules. The module series is a set of narrated slideshows on topics related to environmental LCA. Phase I ...

  2. Life-cycle and freshwater withdrawal impact assessment of water supply technologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Godskesen, Berit; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Rygaard, Martin

    2013-01-01

    Four alternative cases for water supply were environmentally evaluated and compared based on the standard environmental impact categories from the life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology extended with a freshwater withdrawal category (FWI). The cases were designed for Copenhagen, a part of Denmark...... with high population density and relatively low available water resources. FWI was applied at local groundwater catchments based on data from the national implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. The base case of the study was the current practice of groundwater abstraction from well fields...... situated near Copenhagen. The 4 cases studied were: Rain & stormwater harvesting from several blocks in the city; Today's groundwater abstraction with compensating actions applied in the affected freshwater environments to ensure sufficient water flow in water courses; Establishment of well fields further...

  3. Technique for the residual life assessment of high temperature components based on creep-rupture testing on welded miniature specimens

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garzillo, A.; Guardamagna, C.; Moscotti, L.; Ranzani, L. [Ente Nazionale per l`Energia Elettrica, Milan (Italy)

    1995-06-01

    Following the present trend in the development of advanced methodologies for residual life assessment of high temperature components operating in power plants, particularly in non destructive methods, a testing technique has been set up at ENEL-CRAM based on creep-rupture testa in an argon on welded miniature specimens. Five experimental systems for creep-rupture tests in an argon atmosphere have been set up which include high accuracy systems, vacuum chambers and exrwnsometer devices. With the aim of establishing and validating the suitability of the experimental methodology, creep-rupture and interrupted creep testing programmes have been performed on miniature specimens (2 mm diameter and 10 mm gauge lenght). On the basis of experience gathered by various European research laboratories, a miniature specimen construction procedure has been developed using a laser welding technique for joining threaded heads to sample material. Low alloy ferritic steels, such as virgin 2.25CrlMo, 0.5Cr 0.5Mo 0.25V, and IN 738 superalloy miniature specimens have been investigated and the results, compared with those from standard specimens, show a regular trend in deformation vs time. Additional efforts to provide guidelines for material sampling from each plant component will be required in order to reduce uncertainties in residual life prediction.

  4. Life cycle assessment in wastewater treatment: : Influence of site-oriented normalization factors, life cycle impact assessment methods, and weighting methods

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bai, Shunwen; Wang, Xiuheng; Zhang, X.; Zhao, Xinyue; Ren, N

    2017-01-01

    This present study aims to analyze the differences in results of different site-directional life cycle assessment
    (LCA) methods applied in the field of wastewater treatment. Site-generic methods were employed and
    compared with China-specific methods on a full-scale wastewater treatment case.

  5. Does it matter which Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool you choose? - a comparative assessment of SimaPro and GaBi

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Herrmann, Ivan Tengbjerg; Moltesen, Andreas

    2015-01-01

    SimaPro and GaBi are the leading software tools used for life cycle assessments. Assessing product systems applying the exact same unit process foundation would be expected to yield comparable result sets with either tool. The software performances are compared based on a random sample of 100 unit...... of these differences are so large that they could influence the conclusions. For some of the 100 unit processes, six elementary flows were inventoried differently in SimaPro and GaBi, with an extreme maximum comparative ratio of 109. The implementation of the impact assessment methodologies shows notable differences...... processes. The research question investigated here is; can there be a difference between SimaPro and GaBi influencing the results and the decisions based on them? In many cases the results are identical between SimaPro and GaBi or nearly so, but in other cases the results reveal differences. Some...

  6. Quality of life and mediating role of patient scar assessment in burn patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Hyunjin; Boo, Sunjoo

    2017-09-01

    In this study, we examined the plausibility of the mediating effect of the levels of patient scar assessment on the relationship between burn severity measured with total body surface area and burn-specific health-related quality of life (HRQL) among patients with burns in South Korea. In this cross sectional descriptive study, we collected data from 100 burn patients in three burn centers specializing in burn care in South Korea. Patient scar assessment, burn specific HRQL, and burn-related characteristics were self-reported with anonymous, paper-based surveys. The findings showed a positive correlation between burn severity, patient scar assessment, and HRQL in burn patients. The evidence of this paper is that quality of life after burns more determined by scar characteristics than burn severity. In the light of the poor HRQL in burn patients, the results of this study support that improving scar status could improve patients' HRQL. Health care providers should keep in mind that patients' perspectives of their scars would be a great indicator of their HRQL, so the providers' focus should be on intensive scar management intervention in their care. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

  7. Spatially explicit characterization of acidifying and eutrophying air pollution in life-cycle assessment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Huijbregts, Mark A J; Schöpp, Wolfgang; Verkuijlen, Evert; Heijungs, Reinout; Reijnders, Lucas

    2001-01-01

    Simple models are often used to assess the potential impact of acidifying and eutrophying substances released during the life cycle of products. As fate, background depositions, and ecosystem sensitivity are not included in these models, environmental life-cycle assessment of products (LCA) may

  8. Life cycle assessment to compare the environmental impact of seven contemporary food waste management systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Joel; Othman, Maazuza; Crossin, Enda; Burn, Stewart

    2018-01-01

    Municipal food waste (FW) represents 35-45% of household residual waste in Australia, with the nation generating 1.6Tg annually. It is estimated that 91% of this FW ends up in landfill. This study used life cycle assessment to determine and compare the environmental impact of seven contemporary FW management systems for two real-life jurisdictions; incorporating the complete waste service and expanding the system to include inert and garden waste. Although, no system exhibited a best ranking across all impact categories, FW digestion based systems were all revealed to have a lower global warming potential than composting and landfilling systems. Mechanical biological treatment, anaerobic co-digestion, and home composting all demonstrated the lowest environmental impacts for two or more of the environmental impact categories assessed. The assessment included market and technological specific variables and uncertainties providing a framework for robust decision making at a municipality level. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Life cycle assessment of residual lignocellulosic biomass-based jet fuel with activated carbon and lignosulfonate as co-products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pierobon, Francesca; Eastin, Ivan L; Ganguly, Indroneil

    2018-01-01

    Bio-jet fuels are emerging as a valuable alternative to petroleum-based fuels for their potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel dependence. In this study, residual woody biomass from slash piles in the U.S. Pacific Northwest is used as a feedstock to produce iso-paraffinic kerosene, through the production of sugar and subsequent patented proprietary fermentation and upgrading. To enhance the economic viability and reduce the environmental impacts of iso-paraffinic kerosene, two co-products, activated carbon and lignosulfonate, are simultaneously produced within the same bio-refinery. A cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) is performed for the residual woody biomass-based bio-jet fuel and compared against the cradle-to-grave LCA of petroleum-based jet fuel. This paper also discusses the differences in the environmental impacts of the residual biomass-based bio-jet fuel using two different approaches, mass allocation and system expansion, to partition the impacts between the bio-fuel and the co-products, which are produced in the bio-refinery. The environmental assessment of biomass-based bio-jet fuel reveals an improvement along most critical environmental criteria, as compared to its petroleum-based counterpart. However, the results present significant differences in the environmental impact of biomass-based bio-jet fuel, based on the partitioning method adopted. The mass allocation approach shows a greater improvement along most of the environmental criteria, as compared to the system expansion approach. However, independent of the partitioning approach, the results of this study reveal that more than the EISA mandated 60% reduction in the global warming potential could be achieved by substituting petroleum-based jet fuel with residual woody biomass-based jet fuel. Converting residual woody biomass from slash piles into bio-jet fuel presents the additional benefit of avoiding the impacts of slash pile burning in the forest, which

  10. Life Cycle Assessment of Daugavgriva Waste Water Treatment Plant

    OpenAIRE

    Romagnoli, F; Fraga Sampaio, F; Blumberga, D

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents the assessment of the environmental impacts caused by the treatment of Riga’s waste water in the Daugavgriva plant with biogas energy cogeneration through the life cycle assessment (LCA). The LCA seems to be a good tool to assess and evaluate the most serious environmental impacts of a facility The results showed clearly that the impact category contributing the most to the total impact –eutrophicationcomes from the wastewater treatment stage. Cl...

  11. Life cycle management and assessment: approaches and visions towards sustainable manufacturing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Westkämper, Engelbert; Alting, Leo; Arndt, Günther

    2000-01-01

    . The goal of this approach is to protect resources and maximize effectiveness by means of life cycle assessment, product data management, technical support and, last but not least, life cycle costing. This paper shows the existing approaches of LCM and discusses their prospects and further development....... concepts are required, new regulations have been passed or consumer values are changing, the differences between business areas are disappearing. Life cycle management (LCM) considers the product life cycle as a whole and optimizes the interaction of product design, manufacturing and life cycle activities...

  12. Material aging and degradation detection and remaining life assessment for plant life management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramuhalli, P.; Henager, C.H. Jr.; Griffin, J.W.; Meyer, R.M.; Coble, J.B.; Pitman, S.G.; Bond, L.J.

    2012-01-01

    One of the major factors that may impact long-term operations is structural material degradation. Detecting materials degradation, estimating the remaining useful life (RUL) of the component, and determining approaches to mitigating the degradation are important from the perspective of long-term operations. In this study, multiple nondestructive measurement and monitoring methods were evaluated for their ability to assess the material degradation state. Metrics quantifying the level of damage from these measurements were defined and evaluated for their ability to provide estimates of remaining life of the component. An example of estimating the RUL from nondestructive measurements of material degradation condition is provided. (author)

  13. Quality-of-life assessment during palliative radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kearsley, J.H.

    1998-01-01

    A total of 164 consecutive patients with a range of biopsy-proven locally advanced or metastatic cancers were interviewed to assess quality of life using the Rotterdam Symptom Check List (RSCL) at three longitudinal time intervals during a course of palliative radiotherapy. Of the 164 patients, 120 were able to complete all 3 questionnaires. Paired t-tests were used to assess the significance of changes in the patients' mean scores over time. Of the 33 symptoms assessed in the RSCL, changes in the degree of symptomatology were highly consistent with changes expected in clinical practice, as a result of either disease progression or side effects of treatment. It is concluded that the RSCL provides a practical assessment of various symptoms in patients receiving palliative radiotherapy, and that the changes in symptom profile over time are relevant to clinical practice. The RSCL has never been previously used in the assessment of palliative radiotherapy, and the present study validates this instrument. Copyright (1998) Blackwell Science Pty Ltd

  14. Quality of life improves in children and adolescents during a community-based overweight and obesity treatment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mollerup, Pernille M; Nielsen, Tenna R H; Bøjsøe, Christine

    2017-01-01

    PURPOSE: The quality of life is compromised in children and adolescents with overweight or obesity. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the quality of life improves during a community-based overweight and obesity treatment, and whether improvements depend on reductions in the degree...... of obesity. METHODS: Quality of life was assessed using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) 4.0 in children and adolescents aged 3-18 years with overweight or obesity [body mass index (BMI) ≥85th percentile] upon entry into a community-based chronic care overweight and obesity treatment based...... upon The Children's Obesity Clinic's Treatment protocol, and upon follow-up after 10-30 months of treatment. Height and weight were measured at each consultation and converted into a BMI standard deviation score (SDS). RESULTS: Upon entry, 477 children (212 boys) completed a PedsQL, and 317 (143 boys...

  15. Pipeline integrity model-a formative approach towards reliability and life assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sayed, A.M.; Jaffery, M.A.

    2005-01-01

    Pipe forms an integral part of transmission medium in oil and gas industry. This holds true for both upstream and downstream segments of this global energy business. With the aging of this asset base, emphasis on its operational aspects has been under immense considerations from the operators and regulators sides. Moreover, the milieu of information area and enhancement in global trade has lifted the barriers on means to forge forward towards better utilization of resources. This has resulted in optimized solutions as priority for business and technical manager's world over. There is a paradigm shift from mere development of 'smart materials' to 'low life cycle cost material'. The force inducing this change is a rationale one: the recovery of development costs is no more a problem in a global community; rather it is the pay-off time which matters most to the materials end users. This means that decision makers are not evaluating just the price offered but are keen to judge the entire life cycle cost of a product. The integrity of pipe are affected by factors such as corrosion, fatigue-crack growth, stress-corrosion cracking, and mechanical damage. Extensive research in the area of reliability and life assessment has been carried out. A number of models concerning with the reliability issues of pipes have been developed and are being used by a number of pipeline operators worldwide. Yet, it is emphasised that there are no substitute for sound engineering judgment and allowance for factors of safety. The ability of a laid down pipe network to transport the intended fluid under pre-defined conditions for the entire project envisaged life, is referred to the reliability of system. The reliability is built into the product through extensive benchmarking against industry standard codes. The process of pipes construction for oil and gas service is regulated through American Petroleum Institute's Specification for Line Pipe. Subsequently, specific programs have been

  16. The role of framing effect in assessment of quality of life according to standard gambling theory

    OpenAIRE

    Songul Cinaroglu

    2015-01-01

    Measuring health outcomes includes risk and uncertainty. Quality of life assessment in health care has two main properties one is they are personal, the other is they are reflecting personal preferences. Because of patient preferences includes risk and uncertainty standard gambling theory used which is one of the quantitative techniques for assessment of patient preferences. Framing effect which is based on social psychology, shows that positive and negative framed information effects decisio...

  17. Life Cycle Assessment and resource analysis of all-solid-state batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Troy, Stefanie; Schreiber, Andrea; Reppert, Thorsten; Gehrke, Hans-Gregor; Finsterbusch, Martin; Uhlenbruck, Sven; Stenzel, Peter

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Laboratory scale production of an all-solid-state battery cell is assessed using Life Cycle Assessment. • The foremost share of overall emissions results from electricity consumption on site. • Possible improvement potential when upscaling production processes is investigated. • LCA results prove: early research stage products are not comparable to competing technologies at commercial stage. • Additional resource analysis shows: lanthanum, lithium and zirconium are critical materials. - Abstract: In this investigation the environmental impacts of the manufacturing processes of a new all-solid-state battery (SSB) concept in a pouch bag housing were assessed using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology for the first time. To do so, the different production steps were investigated in detail, based on actual laboratory scale production processes. All in- and outputs regarding material and energy flows were collected and assessed. As LCA investigations of products in an early state of research and development usually result in comparatively higher results than those of mature technologies in most impact categories, potential future improvements of production processes and efficiency were considered by adding two concepts to the investigation. Apart from the laboratory production which depicts the current workflow, an idealized laboratory production and a possible industrial production were portrayed as well. The results indicate that electricity consumption plays a big role due to a lot of high temperature production steps. It needs to be improved for future industrial production. Also enhanced battery performance can strongly influence the results. Overall the laboratory scale results indeed improve strongly when assuming a careful use of resources, which will likely be a predominant target for industrial production. These findings therefore highlight hotspots and give improvement targets for future developments. It can also be deducted

  18. Difficulty in Assessing Quality of Life Outcomes in a Fluctuating Disease: A Hypothesis Based on Gastroparesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vic Velanovich

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available An underlying assumption of quality of life outcome research is that after some intervention a “steady-state” of quality of life is reached which can be identified as an endpoint, and, hence, the “outcome.” However, in some disease processes, no so such steady-state is reached. The hypothesis presented is that a disease process with a waxing and waning course will make it difficult to determine a quality of life endpoint. After clinical observation, a pilot study of patients with either diabetic or idiopathic gastroparesis with gastric neurostimulation their records were reviewed to identify the number of clinic visits, the number of clinic visits in which the patients were asymptomatic, much improved, improved, no change, worse, or much worse. These changes were defined as “transitions.” A “transition ratio” was calculated by dividing the number of transitions by the number of clinic visits. Preliminary results showed that of 32 patients, the median number of clinic encounters was 8 (1–35, and the median number of transitions 4 (0–22. The average transition ration was 0.56±0.31. In the case of gastroparesis, over half of all clinical encounters were associated with a transition. The implication of the hypothesis and preliminary finding suggests a difficulty to identify when the symptomatic endpoint was reached. Other methods to assess the effects of treatment in such a disease process are required to fully understand the effects of treatment on quality of life.

  19. Life Cycle Assessment Of Hydrogen Production From Natural Gas Reforming Process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ozturk, M.

    2010-01-01

    Society has become concerned about the issues of natural resource depletion and environmental degradation. The environmental performance of products or processes has become a key issue, which is why ways to minimize the effects on the environment are investigated. The most effective tool for this purpose is called life cycle assessment (LCA). This concept considers the entire life cycle of product or process. The life cycle of a product begins with the extraction of raw materials from the earth to create the product and ends at the point when all materials are returned to the earth. LCA makes it possible to estimate the cumulative environmental impacts resulting from all stages in the product life cycle, often including impacts not considered in more traditional analyses. Therefore, LCA provides a comprehensive view of the environmental aspects of the product or process and a more accurate picture of the true environmental trade-offs in product selection. In the case of this study, life cycle assessments of hydrogen production via natural gas reforming process are investigated for environmental affect.

  20. Assessment of anxiety and quality of life in fibromyalgia patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tathiana Pagano

    Full Text Available CONTEXT: Fibromyalgia is a syndrome characterized by chronic, diffuse musculoskeletal pain, and by a low pain threshold at specific anatomical points. The syndrome is associated with other symptoms such as fatigue, sleep disturbance, morning stiffness and anxiety. Because of its chronic nature, it often has a negative impact on patients' quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To assess the quality of life and anxiety level of patients with fibromyalgia. TYPE Of STUDY: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Rheumatology outpatient service of Hospital das Clínicas (Medical School, Universidade de São Paulo. METHODS: This study evaluated 80 individuals, divided between test and control groups. The test group included 40 women with a confirmed diagnosis of fibromyalgia. The control group was composed of 40 healthy women. Three questionnaires were used: two to assess quality of life (FIQ and SF-36 and one to assess anxiety (STAI. They were applied to the individuals in both groups in a single face-to-face interview. The statistical analysis used Student's t test and Pearson's correlation test (r, with a significance level of 95%. Also, the Pearson chi-squared statistics test for homogeneity, with Yates correction, was used for comparing schooling between test and control groups. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference between the groups (p = 0.000, thus indicating that fibromyalgia patients have a worse quality of life and higher levels of anxiety. The correlations between the three questionnaires were high (r = 0.9. DISCUSSION: This study has confirmed the efficacy of FIQ for evaluating the impact of fibromyalgia on the quality of life. SF-36 is less specific than FIQ, although statistically significant values were obtained when analyzed separately, STAI showed lower efficacy for discriminating the test group from the control group. The test group showed worse quality of life than did the control group, which was demonstrated by both FIQ and SF-36. Even

  1. Life cycle management and assessment: approaches and visions towards sustainable manufacturing

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Westkämper, Engelbert; Alting, Leo; Arndt, Günther

    2001-01-01

    and optimizes the interaction of product design, manufacturing and life cycle activities. The goal of this approach is to protect resources and maximize effectiveness by means of life cycle assessment, product data management, technical support and, last but not least, life cycle costing. This paper shows....... Economically successful business areas can also be explored. Whether new service concepts are required, new regulations have been passed or consumer values are changing, the differences between business areas are disappearing. Life cycle management (LCM) considers the product life cycle as a whole...... the existing approaches of LCM and discusses their prospects and further development....

  2. Comparative alternative materials assessment to screen toxicity hazards in the life cycle of CIGS thin film photovoltaics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eisenberg, Daniel A.; Yu, Mengjing; Lam, Carl W. [University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616 (United States); Ogunseitan, Oladele A. [University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697 (United States); Schoenung, Julie M., E-mail: jmschoenung@ucdavis.edu [University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616 (United States)

    2013-09-15

    Highlights: • Comparative alternatives assessment of thin film manufacturing technologies. • Development of chemical alternatives assessment in a life cycle context. • Screening of manufacturing and solar cell hazardous substances simultaneously. -- Abstract: Copper–indium–gallium–selenium–sulfide (CIGS) thin film photovoltaics are increasingly penetrating the market supply for consumer solar panels. Although CIGS is attractive for producing less greenhouse gas emissions than fossil-fuel based energy sources, CIGS manufacturing processes and solar cell devices use hazardous materials that should be carefully considered in evaluating and comparing net environmental benefits of energy products. Through this research, we present a case study on the toxicity hazards associated with alternative materials selection for CIGS manufacturing. We applied two numeric models, The Green Screen for Safer Chemicals™ and the Toxic Potential Indicator. To improve the sensitivity of the model outputs, we developed a novel, life cycle thinking based hazard assessment method that facilitates the projection of hazards throughout material life cycles. Our results show that the least hazardous CIGS solar cell device and manufacturing protocol consist of a titanium substrate, molybdenum metal back electrode, CuInS{sub 2} p-type absorber deposited by spray pyrolysis, ZnS buffer deposited by spray ion layer gas reduction, ZnO:Ga transparent conducting oxide (TCO) deposited by sputtering, and the encapsulant polydimethylsiloxane.

  3. Life cycle assessment of metal alloys for structural applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malovrh Rebec, K.; Markoli, B.; Leskovar, B.

    2018-03-01

    The study compared environmental footprints of two types of Al-alloys: well-known 5083 aluminium alloy with magnesium and traces of manganese and chromium in its composition. This material is highly resistant to seawater corrosion and the influence of industrial chemicals. Furthermore, it retains exceptional strength after welding. The comparisons were made to an innovative alloy where the aluminium based matrix is reinforced by metastable quasicrystals (QC), thus avoiding magnesium in its composition. Furthermore, we checked other aluminium ingots’ footprints and compared European average and Germany country specific production data. Environmental footprints were assessed via cradle to gate life cycle assessment. Our findings normalized to 1 m2 plate suggest, that newly proposed alloy could save around 50 % in value of parameters abiotic resources depletion of fossil fuels, acidification, eutrophication, global warming potential and photochemical ozone creation potential if we compare Qc5 to 6 mm 5083 alloy plate. Only abiotic resources depletion of elements and ozone depletion parameters increase for Qc5 compared to 6 mm 5083 alloy plate.

  4. Life cycle assessment of construction and demolition waste management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butera, Stefania; Christensen, Thomas H; Astrup, Thomas F

    2015-10-01

    Life cycle assessment (LCA) modelling of construction and demolition waste (C&DW) management was carried out. The functional unit was management of 1 Mg mineral, source separated C&DW, which is either utilised in road construction as a substitute for natural aggregates, or landfilled. The assessed environmental impacts included both non-toxic and toxic impact categories. The scenarios comprised all stages of the end-of-life management of C&DW, until final disposal of all residues. Leaching of inorganic contaminants was included, as was the production of natural aggregates, which was avoided because of the use of C&DW. Typical uncertainties related to contaminant leaching were addressed. For most impact categories, utilisation of C&DW in road construction was preferable to landfilling; however, for most categories, utilisation resulted in net environmental burdens. Transportation represented the most important contribution for most nontoxic impacts, accounting for 60-95 per cent of these impacts. Capital goods contributed with negligible impacts. Leaching played a critical role for the toxic categories, where landfilling had lower impacts than utilisation because of the lower levels of leachate per ton of C&DW reaching the groundwater over a 100-year perspective. Leaching of oxyanions (As, V and Sb) was critical with respect to leaching. Typical experimental uncertainties in leaching data did not have a pivotal influence on the results; however, accounting for Cr immobilisation in soils as part of the impact assessment was critical for modelling the leaching impacts. Compared with the overall life cycle of building and construction materials, leaching emissions were shown to be potentially significant for toxicity impacts, compared with contributions from production of the same materials, showing that end-of-life impacts and leaching should not be disregarded when assessing environmental impacts from construction products and materials. CO2 uptake in the C

  5. Life cycle assessment as a tool to promote sustainable thermowood boards: a portuguese case study

    OpenAIRE

    Ferreira, J.; Esteves, B.; Ribeiro Nunes, L. M.; Domingos, I.

    2015-01-01

    The aim of the present work was to conduct a Life Cycle Assessment study of thermally-modified Atlanticwood® pine boards based on real data provided by the Santos & Santos Madeiras company. Atlanticwood® pine boards have several applications, but are mainly used for exterior decking and the cladding facades of buildings. The LCA study was conducted based on the ISO 14040/44 standard and PCR “Product Category Rules for preparing an environmental product declaration for Constr...

  6. Operations Assessment of Launch Vehicle Architectures using Activity Based Cost Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruiz-Torres, Alex J.; McCleskey, Carey

    2000-01-01

    The growing emphasis on affordability for space transportation systems requires the assessment of new space vehicles for all life cycle activities, from design and development, through manufacturing and operations. This paper addresses the operational assessment of launch vehicles, focusing on modeling the ground support requirements of a vehicle architecture, and estimating the resulting costs and flight rate. This paper proposes the use of Activity Based Costing (ABC) modeling for this assessment. The model uses expert knowledge to determine the activities, the activity times and the activity costs based on vehicle design characteristics. The approach provides several advantages to current approaches to vehicle architecture assessment including easier validation and allowing vehicle designers to understand the cost and cycle time drivers.

  7. Developing and testing an operational framework for assessing quality of life

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fahy, F.; O Cinneide, M.

    2008-01-01

    Difficulties with operationalising the concept of sustainable development have generated much debate, and have stimulated a good deal of research on the challenging task of assessing progress towards that goal. This paper focuses on quality of life, as one discourse in the sustainable development literature, and reports on the development and testing of an operational framework for the assessment of quality of life in an urban setting. Core principles of sustainable development are translated into a set of operational criteria for investigating quality of life. The process of formulating these criteria and the manner in which they may be linked to policy and practice are outlined. The application of the framework is demonstrated by reference to the experience of implementing it in an urban centre in Ireland

  8. Life cycle assessment of bagasse waste management options

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kiatkittipong, Worapon; Wongsuchoto, Porntip; Pavasant, Prasert

    2009-01-01

    Bagasse is mostly utilized for steam and power production for domestic sugar mills. There have been a number of alternatives that could well be applied to manage bagasse, such as pulp production, conversion to biogas and electricity production. The selection of proper alternatives depends significantly on the appropriateness of the technology both from the technical and the environmental points of view. This work proposes a simple model based on the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental impacts of various alternatives for dealing with bagasse waste. The environmental aspects of concern included global warming potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential and photochemical oxidant creation. Four waste management scenarios for bagasse were evaluated: landfilling with utilization of landfill gas, anaerobic digestion with biogas production, incineration for power generation, and pulp production. In landfills, environmental impacts depended significantly on the biogas collection efficiency, whereas incineration of bagasse to electricity in the power plant showed better environmental performance than that of conventional low biogas collection efficiency landfills. Anaerobic digestion of bagasse in a control biogas reactor was superior to the other two energy generation options in all environmental aspects. Although the use of bagasse in pulp mills created relatively high environmental burdens, the results from the LCA revealed that other stages of the life cycle produced relatively small impacts and that this option might be the most environmentally benign alternative

  9. Life-Cycle Assessment of Pyrolysis Bio-Oil Production*

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Steele, Philip; Puettmann, Maureen E.; Penmetsa, Venkata Kanthi; Cooper, Jerome E.

    2012-07-01

    As part ofthe Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials' Phase I life-cycle assessments ofbiofuels, lifecycle inventory burdens from the production of bio-oil were developed and compared with measures for residual fuel oil. Bio-oil feedstock was produced using whole southern pine (Pinus taeda) trees, chipped, and converted into bio-oil by fast pyrolysis. Input parameters and mass and energy balances were derived with Aspen. Mass and energy balances were input to SimaPro to determine the environmental performance of bio-oil compared with residual fuel oil as a heating fuel. Equivalent functional units of 1 MJ were used for demonstrating environmental preference in impact categories, such as fossil fuel use and global warming potential. Results showed near carbon neutrality of the bio-oil. Substituting bio-oil for residual fuel oil, based on the relative carbon emissions of the two fuels, estimated a reduction in CO2 emissions by 0.075 kg CO2 per MJ of fuel combustion or a 70 percent reduction in emission over residual fuel oil. The bio-oil production life-cycle stage consumed 92 percent of the total cradle-to-grave energy requirements, while feedstock collection, preparation, and transportation consumed 4 percent each. This model provides a framework to better understand the major factors affecting greenhouse gas emissions related to bio-oil production and conversion to boiler fuel during fast pyrolysis.

  10. Life cycle assessment and the agri-food chain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hermansen, John Erik; Nguyen, T Lan T

    2012-01-01

    Our food consumption is responsible for a major part of the environmental impact related to our total consumption. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a product-oriented tool that can be used efficiently to identify improvement options within the food chain covering a product’s life cycle from cradle...... to grave, which is very complex for many foods, and to support choices of consumption. The LCA methodology is supported by public standards and public policy measures and has proved its value in business development for more environmentally friendly products. It is an essential feature that the effects...... of resource use and emissions associated with a product’s life cycle can be aggregated into impact categories (e.g., nonrenewable energy use, land occupation, global warming, acidification, etc.) and further aggregated into overall damage impacts (e.g., impacts on biodiversity, human health, and resource...

  11. Integrating Life-cycle Assessment into Transport Cost-benefit Analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manzo, Stefano; Salling, Kim Bang

    2016-01-01

    Traditional transport Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) commonly ignores the indirect environmental impacts of an infrastructure project deriving from the overall life-cycle of the different project components. Such indirect impacts are instead of key importance in order to assess the long......-term sustainability of a transport infrastructure project. In the present study we suggest to overcome this limit by combining a conventional life-cycle assessment approach with standard transport cost-benefit analysis. The suggested methodology is tested upon a case study project related to the construction of a new...... fixed link across the Roskilde fjord in Frederikssund (Denmark). The results are then compared with those from a standard CBA framework. The analysis shows that indirect environmental impacts represent a relevant share of the estimated costs of the project, clearly affecting the final project evaluation...

  12. Safety assessments using surveillance programmes and data base

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Njo, D.H.

    1998-01-01

    As a result of the popularity of the Agencies report 'Neutron Irradiation Embrittlement of Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels' of 1975, it was decided that another report on this broad subject would be of use. In this report, background and contemporary views on specially identified areas of the subject are considered as self-contained chapters, written by experts. Chapter 12 presents some aspects on safety assessments of RPV materials during the life of a NPP, using surveillance programmes and data bases. Specific criteria for the usefulness of data bases are developed

  13. High-resolution assessment of land use impacts on biodiversity in life cycle assessment using species habitat suitability models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Baan, Laura; Curran, Michael; Rondinini, Carlo; Visconti, Piero; Hellweg, Stefanie; Koellner, Thomas

    2015-02-17

    Agricultural land use is a main driver of global biodiversity loss. The assessment of land use impacts in decision-support tools such as life cycle assessment (LCA) requires spatially explicit models, but existing approaches are either not spatially differentiated or modeled at very coarse scales (e.g., biomes or ecoregions). In this paper, we develop a high-resolution (900 m) assessment method for land use impacts on biodiversity based on habitat suitability models (HSM) of mammal species. This method considers potential land use effects on individual species, and impacts are weighted by the species' conservation status and global rarity. We illustrate the method using a case study of crop production in East Africa, but the underlying HSMs developed by the Global Mammals Assessment are available globally. We calculate impacts of three major export crops and compare the results to two previously developed methods (focusing on local and regional impacts, respectively) to assess the relevance of the methodological innovations proposed in this paper. The results highlight hotspots of product-related biodiversity impacts that help characterize the links among agricultural production, consumption, and biodiversity loss.

  14. The Development of a Sport-Based Life Skills Scale for Youth to Young Adults, 11-23 Years of Age

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cauthen, Hillary Ayn

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to develop a sport-based life skills scale that assesses 20 life skills: goal setting, time management, communication, coping, problem solving, leadership, critical thinking, teamwork, self-discipline, decision making, planning, organizing, resiliency, motivation, emotional control, patience, assertiveness, empathy,…

  15. Life cycle assessment of a packaging waste recycling system in Portugal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferreira, S.; Cabral, M.; Cruz, N.F. da; Simões, P.; Marques, R.C.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • We modeled a real packaging waste recycling system. • The analysis was performed using the life cycle assessment methodology. • The 2010 situation was compared with scenarios where the materials were not recycled. • The “Baseline” scenario seems to be more beneficial to the environment. - Abstract: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been used to assess the environmental impacts associated with an activity or product life cycle. It has also been applied to assess the environmental performance related to waste management activities. This study analyses the packaging waste management system of a local public authority in Portugal. The operations of selective and refuse collection, sorting, recycling, landfilling and incineration of packaging waste were considered. The packaging waste management system in operation in 2010, which we called “Baseline” scenario, was compared with two hypothetical scenarios where all the packaging waste that was selectively collected in 2010 would undergo the refuse collection system and would be sent directly to incineration (called “Incineration” scenario) or to landfill (“Landfill” scenario). Overall, the results show that the “Baseline” scenario is more environmentally sound than the hypothetical scenarios

  16. Life cycle assessment of a packaging waste recycling system in Portugal

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ferreira, S.; Cabral, M. [CEG-IST, ULisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon (Portugal); Cruz, N.F. da, E-mail: nunocruz@tecnico.ulisboa.pt [IST, ULisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon (Portugal); Simões, P. [IST, ULisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon (Portugal); Marques, R.C. [CESUR, IST, ULisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon (Portugal)

    2014-09-15

    Highlights: • We modeled a real packaging waste recycling system. • The analysis was performed using the life cycle assessment methodology. • The 2010 situation was compared with scenarios where the materials were not recycled. • The “Baseline” scenario seems to be more beneficial to the environment. - Abstract: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been used to assess the environmental impacts associated with an activity or product life cycle. It has also been applied to assess the environmental performance related to waste management activities. This study analyses the packaging waste management system of a local public authority in Portugal. The operations of selective and refuse collection, sorting, recycling, landfilling and incineration of packaging waste were considered. The packaging waste management system in operation in 2010, which we called “Baseline” scenario, was compared with two hypothetical scenarios where all the packaging waste that was selectively collected in 2010 would undergo the refuse collection system and would be sent directly to incineration (called “Incineration” scenario) or to landfill (“Landfill” scenario). Overall, the results show that the “Baseline” scenario is more environmentally sound than the hypothetical scenarios.

  17. Quality-of-life assessment in children with fecal incontinence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Filho, Humberto S; Mastroti, Roberto A; Klug, Wilmar A

    2015-04-01

    Fecal incontinence is a clinical condition that causes embarrassment and changes the perception of quality of life. The absence of a specific tool for assessing fecal incontinence in children led us to adapt an instrument originally developed for adults, which has already been validated into Portuguese. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the quality of life of children with fecal incontinence. This is a single-center, prospective study based on the application of survey. The Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life questionnaire was modified by eliminating 2 questions related to sexuality and by substituting the word "depressed" with "sad" in the statement, "I feel depressed." The study took place at a tertiary academic medical center. Forty-one children >5 years of age, with incontinence of organic etiology and preserved cognition but without stomy, were interviewed with the use of the Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life modified questionnaire. To evaluate the discrimination validity, 28 healthy children were interviewed as control subjects. As to reproducibility, a test/retest was performed, involving 25 children. For construct validation, the Fecal Incontinence Quality of Life modified was correlated with the generic instrument Autoquestionnaire Qualité de Vie Enfant Imagé with the continence index São Paulo Score of Continence. The average values by scale included lifestyle, 3.1; emotional, 2.8; behavior, 2.3; and embarrassment, 1.6. The average values for the control group included lifestyle, 3.7; emotional, 4.0; behavior, 3.6; and embarrassment, 3.6. The instrument showed a general reliability of 0.78, measured by the Cronbach α. Reproducibility was also >0.90 according to the Cronbach α. The intrinsic characteristics of children include their constant growth, and this presented a challenge in our search for an instrument that permitted us to identify and measure these variations. The experiment showed a reduction in all of the scale values, particularly

  18. Environmental implications of large-scale adoption of wind power: a scenario-based life cycle assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arvesen, Anders; Hertwich, Edgar G

    2011-01-01

    We investigate the potential environmental impacts of a large-scale adoption of wind power to meet up to 22% of the world’s growing electricity demand. The analysis builds on life cycle assessments of generic onshore and offshore wind farms, meant to represent average conditions for global deployment of wind power. We scale unit-based findings to estimate aggregated emissions of building, operating and decommissioning wind farms toward 2050, taking into account changes in the electricity mix in manufacturing. The energy scenarios investigated are the International Energy Agency’s BLUE scenarios. We estimate 1.7–2.6 Gt CO 2 -eq climate change, 2.1–3.2 Mt N-eq marine eutrophication, 9.2–14 Mt NMVOC photochemical oxidant formation, and 9.5–15 Mt SO 2 -eq terrestrial acidification impact category indicators due to global wind power in 2007–50. Assuming lifetimes 5 yr longer than reference, the total climate change indicator values are reduced by 8%. In the BLUE Map scenario, construction of new capacity contributes 64%, and repowering of existing capacity 38%, to total cumulative greenhouse gas emissions. The total emissions of wind electricity range between 4% and 14% of the direct emissions of the replaced fossil-fueled power plants. For all impact categories, the indirect emissions of displaced fossil power are larger than the total emissions caused by wind power.

  19. ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF ROAD TRANSPORT IN A PASSENGER CAR USING THE LIFE CYCLE APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Piotr FOLĘGA

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Environmental issues are an increasingly important aspect of management in the transport sector; new methods have been developed for assessment of the environment in the transport sector using the life cycle approach. The paper presents the application of Well to Wheel (WTW and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA in the transport sector. The WTW method focuses on energy analysis and greenhouse gas emissions during the life cycle of fuels. WTW is used to support decision-making on the environmental aspects of transport, particularly with regard to fuel life cycle management, but this method omits important stages in the life cycle, particularly the ones regarding important circular economy guidelines such as reduction of natural resource consumption, impact on human health, etc. The LCA method provides a much broader approach to environmental assessment than WTW. LCA takes into consideration environmental impact in the whole life cycle of the vehicle, from the stage of production, through the period of exploitation, and finally its disposal.

  20. Remaining useful life assessment of lithium-ion batteries in implantable medical devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Chao; Ye, Hui; Jain, Gaurav; Schmidt, Craig

    2018-01-01

    This paper presents a prognostic study on lithium-ion batteries in implantable medical devices, in which a hybrid data-driven/model-based method is employed for remaining useful life assessment. The method is developed on and evaluated against data from two sets of lithium-ion prismatic cells used in implantable applications exhibiting distinct fade performance: 1) eight cells from Medtronic, PLC whose rates of capacity fade appear to be stable and gradually decrease over a 10-year test duration; and 2) eight cells from Manufacturer X whose rates appear to be greater and show sharp increase after some period over a 1.8-year test duration. The hybrid method enables online prediction of remaining useful life for predictive maintenance/control. It consists of two modules: 1) a sparse Bayesian learning module (data-driven) for inferring capacity from charge-related features; and 2) a recursive Bayesian filtering module (model-based) for updating empirical capacity fade models and predicting remaining useful life. A generic particle filter is adopted to implement recursive Bayesian filtering for the cells from the first set, whose capacity fade behavior can be represented by a single fade model; a multiple model particle filter with fixed-lag smoothing is proposed for the cells from the second data set, whose capacity fade behavior switches between multiple fade models.

  1. Life quality assessment among patients with atopic eczema.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holm, E A; Wulf, H C; Stegmann, H; Jemec, G B E

    2006-04-01

    Quantification of quality of life (QoL) related to disease severity is important in patients with atopic eczema (AE), because the assessment provides additional information to the traditional objective clinical scoring systems. To measure health-related QoL (HRQoL) in patients with AE; to analyse discriminant, divergent and convergent validity by examining the association between various QoL methods; and to examine the association between disease severity assessed by an objective Severity Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) and QoL. HRQoL was assessed at two visits at a 6-monthly interval in 101 patients with AE and 30 controls with one dermatology-specific questionnaire [Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) or Children's DLQI (CDLQI)], one generic instrument (SF-36) and three visual analogue scales (VASs) of severity and pruritus. Objective SCORAD was used to measure disease severity. Patients with AE had significantly lower QoL than healthy controls and the general population. DLQI /CDLQI, pruritus, and patient and investigator overall assessment of eczema severity were significantly (P mental component score of SF-36 (P = 0.019). AE has an impact on HRQoL. Patients' mental health, social functioning and role emotional functioning seem to be more affected than physical functioning. A simple VAS score of patients' assessment of disease severity showed the highest and most significant correlations with most of the HRQoL methods used. There is evidence to support the ability of patients with AE to make an accurate determination of their disease severity and QoL.

  2. Importance of waste composition for Life Cycle Assessment of waste management solutions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bisinella, Valentina; Götze, Ramona; Conradsen, Knut

    2017-01-01

    The composition of waste materials has fundamental influence on environmental emissions associated with waste treatment, recycling and disposal, and may play an important role also for the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of waste management solutions. However, very few assessments include effects...... of the waste composition and waste LCAs often rely on poorly justified data from secondary sources. This study systematically quantifiesy the influence and uncertainty on LCA results associated with selection of waste composition data. Three archetypal waste management scenarios were modelled with the waste...... LCA model EASETECH based on detailed waste composition data from the literature. The influence from waste composition data on the LCA results was quantified with a step-wise Global Sensitivity Analysis (GSA) approach involving contribution, sensitivity, uncertainty and discernibility analyses...

  3. Life estimation I and C cable insulation materials based on accelerated life testing accelerated life testing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santhosh, T.V.; Ramteke, P.K.; Shrestha, N.B.; Ahirwar, A.K.; Gopika, V.

    2016-01-01

    Accelerated Iife tests are becoming increasingly popular in today's industry due to the need for obtaining life data quickly and reliably. Life testing of products under higher stress levels without introducing additional failure modes can provide significant savings of both time and money. Correct analysis of data gathered via such accelerated life testing will yield parameters and other information for the product's life under use stress conditions. To be of practical use in assessing the operational behaviour of cables in NPPs, laboratory ageing aims to mimic the type of degradation observed under operational conditions. Conditions of testing therefore need to be carefully chosen to ensure that the degradation mechanism occurring in the accelerated tests are similar to those which occur in service. This paper presents the results of an investigation in which the elongation-at-break (EAB) measurements were carried on a typical control cable to predict the mean life at service conditions. A low voltage polyvinyl chloride (PVC) insulated and PVC sheathed control cable, used in NPP instrumentation and control (I and C) applications, was subjected thermal ageing at three elevated temperatures

  4. A new data architecture for advancing life cycle assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    IntroductionLife cycle assessment (LCA) has a technical architecture that limits data interoperability, transparency, and automated integration of external data. More advanced information technologies offer promise for increasing the ease with which information can be synthesized...

  5. Carbon Footprint of Inbound Tourism to Iceland: A Consumption-Based Life-Cycle Assessment including Direct and Indirect Emissions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hannah Sharp

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The greenhouse gas (GHG emissions caused by tourism have been studied from several perspectives, but few studies exist that include all direct and indirect emissions, particularly those from aviation. In this study, an input/output-based hybrid life-cycle assessment (LCA method is developed to assess the consumption-based carbon footprint of the average tourist including direct and indirect emissions. The total inbound tourism-related GHG emissions are also calculated within a certain region. As a demonstration of the method, the full carbon footprint of an average tourist is assessed as well as the total GHG emissions induced by tourism to Iceland over the period of 2010–2015, with the presented approach applicable in other contexts as well. Iceland provides an interesting case due to three features: (1 the tourism sector in Iceland is the fastest-growing industry in the country with an annual growth rate of over 20% over the past five years; (2 almost all tourists arrive by air; and (3 the country has an almost emissions-free energy industry and an import-dominated economy, which emphasise the role of the indirect emissions. According to the assessment, the carbon footprint for the average tourist is 1.35 tons of CO2-eq, but ranges from 1.1 to 3.2 tons of CO2-eq depending on the distance travelled by air. Furthermore, this footprint is increasing due to the rise in average flight distances travelled to reach the country. The total GHG emissions caused by tourism in Iceland have tripled from approximately 600,000 tons of CO2-eq in 2010 to 1,800,000 tons in 2015. Aviation accounts for 50%–82% of this impact (depending on the flight distance underlining the importance of air travel, especially as tourism-related aviation is forecasted to grow significantly in the near future. From a method perspective, the carbon footprinting application presented in the study would seem to provide an efficient way to study both the direct and indirect

  6. Life-cycle assessment of eucalyptus short-rotation coppices for bioenergy production in Southern France

    OpenAIRE

    Gabrielle , Benoit; Nguyen The , Nicolas; Maupu , Pauline; Vial , Estelle

    2011-01-01

    Short rotation coppices (SRCs) are considered prime candidates for biomass production, yielding good-quality feedstock that is easy to harvest. Besides technical, social and economical aspects, environmental issues are important to take into account when developing SRCs. Here, we evaluated the environmental impacts of delivering 1 GJ of heat from eucalyptus SRC using life cycle assessment (LCA), based on management scenarios involving different rotations lengths, fertilizer input rates, stem ...

  7. Life cycle assessment of waste paper management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Merrild, Hanna Kristina; Damgaard, Anders; Christensen, Thomas Højlund

    2008-01-01

    The significance of technical data, as well as the significance of system boundary choices, when modelling the environmental impact from recycling and incineration of waste paper has been studied by a life cycle assessment focusing oil global warming potentials. The consequence of choosing...... results. The modelling showed that recycling of paper, from a life cycle point of view, is environmentally equal or better than incineration with energy recovery only when the recycling technology is at a high environmental performance level. However, the modelling also showed that expanding the system...... a specific set of data for the reprocessing technology, the virgin paper manufacturing technology and the incineration technology, as well as the importance of the recycling rate Was Studied. Furthermore, the system was expanded to include forestry and to include fossil fuel energy substitution from saved...

  8. Association between late effects assessed by physicians and quality of life reported by head-and-neck cancer survivors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Daugaard, Rikke; Kjaer, Trille; Johansen, Christoffer

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Many survivors of head-and-neck cancer (HNC) suffer from late effects. Their overall quality of life deteriorates during treatment, followed by a slow recovery up to five years after treatment. We examined the association between the severity of physician-assessed late effects...... and the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) reported by survivors of HNC. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The analysis was based on data collected during follow-up for 136 survivors of cancer in the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, or salivary glands. Physicians' assessments of dysphagia, xerostomia, fibrosis...... models were used to examine the association between the severity of each late effect and HRQoL. RESULTS: Quality of life was decreased among patients with moderate to severe dysphagia compared to patients without dysphagia (-16 points; 95% CI -21;-3). Also role functioning (-20 points; 95% CI -38...

  9. Life cycle assessment-driven selection of industrial ecology strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ardente, Fulvio; Cellura, Maurizio; Lo Brano, Valerio; Mistretta, Marina

    2010-01-01

    The paper presents an application of the Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) to the planning and environmental management of an “eco-industrial cluster.” A feasibility study of industrial symbiosis in southern Italy is carried out, where interlinked companies share subproducts and scraps, services, structures, and plants to reduce the related environmental impact. In particular, the research focuses on new recycling solutions to create open recycling loops in which plastic subproducts and scraps are transferred to external production systems. The main environmental benefits are the reduction of resource depletion, air emissions, and landfilled wastes. The proposed strategies are also economically viable and they suggest cost abatement for the involved companies. This research shows the need for a multidisciplinary approach to data processing and to complexity managing of the investigated systems. In this context, life-cycle thinking is required to be promoted throughout the economy, as well to be as a part of all decisions on products and other criteria such as functionality, health, and safety. The Life-Cycle Assessment approach can be assumed as a methodology for influencing decision makers to make sustainable choices.

  10. Life cycle assessment of products and technologies. LCA Symposium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koukkari, H.; Nors, M. (eds.)

    2009-12-15

    VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland organised a Symposium 'Life Cycle Assessment of Products and Technologies' on the 6th of October, 2009. The Symposium gave a good overview of methods, tools and applications of Life Cycle Assessment developed and utilised in several technology fields of VTT. The 12 Symposium papers deal with recent LCA studies on products and technologies. The scope ranges from beverage cups to urban planning, from inventory databases to rating systems. Topical issues relating to climate change concern biorefineries and the overall impacts of the utilisation of biomass. The calculation of carbon footprints is also introduced through paper products and magazines. One example of LCA tools developed at VTT addresses cement manufacturing. VTT's transport emission database, LIPASTO, was introduced in detail. The use of LCA methods and life cycle thinking is described in various contexts: product development in relation to precision instruments; selection of materials and work processes in relation to sediment remediation project; and procedures of sustainability rating through VTT's office building Digitalo. The Climate Bonus project presented a demonstrated ICT support that informs about the greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints of households. (orig.)

  11. Life cycle assessment of waste management systems: Assessing technical externalities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brogaard, Line Kai-Sørensen

    The life cycle assessment (LCA) of a waste management system relies on many internal characteristics such as pollution control systems and recovery efficiencies. It also relies on technical externalities supporting the waste management system in terms of capital goods and energy and material...... for the primary and secondary production of materials, 366 datasets were gathered. The materials in focus were: paper, newsprint, cardboard, corrugated board, glass, aluminium, steel and plastics (HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, PET, PS, PVC). Only one quarter of these data concerned secondary production, thus underlining...

  12. Life Cycle Assessment - Theory and Practice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    This book is a uniquely pedagogical while still comprehensive state-of-the-art description of LCA-methodology and its broad range of applications. The five parts of the book conveniently provide: I) the history and context of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with its central role as quantitative and s...... needed to perform an LCA. V) An appendix with an LCA report template, a full example LCA report serving as inspiration for students who write their first LCA report, and a more detailed overview of existing LCIA methods and their similarities and differences....

  13. Assessing quality of life in young adult cancer survivors: development of the Survivorship-Related Quality of Life scale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Crystal L; Wortmann, Jennifer H; Hale, Amy E; Cho, Dalnim; Blank, Thomas O

    2014-10-01

    Scientific advances in treatments and outcomes for those diagnosed with cancer in late adolescence and early adulthood depend, in part, on the availability of adequate assessment tools to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for survivors in this age group. Domains especially relevant to late adolescence and young adulthood (LAYA; e.g., education and career, committed romantic relationships, worldview formation) are typically overlooked in studies assessing the impact of cancer, usually more appropriate for middle-aged or older survivors. Current HRQOL measures also tend to assess issues that are salient during or shortly after treatment rather than reflecting life years after treatment. To develop a new measure to better capture the experience of LAYA cancer survivors in longer-term survivorship (the LAYA Survivorship-Related Quality of Life measure, LAYA-SRQL), we completed an extensive measure development process. After a literature review and focus groups with LAYA cancer survivors, we generated items and ran confirmatory factor and reliability analyses using a sample of 292 LAYA cancer survivors. We then examined validity using existing measures of physical and mental health, quality of life, and impact of cancer. The final model consisted of two domains (satisfaction and impact), each consisting of ten factors: existential/spirituality, coping, relationship, dependence, vitality, health care, education/career, fertility, intimacy/sexuality, and cognition/memory. Confirmatory factor analysis and validity analyses indicated that the LAYA-SRQL is a psychometrically sound instrument with good validity. The LAYA-SRQL fills an important need in survivorship research, providing a way to assess HRQOL in LAYAs in a developmentally informed way.

  14. Premium cost optimization of operational and maintenance of green building in Indonesia using life cycle assessment method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Latief, Yusuf; Berawi, Mohammed Ali; Basten, Van; Budiman, Rachmat; Riswanto

    2017-06-01

    Building has a big impact on the environmental developments. There are three general motives in building, namely the economy, society, and environment. Total completed building construction in Indonesia increased by 116% during 2009 to 2011. It made the energy consumption increased by 11% within the last three years. In fact, 70% of energy consumption is used for electricity needs on commercial buildings which leads to an increase of greenhouse gas emissions by 25%. Green Building cycle costs is known as highly building upfront cost in Indonesia. The purpose of optimization in this research improves building performance with some of green concept alternatives. Research methodology is mixed method of qualitative and quantitative approaches through questionnaire surveys and case study. Assessing the successful of optimization functions in the existing green building is based on the operational and maintenance phase with the Life Cycle Assessment Method. Choosing optimization results were based on the largest efficiency of building life cycle and the most effective cost to refund.

  15. Assessment of quality of life in patients with laryngeal cancer: A review of articles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolator, Mateusz; Kolator, Patrycja; Zatoński, Tomasz

    2018-04-19

    This article presents a review of the medical literature published between 1994 and 2014 with the use of the PubMed database concerning quality-of-life instruments for head and neck cancer patients used to assess general well-being of patients with laryngeal cancer. The PubMed database was searched for articles containing the keywords "quality of life", "laryngeal neoplasm" and "questionnaires". The resulting articles were reviewed and analyzed. After the identification of questionnaires, an additional search was performed. The articles and questionnaires were described and analyzed. In 43 articles, the authors used questionnaires specific to the head and neck regions in order to assess the quality of life in patients with laryngeal cancer. Four different questionnaires were identified. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) questionnaire is most commonly used to assess the quality of life in patients with laryngeal cancer. Questionnaires are generally used in order to select from a range of different treatment methods. There are a few head and neck cancer-related quality-of-life instruments which are widely used to assess the quality of life in patients with laryngeal cancer, but they are not dedicated to that region of the body. Today, there is much more attention paid to the quality of life; therefore, there is a real need to develop specific scales for different types of cancer.

  16. Life cycle assessment of the Danish electricity distribution network

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Turconi, Roberto; Simonsen, Christian G.; Byriel, Inger P.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose This article provides life cycle inventory data for electricity distribution networks and a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the Danish transmission and distribution networks. The aim of the study was to evaluate the potential importance of environmental impacts associated with distribution...... complexity and material consumption. Infrastructure provided important contributions to metal depletion and freshwater eutrophication (copper and aluminum for manufacturing of the cables and associated recycling being the most important). Underground 50-kV lines had larger impacts than overhead lines, and 0...

  17. Identifying and Assessing Life-Cycle-Related Critical Technology Elements (CTEs) for Technology Readiness Assessments (TRAs)

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Mandelbaum, Jay

    2006-01-01

    .... Because these technologies are not emphasized in the current Technology Readiness Assessment (TRA) process this document is intended to improve the focus on life-cycle-related technologies in TRAs...

  18. Environmental Performance of Kettle Production: Product Life Cycle Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marcinkowski, Andrzej; Zych, Krzysztof

    2017-12-01

    The main objective of this paper is to compare the environmental impact caused by two different types of water boiling processes. The aim was achieved thanks to product life cycle assessment (LCA) conducted for stovetop and electric kettles. A literature review was carried out. A research model was worked out on the basis of data available in literature as well as additional experiments. In order to have a better opportunity to compare LCA results with reviewed literature, eco-indicator 99 assessment method was chosen. The functional unit included production, usage and waste disposal of each product (according to from cradle to grave approach) where the main function is boiling 3360 l of water during 4-year period of time. A very detailed life cycle inventory was carried out. The mass of components was determined with accuracy of three decimal places (0.001 g). The majority of environmental impact is caused by electricity or natural gas consumption during usage stage: 92% in case of the electric and kettle and 99% in case of stovetop one. Assembly stage contributed in 7% and 0.8% respectively. Uncertainty and sensitivity analyses took into consideration various waste scenario patterns as well as demand for transport. Environmental impact turned out to be strongly sensitive to a chosen pattern of energy delivery (electricity mix) which determined final comparison results. Basing on LCA results, some improvements of products were suggested. The boiling time optimization was pointed out for electric kettle's efficiency improvement. Obtained results can be used by manufacturers in order to improve their eco-effectiveness. Moreover, conclusions following the research part can influence the future choices of home appliances users.

  19. ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF KETTLE PRODUCTION: PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrzej MARCINKOWSKI

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of this paper is to compare the environmental impact caused by two different types of water boiling processes. The aim was achieved thanks to product life cycle assessment (LCA conducted for stovetop and electric kettles. A literature review was carried out. A research model was worked out on the basis of data available in literature as well as additional experiments. In order to have a better opportunity to compare LCA results with reviewed literature, eco-indicator 99 assessment method was chosen. The functional unit included production, usage and waste disposal of each product (according to from cradle to grave approach where the main function is boiling 3360 l of water during 4- year period of time. A very detailed life cycle inventory was carried out. The mass of components was determined with accuracy of three decimal places (0.001 g. The majority of environmental impact is caused by electricity or natural gas consumption during usage stage: 92% in case of the electric and kettle and 99% in case of stovetop one. Assembly stage contributed in 7% and 0.8% respectively. Uncertainty and sensitivity analyses took into consideration various waste sce-nario patterns as well as demand for transport. Environmental impact turned out to be strongly sensitive to a chosen pattern of energy delivery (electricity mix which determined final comparison results. Basing on LCA results, some im-provements of products were suggested. The boiling time optimization was pointed out for electric kettle's efficiency improvement. Obtained results can be used by manufacturers in order to improve their eco-effectiveness. Moreover, conclusions following the research part can influence the future choices of home appliances users.

  20. Game-Based Life-Long Learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kelle, Sebastian; Sigurðarson, Steinn; Westera, Wim; Specht, Marcus

    2010-01-01

    Kelle, S., Sigurðarson, S., Westera, W., & Specht, M. (2011). Game-Based Life-Long Learning. In G. D. Magoulas (Ed.), E-Infrastructures and Technologies for Lifelong Learning: Next Generation Environments (pp. 337-349). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

  1. Comparative life cycle cost assessment of painted and hot-dip galvanized bridges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rossi, B; Marquart, S; Rossi, G

    2017-07-15

    The study addresses the life cycle cost assessment (LCCA) of steel bridges, focusing on the maintenance activities and the maintenance scenario. Firstly, the unit costs of maintenance activities and their durability (i.e. the time between two activities) are evaluated. Pragmatic data are provided for the environment category C4 and for three activities: Patch Up, Overcoating and Remove & Replace. A comparative LCCA for a typical hypothetic steel girder bridge is carried out, either painted or hot-dip galvanized (HDG), in the environmental class C4. The LCC versus the cumulated life is provided for both options. The initial cost of the steel unpainted option is only 50.3% of the HDG option. It is shown that after 'Overcoating' occurring at 18.5 years, the total Net Present Value (NPV) of the painted option surpasses that of the HDG option. A sensitivity analysis of the NPV to the cost and service life parameters, the escalation and discount rates is then performed. The discount and escalation rates, considerably influences the total LCC, following a non-linear trend. The total LCC decreases with the discount rate increasing and, conversely, increases with the escalation rate increasing. Secondly, the influence of the maintenance scenario on the total LCC is assessed based on a probabilistic approach. A permutation of the three independent maintenance activities assumed to occur six times over the life of the bridge is considered and a probability of occurrence is associated to each unique scenario. The most probable scenarios are then classified according to their NPV or achieved service life. This approach leads to the definition of a cost-effective maintenance scenario i.e. the scenario, within all the considered permutations, that has the minimum LCC in a range of lifespan. Besides, the probabilistic analysis also shows that, whatever the scenario, the return on investment period ranges between 18.5 years and 24.2 years. After that period, the HDG option becomes

  2. Methodology for the Life Cycle Assessment of a Car-sharing Service

    OpenAIRE

    Guyon, Olivier

    2017-01-01

    Nowadays, circular economy is becoming more relevant in society. In the context of the automotive industry, we no longer simply work on emissions emitted during the vehicle use phase but rather on the environmental impacts induced during all phases of the vehicle's life cycle (manufacturing, logistics, use, maintenance and end of life). For this purpose, many automakers, including the Group PSA, use life cycle assessment (LCA) to determine these environmental impacts. Also, the economy of sha...

  3. Multi-scale sustainability assessments for biomass-based and coal-based fuels in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Man, Yi; Xiao, Honghua; Cai, Wei; Yang, Siyu

    2017-12-01

    Transportation liquid fuels production is heavily depend on oil. In recent years, developing biomass based and coal based fuels are regarded as promising alternatives for non-petroleum based fuels in China. With the rapid growth of constructing and planning b biomass based and coal based fuels production projects, sustainability assessments are needed to simultaneously consider the resource, the economic, and the environmental factors. This paper performs multi-scale analyses on the biomass based and coal based fuels in China. The production cost, life cycle cost, and ecological life cycle cost (ELCC) of these synfuels are investigated to compare their pros to cons and reveal the sustainability. The results show that BTL fuels has high production cost. It lacks of economic attractiveness. However, insignificant resource cost and environmental cost lead to a substantially lower ELCC, which may indicate better ecological sustainability. CTL fuels, on the contrary, is lower in production cost and reliable for economic benefit. But its coal consumption and pollutant emissions are both serious, leading to overwhelming resource cost and environmental cost. A shifting from petroleum to CTL fuels could double the ELCC, posing great threat to the sustainability of the entire fuels industry. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Quality of life assessment of patients with schizophrenic spectrum disorders from Psychosocial Care Centers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatiana Fernandes Carpinteiro da Silva

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: Assessing the quality of life and the clinical and social-demographic factors associated in schizophrenic spectrum patients (ICD-10 F20-F29 attending CAPS at the programmatic area 3.0. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in a sample of schizophrenic spectrum patients who have been enrolled in 2008 in CAPS in programmatic area (AP 3 at Rio de Janeiro city, using MINIPLUS to assess schizophrenia spectrum disorder and use of psychoactive substances, Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS to assess psychiatric symptoms and Quality of Life Scale (QLS-BR to assess the quality of life. RESULTS: Seventy nine patients were included, of whom 74 (93.7% presented some impairment in quality of life. The most frequently affected area was occupational performance. Variables that showed a significant association with severe impairment of quality of life were: marital status, race, occupation, who patients lived with, homelessness, having children, previous psychiatric hospitalization, negative symptoms and symptoms designated as not applicable (being characterized by a lack of typical positive and negative symptoms. CONCLUSION: The knowledge of these factors should be crucial to implement health policies and psychosocial rehabilitation programs focused on improving the quality of life of these patients.

  5. Green Net Value Added as a Sustainability Metric Based on Life Cycle Assessment: An Application to Bounty® Paper Towel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sustainability measurement in economics involves evaluation of environmental and economic impact in an integrated manner. In this study, system level economic data are combined with environmental impact from a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a common product. We are exploring a co...

  6. Life stressors and social resources: an integrated assessment approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moos, R H; Fenn, C B; Billings, A G

    1988-01-01

    The Life Stressors and Social Resources Inventory (LISRES) is described. The inventory provides an integrated assessment of an individual's life context. It taps both relatively stable and new aspects of life stressors and social resources in eight domains: physical health, home/neighborhood, financial, work, spouse/partner, children, extended family, and friends. The indices were developed on data obtained at two points in time from groups of depressed patients, alcoholic patients, arthritic patients, and healthy adults. The indices are internally consistent, moderately intercorrelated, and relatively stable over time. In addition, they are predictably related to changes in respondents' functioning. Although more developmental work is needed, the LISRES has some potential clinical and research applications and may be helpful in examining the process of stress and coping.

  7. An oil palm-based biorefinery concept for cellulosic ethanol and phytochemicals production: Sustainability evaluation using exergetic life cycle assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ofori-Boateng, Cynthia; Lee, Keat Teong

    2014-01-01

    In this study, thermo-environmental sustainability of an oil palm-based biorefinery concept for the co-production of cellulosic ethanol and phytochemicals from oil palm fronds (OPFs) was evaluated based on exergetic life cycle assessment (ExLCA). For the production of 1 tonne bioethanol, the exergy content of oil palm seeds was upgraded from 236 MJ to 77,999 MJ during the farming process for OPFs production. Again, the high exergy content of the OPFs was degraded by about 62.02% and 98.36% when they were converted into cellulosic ethanol and phenolic compounds respectively. With a total exergy destruction of about 958,606 MJ (internal) and 120,491 MJ (external or exergy of wastes), the biorefinery recorded an overall exergy efficiency and thermodynamic sustainability index (TSI) of about 59.05% and 2.44 per tonne of OPFs' bioethanol respectively. Due to the use of fossil fuels, pesticides, fertilizers and other toxic chemicals during the production, the global warming potential (GWP = 2265.69 kg CO 2 eq.), acidification potential (AP = 355.34 kg SO 2 eq.) and human toxicity potential (HTP = 142.79 kg DCB eq.) were the most significant environmental impact categories for a tonne of bioethanol produced in the biorefinery. The simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) unit emerged as the most exergetically efficient (89.66%), thermodynamically sustainable (TSI = 9.67) and environmentally friendly (6.59% of total GWP) production system. -- Highlights: • Thermo-environmental sustainability of palm-based biorefinery was assessed. • OPFs' exergy content was degraded when converted into bioethanol and phytochemicals. • Exergy efficiency (59.05%) and TSI (2.44) were recorded for the biorefinery • Global warming potential of 2265.6 kg CO 2 eq. was recorded for the whole biorefinery

  8. Green energy criteria and life cycle assessment in assessing environmental competitiveness of energy products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maelkki, H.; Hongisto, M.; Turkulainen, T.; Kuisma, J.; Loikkanen, T.

    1999-01-01

    The liberalisation of energy markets has increased the need to enlarge the information base of fuel chains, to evaluate the environmental quality of energy products transparently and to communicate results in a credible way. The preparedness of energy purchasers, producers and sellers to support energy choices of their customers and to meet the information requirements of various stake holders can be strengthened. The environmental impacts related to energy products are turning into a significant dimension of competitiveness. Possibilities to promote market-driven environmental protection mechanisms and to construct incentives, which cover the whole energy production system exist and can be supported. Knowledge of environmental impacts of various energy products can be increased by means of several supplementary instruments like eco-profiles, environmental labels and life cycle assessments of products. Life cycle assessment forms a systematic basis of information, which supports the environmental communications directed to various stake holders. In this study selected public LCA-studies concerning energy production have been compared, criteria of green energy have been charted and their outlook has been assessed. In addition the development of an LCA- based relative environmental performance indicator system, which supports various transparent comparisons, has been outlined. The mapping of methodological differences of published LCA-studies regarding various energy alternatives proves, that there is differences e.g. in allocation principles, system boundaries, and age of source information and in many other details. These discrepancies should be known, because they also affect the results. That is why the use of available LCA studies as a basis for comparative assertions may be problematic. The renewability of an energy source is a threshold requirement in eco-energy criteria formulated and introduced by Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian nature conservation

  9. EPRI steam turbine and generator NDE, life assessment, and maintenance workshop

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nottingham, L.D.; Sabourin, P.F.

    1992-10-01

    On July 16--19, 1991, the EPRI NDE Center hosted the second EPRI Steam Turbine and Generator NDE, Life Assessment and Maintenance Workshop. This workshop was co-sponsored by the Nuclear Power and the Generation and Storage Divisions of EPRI. Attendees represented all sectors of the industry including utilities, equipment manufacturers, forging suppliers, service organizations, government organizations, insurancecarriers, and consultants from the United States and abroad. Domestic utility presence was again strong, with 105 representatives from 44 utilities in attendance. Australia, Canada, England, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland were represented in the international contingent. A key and integral part of the workshop was a vendor equipment fair, in which some 23 organizations displayed and demonstrated equipment and services that they offer. Formal presentation of 53 technical papers made up the technical portion of the agenda, which also included two breakout discussion sessions on topical subjects. To provide optimum opportunity for participants to hear all presentations on closely related topics, the sessions were set such that a NDE session ran parallel to the life assessment session. The first NDE session included turbine related topics while the first life assessment session addressed generator issues. The last sessions of the workshop were just reversed with turbine topics being addressed in the life assessment session while generator issues were presented in the NDE session. Presentations on maintenance topics and on monitoring and diagnostics topics were also presented in parallel sessions. These proceedings contain the texts of the papers presented at the workshop. Individual papers in indexed separately

  10. Environmental impact analysis of batik natural dyes using life cycle assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rinawati, Dyah Ika; Sari, Diana Puspita; Purwanggono, Bambang; Hermawan, Andy Tri

    2017-11-01

    The use of natural dyes for batik dyeing is fewer than synthetic dyes because of its limitations in the application such complexity in manufacture and usage. For ease of use, natural dyes need to be processed into instant products. Extract of natural dyes are generally produced in liquid form that are less practical in long-term use. Dye powder obtained by drying the liquid extract using spray dryer. Production process of liquid natural dye is simpler and require less energy but need more energy for transporting. It is important to know which type of natural dyes should be produced based on their environmental impact. This research aim to compare environmental impact between liquid and powder natural dyes and also to find relative contribution of different stage in life cycle to total environmental impact. The appropriate method to analyze and compare the environmental impacts of powder and liquid natural dyes is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The "cradle to grave" approach used to assess environmental impact of powder and liquid natural dyes of Jalawe rind throughout production process of natural dyes, distribution and use of natural dyes for coloring batik. Results of this research show that powder natural dyes has lower environmental impacts than liquid natural dyes. It was found that distribution, mordanting and packaging of liquid dyes have big contribution to environmental impact.

  11. Life cycle assessment of agricultural biogas production systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lansche, J.; Muller, J. [Hohenheim Univ., Stuttgart (Germany). Inst. of Agricultural Engineering, Tropical and Subtropical Group

    2010-07-01

    Agricultural activities are large contributors to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. This paper discussed the effectiveness of reducing agricultural emissions by using liquid manure to produce biogas. When using this technique, greenhouse gas emissions from manure storage are avoided and renewable energy is generated as heat and electricity in combined heat and power plants. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the environmental impacts of biogas production systems based on the methods of life cycle assessment. The traditional use of agricultural manures was compared with conventional energy production. The Gabi 4.3 software was used to create a model to evaluate the biogas production systems according to their environmental impact. In addition to the global warming potential, other impact categories were also used to evaluate the effects of the systems in eutrophication and acidification. It was concluded that environmental benefits can be obtained in terms of greenhouse gas emissions compared to electricity production from biogas with the typical German marginal electricity mix.

  12. An assessment of corrosion life of copper overpack

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Honda, A.; Taniguchi, N.

    1999-08-01

    Corrosion life of copper overpack is estimated on the basis of current understandings of copper corrosion processes. The assessment is based on the mass balance. Oxygen and sulfide were taken into account as corrosive species. The sulfate existing in bentonite is assumed to be reduced to sulfide by sulfate reducing bacteria and corrodes copper overpacks. Pitting is involved in the assesment using two methods. One method is use of pitting factor acquired from analysis of archeological artifacts. The other is use of extreme value statistical technique. The time evolution of parameters for cumulative probability distribution function, Gumbel distribution, was estimated using the data from copper specimens buried in various soil and archeological artifacts of the bronze age. The pitting depth for 1000 years is estimated using the parameters for probability distribution function. The result of estimation shows 39-mm is the maximum penetration for 1000 years. Natural analogue data suggest the corrosion rate of 3 mm/1000 years. Therefore the estimation is considered to be conservative. (author)

  13. Using Life Cycle Assessment to Inform Decision-Making for Sustainable Buildings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mieke Vandenbroucke

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Because the student residences of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel built in 1973 are not adapted to current comfort standards, the university decided to construct new accommodation facilities at the border of the campus. However, besides demolition, there was no strategy on how to deal with the existing ones. In the search for a more sustainable strategy, the university’s administration assigned the TRANSFORM research team to define various design strategies and to assess the long-term environmental consequences in order to select the best strategy by the use of Life Cycle Environmental Assessment. Current Life Cycle Environmental Assessments generally include maintenance, repair, replacement and operational energy consumption during use, but do not include future refurbishments. However, it is likely that their impact cannot be neglected either. Therefore, this article offers a framework which takes future refurbishments into account, in addition to the standard use impacts: initial and end-of-life impact. We report on the construction assemblies, the results of the assessments conducted and the advice provided. The results confirm that the impact of future refurbishments cannot be neglected. In addition, we observed that there were significant environmental savings when transforming the residences compared to new construction, and long-term benefits of a design enabling the reuse of building elements.

  14. Application of life cycle assessment for an evaluation of wastewater treatment and reuse project--case study of Xi'an, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Q H; Wang, X C; Xiong, J Q; Chen, R; Cao, B

    2010-03-01

    In order to illuminate the benefit of a wastewater treatment and reuse project, a life cycle assessment (LCA) model was proposed by combining the process-based LCA and the input-output based LCA in one framework and using energy consumption as the sole parameter for quantitative evaluation of the project. The life cycle consumption was evaluated mainly by life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis taking into account the construction phase, operation phase and demolishment phase of the project. For evaluating the life cycle benefit of treated water reuse, attention was paid to the decrease of secondary effluent discharge and water saving. As a result of comprehensive LCA analysis of a case project in Xi'an, China, it was understood that the life cycle benefit gained from treated wastewater reuse much surpassed the life cycle energy consumption. The advantage of wastewater treatment and reuse was well shown by LCA analysis using the proposed model. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Quality of life improves in children and adolescents during a community-based overweight and obesity treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mollerup, Pernille M; Nielsen, Tenna R H; Bøjsøe, Christine; Kloppenborg, Julie T; Baker, Jennifer L; Holm, Jens-Christian

    2017-06-01

    The quality of life is compromised in children and adolescents with overweight or obesity. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the quality of life improves during a community-based overweight and obesity treatment, and whether improvements depend on reductions in the degree of obesity. Quality of life was assessed using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) 4.0 in children and adolescents aged 3-18 years with overweight or obesity [body mass index (BMI) ≥85th percentile] upon entry into a community-based chronic care overweight and obesity treatment based upon The Children's Obesity Clinic's Treatment protocol, and upon follow-up after 10-30 months of treatment. Height and weight were measured at each consultation and converted into a BMI standard deviation score (SDS). Upon entry, 477 children (212 boys) completed a PedsQL, and 317 (143 boys) completed another PedsQL after a median of 13 months of treatment. Quality of life improved (p quality of life (p ≤ 0.047). However, improvements also occurred in children and adolescents with low socioeconomic status or who increased their BMI SDS (p quality of life occurred in children and adolescents during a community-based overweight and obesity treatment, even in children and adolescents who increased their BMI SDS. Thus, improvements may be due to the treatment itself and not exclusively to reductions in BMI SDS. Clinicaltrials.gov, ID-no.: NCT02013843.

  16. Service life assessment of timber highway bridges in USA climate zones

    Science.gov (United States)

    James P. Wacker; Brian K. Brashaw; Thomas G. Williamson; P. David Jones; Matthew S. Smith; Travis K. Hosteng; David L. Strahl; Lola E. Coombe; V.J. Gopu

    2014-01-01

    As engineers begin to estimate life-cycle costs and sustainable design approaches for timber bridges, there is a need for more reliable data about their durability and expected service life. This paper summarizes a comprehensive effort to assess the current condition of more than one hundred timber highway bridge superstructures throughout the United States. This...

  17. State of the Art in Life Assessment for High Temperature Components Using Replication Method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Duck Hee; Choi, Hyun Sun

    2010-01-01

    The power generation and chemical industry have been subjected to further material degradation with long term operations and need to predict the remaining service life of components, such as reformer tube and turbine rotor, that have operated at elevated temperatures. As a non-destructive technique, replication method with reliable metallurgical life and microstructural soundness assessment has been recognized with strongly useful method until now. Developments of this method have variously accomplished by new quantitative approach, such as carbide analysis, with A-parameter and grain deformation method. An overview of replication, some new techniques for material degradation and life assessment were introduced in this paper. Also, on-site applications and its reasonableness were described. As a result of having analyzed microstructure by replication method, carbide approach was quantitatively useful to life assessment

  18. Fatigue life assessment of free spanning pipelines containing corrosion defects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lopes, Rita de Kassia D.; Campello, Georga C.; Matt, Cyntia G. da Costa; Benjamin, Adilson C.; Franciss, Ricardo [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Centro de Pesquisas (CENPES)

    2009-12-19

    The free spanning pipelines assessment is a highlighted issue to be considered during the project and maintenance of the submarine pipelines. It is required to evaluate the fatigue life and the maximum stress due to VIV (Vortex Induced Vibration) as well as wave forces when applicable in case of shallow water. The code DNV-RP-F105 (2006) presents a methodology to calculate the fatigue life for free spanning pipelines. Such methodology however considers the pipe with no kind of defects. Nevertheless, sometimes corrosion defects are detected in periodic inspections and therefore their effects need to be taken into account in the fatigue life evaluation. The purpose of this paper thus is to present a procedure to assess the influence of the corrosion defects in the fatigue life of free spanning pipelines. Some FE analyses were performed to determine the stress concentrate factor (SCF) of the corrosion defects, which were used as input in the methodology presented in the code DNV-RP-F105 (2006). Curves of damage and so lifetime have been generated as function of the span length and water depth. As a practical application, this methodology was applied to a sub sea pipeline with several corrosion defects, localized in shallow water offshore Brazil. (author)

  19. Life cycle assessment of innovative technology for energy production from automotive shredder residue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rinaldi, Caterina; Masoni, Paolo; Salvati, Fabio; Tolve, Pietro

    2015-07-01

    Automotive Shredder Residue (ASR) is a problematic waste material remaining after shredding and recovery processes of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs). Its heterogeneous grain size and composition make difficult its recovery or disposal. Although ASR accounts for approximately 20% to 25% of the weight of an ELV, the European Union (EU)'s ELV Directive (2000/53/EC) requires that by 2015 a minimum 95% of the weight of an ELV must be reused or recovered, including a 10% weight energy recovery. The quantity of ASR is relevant: Approximately 2.4 million tons are generated in the EU each year and most of it is sent to landfills. This article describes a life cycle model of the "TEKNE-Fluff" process designed to make beneficial use of ASR that is based on the results of an experimental pilot plant for pyro-gasification, combustion, cogeneration, and emissions treatment of ASR. The goal of the research was the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to identify the environmental hot spots of the "TEKNE system" and use scenario analysis to check solutions to improve its environmental profile, supporting the design and industrialization process. The LCA was conducted based on data modeled from the experimental campaign. Moreover, different scenarios on shares of electricity and thermal energy produced by the cogeneration system and alternative treatment processes for the waste produced by the technology were compared. Despite the limitation of the research (results based on scaling up experimental data by modeling), impact assessment results are promising and sufficiently robust, as shown by Monte Carlo analysis. The TEKNE technology may become an interesting solution for the problem of ASR management: Besides representing an alternative to landfill disposal, the energy produced could avoid significant impacts on fossil resources depletion (a plant of 40,000 tons/y capacity could produce ∼ 147,000 GJ/yr, covering the annual need of ∼ 13,500 households). © 2015

  20. Basic investigation for life assessment technology of modified 9CR-1Mo steel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Okamura, Hiroyuki [Science Univ. of Tokyo (Japan); Ohtani, Ryuichi [Kyoto Univ. (Japan); Fujii, Kazuya [Japan Power Engineering and Inspection Corp., Tokyo (Japan); Kimura, Kazushige; Ishii, Ryuichi; Fujiyama, Kazunari; Hongo, Shigetada; Iseki, Takashi; Uchida, Hiroshi [Toshiba Corp., Kawasaki, Kanagawa (Japan)

    1998-11-01

    For the basic study of life assessment technologies for aged components made of mod.9Cr-1Mo steel, specimens were artificially deteriorated by aging, creep and fatigue tests at elevated temperatures. And metallurgical and mechanical properties were examined. The change in the precipitates caused the decrease in toughness. The creep damage in base metal corresponded to the decrease in hardness. The fatigue damage in base metal correlated to the maximum length of a crack among micro-cracks initiated during fatigue cycle. In the welded joint, the creep fracture occurred by the formation and growth of voids in the fine grained region of HAZ near base metal. The creep damage was associated with the increase in both number and area fraction of voids. (orig.)

  1. Structural integrity and fatigue crack propagation life assessment of welded and weld-repaired structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alam, Mohammad Shah

    2005-11-01

    Structural integrity is the science and technology of the margin between safety and disaster. Proper evaluation of the structural integrity and fatigue life of any structure (aircraft, ship, railways, bridges, gas and oil transmission pipelines, etc.) is important to ensure the public safety, environmental protection, and economical consideration. Catastrophic failure of any structure can be avoided if structural integrity is assessed and necessary precaution is taken appropriately. Structural integrity includes tasks in many areas, such as structural analysis, failure analysis, nondestructive testing, corrosion, fatigue and creep analysis, metallurgy and materials, fracture mechanics, fatigue life assessment, welding metallurgy, development of repairing technologies, structural monitoring and instrumentation etc. In this research fatigue life assessment of welded and weld-repaired joints is studied both in numerically and experimentally. A new approach for the simulation of fatigue crack growth in two elastic materials has been developed and specifically, the concept has been applied to butt-welded joint in a straight plate and in tubular joints. In the proposed method, the formation of new surface is represented by an interface element based on the interface potential energy. This method overcomes the limitation of crack growth at an artificial rate of one element length per cycle. In this method the crack propagates only when the applied load reaches the critical bonding strength. The predicted results compares well with experimental results. The Gas Metal Arc welding processes has been simulated to predict post-weld distortion, residual stresses and development of restraining forces in a butt-welded joint. The effect of welding defects and bi-axial interaction of a circular porosity and a solidification crack on fatigue crack propagation life of butt-welded joints has also been investigated. After a weld has been repaired, the specimen was tested in a universal

  2. Life cycle assessments of urban water systems: a comparative analysis of selected peer-reviewed literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loubet, Philippe; Roux, Philippe; Loiseau, Eleonore; Bellon-Maurel, Veronique

    2014-12-15

    Water is a growing concern in cities, and its sustainable management is very complex. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been increasingly used to assess the environmental impacts of water technologies during the last 20 years. This review aims at compiling all LCA papers related to water technologies, out of which 18 LCA studies deals with whole urban water systems (UWS). A focus is carried out on these 18 case studies which are analyzed according to criteria derived from the four phases of LCA international standards. The results show that whereas the case studies share a common goal, i.e., providing quantitative information to policy makers on the environmental impacts of urban water systems and their forecasting scenarios, they are based on different scopes, resulting in the selection of different functional units and system boundaries. A quantitative comparison of life cycle inventory and life cycle impact assessment data is provided, and the results are discussed. It shows the superiority of information offered by multi-criteria approaches for decision making compared to that derived from mono-criterion. From this review, recommendations on the way to conduct the environmental assessment of urban water systems are given, e.g., the need to provide consistent mass balances in terms of emissions and water flows. Remaining challenges for urban water system LCAs are identified, such as a better consideration of water users and resources and the inclusion of recent LCA developments (territorial approaches and water-related impacts). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Life Cycle Assessment to Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garcia, J. s.; Herrera, I.; Rodriguez, A.

    2011-01-01

    The evaluation was done at a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant (MWTP), through the application of the methodology of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) performed by using a commercial tool called SIMAPRO. The objective of this study was to apply Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in two systems: municipal wastewater effluent without treatment and Wastewater Treatment Plant (WTP) that is operating in poor condition and has a direct discharge to a natural body, which is a threat to the environment. A LCA was done using SIMAPRO 7, in order to determine the environmental impact in each scenery was assessed, a comparison of the impacts and propose improvements to decrease, following the steps this methodology and according to the respective standardized normative (ISO 14040/ ISO 14044). In this study, most of used data have been reported by the plant from early 2010 and some data from literature. We identified the environmental impacts generated by the treatment, making emphasis on those related to the subsequent use of the water body receiving the discharge, such as eutrophication (near to 15% reduction). Likewise, a comparative analysis between the impacts in the two systems, with and without treatment by analyzing the variation in the impact categories studied. Finally within this work, alternatives of improvements, in order to reduce the identified and quantified impacts are proposed. (Author) 33 refs.

  4. The thematic plant life assessment network (PLAN)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hurst, R C; McGarry, D [EC/JRC Institute for Advanced Materials, Petten (Netherlands); Pedersen, H H [Brite Euram DG XII, Brussels (Belgium)

    1999-12-31

    The Plant Life Assessment Network (PLAN) is a Brite Euram Type II Thematic Network, initiated by the European Commission to facilitate structured co-operation between all cost shared action projects already funded by the Commission which fall under this common technical theme. The projects involved address a multiplicity of problems associated with plant life assessment and are drawn from Brite-Euram, Standards, Measurement and Testing, Nuclear Fission Safety and Esprit EC programmes. The main aim of the Network is to initiate, maintain and monitor a fruitful co-operation process between completed, ongoing and future EC R and D projects, thereby promoting improved cross fertilization and enhanced industrial exploitation of R and D results. As the project is in its infancy, this presentation covers the background to the initiative in some detail. In particular two key aspects are highlighted, namely, the requirement of the EC to launch such a network in the area of plant life assessment including its evolution from two small Thematic Research Actions and, secondly, the mechanism for structuring the Network in an ordered and proven way along the lines of the EC/JRC European Networks, PISC, NESC, AMES, ENIQ, ENAIS and EPERC. The operating and financial structure of the Network is detailed with reference made to the role of the executive Steering Committee, The Network Project Leader and the Network Financial Co-ordinator. Each of the 58 projects involved in the Network, representing a wide range of industrial sectors and disciplines, is distributed in terms of their efforts between 4 disciplinary Clusters covering Inspection, Instrumentation and Monitoring, Structural Mechanics and Maintenance. For each of these Clusters, an expert has been appointed as a Project Technical Auditor to support the elected Cluster Co-ordinator to define Cluster Tasks, which contribute to the overall objectives of the project. From the Project Representatives, Cluster Task Leaders and

  5. The thematic plant life assessment network (PLAN)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hurst, R.C.; McGarry, D. [EC/JRC Institute for Advanced Materials, Petten (Netherlands); Pedersen, H.H. [Brite Euram DG XII, Brussels (Belgium)

    1998-12-31

    The Plant Life Assessment Network (PLAN) is a Brite Euram Type II Thematic Network, initiated by the European Commission to facilitate structured co-operation between all cost shared action projects already funded by the Commission which fall under this common technical theme. The projects involved address a multiplicity of problems associated with plant life assessment and are drawn from Brite-Euram, Standards, Measurement and Testing, Nuclear Fission Safety and Esprit EC programmes. The main aim of the Network is to initiate, maintain and monitor a fruitful co-operation process between completed, ongoing and future EC R and D projects, thereby promoting improved cross fertilization and enhanced industrial exploitation of R and D results. As the project is in its infancy, this presentation covers the background to the initiative in some detail. In particular two key aspects are highlighted, namely, the requirement of the EC to launch such a network in the area of plant life assessment including its evolution from two small Thematic Research Actions and, secondly, the mechanism for structuring the Network in an ordered and proven way along the lines of the EC/JRC European Networks, PISC, NESC, AMES, ENIQ, ENAIS and EPERC. The operating and financial structure of the Network is detailed with reference made to the role of the executive Steering Committee, The Network Project Leader and the Network Financial Co-ordinator. Each of the 58 projects involved in the Network, representing a wide range of industrial sectors and disciplines, is distributed in terms of their efforts between 4 disciplinary Clusters covering Inspection, Instrumentation and Monitoring, Structural Mechanics and Maintenance. For each of these Clusters, an expert has been appointed as a Project Technical Auditor to support the elected Cluster Co-ordinator to define Cluster Tasks, which contribute to the overall objectives of the project. From the Project Representatives, Cluster Task Leaders and

  6. Monetary valuation in Life Cycle Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pizzol, Massimo; Weidema, Bo Pedersen; Brandão, Miguel

    2015-01-01

    different impacts and/or with other economic costs and benefits. For this reason, monetary valuation has a great potential to be applied also in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), especially in the weighting phase. However, several challenges limit its diffusion in the field, which resulted in only a few......Monetary valuation is the practice of converting measures of social and biophysical impacts into monetary units and is used to determine the economic value of non-market goods, i.e. goods for which no market exists. It is applied in cost benefit analysis to enable the cross-comparison between...

  7. Life cycle assessment of ocean energy technologies

    OpenAIRE

    UIHLEIN ANDREAS

    2015-01-01

    Purpose Oceans offer a vast amount of renewable energy. Tidal and wave energy devices are currently the most advanced conduits of ocean energy. To date, only a few life cycle assessments for ocean energy have been carried out for ocean energy. This study analyses ocean energy devices, including all technologies currently being proposed, in order to gain a better understanding of their environmental impacts and explore how they can contribute to a more sustainable energy supply. Methods...

  8. An evaluation of the process used to determine life orientation moderation in school based asssessments for Grade twelve

    OpenAIRE

    2013-01-01

    M. Ed. (Higher Education) This study seeks to evaluate the processes used in the moderation of School-based Assessment (SBA) in Life Orientation (LO). This subject has been introduced by the Department of Education (DoE) to form part of Grade 12 exit examinations the National Curriculum Statement (NCS). SBA refers to all assessment that is conducted by teachers, and sometimes is known as internal assessment, coursework or continuous assessment...

  9. Towards a meaningful assessment of marine ecological impacts in life cycle assessment (LCA).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woods, John S; Veltman, Karin; Huijbregts, Mark A J; Verones, Francesca; Hertwich, Edgar G

    2016-01-01

    Human demands on marine resources and space are currently unprecedented and concerns are rising over observed declines in marine biodiversity. A quantitative understanding of the impact of industrial activities on the marine environment is thus essential. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a widely applied method for quantifying the environmental impact of products and processes. LCA was originally developed to assess the impacts of land-based industries on mainly terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. As such, impact indicators for major drivers of marine biodiversity loss are currently lacking. We review quantitative approaches for cause-effect assessment of seven major drivers of marine biodiversity loss: climate change, ocean acidification, eutrophication-induced hypoxia, seabed damage, overexploitation of biotic resources, invasive species and marine plastic debris. Our review shows that impact indicators can be developed for all identified drivers, albeit at different levels of coverage of cause-effect pathways and variable levels of uncertainty and spatial coverage. Modeling approaches to predict the spatial distribution and intensity of human-driven interventions in the marine environment are relatively well-established and can be employed to develop spatially-explicit LCA fate factors. Modeling approaches to quantify the effects of these interventions on marine biodiversity are less well-developed. We highlight specific research challenges to facilitate a coherent incorporation of marine biodiversity loss in LCA, thereby making LCA a more comprehensive and robust environmental impact assessment tool. Research challenges of particular importance include i) incorporation of the non-linear behavior of global circulation models (GCMs) within an LCA framework and ii) improving spatial differentiation, especially the representation of coastal regions in GCMs and ocean-carbon cycle models. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Exploring REACH as a potential data source for characterizing ecotoxicity in life cycle assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Müller, Nienke; de Zwart, Dick; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

    2017-01-01

    Toxicity models in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) currently only characterize a small fraction of marketed substances, mostly because of limitations in the underlying ecotoxicity data. One approach to improve the current data situation in LCIA is to identify new data sources, such as the Eur......Toxicity models in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) currently only characterize a small fraction of marketed substances, mostly because of limitations in the underlying ecotoxicity data. One approach to improve the current data situation in LCIA is to identify new data sources......, such as the European Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) database. The present study explored REACH as a potential data source for LCIA based on matching reported ecotoxicity data for substances that are currently also included in the United Nations Environment Programme....../Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (UNEP/SETAC) scientific consensus model USEtox for characterizing toxicity impacts. Data are evaluated with respect to number of data points, reported reliability, and test duration, and are compared with data listed in USEtox at the level of hazardous concentration for 50...

  11. Life cycle assessment of the end-of-life phase of a residential building.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vitale, Pierluca; Arena, Noemi; Di Gregorio, Fabrizio; Arena, Umberto

    2017-02-01

    The study investigates the potential environmental impacts related to the end-of-life phase of a residential building, identified in a multifamily dwelling of three levels, constructed in the South of Italy by utilizing conventional materials and up-to-date procedures. An attributional life cycle assessment has been utilised to quantify the contributions of each stage of the end-of-life phase, with a particular attention to the management of the demolition waste. The investigation takes into account the selective demolition, preliminary sorting and collection of main components of the building, together with the processes of sorting, recycling and/or disposal of main fractions of the demolition waste. It quantifies the connections between these on-site and off-site processes as well as the main streams of materials sent to recycling, energy recovery, and final disposal. A sensitivity analysis has been eventually carried out by comparing the overall environmental performances of some alternative scenarios, characterised by different criteria for the demolition of the reference building, management of demolition waste and assessment of avoided burdens of the main recycled materials. The results quantify the advantage of an appropriate technique of selective demolition, which could increase the quality and quantity of residues sent to the treatment of resource recovery and safe disposal. They also highlight the contributions to the positive or negative environmental impact of each stage of the investigated waste management system. The recycling of reinforcing steel appears to play a paramount role, accounting for 65% of the total avoided impacts related to respiratory inorganics, 89% of those for global warming and 73% of those for mineral extraction. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Materials for Nuclear Plants From Safe Design to Residual Life Assessments

    CERN Document Server

    Hoffelner, Wolfgang

    2013-01-01

    The clamor for non-carbon dioxide emitting energy production has directly  impacted on the development of nuclear energy. As new nuclear plants are built, plans and designs are continually being developed to manage the range of challenging requirement and problems that nuclear plants face especially when managing the greatly increased operating temperatures, irradiation doses and extended design life spans. Materials for Nuclear Plants: From Safe Design to Residual Life Assessments  provides a comprehensive treatment of the structural materials for nuclear power plants with emphasis on advanced design concepts.   Materials for Nuclear Plants: From Safe Design to Residual Life Assessments approaches structural materials with a systemic approach. Important components and materials currently in use as well as those which can be considered in future designs are detailed, whilst the damage mechanisms responsible for plant ageing are discussed and explained. Methodologies for materials characterization, material...

  13. Enhancing pediatric safety: assessing and improving resident competency in life-threatening events with a computer-based interactive resuscitation tool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lerner, Catherine; Gaca, Ana M.; Frush, Donald P.; Ancarana, Anjanette; Hohenhaus, Sue; Seelinger, Terry A.; Frush, Karen

    2009-01-01

    Though rare, allergic reactions occur as a result of administration of low osmolality nonionic iodinated contrast material to pediatric patients. Currently available resuscitation aids are inadequate in guiding radiologists' initial management of such reactions. To compare radiology resident competency with and without a computer-based interactive resuscitation tool in the management of life-threatening events in pediatric patients. The study was approved by the IRB. Radiology residents (n=19; 14 male, 5 female; 19 certified in basic life support/advanced cardiac life support; 1 certified in pediatric advanced life support) were videotaped during two simulated 5-min anaphylaxis scenarios involving 18-month-old and 8-year-old mannequins (order randomized). No advance warning was given. In half of the scenarios, a computer-based interactive resuscitation tool with a response-driven decision tree was available to residents (order randomized). Competency measures included: calling a code, administering oxygen and epinephrine, and correctly dosing epinephrine. Residents performed significantly more essential interventions with the computer-based resuscitation tool than without (72/76 vs. 49/76, P<0.001). Significantly more residents appropriately dosed epinephrine with the tool than without (17/19 vs. 1/19; P<0.001). More residents called a code with the tool than without (17/19 vs. 14/19; P = 0.08). A learning effect was present: average times to call a code, request oxygen, and administer epinephrine were shorter in the second scenario (129 vs. 93 s, P=0.24; 52 vs. 30 s, P<0.001; 152 vs. 82 s, P=0.025, respectively). All the trainees found the resuscitation tool helpful and potentially useful in a true pediatric emergency. A computer-based interactive resuscitation tool significantly improved resident performance in managing pediatric emergencies in the radiology department. (orig.)

  14. An integrated life cycle sustainability assessment of electricity generation in Turkey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Atilgan, Burcin; Azapagic, Adisa

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents for the first time an integrated life cycle sustainability assessment of the electricity sector in Turkey, considering environmental, economic and social aspects. Twenty life cycle sustainability indicators (11 environmental, three economic and six social) are used to evaluate the current electricity options. Geothermal power is the best option for six environmental impacts but it has the highest capital costs. Small reservoir and run-of-river power has the lowest global warming potential while large reservoir is best for the depletion of elements and fossil resources, and acidification. It also has the lowest levelised costs, worker injuries and fatalities but provides the lowest life cycle employment opportunities. Gas power has the lowest capital costs but it provides the lowest direct employment and has the highest levelised costs and ozone layer depletion. Given these trade-offs, a multi-criteria decision analysis has been carried out to identify the most sustainable options assuming different stakeholder preferences. For all the preferences considered, hydropower is the most sustainable option for Turkey, followed by geothermal and wind electricity. This work demonstrates the importance for energy policy of an integrated life cycle sustainability assessment and how tensions between different aspects can be reconciled to identify win-win solutions. - Highlights: •First integrated life cycle sustainability assessment of the electricity sector in Turkey. •11 environmental, three economic and six social sustainability indicators estimated. •Multi-criteria decision analysis carried out to identify most sustainable options. •Hydro is the most sustainable option for Turkey, followed by geothermal and wind. •This work demonstrates how tensions among sustainability aspects can be reconciled.

  15. The assessment of ongoing community-based interventions to prevent obesity: lessons learned

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gubbels, J.S.; Mathisen, F.K.S.; Samdal, O.; Lobstein, T.; Kohl, L.F.M.; Leversen, I.; Lakerveld, J.; Kremers, S.P.J.; Assema, P.

    2015-01-01

    Background: The assessment of real-life, community-based interventions to tackle obesity is an important step in the development of effective policies. Especially multi-level interventions have a high likely effectiveness and potential reach in counteracting the obesity epidemic. Although much can

  16. Research Needs and Challenges from Science to Decision Support. Lesson Learnt from the Development of the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD Recommendations for Life Cycle Impact Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Serenella Sala

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Environmental implications of the whole supply-chain of products, both goods and services, their use, and waste management, i.e., their entire life cycle from “cradle to grave” have to be considered to achieve more sustainable production and consumption patterns. Progress toward environmental sustainability requires enhancing the methodologies for quantitative, integrated environmental assessment and promoting the use of these methodologies in different domains. In the context of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA of products, in recent years, several methodologies have been developed for Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA. The Joint Research Center of the European Commission (EC-JRC led a “science to decision support” process which resulted in the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD Handbook, providing guidelines to the decision and application of methods for LCIA. The Handbook is the result of a comprehensive process of evaluation and selection of existing methods based on a set of scientific and stakeholder acceptance criteria and involving review and consultation by experts, advisory groups and the public. In this study, we report the main features of the ILCD LCIA recommendation development highlighting relevant issues emerged from this “from science to decision support” process in terms of research needs and challenges for LCIA. Comprehensiveness of the assessment, as well as acceptability and applicability of the scientific developments by the stakeholders, are key elements for the design of new methods and to guarantee the mainstreaming of the sustainability concept.

  17. Life-cycle cost assessment of optimally designed reinforced concrete buildings under seismic actions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mitropoulou, Chara Ch.; Lagaros, Nikos D.; Papadrakakis, Manolis

    2011-01-01

    Life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is an assessment tool for studying the performance of systems in many fields of engineering. In earthquake engineering LCCA demands the calculation of the cost components that are related to the performance of the structure in multiple earthquake hazard levels. Incremental static and dynamic analyses are two procedures that can be used for estimating the seismic capacity of a structural system and can therefore be incorporated into the LCCA methodology. In this work the effect of the analysis procedure, the number of seismic records imposed, the performance criterion used and the structural type (regular or irregular) is investigated, on the life-cycle cost analysis of 3D reinforced concrete structures. Furthermore, the influence of uncertainties on the seismic response of structural systems and their impact on LCCA is examined. The uncertainty on the material properties, the cross-section dimensions and the record-incident angle is taking into account with the incorporation of the Latin hypercube sampling method into the incremental dynamic analysis procedure. In addition, the LCCA methodology is used as an assessment tool for the designs obtained by means of prescriptive and performance-based optimum design methodologies. The first one is obtained from a single-objective optimization problem, where the initial construction cost was the objective to be minimized, while the second one as a two-objective optimization problem where the life-cycle cost was the additional objective also to be minimized.

  18. Population-based assessment of cancer survivors' financial burden and quality of life: a prospective cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zafar, S Yousuf; McNeil, Rebecca B; Thomas, Catherine M; Lathan, Christopher S; Ayanian, John Z; Provenzale, Dawn

    2015-03-01

    The impact of financial burden among patients with cancer has not yet been measured in a way that accounts for inter-relationships between quality of life, perceived quality of care, disease status, and sociodemographic characteristics. In a national, prospective, observational, population- and health care systems-based cohort study, patients with colorectal or lung cancer were enrolled from 2003 to 2006 within 3 months of diagnosis. For this analysis, surviving patients who were either disease free or had advanced disease were resurveyed a median 7.3 years from diagnosis. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate relationships between financial burden, quality of life, perceived quality of care, and sociodemographic characteristics. Among 1,000 participants enrolled from five geographic regions, five integrated health care systems, or 15 Veterans Administration Hospitals, 89% (n = 889) were cancer free, and 11% (n = 111) had advanced cancer. Overall, 48% (n = 482) reported difficulties living on their household income, and 41% (n = 396) believed their health care to be "excellent." High financial burden was associated with lower household income (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.61 per $20k per year, P financial burden was also associated with poorer quality of life (adjusted beta = -0.06 per burden category; P Financial burden is prevalent among cancer survivors and is related to patients' health-related quality of life. Future studies should consider interventions to improve patient education and engagement with regard to financial burden. Copyright © 2014 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

  19. Packaging waste prevention in the distribution of fruit and vegetables: An assessment based on the life cycle perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tua, Camilla; Nessi, Simone; Rigamonti, Lucia; Dolci, Giovanni; Grosso, Mario

    2017-04-01

    In recent years, alternative food supply chains based on short distance production and delivery have been promoted as being more environmentally friendly than those applied by the traditional retailing system. An example is the supply of seasonal and possibly locally grown fruit and vegetables directly to customers inside a returnable crate (the so-called 'box scheme'). In addition to other claimed environmental and economic advantages, the box scheme is often listed among the packaging waste prevention measures. To check whether such a claim is soundly based, a life cycle assessment was carried out to verify the real environmental effectiveness of the box scheme in comparison to the Italian traditional distribution. The study focused on two reference products, carrots and apples, which are available in the crate all year round. An experience of a box scheme carried out in Italy was compared with some traditional scenarios where the product is distributed loose or packaged at the large-scale retail trade. The packaging waste generation, 13 impact indicators on environment and human health and energy consumptions were calculated. Results show that the analysed experience of the box scheme, as currently managed, cannot be considered a packaging waste prevention measure when compared with the traditional distribution of fruit and vegetables. The weaknesses of the alternative system were identified and some recommendations were given to improve its environmental performance.

  20. Integrate life-cycle assessment and risk analysis results, not methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linkov, Igor; Trump, Benjamin D; Wender, Ben A; Seager, Thomas P; Kennedy, Alan J; Keisler, Jeffrey M

    2017-08-04

    Two analytic perspectives on environmental assessment dominate environmental policy and decision-making: risk analysis (RA) and life-cycle assessment (LCA). RA focuses on management of a toxicological hazard in a specific exposure scenario, while LCA seeks a holistic estimation of impacts of thousands of substances across multiple media, including non-toxicological and non-chemically deleterious effects. While recommendations to integrate the two approaches have remained a consistent feature of environmental scholarship for at least 15 years, the current perception is that progress is slow largely because of practical obstacles, such as a lack of data, rather than insurmountable theoretical difficulties. Nonetheless, the emergence of nanotechnology presents a serious challenge to both perspectives. Because the pace of nanomaterial innovation far outstrips acquisition of environmentally relevant data, it is now clear that a further integration of RA and LCA based on dataset completion will remain futile. In fact, the two approaches are suited for different purposes and answer different questions. A more pragmatic approach to providing better guidance to decision-makers is to apply the two methods in parallel, integrating only after obtaining separate results.

  1. Normalisation and weighting in life cycle assessment: quo vadis?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pizzol, Massimo; Laurent, Alexis; Sala, Serenella

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: Building on the rhetoric question “quo vadis?” (literally “Where are you going?”), this article critically investigates the state of the art of normalisation and weighting approaches within life cycle assessment. It aims at identifying purposes, current practises, pros and cons, as well...

  2. Methods for global sensitivity analysis in life cycle assessment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Groen, Evelyne A.; Bokkers, Eddy; Heijungs, Reinout; Boer, de Imke J.M.

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: Input parameters required to quantify environmental impact in life cycle assessment (LCA) can be uncertain due to e.g. temporal variability or unknowns about the true value of emission factors. Uncertainty of environmental impact can be analysed by means of a global sensitivity analysis to

  3. Life Cycle Assessment of the wind farm alpha ventus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wagner H.-J.

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Life Cycle Assessments (LCA is an important tool for industry and policy makers, used to determine the actual emissions of a product or technology throughout its whole life cycle. In case of energy production systems or power plants, analysis of energy required to produce the materials and processes; emissions resulting from various processes for materials production and processes resulting into their Cumulated Energy Demand (CED and Global Warming Potential (GWP become important parameters when making decisions on further research, development and deployment of any technology. The method of carrying out such analysis is explained through a case study.

  4. Risk assessment considerations for plant protection products and terrestrial life-stages of amphibians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weltje, Lennart; Ufer, Andreas; Hamer, Mick; Sowig, Peter; Demmig, Sandra; Dechet, Friedrich

    2018-04-28

    Some amphibians occur in agricultural landscapes during certain periods of their life cycle and consequently might be exposed to plant protection products (PPPs). While the sensitivity of aquatic life-stages is considered to be covered by the standard assessment for aquatic organisms (especially fish), the situation is less clear for terrestrial amphibian life-stages. In this paper, considerations are presented on how a risk assessment for PPPs and terrestrial life-stages of amphibians could be conducted. It discusses available information concerning the toxicity of PPPs to terrestrial amphibians, and their potential exposure to PPPs in consideration of aspects of amphibian biology. The emphasis is on avoiding additional vertebrate testing as much as possible by using exposure-driven approaches and by making use of existing vertebrate toxicity data, where appropriate. Options for toxicity testing and risk assessment are presented in a flowchart as a tiered approach, progressing from a non-testing approach, to simple worst-case laboratory testing, to extended laboratory testing, to semi-field enclosure tests and ultimately to full-scale field testing and monitoring. Suggestions are made for triggers to progress to higher tiers. Also, mitigation options to reduce the potential for exposure of terrestrial life-stages of amphibians to PPPs, if a risk were identified, are discussed. Finally, remaining uncertainties and research needs are considered by proposing a way forward (road map) for generating additional information to inform terrestrial amphibian risk assessment. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Integration of Social Aspects in Decision Support, Based on Life Cycle Thinking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pere Fullana-i-Palmer

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Recently increasing attention has been paid to complementing environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA with social aspects. The paper discusses the selection of social impacts and indicators from existing frameworks like Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA and Social Impact Assessment (SIA. Two ongoing case studies, addressing sustainability assessment within decision support, were considered: (1 Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM in Indonesia; and (2 Integrated Packaging Waste Management in Spain and Portugal (FENIX. The focus was put on social impacts occurring due to decisions within these systems, such as choice of technologies, practices or suppliers. Thus, decision makers—here understood as intended users of the studies’ results—are not consumers that buy (or do not buy a product, such as in recent SLCA case-studies, but mainly institutions that decide about the design of the water or packaging waste management system. Therefore, in the FENIX project, a list of social impacts identified from literature was sent to the intended users to be ranked according to their priorities. Finally, the paper discusses to what extent the entire life cycle is reflected in SLCA impact categories and indicators, and explains how both life-cycle and on-site-related social impacts were chosen to be assessed. However, not all indicators in the two projects will assess all stages of the life cycle, because of their varying relevance in the different stages, data availability and practical interest of decision makers.

  6. The Environmental Impact of Industrial Bamboo Products : Life-cycle Assessment and Carbon Sequestration

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vogtlander, J.G.; Van der Lugt, P.

    2014-01-01

    This report gives a Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) and carbon footprint analysis on a selection of industrial bamboo products. The LCA is made for cradle-to-gate, plus the end-of-life stages of the bamboo products. For end-of-life it is assumed that 90% of the bamboo products are incinerated in an

  7. The role of framing effect in assessment of quality of life according to standard gambling theory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Songul Cinaroglu

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Measuring health outcomes includes risk and uncertainty. Quality of life assessment in health care has two main properties one is they are personal, the other is they are reflecting personal preferences. Because of patient preferences includes risk and uncertainty standard gambling theory used which is one of the quantitative techniques for assessment of patient preferences. Framing effect which is based on social psychology, shows that positive and negative framed information effects decision making. For this reason in this study we aim to discuss the role of framing effect on quality of life assessments when standart gambling theory was used. Results of this study show that compare to traditional framing effect, medical framework reveal opposite results. Patients show risk seeking behavior in positive framework and they show risk aversion behaviour in negative framework. We think that the results of this study provides useful information for understanding of how framing make a bias in asssessment of patient preferences. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2015; 14(4.000: 346-352

  8. Waste prevention in liquid detergent distribution: a comparison based on life cycle assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nessi, Simone; Rigamonti, Lucia; Grosso, Mario

    2014-11-15

    The distribution of liquid detergents through self-dispensing systems has been adopted in some Italian retail stores over the last few years. By enabling the consumer to refill several times the same container, it is proposed as a less waste-generating and more environmentally friendly alternative to the traditional distribution with single-use plastic containers. For this reason, its implementation is encouraged by the national waste prevention programme recently adopted in Italy. In order to assess such claims, a life cycle assessment was carried out to evaluate whether detergent distribution through self-dispensing systems actually allows to achieve the expected reduction in waste generation and environmental impacts. The focus was on the distribution within the large-scale retail trade and on the categories of laundry detergents, fabric softeners and hand dishwashing detergents. For each of them, a set of baseline single-use scenarios were compared with two alternative waste prevention scenarios, where the detergent is distributed through self-dispensing systems. Beyond waste generation, also the Cumulative Energy Demand and thirteen midpoint-level potential impact indicators were calculated for the comparison. Results showed that a reduction in waste generation up to 98% can be achieved, depending on the category of detergent, on the baseline scenario of comparison and on the number of times the refillable container is used. A progressive reduction in the energy demand and in most of the potential impacts was also observed, starting from a minimum number of uses of the refillable container. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Life Cycle Assessment of Biofuels in Sweden; Livscykelanalys av svenska biodrivmedel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boerjesson, Paal; Tufvesson, Linda; Lantz, Mikael

    2009-05-15

    The purpose with this study is to carry out updated and developed life cycle assessments of biofuels produced and used in Sweden today. The focuses are on making the assessments as relevant and transparent as possible and identify hot spots having significant impacts on the environmental performance of the specific biofuel production chains. The study includes sensitivity analyses showing the impact on changed future conditions. The results should be seen as actual and average environmental performance based on updated calculation methods, thus individual systems developed by specific companies may have somewhat different performance. Biofuels analysed are ethanol from wheat, sugar beet and sugar cane (imported from Brazil), RME from rape seed, biogas from sugar beet, ley crops, maize and organic residues, such as municipal waste, food industry waste and liquor manure. The study also includes co-production of ethanol and biogas from wheat. Final use in both light and heavy duty vehicles, and related emissions, are assessed. Environmental impact categories considered are climate change, eutrophication, acidification, photochemical oxidants, particles and energy balances. The calculations include emissions from technical systems, e.g. energy input in various operations and processes, and biogenic emissions of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide from direct land use changes (LUC). The potential risk of indirect land use changes (ILUC) is also assessed. By-products are included by three different calculation methods, system expansion, energy allocation and economic allocation. The results are presented per MJ biofuel, but the alternative functional unit per hectare cropland is also used regarding the greenhouse gas performance of crop-based biofuels. Finally, estimations are carried out regarding the current environmental performance of the actual various biofuel systems based on system expansion, recommended by the ISO-standardisation of LCA, and energy allocation

  10. Assessing the Environmental Impact of Flax Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composite from a Consequential Life Cycle Assessment Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yelin Deng

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The study implements the consequential life cycle assessment (CLCA to provide a market based perspective on how overall environmental impact will change when shifting glass fibres to flax fibres as reinforcements in composite fabrication. With certain assumptions, the marginal flax fibre supply is identified to be a combination of Chinese flax fibre (70% and French flax fibre (30%. Due to inferior cultivars and coal-fired electricity in Chinese flax cultivation, the CLCA study reveals that flax mat-PP has 0.8–2 times higher environmental impact values than the glass mat-PP in most environmental impact categories over the production and end-of-life (EoL phases. For purpose of providing potential trajectories of marginal flax fibre supply, additional scenarios: the “all French fibre”, and “all Chinese fibre” are evaluated formulating the lower and upper boundaries in terms of environmental impact change, respectively. A “the attributional fibre supply mix” scenario is supplied as well. All of these scenarios are useful for policy analysis.

  11. Advancing Integrated Systems Modelling Framework for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anthony Halog

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available The need for integrated methodological framework for sustainability assessment has been widely discussed and is urgent due to increasingly complex environmental system problems. These problems have impacts on ecosystems and human well-being which represent a threat to economic performance of countries and corporations. Integrated assessment crosses issues; spans spatial and temporal scales; looks forward and backward; and incorporates multi-stakeholder inputs. This study aims to develop an integrated methodology by capitalizing the complementary strengths of different methods used by industrial ecologists and biophysical economists. The computational methodology proposed here is systems perspective, integrative, and holistic approach for sustainability assessment which attempts to link basic science and technology to policy formulation. The framework adopts life cycle thinking methods—LCA, LCC, and SLCA; stakeholders analysis supported by multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA; and dynamic system modelling. Following Pareto principle, the critical sustainability criteria, indicators and metrics (i.e., hotspots can be identified and further modelled using system dynamics or agent based modelling and improved by data envelopment analysis (DEA and sustainability network theory (SNT. The framework is being applied to development of biofuel supply chain networks. The framework can provide new ways of integrating knowledge across the divides between social and natural sciences as well as between critical and problem-solving research.

  12. Well-to-wheel life cycle assessment of transportation fuels derived from different North American conventional crudes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rahman, Md. Mustafizur; Canter, Christina; Kumar, Amit

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Development of data-intensive bottom-up life cycle assessment model. • Quantification of well-to-wheel GHG emissions for five North American crudes. • Allocation of emissions to transportation fuels (gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel). • California’s Kern County heavy oil is the most GHG intensive of the crudes. - Abstract: A life cycle assessment (LCA) is an extremely useful tool to assess the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with all the stages of a crude oil’s life from well-to-wheel (WTW). All of the WTW life cycle stages of crude oil consume energy and produce significant amounts of GHG emissions. The present study attempts to quantify the WTW life cycle GHG emissions for transportation fuels derived from five North American conventional crudes through the development of an LCA model called FUNNEL-GHG-CCO (FUNdamental Engineering PrinciplEs-based ModeL for Estimation of GreenHouse Gases in Conventional Crude Oils). This model estimates GHG emissions from all the life cycle stages from recovery of crude to the combustion of transportation fuels in vehicle engines. The contribution of recovery emissions in the total WTW GHG emissions ranges from 3.12% for Mars crude to 24.25% for California’s Kern County heavy oil. The transportation of crude oil and refined fuel contributes only 0.44–1.73% of the total WTW life cycle GHG emissions, depending on the transportation methods and total distance transported. The GHG emissions for refining were calculated from the amount of energy use in the refining of crude oil to produce transportation fuels. All the upstream GHG emissions were allocated to gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. Refining GHG emissions vary from 13.66–18.70 g-CO 2 eq/MJ-gasoline, 9.71–15.33 g-CO 2 eq/MJ-diesel, and 6.38–9.92 g-CO 2 eq/MJ-jet fuel derived from Alaska North Slope and California’s Kern County heavy oil, respectively. The total WTW life cycle GHG emissions range from 97.55 g-CO 2 eq

  13. Knowledge-Based Systems for the Assessment and Management of Bridge Structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Miyamoto, A.; Thoft-Christensen, Palle; Yan, B.

    2004-01-01

    . The aim of this paper is to summarize the finding of up-to-date research articles concerning the application of knowledge-based systems to assessment and management of structures and to illustrate the potential of such systems in the structural engineering. Two modern bridge management systems (BMS......It is becoming an important social problem to make maintenance and rehabilitation of existing infrastructures such as bridges, buildings, etc. The kernel of such structure management is to develop a method of safety assessment on items which include remaining life and load carrying capacity......'s) are presented in the paper. The first is a BMS to assess the performance and derive optimal strategies for inspection and maintenance of concrete structures using reliability based and knowledge based systems. The second is the concrete bridge rating expert system (BREX) to evaluate the performance of existing...

  14. Developing Students' Understanding of Industrially Relevant Economic and Life Cycle Assessments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bode, Claudia J.; Chapman, Clint; Pennybaker, Atherly; Subramaniam, Bala

    2017-01-01

    Training future leaders to understand life cycle assessment data is critical for effective research, business, and sociopolitical decision-making. However, the technical nature of these life cycle reports often makes them challenging for students and other nonexperts to comprehend. Therefore, we outline here the key takeaways from recent economic…

  15. Assessing the Value of Real-life Brands in Virtual Worlds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mattsson, Jan; Barnes, Stuart; Hartley, Nicole

    2015-01-01

    World. A key finding is the difficulty in creating emotional brand value in Second Life which has serious implications for the sustainability of current real-life brands in Virtual Worlds. The paper rounds off with conclusions and implications for future research and practice in this very new area.......Virtual Worlds are a significant new market environment for brand-building through experiential customer service interactions. Using value theory, this paper aims to assess the experiential brand value of real-life brands that have moved to the Virtual World of Second Life. A key premise...... is that current brand offerings in Virtual Worlds do not offer consumers adequate experiential value. The results demonstrate both the validity of an axiological approach to examining brand value, and highlight significant problems in consumer perceptions of the experiential value of brands within the Virtual...

  16. Personalized risk communication for personalized risk assessment: Real world assessment of knowledge and motivation for six mortality risk measures from an online life expectancy calculator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manuel, Douglas G; Abdulaziz, Kasim E; Perez, Richard; Beach, Sarah; Bennett, Carol

    2018-01-01

    In the clinical setting, previous studies have shown personalized risk assessment and communication improves risk perception and motivation. We evaluated an online health calculator that estimated and presented six different measures of life expectancy/mortality based on a person's sociodemographic and health behavior profile. Immediately after receiving calculator results, participants were invited to complete an online survey that asked how informative and motivating they found each risk measure, whether they would share their results and whether the calculator provided information they need to make lifestyle changes. Over 80% of the 317 survey respondents found at least one of six healthy living measures highly informative and motivating, but there was moderate heterogeneity regarding which measures respondents found most informative and motivating. Overall, health age was most informative and life expectancy most motivating. Approximately 40% of respondents would share the results with their clinician (44%) or social networks (38%), although the information they would share was often different from what they found informative or motivational. Online personalized risk assessment allows for a more personalized communication compared to historic paper-based risk assessment to maximize knowledge and motivation, and people should be provided a range of risk communication measures that reflect different risk perspectives.

  17. Aging management and life assessment of buried commodities in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, J. H.; Jung, I. S.; Jo, H. S.; Kim, M. G.; Kim, S. T.; Lee, S. S.

    2000-01-01

    General field survey, inspection and life assessment were performed to establish effective aging management program of buried commodities in nuclear power plant. Basic informations on material characteristics, aging degradation experiences and maintenance history were gathered. Considering their degradation effects on power operation or safety, buried commodities were screened for the aging management priority. Various inspection techniques were applied in field survey and inspection, and their results were incorporated in the life assessment of buried commodities. In the aspect of aging degradation, general status of buried commodities were considered still sound while some revealed local degradation

  18. Modular life cycle assessment of municipal solid waste management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haupt, M; Kägi, T; Hellweg, S

    2018-05-31

    Life cycle assessment (LCA) is commonly applied to examine the environmental performance of waste management systems. The system boundaries are, however, often limited to either one tonne of material or to specific waste treatments and are, therefore, lacking a systems perspective. Here, a framework is proposed to assess complete waste management systems based on actual waste flows, assessed with a detailed material flow analysis (MFA) in a modular MFA/LCA approach. The transformation of the MFA into a product-process-matrix facilitates a direct link between MFA and LCA, therefore allowing for the assessment of variations in flows. To allow for an up-to-date and geographically specific assessment, 190 LCA modules were set up based on primary industrial data and the ecoinvent database. The LCA modules show where there have been improvements in different recycling processes over the past years (e.g. for paper recycling) and highlight that, from an environmental perspective, closed-loop recycling is not always preferable to open-loop recycling. In a case study, the Swiss municipal solid waste management system, of which there is already a detailed MFA, was modeled using the new LCA modules and applying the modular MFA/LCA approach. Five different mass flow distribution scenarios for the Swiss municipal solid waste management system were assessed to show the environmental impact of political measures and to test the sensitivity of the results to key parameters. The results of the case study highlight the importance of the dominant fractions in the overall environmental impacts assessment; while the metal fraction has the highest impact on a per kilogram basis, paper, cardboard, glass and mixed municipal solid waste were found to dominate the environmental impacts of the Swiss waste management system due to their mass. The scenarios also highlight the importance of the energy efficiency of municipal solid waste incineration plants and the credits from material

  19. Assessment of Quality of Life in Patients With Skin Disorders Undergoing Ayurvedic Panchakarma (Biopurification) as Management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deshpande, Harish; Shivakumar; Kavita, M B; Tripathy, T B; Chaturvedi, Ashutosh

    2016-07-01

    Chronic skin conditions can have a negative impact on one's quality of life, affecting their physical, functional, and emotional well-being. Whereas biopurifactory measures (panchakarma) of Ayurveda claims to provide better quality of life after treatment. Hence current study is planned to provide evidence in patients with skin disorders, undergoing Ayurvedic treatment. Sixty patients with skin disorder, who underwent purification therapies like therapeutic emesis and therapeutic purgation, were randomly placed in 2 groups to assess quality of life. Quality of life assessment was done with the help of Skindex-29 among the patients before and after Ayurvedic purification therapy. Thereafter, the quality of life assessment was done on the first follow-up. A statistically significant improvement in the quality of life domains-emotions, functioning, and symptoms-after the Ayurvedic management was observed with P value Ayurveda purification therapies. © The Author(s) 2015.

  20. Assessing social impacts in a life cycle perspective-Lessons learned

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Jørgensen, Andreas; Dreyer, Louise Camilla

    2008-01-01

    In our globalised economy, important stakeholder groups nowadays hold companies responsible for the social impacts they cause in their product chain through activities like child labour, corruption or discrimination of employees. Many companies thus see themselves in need of a tool which can help...... LCA methodology supplements the traditional environment-oriented LCA and the life cycle costing tools in support of sustainability management addressing all three pillars of sustainability: people, planet and profit....... them make informed decisions about their social impacts throughout the life cycle of their products. The paper presents lessons learned from four years of work with industry on development of a methodology for social Life Cycle Assessment and implementation in the industrial product chain. The Social...

  1. Simulation and Assessment of Whole Life-Cycle Carbon Emission Flows from Different Residential Structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rikun Wen

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available To explore the differences in carbon emissions over the whole life-cycle of different building structures, the published calculated carbon emissions from residential buildings in China and abroad were normalized. Embodied carbon emission flows, operations stage carbon emission flows, demolition and reclamation stage carbon emission flows and total life-cycle carbon emission flows from concrete, steel, and wood structures were obtained. This study is based on the theory of the social cost of carbon, with an adequately demonstrated social cost of carbon and social discount rate. Taking into consideration both static and dynamic situations and using a social discount rate of 3.5%, the total life-cycle carbon emission flows, absolute carbon emission and building carbon costs were calculated and assessed. The results indicated that concrete structures had the highest embodied carbon emission flows and negative carbon emission flows in the waste and reclamation stage. Wood structures that started the life-cycle with stored carbon had the lowest carbon emission flows in the operations stage and relatively high negative carbon emission flows in the reclamation stage. Wood structures present the smallest carbon footprints for residential buildings.

  2. Quality-of-life assessment of family planning adopters through user perspectives in the district of Karimnagar

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kameswararao Avasarala

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Small families adopting family planning are usually considered happy families. They are expected to lead a better qualitative life. Quality-of-life (QOL is routinely assessed for knowing patients′ health status. Recently, the QOL concept has become increasingly popular for evaluating the impact of public health interventions. Hitherto, QOL is usually assessed by means of program achievements or indicators, which may sometimes be misleading. Hence, the new culture of QOL assessment by means of user perspectives is now becoming popular. Research Questions: 1 Is the quality-of-life of family planning (FP adopters better than that of non-FP adopters? 2 Are the user perspectives helpful in QOL assessment? Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among 50 FP adopting families and 50 non-FP adopting families from the village of Vutoor and the city of Karimnagar in Andhra Pradesh. Sampling Methods: Random sampling, Proportions and Chi square test. Results: Program perspectives revealed a better standard of living for FP adopters because they have amenities like housing, television, and vehicles and less mortality and morbidity ( P < 0.001. However, they lack positive feelings towards life, general adaptation, personal relationships, and leisure opportunities. Finally, self-assessment by FP adopters themselves revealed no significant increase in their qualitative life after family planning ( P = 0.05. Conclusions: While assessing the impact of a health program on quality-of-life, multiple methods of assessments including user perspectives are better than program indicators alone.

  3. Life Cycle Assessment and Water Footprint of Hydrogen Production Methods: From Conventional to Emerging Technologies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andi Mehmeti

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available A common sustainability issue, arising in production systems, is the efficient use of resources for providing goods or services. With the increased interest in a hydrogen (H2 economy, the life-cycle environmental performance of H2 production has special significance for assisting in identifying opportunities to improve environmental performance and to guide challenging decisions and select between technology paths. Life cycle impact assessment methods are rapidly evolving to analyze multiple environmental impacts of the production of products or processes. This study marks the first step in developing process-based streamlined life cycle analysis (LCA of several H2 production pathways combining life cycle impacts at the midpoint (17 problem-oriented and endpoint (3 damage-oriented levels using the state-of-the-art impact assessment method ReCiPe 2016. Steam reforming of natural gas, coal gasification, water electrolysis via proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEM, solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC, biomass gasification and reforming, and dark fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass were analyzed. An innovative aspect is developed in this study is an analysis of water consumption associated with H2 production pathways by life-cycle stage to provide a better understanding of the life cycle water-related impacts on human health and natural environment. For water-related scope, Water scarcity footprint (WSF quantified using Available WAter REmaining (AWARE method was applied as a stand-alone indicator. The paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each production pathway, identify the drivers of environmental impact, quantify midpoint environmental impact and its influence on the endpoint environmental performance. The findings of this study could serve as a useful theoretical reference and practical basis to decision-makers of potential environmental impacts of H2 production systems.

  4. Life cycle assessment of gasoline and diesel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Furuholt, Edgar

    1995-01-01

    A life cycle assessment (LCA) has been carried out to compare production and use of three different fuel products: regular gasoline, gasoline with MTBE and diesel. The study quantifies energy consumption and emissions through the production chain and assesses the potential impacts to the environment. Some of the methodological problems performing the LCA are discussed. The study indicates that production of gasoline with MTBE has potentially larger environmental impacts than production of regular gasoline, caused by the extra facilities for production of MTBE. The study also shows that the results are highly sensitive to the actual product specifications and assumptions that are made. Different product specifications can therefore lead to other conclusions. The results also indicate that production of diesel leads to significantly lower potential impacts than the gasolines

  5. Effect of a home-based end-of-life nursing service on hospital use at the end of life and place of death: a study using administrative data and matched controls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chitnis, X A; Georghiou, T; Steventon, A; Bardsley, M J

    2013-12-01

    To assess the effect of routinely delivered home-based end-of-life care on hospital use at the end of life and place of death. Retrospective analysis using matched controls and administrative data. Community-based care in England. 29,538 people aged over 18 who received Marie Curie nursing support compared with 29,538 controls individually matched on variables including: age, socioeconomic deprivation, prior hospital use, number of chronic conditions and prior diagnostic history. Home-based end-of-life nursing care delivered by the Marie Curie Nursing Service (MCNS), compared with end-of-life care available to those who did not receive MCNS care. Proportion of people who died at home; numbers of emergency and elective inpatient admissions, outpatient attendances and attendances at emergency departments in the period until death; and notional costs of hospital care. Intervention patients were significantly more likely to die at home and less likely to die in hospital than matched controls (unadjusted OR 6.16, 95% CI 5.94 to 6.38, pnursing for longer. Home-based end-of-life care offers the potential to reduce demand for acute hospital care and increase the number of people able to die at home.

  6. Life cycle assessment of construction and demolition waste management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Butera, Stefania; Christensen, Thomas H.; Astrup, Thomas F.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • LCA of C&DW utilisation in road vs. C&DW landfilling. • C&DW utilisation in road better than landfilling for most categories. • Transportation is the most important process in non-toxic impact categories. • Leaching of oxyanions is the critical process in toxic impact categories. • Modelling of Cr fate in the subsoil is highly influential to the results. - Abstract: Life cycle assessment (LCA) modelling of construction and demolition waste (C&DW) management was carried out. The functional unit was management of 1 Mg mineral, source separated C&DW, which is either utilised in road construction as a substitute for natural aggregates, or landfilled. The assessed environmental impacts included both non-toxic and toxic impact categories. The scenarios comprised all stages of the end-of-life management of C&DW, until final disposal of all residues. Leaching of inorganic contaminants was included, as was the production of natural aggregates, which was avoided because of the use of C&DW. Typical uncertainties related to contaminant leaching were addressed. For most impact categories, utilisation of C&DW in road construction was preferable to landfilling; however, for most categories, utilisation resulted in net environmental burdens. Transportation represented the most important contribution for most nontoxic impacts, accounting for 60–95 per cent of these impacts. Capital goods contributed with negligible impacts. Leaching played a critical role for the toxic categories, where landfilling had lower impacts than utilisation because of the lower levels of leachate per ton of C&DW reaching the groundwater over a 100-year perspective. Leaching of oxyanions (As, V and Sb) was critical with respect to leaching. Typical experimental uncertainties in leaching data did not have a pivotal influence on the results; however, accounting for Cr immobilisation in soils as part of the impact assessment was critical for modelling the leaching impacts. Compared

  7. Life cycle assessment of construction and demolition waste management

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Butera, Stefania, E-mail: stbu@teknologisk.dk; Christensen, Thomas H.; Astrup, Thomas F.

    2015-10-15

    Highlights: • LCA of C&DW utilisation in road vs. C&DW landfilling. • C&DW utilisation in road better than landfilling for most categories. • Transportation is the most important process in non-toxic impact categories. • Leaching of oxyanions is the critical process in toxic impact categories. • Modelling of Cr fate in the subsoil is highly influential to the results. - Abstract: Life cycle assessment (LCA) modelling of construction and demolition waste (C&DW) management was carried out. The functional unit was management of 1 Mg mineral, source separated C&DW, which is either utilised in road construction as a substitute for natural aggregates, or landfilled. The assessed environmental impacts included both non-toxic and toxic impact categories. The scenarios comprised all stages of the end-of-life management of C&DW, until final disposal of all residues. Leaching of inorganic contaminants was included, as was the production of natural aggregates, which was avoided because of the use of C&DW. Typical uncertainties related to contaminant leaching were addressed. For most impact categories, utilisation of C&DW in road construction was preferable to landfilling; however, for most categories, utilisation resulted in net environmental burdens. Transportation represented the most important contribution for most nontoxic impacts, accounting for 60–95 per cent of these impacts. Capital goods contributed with negligible impacts. Leaching played a critical role for the toxic categories, where landfilling had lower impacts than utilisation because of the lower levels of leachate per ton of C&DW reaching the groundwater over a 100-year perspective. Leaching of oxyanions (As, V and Sb) was critical with respect to leaching. Typical experimental uncertainties in leaching data did not have a pivotal influence on the results; however, accounting for Cr immobilisation in soils as part of the impact assessment was critical for modelling the leaching impacts. Compared

  8. Development of a Late-Life Dementia Prediction Index with Supervised Machine Learning in the Population-Based CAIDE Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pekkala, Timo; Hall, Anette; Lötjönen, Jyrki; Mattila, Jussi; Soininen, Hilkka; Ngandu, Tiia; Laatikainen, Tiina; Kivipelto, Miia; Solomon, Alina

    2017-01-01

    This study aimed to develop a late-life dementia prediction model using a novel validated supervised machine learning method, the Disease State Index (DSI), in the Finnish population-based CAIDE study. The CAIDE study was based on previous population-based midlife surveys. CAIDE participants were re-examined twice in late-life, and the first late-life re-examination was used as baseline for the present study. The main study population included 709 cognitively normal subjects at first re-examination who returned to the second re-examination up to 10 years later (incident dementia n = 39). An extended population (n = 1009, incident dementia 151) included non-participants/non-survivors (national registers data). DSI was used to develop a dementia index based on first re-examination assessments. Performance in predicting dementia was assessed as area under the ROC curve (AUC). AUCs for DSI were 0.79 and 0.75 for main and extended populations. Included predictors were cognition, vascular factors, age, subjective memory complaints, and APOE genotype. The supervised machine learning method performed well in identifying comprehensive profiles for predicting dementia development up to 10 years later. DSI could thus be useful for identifying individuals who are most at risk and may benefit from dementia prevention interventions.

  9. Life cycle assessment study of a Chinese desktop personal computer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duan, Huabo; Eugster, Martin; Hischier, Roland; Streicher-Porte, Martin; Li, Jinhui

    2009-02-15

    Associated with the tremendous prosperity in world electronic information and telecommunication industry, there continues to be an increasing awareness of the environmental impacts related to the accelerating mass production, electricity use, and waste management of electronic and electric products (e-products). China's importance as both a consumer and supplier of e-products has grown at an unprecedented pace in recent decade. Hence, this paper aims to describe the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) to investigate the environmental performance of Chinese e-products from a global level. A desktop personal computer system has been selected to carry out a detailed and modular LCA which follows the ISO 14040 series. The LCA is constructed by SimaPro software version 7.0 and expressed with the Eco-indicator'99 life cycle impact assessment method. For a sensitivity analysis of the overall LCA results, the so-called CML method is used in order to estimate the influence of the choice of the assessment method on the result. Life cycle inventory information is complied by ecoinvent 1.3 databases, combined with literature and field investigations on the present Chinese situation. The established LCA study shows that that the manufacturing and the use of such devices are of the highest environmental importance. In the manufacturing of such devices, the integrated circuits (ICs) and the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) are those parts contributing most to the impact. As no other aspects are taken into account during the use phase, the impact is due to the way how the electricity is produced. The final process steps--i.e. the end of life phase--lead to a clear environmental benefit if a formal and modern, up-to-date technical system is assumed, like here in this study.

  10. Life cycle assessment study of a Chinese desktop personal computer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duan Huabo; Eugster, Martin; Hischier, Roland; Streicher-Porte, Martin; Li Jinhui

    2009-01-01

    Associated with the tremendous prosperity in world electronic information and telecommunication industry, there continues to be an increasing awareness of the environmental impacts related to the accelerating mass production, electricity use, and waste management of electronic and electric products (e-products). China's importance as both a consumer and supplier of e-products has grown at an unprecedented pace in recent decade. Hence, this paper aims to describe the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) to investigate the environmental performance of Chinese e-products from a global level. A desktop personal computer system has been selected to carry out a detailed and modular LCA which follows the ISO 14040 series. The LCA is constructed by SimaPro software version 7.0 and expressed with the Eco-indicator'99 life cycle impact assessment method. For a sensitivity analysis of the overall LCA results, the so-called CML method is used in order to estimate the influence of the choice of the assessment method on the result. Life cycle inventory information is complied by ecoinvent 1.3 databases, combined with literature and field investigations on the present Chinese situation. The established LCA study shows that that the manufacturing and the use of such devices are of the highest environmental importance. In the manufacturing of such devices, the integrated circuits (ICs) and the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) are those parts contributing most to the impact. As no other aspects are taken into account during the use phase, the impact is due to the way how the electricity is produced. The final process steps - i.e. the end of life phase - lead to a clear environmental benefit if a formal and modern, up-to-date technical system is assumed, like here in this study

  11. How to integrate proxy data from two informants in life event assessment in psychological autopsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jie; Wang, Youqing; Fang, Le

    2018-04-27

    Life event assessment is an important part in psychological autopsy, and how to integrate its proxy data from two informants is a major methodological issue which needs solving. Totally 416 living subjects and their two informants were interviewed by psychological autopsy, and life events were assessed with Paykel's Interview for Recent Life Events. Validities of integrated proxy data using six psychological autopsy information reconstruction methods were evaluated, with living subjects' self-reports used as gold-standard criteria. For all the life events, average value of Youden Indexes for proxy data by type C information reconstruction method (choosing positive value from two informants) was larger than other five methods'. For family life related events, proxy data by type 1st information reconstruction method were not significantly different from living subjects' self-reports (P = 0.828). For all other life events, proxy data by type C information reconstruction method were not significantly different from the gold-standard. Choosing positive value is a relatively better method for integrating dichotomous (positive vs. negative) proxy data from two informants in life event assessment in psychological autopsy, except for family life related events. In that case, using information provided by 1st informants (mainly family member) is recommended.

  12. Life cycle assessment of TV sets in China: a case study of the impacts of CRT monitors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Qingbin; Wang, Zhishi; Li, Jinhui; Zeng, Xianlai

    2012-10-01

    Along with the rapid increase in both production and use of TV sets in China, there is an increasing awareness of the environmental impacts related to the accelerating mass production, electricity use, and waste management of these sets. This paper aims to describe the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) to investigate the environmental performance of Chinese TV sets. An assessment of the TV set device (focusing on the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor) was carried out using a detailed modular LCA based on the international standards of the ISO 14040 series. The LCA was constructed using SimaPro software version 7.2 and expressed with the Eco-indicator' 99 life cycle impact assessment method. For a sensitivity analysis of the overall LCA results, the CML method was used in order to estimate the influence of the choice of the assessment method on the results. Life cycle inventory information was compiled by Ecoinvent 2.2 databases, combined with literature and field investigations on the current Chinese situation. The established LCA study shows that the use stage of such devices has the highest environmental impact, followed by the manufacturing stage. In the manufacturing stage, the CRT and the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) are those components contributing the most environmental impacts. During the use phase, the environmental impacts are due entirely to the methods of electricity generation used to run them, since no other aspects were taken into account for this phase. The final processing step-the end-of-life stage-can lead to a clear environmental benefit when the TV sets are processed through the formal dismantling enterprises in China. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Life cycle assessment of TV sets in China: A case study of the impacts of CRT monitors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song Qingbin; Wang Zhishi; Li Jinhui; Zeng Xianlai

    2012-01-01

    Along with the rapid increase in both production and use of TV sets in China, there is an increasing awareness of the environmental impacts related to the accelerating mass production, electricity use, and waste management of these sets. This paper aims to describe the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) to investigate the environmental performance of Chinese TV sets. An assessment of the TV set device (focusing on the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor) was carried out using a detailed modular LCA based on the international standards of the ISO 14040 series. The LCA was constructed using SimaPro software version 7.2 and expressed with the Eco-indicator’ 99 life cycle impact assessment method. For a sensitivity analysis of the overall LCA results, the CML method was used in order to estimate the influence of the choice of the assessment method on the results. Life cycle inventory information was compiled by Ecoinvent 2.2 databases, combined with literature and field investigations on the current Chinese situation. The established LCA study shows that the use stage of such devices has the highest environmental impact, followed by the manufacturing stage. In the manufacturing stage, the CRT and the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) are those components contributing the most environmental impacts. During the use phase, the environmental impacts are due entirely to the methods of electricity generation used to run them, since no other aspects were taken into account for this phase. The final processing step—the end-of-life stage—can lead to a clear environmental benefit when the TV sets are processed through the formal dismantling enterprises in China.

  14. Asphalt Concrete Mixtures: Requirements with regard to Life Cycle Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Mikolaj

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Design of asphalt concrete, required properties of constituent materials and their mixing ratios, is of tremendous significance and should be implemented with consideration given to the whole life cycle of those materials and the final construction. Conformity with requirements for long term performance of embedded materials is the general objective of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA. Therefore, within the assessment, material properties need to be evaluated with consideration given to the whole service life—from the point of embedding in the construction until their disposal or recycling. The evaluation focuses on verification of conformity with criteria set for these materials and should guarantee serviceability and performance during their whole service life. Recycling and reuse of asphalt concrete should be preferred over disposal of the material. This paper presents methodology for LCA of asphalt concrete. It was created to ensure not only applicability of the materials in the initial stage, at the point of their embedding, but their suitability in terms of normatively prescribed service performance of the final construction. Methods described and results are presented in a case study for asphalt mixture AC 11; I design.

  15. Spiritual issues and quality of life assessment in cancer care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Efficace, Fabio; Marrone, Robert

    2002-11-01

    Being diagnosed with cancer forces most human beings to face their own death. The comfortable sense of both invulnerability and immortality is shattered, making the patient thoroughly aware that life is finite and limited. Approaching death, cancer patients commonly embark on an inner journey involving a search for meaning as well as a reordering of priorities involving physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs. Although interest in the role of spirituality, relating to both adjustment to cancer and the overall quality of life of cancer patients, has increased in recent years, most of the commonly used quality of life (QOL) instruments in oncology typically do not include spiritual issues. In this article, it is argued that assessing QOL effectively should involve all aspects of the personality, including mind, body, and spirit as well. This article also reviews recent studies, which have shown that spiritual well-being, although a many-sided and difficult construct to define, is closely related to the QOL of cancer patients. It is also suggested that further research is needed to understand how the new focus on spirituality can contribute to a more comprehensive assessment of patient's QOL in cancer care.

  16. Quality-of-life assessment following surgery with or without postoperative radiation therapy for squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue base

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nisi, K.W.; Earle, J.M.; Foote, R.L.

    1996-01-01

    Purpose/Objective: To evaluate the quality-of-life after surgery with or without postoperative radiation therapy for carcinoma of the tongue base. Materials and Methods: At the 1995 ASTRO meeting, the University of Florida and MSKCC reported the quality-of-life (QOL) functional outcome of patients treated with primary radiation therapy (RT) for squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue base (BOT). Relatively little data evaluating the QOL following primary surgery has been published. Between January 1974 and December 1993, 89 patients (pts) underwent surgery alone (65 pts) or surgery combined with postoperative radiation therapy (24 pts) for tongue base cancer. Twenty-seven pts were alive at last contact. Three pts have been lost to follow-up and three pts declined to participate in the QOL assessment. Twenty-one pts consented to QOL assessment. Their median follow-up is 5.4 years (range 2.0-20.8 years). These patients completed: 1) the Performance Status Scale for Head and Neck Cancer Patients (PSS), a measure of ability to eat in public, understandability of speech, and normalcy of diet (scale 0-100, best score = 100); and 2) Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) (scale 0-28 for physical and social well-being, and 0-20 for emotional well-being, higher number=best score). Pathologic T stage was T1-7, T2-10, T3-3, T4-1. Twenty patients had ipsilateral neck dissection and 6 had bilateral neck dissection. The 8 patients who were treated with adjuvant RT received a median dose of 60 Gy. Prior to treatment, 62% had either full or part-time employment with a median annual income of $10,000-$40,000. Results: Mean PSS scores for all patients were 82 for eating in public, 92 for understandability of speech, and 78 for normalcy of diet. Normalcy of diet was significantly better in the surgery alone group than in the adjuvant RT group (91 vs. 56, p=0.0005). The ability to eat in public (88 vs. 72, p=NS) and understandability of speech (96 vs. 84, p=NS) did not differ

  17. A Life Cycle Assessment Case Study of Coal-Fired Electricity Generation with Humidity Swing Direct Air Capture of CO2 versus MEA-Based Postcombustion Capture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Giesen, Coen; Meinrenken, Christoph J; Kleijn, René; Sprecher, Benjamin; Lackner, Klaus S; Kramer, Gert Jan

    2017-01-17

    Most carbon capture and storage (CCS) envisions capturing CO 2 from flue gas. Direct air capture (DAC) of CO 2 has hitherto been deemed unviable because of the higher energy associated with capture at low atmospheric concentrations. We present a Life Cycle Assessment of coal-fired electricity generation that compares monoethanolamine (MEA)-based postcombustion capture (PCC) of CO 2 with distributed, humidity-swing-based direct air capture (HS-DAC). Given suitable temperature, humidity, wind, and water availability, HS-DAC can be largely passive. Comparing energy requirements of HS-DAC and MEA-PCC, we find that the parasitic load of HS-DAC is less than twice that of MEA-PCC (60-72 kJ/mol versus 33-46 kJ/mol, respectively). We also compare other environmental impacts as a function of net greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation: To achieve the same 73% mitigation as MEA-PCC, HS-DAC would increase nine other environmental impacts by on average 38%, whereas MEA-PCC would increase them by 31%. Powering distributed HS-DAC with photovoltaics (instead of coal) while including recapture of all background GHG, reduces this increase to 18%, hypothetically enabling coal-based electricity with net-zero life-cycle GHG. We conclude that, in suitable geographies, HS-DAC can complement MEA-PCC to enable CO 2 capture independent of time and location of emissions and recapture background GHG from fossil-based electricity beyond flue stack emissions.

  18. DEVELOPMENT OF THE METHOD AND U.S. NORMALIZATION DATABASE FOR LIFE CYCLE IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY METRICS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Normalization is an optional step within Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) that may be used to assist in the interpretation of life cycle inventory data as well as, life cycle impact assessment results. Normalization transforms the magnitude of LCI and LCIA results into relati...

  19. Assessment of residual life of fast breeder test reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Srinivasan, G.

    2016-01-01

    The Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) is a loop type sodium cooled fast reactor and has been in operation since 1985. As a part of regulatory requirement for relicensing, residual life assessment had to be carried out. The systems are made of SS 316, and designed for creep and fatigue. The design life for creep is 100,000 h at 550°C. The design fatigue cycle for operation from shutdown to full power varies from component to component. In general, most of the components are designed for 2000 cycles. The reactor has operated mostly below the design temperatures. It is seen that enough creep-fatigue life is available for the non-replaceable, permanent components. The residual life was found to be governed by the residual ductility of the Grid Plate supporting the core after neutron irradiation. Fast flux measurements were carried out at the grid plate location. Samples were irradiated and tensile tested. Results indicate the allowable dpa for a 10% residual ductility criterion as 4.37. This gave a residual life of ~ 6 Effective Full Power Years for the reactor as of Feb 2012. Measures to reduce the neutron dose on the grid plate are being taken. (author)

  20. SOFIAS – Software for life-cycle assessment and environmental rating of buildings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oregi Isasi, X.

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the development process of a new software tool, called SOFIAS (Software for a Sustainable Architecture, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivenes. Following CEN/TC 350 standard on environmental assessment of buildings, the tool aims at assisting building professionals on reducing the life-cycle environmental impact through the design of new buildings and the refurbishment of existing ones. In addition, SOFIAS provides a rating system based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA methodology. This paper explains the innovative aspects of this software, the working methodology and the different type of results that can be obtained using SOFIAS.Este artículo describe el proceso de desarrollo de la nueva herramienta informática SOFIAS (Software de Funciones Integradas para una Arquitectura Sostenible, financiado por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad del Gobierno de España. En base al estandar de la evaluación ambiental de los edificios definido por el CEN/TC 350, esta nueva herramienta tiene como objetivo ayudar a los técnicos de la construcción en reducir el impacto ambiental durante el ciclo de vida a través del diseño optimizado de nuevos edificios o edificios rehabilitados. De forma paralela, SOFIAS proporciona un nuevo sistema de calificación basado en la metodología del Análisis de Ciclo de Vida (ACV. Este artículo expone los aspectos innovadores de esta herramienta informática, la metodología de trabajo y los diferentes tipos de resultados que se pueden obtener tras su aplicación.

  1. Environmental life cycle assessment of water supply in South Africa ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) phase of LCAs evaluates the ... considered where water is used in the manufacturing sector of South Africa, and to identify ... The boosting requirements attribute most to the electricity dependency of the ...

  2. Assessment of and Improvement Strategies for the Housing of Healthy Elderly: Improving Quality of Life

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I-Ming Feng

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Global population is aging, particularly in developed countries and cities. Through the “Friendly Elderly Cities” and “Aging in Place” initiatives, various countries are making great efforts to improve the welfare and quality of life of the elderly, with the aim of catering to the physical and spiritual health as well as social welfare of the elderly. In this regard, the improvement of the housing environment of the elderly is one of the key factors in their quality of life and health. This study aims to effectively assess and improve the housing environment of the elderly in order to enhance their quality of life; it also aims to contribute the knowledge about improving elderly housing by applying an assessment framework using expert interviews and data collected from relevant literature. Using a mixed Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis model, a combination of the DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory-based ANP (Analytic Network Process (DANP and the modified VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR methods, and the investigations and assessments in the case study, this study proposes strategies and directions for improving elderly housing. The study results indicate that, as distinct from using traditional methodologies where the hypothesis criteria are mutually independent, the proposed hybrid model (examining real-life problems by considering the mutual influences of factors identifies a priority sequence wherein emphasis is placed on improving ventilation and air quality rather than adjustment of temperature. The systemic way of thinking shifts the focus from the most apparent problems to the root cause of the problems. Doing so avoids any mismatch of resource allocation in decision-making and thus maximizes the efficiency and sustainability of the improvement.

  3. Uncertainty propagation in life cycle assessment of biodiesel versus diesel: global warming and non-renewable energy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Jinglan

    2012-06-01

    Uncertainty information is essential for the proper use of life cycle assessment and environmental assessments in decision making. To investigate the uncertainties of biodiesel and determine the level of confidence in the assertion that biodiesel is more environmentally friendly than diesel, an explicit analytical approach based on the Taylor series expansion for lognormal distribution was applied in the present study. A biodiesel case study demonstrates the probability that biodiesel has a lower global warming and non-renewable energy score than diesel, that is 92.3% and 93.1%, respectively. The results indicate the level of confidence in the assertion that biodiesel is more environmentally friendly than diesel based on the global warming and non-renewable energy scores. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Life Cycle Assessment for the Production of Oil Palm Seeds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muhamad, Halimah; Ai, Tan Yew; Khairuddin, Nik Sasha Khatrina; Amiruddin, Mohd Din; May, Choo Yuen

    2014-12-01

    The oil palm seed production unit that generates germinated oil palm seeds is the first link in the palm oil supply chain, followed by the nursery to produce seedling, the plantation to produce fresh fruit bunches (FFB), the mill to produce crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel, the kernel crushers to produce crude palm kernel oil (CPKO), the refinery to produce refined palm oil (RPO) and finally the palm biodiesel plant to produce palm biodiesel. This assessment aims to investigate the life cycle assessment (LCA) of germinated oil palm seeds and the use of LCA to identify the stage/s in the production of germinated oil palm seeds that could contribute to the environmental load. The method for the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) is modelled using SimaPro version 7, (System for Integrated environMental Assessment of PROducts), an internationally established tool used by LCA practitioners. This software contains European and US databases on a number of materials in addition to a variety of European- and US-developed impact assessment methodologies. LCA was successfully conducted for five seed production units and it was found that the environmental impact for the production of germinated oil palm was not significant. The characterised results of the LCIA for the production of 1000 germinated oil palm seeds showed that fossil fuel was the major impact category followed by respiratory inorganics and climate change.

  5. 75 FR 72581 - Assessments, Assessment Base and Rates

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-11-24

    ... Part III Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 12 CFR Part 327 Assessments, Assessment Base and... Assessments, Assessment Base and Rates AGENCY: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. ACTION: Notice of... Consumer Protection Act regarding the definition of an institution's deposit insurance assessment base...

  6. Rethinking the area of protection "natural resources" in life cycle assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dewulf, Jo; Benini, Lorenzo; Mancini, Lucia; Sala, Serenella; Blengini, Gian Andrea; Ardente, Fulvio; Recchioni, Marco; Maes, Joachim; Pant, Rana; Pennington, David

    2015-05-05

    Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) in classical life cycle assessment (LCA) aims at analyzing potential impacts of products and services typically on three so-called areas of protection (AoPs): Natural Environment, Human Health, and Natural Resources. This paper proposes an elaboration of the AoP Natural Resources. It starts with analyzing different perspectives on Natural Resources as they are somehow sandwiched in between the Natural Environment (their cradle) and the human-industrial environment (their application). Reflecting different viewpoints, five perspectives are developed with the suggestion to select three in function of classical LCA. They result in three safeguard subjects: the Asset of Natural Resources, their Provisioning Capacity, and their role in Global Functions. Whereas the Provisioning Capacity is fully in function of humans, the global functions go beyond provisioning as they include nonprovisioning functions for humans and regulating and maintenance services for the globe as a whole, following the ecosystem services framework. A fourth and fifth safeguard subject has been identified: recognizing the role Natural Resources for human welfare, either specifically as building block in supply chains of products and services as such, either with or without their functions beyond provisioning. But as these are far broader as they in principle should include characterization of mechanisms within the human industrial society, they are considered as subjects for an integrated sustainability assessment (LCSA: life cycle sustainability assessment), that is, incorporating social, economic and environmental issues.

  7. Life Cycle Assessment of Concrete

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sjunnesson, Jeannette

    2005-09-15

    This is an environmental study on concrete that follows the standard protocol of life cycle assessment (LCA). The study is done for two types of concrete, ordinary and frost-resistant concrete, and has an extra focus on the superplasticizers used as admixtures. The utilization phase is not included in this study since the type of construction for which the concrete is used is not defined and the concrete is assumed to be inert during this phase. The results show that it is the production of the raw material and the transports involved in the life cycle of concrete that are the main contributors to the total environmental load. The one single step in the raw material production that has the highest impact is the production of cement. Within the transportation operations the transportation of concrete is the largest contributor, followed by the transportation of the cement. The environmental impact of frost-resistant concrete is between 24-41 % higher than that of ordinary concrete due to its higher content of cement. Superplasticizers contribute with approximately 0.4-10.4 % of the total environmental impact of concrete, the least to the global warming potential (GWP) and the most to the photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP). Also the toxicity of the superplasticizers is investigated and the conclusion is that the low amount of leakage of superplasticizers from concrete leads to a low risk for the environment and for humans.

  8. Global guidance on environmental life cycle impact assessment indicators: Progress and case study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frischknecht, Rolf; Fantke, Peter; Tschümperlin, Laura

    2016-01-01

    Purpose The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) guidance flagship project of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Life Cycle Initiative aims at providing global guidance and building scientific consensus on environmental LCIA in...

  9. EASETECH Energy: Life Cycle Assessment of current and future Danish power systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Turconi, Roberto; Damgaard, Anders; Bisinella, Valentina

    A new life cycle assessment (LCA) model software has been developed by DTU Environment, to facilitate detailed LCA of energy technologies. The model, EASETECH Energy, is dedicated to the specific technologies needed to assess energy production and energy systems and provides an unprecedented...

  10. Environmental impacts of lighting technologies - Life cycle assessment and sensitivity analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Welz, Tobias; Hischier, Roland; Hilty, Lorenz M.

    2011-01-01

    With two regulations, 244/2009 and 245/2009, the European Commission recently put into practice the EuP Directive in the area of lighting devices, aiming to improve energy efficiency in the domestic lighting sector. This article presents a comprehensive life cycle assessment comparison of four different lighting technologies: the tungsten lamp, the halogen lamp, the conventional fluorescent lamp and the compact fluorescent lamp. Taking advantage of the most up-to-date life cycle inventory database available (ecoinvent data version 2.01), all life cycle phases were assessed and the sensitivity of the results for varying assumptions analysed: different qualities of compact fluorescent lamps (production phase), different electricity mixes (use phase), and end-of-life scenarios for WEEE recycling versus municipal solid waste incineration (disposal phase). A functional unit of 'one hour of lighting' was defined and the environmental burdens for the whole life cycle for all four lamp types were calculated, showing a clearly lower impact for the two gas-discharge lamps, i.e. the fluorescent and the compact fluorescent lamp. Differences in the product quality of the compact fluorescent lamps reveal to have only a very small effect on the overall environmental performance of this lamp type; a decline of the actual life time of this lamp type doesn't result in a change of the rank order of the results of the here examined four lamp types. It was also shown that the environmental break-even point of the gas-discharge lamps is reached long before the end of their expected life-span. All in all, it can be concluded that a change from today's tungsten lamp technology to a low-energy-consuming technology such as the compact fluorescent lamp results in a substantial environmental benefit.

  11. Life Cycle Assessment Framework for Indoor Emissions of Synthetic Nanoparticles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a well-established method to evaluate impacts of chemicals on the environment and human health along the lifespan of products. However, the increasingly produced and applied nanomaterials (defined as one dimension <100 nm) show particular characteri...

  12. Life cycle assessment of electricity generation in Mexico

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santoyo-Castelazo, E.; Gujba, H.; Azapagic, A.

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents for the first time a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study of electricity generation in Mexico. The electricity mix in Mexico is dominated by fossil fuels, which contribute around 79% to the total primary energy; renewable energies contribute 16.5% (hydropower 13.5%, geothermal 3% and wind 0.02%) and the remaining 4.8% is from nuclear power. The LCA results show that 225 TWh of electricity generate about 129 million tonnes of CO 2 eq. per year, of which the majority (87%) is due to the combustion of fossil fuels. The renewables and nuclear contribute only 1.1% to the total CO 2 eq. Most of the other LCA impacts are also attributed to the fossil fuel options. The results have been compared with values reported for other countries with similar electricity mix, including Italy, Portugal and the UK, showing good agreement. -- Highlights: → This paper presents for the first time a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study of electricity generation in Mexico. → 129 million tonnes of CO 2 eq. per year are emitted from 225 TWh of electricity generated per year of which 87% is due to the combustion of fossil fuels. → Coal technologies generate 1094 g CO 2 eq./kWh, heavy fuel oil 964 g CO 2 eq./kWh, and gas 468 g CO 2 eq./kWh; by contrast, nuclear and hydro emit 12 g CO 2 eq./kWh. → Heavy fuel oil contributes most to the life cycle environmental impacts (59-97%). → The results show good agreement with values reported for other countries with similar electricity mix, including Italy, Portugal and the UK.

  13. Uncertainties in life cycle assessment of waste management systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Clavreul, Julie; Christensen, Thomas Højlund

    2011-01-01

    Life cycle assessment has been used to assess environmental performances of waste management systems in many studies. The uncertainties inherent to its results are often pointed out but not always quantified, which should be the case to ensure a good decisionmaking process. This paper proposes...... a method to assess all parameter uncertainties and quantify the overall uncertainty of the assessment. The method is exemplified in a case study, where the goal is to determine if anaerobic digestion of organic waste is more beneficial than incineration in Denmark, considering only the impact on global...... warming. The sensitivity analysis pointed out ten parameters particularly highly influencing the result of the study. In the uncertainty analysis, the distributions of these ten parameters were used in a Monte Carlo analysis, which concluded that incineration appeared more favourable than anaerobic...

  14. Papua New Guinea vision-specific quality of life questionnaire: a new patient-reported outcome instrument to assess the impact of impaired vision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paudel, Prakash; Khadka, Jyoti; Burnett, Anthea; Hani, Yvonne; Naduvilath, Thomas; Fricke, Tim R

    2015-04-01

    The aim of this study was to develop and validate a new vision-specific quality of life (VS QoL) instrument and to assess the impact of vision impairment and eye disease on the quality of life of adults in Papua New Guinea (PNG). This study was designed as community based cross-sectional. Six hundred fourteen adults aged 18 and above were included in this study. Focus groups and interviews guided development of a 41-item instrument. Two valid subscales of the instrument were obtained using pilot data after an iterative item reduction process guided by Rasch-based parameters. The person measures (in logits) of 614 participants were used to assess quality of life using univariate and multivariate regression analysis. Rasch logits. Rasch analysis confirmed a 17-item instrument containing an 8-item activity limitation subscale and a 9-item well-being subscale. Both subscales were unidimensional and demonstrated good fit statistics, measurement precisions and absence of significant differential item functioning. A consistent deterioration in vision-specific quality of life was independently and significantly associated with levels of vision. Severity of vision impairment and ocular morbidity were independently associated with activity limitation and emotional well-being. Participants with refractive error had lower quality of life score than those with no ocular abnormality but higher score than those with cataract and other eye diseases. The 17-item PNG-VS QoL instrument is a valid and reliable instrument for the assessment of impact of impaired vision on quality of life in PNG. Vision-specific quality of life was significantly worse among participants who were older and less-educated, had lower income and have had ocular morbidities. © 2014 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists.

  15. LIFE-CYCLE COST MODEL AND DESIGN OPTIMIZATION OF BASE ISOLATED BUILDING STRUCTURES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chara C. Mitropoulou

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Design of economic structures adequately resistant to withstand during their service life, without catastrophic failures, all possible loading conditions and to absorb the induced seismic energy in a controlled fashion, has been the subject of intensive research so far. Modern buildings usually contain extremely sensitive and costly equipment that are vital in business, commerce, education and/or health care. The building contents frequently are more valuable than the buildings them-selves. Furthermore, hospitals, communication and emergency centres, police and fire stations must be operational when needed most: immediately after an earthquake. Conventional con-struction can cause very high floor accelerations in stiff buildings and large interstorey drifts in flexible structures. These two factors cause difficulties in insuring the safety of both building and its contents. For this reason base-isolated structures are considered as an efficient alternative design practice to the conventional fixed-base one. In this study a systematic assessment of op-timized fixed and base-isolated reinforced concrete buildings is presented in terms of their initial and total cost taking into account the life-cycle cost of the structures.

  16. Integrated Metrics for Improving the Life Cycle Approach to Assessing Product System Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wesley Ingwersen

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Life cycle approaches are critical for identifying and reducing environmental burdens of products. While these methods can indicate potential environmental impacts of a product, current Life Cycle Assessment (LCA methods fail to integrate the multiple impacts of a system into unified measures of social, economic or environmental performance related to sustainability. Integrated metrics that combine multiple aspects of system performance based on a common scientific or economic principle have proven to be valuable for sustainability evaluation. In this work, we propose methods of adapting four integrated metrics for use with LCAs of product systems: ecological footprint, emergy, green net value added, and Fisher information. These metrics provide information on the full product system in land, energy, monetary equivalents, and as a unitless information index; each bundled with one or more indicators for reporting. When used together and for relative comparison, integrated metrics provide a broader coverage of sustainability aspects from multiple theoretical perspectives that is more likely to illuminate potential issues than individual impact indicators. These integrated metrics are recommended for use in combination with traditional indicators used in LCA. Future work will test and demonstrate the value of using these integrated metrics and combinations to assess product system sustainability.

  17. Life Cycle Assessment of Sugar Production (VB)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Teljigovic, Mehmed; Mengiardi, Jon; Factor, Gabriela

    1999-01-01

    The environmental organisation NOAH has proposed carrying out an environmental assessment of two different sugar productions (using sugar beet or sugar cane) in order to illustrate which of the systems has a higher environmental impact for sugar consumption in Denmark. Therefore a comparison...... will be made between sugar from sugar beet produced in Denmark versus sugar produces from sugar cane in a tropical country, Brazil, and transported afterwards to Denmark. To evaluate the environmental aspects of these two product systems a Life Cycle Assessement (LCA) will be carried out.From the results...... obtained in the present LCA of sugar produces from sugar canes or sugar beet it is difficult to make an immediate choice between the two possibilities. Indeed, Quantitative results from the EDIP (Environmental Design of Industrial Products) software are globally similar for both ways of producing sugar...

  18. A Generic Life Cycle Assessment Tool for Chemical-biochemical Processes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kalakul, Sawitree; Malakul, Pomthong; Siemanond, Kitipat

    2013-01-01

    As environmental impacts and resource depletion are serious concerns for the modern society, they also provide the motivation and need to design processes that are not only economically and operationally feasible, but also environmentally friendly. In this respect, life cycle assessment (LCA......) is a tool for quantifying potential environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of the product or process. It can be used in conjunction with an economic tool to evaluate the design of any existing and/or new chemical-biochemical process and create improvement options in order to arrive at the best...

  19. Comparative life cycle assessment of disposable and reusable laryngeal mask airways.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eckelman, Matthew; Mosher, Margo; Gonzalez, Andres; Sherman, Jodi

    2012-05-01

    Growing awareness of the negative impacts from the practice of health care on the environment and public health calls for the routine inclusion of life cycle criteria into the decision-making process of device selection. Here we present a life cycle assessment of 2 laryngeal mask airways (LMAs), a one-time-use disposable Unique™ LMA and a 40-time-use reusable Classic™ LMA. In life cycle assessment, the basis of comparison is called the "functional unit." For this report, the functional unit of the disposable and reusable LMAs was taken to be maintenance of airway patency by 40 disposable LMAs or 40 uses of 1 reusable LMA. This was a cradle-to-grave study that included inputs and outputs for the manufacture, transport, use, and waste phases of the LMAs. The environmental impacts of the 2 LMAs were estimated using SimaPro life cycle assessment software and the Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability impact assessment method. Sensitivity and simple life cycle cost analyses were conducted to aid in interpretation of the results. The reusable LMA was found to have a more favorable environmental profile than the disposable LMA as used at Yale New Haven Hospital. The most important sources of impacts for the disposable LMA were the production of polymers, packaging, and waste management, whereas for the reusable LMA, washing and sterilization dominated for most impact categories. The differences in environmental impacts between these devices strongly favor reusable devices. These benefits must be weighed against concerns regarding transmission of infection. Health care facilities can decrease their environmental impacts by using reusable LMAs, to a lesser extent by selecting disposable LMA models that are not made of certain plastics, and by ordering in bulk from local distributors. Certain practices would further reduce the environmental impacts of reusable LMAs, such as increasing the number of devices autoclaved in a single cycle to 10 (-25% GHG

  20. Life cycle assessment. Specific indicators for Italy in impact evaluation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masoni, P.

    1999-01-01

    After a brief recall and a short description of the LCA (life cycle assessment) methodology, the work is focused on the impact assessment step, discussing the state of the art and a critical identification of environmental indicators, of normalization and weighting principles for the different environmental categories specific for Italy. The application methodology to a case study concerning the production of butter by the Consorzio Granterre of Modena (Italy) is also described [it

  1. Assessment of Psychopathology and Quality of Life in Children and Adolescents With Migraine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Öztop, Didem Behice; Taşdelen, Bedia İnce; PoyrazoğLu, Hatıce Gamze; Ozsoy, Saliha; Yilmaz, Rabia; Şahın, Nilfer; Per, Hüseyin; Bozkurt, Selma

    2016-06-01

    The aims of this study were to investigate comorbid psychiatric disorders and to identify anxiety and depression levels and quality of life in children and adolescents with migraine; and to assess their relationship with migraine. 35 patients aged 9-16 years were followed in our neurology clinic and their parents were included into the study. 35 age- and sex-matched patients were employed as the control group. In the subjects included, psychiatric disorders were assessed by using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version. All children and adolescents were assessed by using the Children's Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory. In addition, the Pediatric Migraine Disability Assessment Tool and visual analog scale were used to identify the degree of disability and pain severity in patients with migraine. In the psychiatric assessment of children and adolescents with migraine, it was found that a psychiatric diagnosis was made in 40% of patients; and depression scale scores were significantly higher than those of controls. Quality of life was found to be poorer in patients with migraine compared to controls. It was found that quality of life was negatively correlated with pain severity and degree of disability; while it was positively correlated with depression scores. In children and adolescents with migraine, treatment of psychiatric disorders in addition to migraine therapy can facilitate migraine management and may decrease the need for prophylactic therapy. © The Author(s) 2016.

  2. Assessment of the environmental impacts deriving from the life cycle of a typical solar water heater

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Gaidajis

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available According to life cycle thinking, the environmental burden deriving from different life cycle stages of a product or a system, such as manufacturing, transportation, maintenance and landfilling should be taken into consideration while assessing its environmental performance. In that aspect, the environmental impacts deriving from the life cycle of a typical solar water heater (SWH in Greece are analyzed and assessed with the application of relative life cycle assessment (LCA software in this study. In order to examine various impact categories such as global warming, ozone layer depletion, ecotoxicity and so forth, the IMPACT2002+ method is applied. The aim of this study is to examine the life cycle stages, processes and materials that significantly affect the system under examination and to provide a discussion regarding the environmental friendliness of solar water heaters.

  3. Environmental Performance of Electricity Generation Based on Resources: A Life Cycle Assessment Case Study in Turkey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zerrin Günkaya

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper was to determine how to change the environmental performance of electricity generation depending on the resources and their shares, in order to support decision-makers. Additionally, this paper presents an application of life cycle assessment (LCA methodology to determine the environmental burdens of electricity generation in Turkey. Electricity generation data in Turkey for the years 2012 and 2023 were used as a case study. The functional unit for electricity generation was 1 kWh. The LCA calculations were carried out using CML-IA (v3.00 data and the results were interpreted with respect to Monte Carlo simulation analysis (with the Monte Carlo function built in SimaPro 8.0.1 software. The results demonstrated that the fossil fuel consumption not only contributes to global warming, but it also has effects on the elemental basis of abiotic depletion due to raw material consumption for plant infrastructure. Additionally, it was observed that the increasing proportion of wind power in the electricity mix would also increase certain life cycle impacts (such as the elemental basis of abiotic depletion, human ecotoxicity, and terrestrial ecotoxicity in Turkey’s geography compared to increasing the share of other renewable energy sources, such as hydropower, geothermal, as well as solar.

  4. Assessment of Life Quality Index Among Patients with Acne Vulgaris in a Suburban Population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hazarika, Neirita; Rajaprabha, Radha K

    2016-01-01

    Acne vulgaris affects about 85% of adolescents, often extending into adulthood. Psychosocial impact of acne on health-related quality of life (QoL) has been identified, but it remains under-evaluated, especially in Indian patients. This study was aimed to assess the impact of acne and its sequelae on the QoL. This was a hospital-based, prospective, cross-sectional study done between June and November 2014 on 114 consenting patients above 15 years of age with acne vulgaris. Acne vulgaris and its sequelae were graded, and QoL was assessed by using Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaire. Most cases (64%) were between 15 and 20 years. Females (57%) outnumbered males. Facial lesions (61.4%) and grade II acne were most common. Mean DLQI score was 7.22. DLQI scores were statistically influenced by the age of the patient, duration and grade of acne, acne scar, and postacne hyperpigmentation. This study showed significant impairment of QoL in acne patients. Assurance and counseling along with early treatment of acne vulgaris are important to reduce disease-related psychosocial sequelae and increase the efficacy of treatment.

  5. Life cycle assessment of gasoline and diesel produced via fast pyrolysis and hydroprocessing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hsu, David D.

    2012-01-01

    Pyrolysis of biomass followed by hydroprocessing may provide infrastructure-compatible transportation fuels. In this work, a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the production of gasoline and diesel from forest residues via fast pyrolysis and hydroprocessing, from production of the feedstock to end use of the fuel in a vehicle, is performed. The fast pyrolysis and subsequent hydrotreating and hydrocracking processes are based on a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory design report. Stages other than biofuels conversion, including forest residue production and harvesting, preprocessing, feedstock transportation, fuel distribution, and vehicle operation, are based on previous work. Probability distribution functions are assumed for parameters involved in the pyrolysis process for Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis. This LCA for the production of gasoline and diesel via pyrolysis and upgrading assumes grid electricity is used and supplemental natural gas is supplied to the hydrogen plant. Gasoline and diesel produced via pyrolysis are estimated to have greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of CO 2 equivalent of 117 g km −1 and 98 g km −1 , respectively, and net energy value (NEV) of 1.09 MJ km −1 and 0.92 MJ km −1 , respectively. All values from the uncertainty analysis have lower GHG emissions and higher NEV than conventional gasoline in 2005. Grid electricity and natural gas used account for 81% of the net GHG emissions in the base case. An evaluation of a case with biomass-derived electricity shows significant improvement in GHG emissions. -- Highlights: ► We conduct a life cycle assessment of a biomass-to-fuels pyrolysis pathway. ► Pyrolysis fuels are estimated to emit fewer greenhouse gases than conventional gasoline. ► Fewer greenhouse gases would be emitted if the pyrolysis process generated its own electricity from biomass.

  6. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in patients with late-life depression: A case series

    OpenAIRE

    Sonal Mathur; Mahendra Prakash Sharma; Srikala Bharath

    2016-01-01

    Depression is the most common mental illness in the elderly, and cost-effective treatments are required. Therefore, this study is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on depressive symptoms, mindfulness skills, acceptance, and quality of life across four domains in patients with late-onset depression. A single case design with pre- and post-assessment was adopted. Five patients meeting the specified inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruit...

  7. Entropy-Based Model for Interpreting Life Systems in Traditional Chinese Medicine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guo-lian Kang

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM treats qi as the core of the human life systems. Starting with a hypothetical correlation between TCM qi and the entropy theory, we address in this article a holistic model for evaluating and unveiling the rule of TCM life systems. Several new concepts such as acquired life entropy (ALE, acquired life entropy flow (ALEF and acquired life entropy production (ALEP are propounded to interpret TCM life systems. Using the entropy theory, mathematical models are established for ALE, ALEF and ALEP, which reflect the evolution of life systems. Some criteria are given on physiological activities and pathological changes of the body in different stages of life. Moreover, a real data-based simulation shows life entropies of the human body with different ages, Cold and Hot constitutions and in different seasons in North China are coincided with the manifestations of qi as well as the life evolution in TCM descriptions. Especially, based on the comparative and quantitative analysis, the entropy-based model can nicely describe the evolution of life entropies in Cold and Hot individuals thereby fitting the Yin–Yang theory in TCM. Thus, this work establishes a novel approach to interpret the fundamental principles in TCM, and provides an alternative understanding for the complex life systems.

  8. Simplified life cycle assessment models: methodological framework and applications to energy pathways

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Padey, Pierryves

    2013-01-01

    The energy transition debate is a key issue for today and the coming years. One of the challenges is to limit the environmental impacts of electricity production. Decision support tools, sufficiently accurate, simple to use, accounting for environmental aspects and favoring future energetic choices, must be implemented. However, the environmental assessment of the energy pathways is complex, and it means considering a two levels characterization. The 'energy pathway' is the first level and corresponds to its environmental distribution, to compare overall pathways. The 'system pathway' is the 2. level and compares environmental impacts of systems within each pathway. We have devised a generic methodology covering both necessary characterization levels by estimating the energy pathways environmental profiles while allowing a simple comparison of its systems environmental impacts. This methodology is based on the definition of a parameterized Life Cycle Assessment model and considers, through a Global Sensitivity Analysis, the environmental impacts of a large sample of systems representative of an energy pathway. As a second step, this methodology defines simplified models based on few key parameters identified as inducing the largest variability in the energy pathway environmental impacts. These models assess in a simple way the systems environmental impacts, avoiding any complex LCAs. This reduction methodology has been applied to the onshore wind power energy pathway in Europe and the photovoltaic energy pathway in France. (author)

  9. Human and ecological life cycle tools for the integrated assessment of systems (HELIAS)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Guinée, Jeroen B.; Heijungs, Reinout; Kleijn, René; Van Der Voet, Ester; De Koning, Arjan; Van Oers, Lauran; Elshkaki, Ayman; Huele, Ruben; Huppes, Gjalt; Suh, Sangwon; Sleeswijk, Anneke Wegener

    Goal, Scope and Background. CML has contributed to the development of life cycle decision support tools, particularly Substance/Material Flow Analysis (SFA respectively MFA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Ever since these tools emerged there have been discussions on how these tools relate to each

  10. Life course socio-economic position and quality of life in adulthood: a systematic review of life course models

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background A relationship between current socio-economic position and subjective quality of life has been demonstrated, using wellbeing, life and needs satisfaction approaches. Less is known regarding the influence of different life course socio-economic trajectories on later quality of life. Several conceptual models have been proposed to help explain potential life course effects on health, including accumulation, latent, pathway and social mobility models. This systematic review aimed to assess whether evidence supported an overall relationship between life course socio-economic position and quality of life during adulthood and if so, whether there was support for one or more life course models. Methods A review protocol was developed detailing explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria, search terms, data extraction items and quality appraisal procedures. Literature searches were performed in 12 electronic databases during January 2012 and the references and citations of included articles were checked for additional relevant articles. Narrative synthesis was used to analyze extracted data and studies were categorized based on the life course model analyzed. Results Twelve studies met the eligibility criteria and used data from 10 datasets and five countries. Study quality varied and heterogeneity between studies was high. Seven studies assessed social mobility models, five assessed the latent model, two assessed the pathway model and three tested the accumulation model. Evidence indicated an overall relationship, but mixed results were found for each life course model. Some evidence was found to support the latent model among women, but not men. Social mobility models were supported in some studies, but overall evidence suggested little to no effect. Few studies addressed accumulation and pathway effects and study heterogeneity limited synthesis. Conclusions To improve potential for synthesis in this area, future research should aim to increase study

  11. Social impact assessment of sugar production operations in South Africa : a social life cycle assessment perspective

    OpenAIRE

    2013-01-01

    M.Tech. (Quality and Operations Management) This paper focuses on the social impact of the sugar industry in South Africa. A social impact assessment is a method that aims to assess social features of the product and their positive and negative aspects in terms of its processing of raw material to the final stages of its disposal. The objectives of the study were guided by the guidelines on social life cycle assessment of products of the South African Sugar Industry developed by the United...

  12. Scoping review of pediatric tonsillectomy quality of life assessment instruments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kao, Stephen Shih-Teng; Peters, Micah D J; Dharmawardana, Nuwan; Stew, Benjamin; Ooi, Eng Hooi

    2017-10-01

    Sleep-disordered breathing or recurrent tonsillitis have detrimental effects on the child's physical health and quality of life. Tonsillectomy is commonly performed to treat these common conditions and improve the child's quality of life. This scoping review aims to present a comprehensive and descriptive analysis of quality of life questionnaires as a resource for clinicians and researchers when deciding which tool to use when assessing the quality of life effects after tonsillectomy. A comprehensive search strategy was undertaken across MEDLINE (PubMed), CINAHL, Embase, and Cochrane CENTRAL. Quality of life questionnaires utilized in studies investigating pediatric patients undergoing tonsillectomy for chronic tonsillitis or sleep-disordered breathing were included. Methodological quality and data extraction were conducted as per Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. Ten questionnaires were identified, consisting of six generic and four disease-specific instruments. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory was the most commonly utilized generic questionnaire. The Obstructive Sleep Apnea-18 was the most commonly utilized disease-specific questionnaire. This review identified a range of generic and disease-specific quality of life questionnaires utilized in pediatric patients who have undergone tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy for sleep-disordered breathing or chronic tonsillitis. Important aspects of each questionnaire have been summarized to aid researchers and clinicians in choosing the appropriate questionnaire when evaluating the quality of life effects of tonsillectomy. NA Laryngoscope, 127:2399-2406, 2017. © 2017 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

  13. Social Life Cycle Approach as a Tool for Promoting the Market Uptake of Bio-Based Products from a Consumer Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pasquale Marcello Falcone

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The sustainability of bio-based products, especially when compared with fossil based products, must be assured. The life cycle approach has proven to be a promising way to analyze the social, economic and environmental impacts of bio-based products along the whole value chain. Until now, however, the social aspects have been under-investigated in comparison to environmental and economic aspects. In this context, the present paper aims to identify the main social impact categories and indicators that should be included in a social sustainability assessment of bio-based products, with a focus on the consumers’ category. To identify which social categories and indicators are most relevant, we carry out a literature review on existing social life cycle studies; this is followed by a focus group with industrial experts and academics. Afterwards, we conduct semi-structured interviews with some consumer representatives to understand which social indicators pertaining to consumers are perceived as relevant. Our findings highlight the necessity for the development and dissemination of improved frameworks capable of exploiting the consumers’ role in the ongoing process of market uptake of bio-based products. More specifically, this need regards the effective inclusion of some social indicators (i.e., end users’ health and safety, feedback mechanisms, transparency, and end-of-life responsibility in the social life cycle assessment scheme for bio-based products. This would allow consumers, where properly communicated, to make more informed and aware purchasing choices, therefore having a flywheel effect on the market diffusion of a bio-based product.

  14. Towards prospective life cycle sustainability analysis: exploring complementarities between social and environmental life cycle assessments for the case of Luxembourg's energy system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rugani, B.; Benetto, E.; Igos, E.; Quinti, G.; Declich, A.; Feudo, F.

    2014-01-01

    Sustainability typically relies on the durable interaction between humans and the environment. Historically, modelling tools such as environmental-life cycle assessment (E-LCA) have been developed to address the mitigation of environmental impacts generated by human activities. More recently, social-life cycle assessment (S-LCA) methods have been proposed to investigate the social sustainability sphere, looking at the life cycle effects generated by positive or negative pressures on social endpoints (i.e. well-being of stakeholders). Despite this promising added value, however, S-LCA methods still show limitations and challenges to be faced, e.g. regarding the lack of high quality datasets and the implementation of consensual social impact assessment indicators. This paper discusses on the complementarity between S-LCA and E-LCA towards the definition of prospective life cycle sustainability analysis (LCSA) approaches. To this aim, a case study is presented comparing (i) E-LCA results of business-as-usual (BAU) scenarios of energy supply and demand technology changes in Luxembourg, up to 2025, based on economic equilibrium modeling and hybrid life cycle inventories, with (ii) a monetary-based input-output estimation of the related changes in the societal sphere. The results show that environmental and social issues do not follow the same impact trends. While E-LCA outputs highlight contrasting patterns, they do generally underlie a relatively low decrease in the aggregated environmental burdens curve (around 20% of decrease over the single-score impact trend over time). In contrast, social hotspots (identified in S-LCA by specific risk indicators of human rights, worker treatment, poverty, etc.) are typically increasing over time according to the growth of the final energy demand. Overall, the case study allowed identifying possible synergies and tradeoffs related to the impact of projected energy demands in Luxembourg. Despite the studied approach does not fully

  15. Vacuum Drying for Extending Litchi Shelf-Life: Vitamin C, Total Phenolics, Texture and Shelf-Life Assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richter Reis, Felipe; de Oliveira, Aline Caroline; Gadelha, Gabriella Giani Pieretti; de Abreu, Marcela Breves; Soares, Hillary Isabelle

    2017-06-01

    In an attempt to obtain shelf-stable litchi fruit with preserved nutritional quality and good sensory features, quarters of peeled and pitted fruits were vacuum dried at 50, 60 and 70 °C at a constant pressure of 8.0 kPa. The product was assessed for its vitamin C, total phenolics and texture (hardness). In addition, the product with the best texture was assessed for its shelf-life by means of accelerated testing. Results suggest that vacuum dried litchi retained almost 70% of the vitamin C and total phenolics when compared to frozen fruits (control). Vitamin C and phenolic compounds content significantly decreased with drying, while no difference was found between different drying temperatures. Hardness increased with drying temperature. The sample dried at 70 °C presented crispness, which is a desired quality feature in dried fruit products. This sample was subjected to shelf-life evaluation, whose result suggests a shelf-life of eight months at 23 °C. Total color change (CIE ΔE 00 ) was the expiry criterion. Vacuum drying was a suitable technique for producing shelf-stable litchi fruit with good texture while preserving its desirable original nutrients. Consumption of vacuum dried litchi may be beneficial to health due to its remarkable content of phenolic compounds and vitamin C.

  16. Comparative Life Cycle Studies on Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)-Based Composites as Potential Replacement for Conventional Petrochemical Plastics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pietrini, M.; Roes, A.L.; Patel, M.K.; Chiellini, E.

    2007-01-01

    A cradle-to-grave environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of a few poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) based composites has been performed and was compared to commodity petrochemical polymers. The end products studied are a cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor housing (conventionally produced from high-impact

  17. Retrospectively assessed physical work environment during working life and risk of sickness absence and labour market exit among older workers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sundstrup, Emil; Hansen, Åse Marie; Mortensen, Erik Lykke; Poulsen, Otto Melchior; Clausen, Thomas; Rugulies, Reiner; Møller, Anne; Andersen, Lars L

    2018-01-01

    Objective To determine the prospective association between retrospectively assessed physical work environment during working life and prospectively assessed sickness absence and labour market exit among older workers. Methods Using Cox regression analyses we estimated the 4-year to 6-year prospective risk of register-based long-term sickness absence (LTSA), disability pension, early retirement and unemployment from exposure to different physical work environmental factors during working life among 5076 older workers (age 49–63 at baseline) from the Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank cohort. Results Very hard physical work throughout working life was a risk factor for LTSA (HR 1.66,95% CI 1.32 to 2.07), disability pension (HR 2.21,95% CI 1.04 to 4.72) and early retirement (HR 1.57,95% CI 1.13 to 2.17). Both short-term (work during working life and exposure to several factors in the physical work environment, especially heavy lifting, were important for labour market exit and sickness absence. This study underscores the importance of reducing physical work exposures throughout the working life course for preventing sickness absence and premature exit from the labour market. PMID:28819019

  18. US electric industry response to carbon constraint: a life-cycle assessment of supply side alternatives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meier, P.J.; Wilson, P.P.H.; Kulcinski, G.L.; Denholm, P.L.

    2005-01-01

    This study explores the boundaries of electric industry fuel switching in response to US carbon constraints. A ternary model quantifies how supply side compliance alternatives would change under increasingly stringent climate policies and continued growth in electricity use. Under the White House Climate Change Initiative, greenhouse gas emissions may increase and little or no change in fuel-mix is necessary. As expected, the more significant carbon reductions proposed under the Kyoto Protocol (1990--7% levels) and Climate Stewardship Act (CSA) (1990 levels) require an increase of some combination of renewable, nuclear, or natural gas generated electricity. The current trend of natural gas power plant construction warrants the investigation of this technology as a sustainable carbon-mitigating measure. A detailed life-cycle assessment shows that significant greenhouse gas emissions occur upstream of the natural gas power plant, primarily during fuel-cycle operations. Accounting for the entire life-cycle increases the base emission rate for combined-cycle natural gas power by 22%. Two carbon-mitigating strategies are tested using life-cycle emission rates developed for US electricity generation. Relying solely on new natural gas plants for CSA compliance would require a 600% increase in natural gas generated electricity and almost complete displacement of coal from the fuel mix. In contrast, a 240% increase in nuclear or renewable resources meets the same target with minimal coal displacement. This study further demonstrates how neglecting life-cycle emissions, in particular those occurring upstream of the natural gas power plant, may cause erroneous assessment of supply side compliance alternatives

  19. Life cycle assessment of a commercial rainwater harvesting system compared with a municipal water supply system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Building upon previously published life cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies, we conducted an LCA of a commercial rainwater harvesting (RWH) system and compared it to a municipal water supply (MWS) system adapted to Washington, D.C. Eleven life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) indi...

  20. Advanced Hazmat Life Support (AHLS): A Feasibility Assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borron, S. W.; Walter, F. G.

    2007-01-01

    A prospective, descriptive, feasibility study aimed to determine whether an interdisciplinary group of health care experts could design and successfully deliver an international, life support, continuing education program that teaches the medical management of hazardous materials (hazmat) patients. The American Academy of Clinical Toxicology and the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center partnered on July 1, 1998 to develop a two-day Advanced Hazmat Life Support (AHLS) Provider Course. Interdisciplinary expert clinicians designed and then delivered the first AHLS Provider Course in 1999. Prior to this, other courses focused on the management of hazmat incidents and almost exclusively on the prehospital care of hazmat victims by firefighters, hazardous materials technicians, and emergency medical technicians (EMTs), not on the medical management of patients from these incidents. Therefore, AHLS was developed for a broader interdisciplinary group of health care professionals, including both prehospital health care professionals and hospital-based, poison center-based, clinic-based, public health care-based, and other health care professionals. From 1999 through 2006, the AHLS Provider Course has trained 7,142 health care professionals from 48 countries. Of the 7,142 health care professionals worldwide, 43% are paramedics, 24% are physicians, 21% are nurses, 2% are pharmacists, 1% are physician assistants, and 9% are other professionals. Of the professionals trained, 88% are from the United States, 5% from Hong Kong, 2% from Canada, 2% from Australia, 1% from Mexico, and the remainder come from 43 other countries. The Advanced Hazmat Life Support Program is feasible and meets the continuing education needs of health care professionals around the world.(author)

  1. Modeling of Complex Life Cycle Prediction Based on Cell Division

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fucheng Zhang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Effective fault diagnosis and reasonable life expectancy are of great significance and practical engineering value for the safety, reliability, and maintenance cost of equipment and working environment. At present, the life prediction methods of the equipment are equipment life prediction based on condition monitoring, combined forecasting model, and driven data. Most of them need to be based on a large amount of data to achieve the problem. For this issue, we propose learning from the mechanism of cell division in the organism. We have established a moderate complexity of life prediction model across studying the complex multifactor correlation life model. In this paper, we model the life prediction of cell division. Experiments show that our model can effectively simulate the state of cell division. Through the model of reference, we will use it for the equipment of the complex life prediction.

  2. Life cycle assessment of the transmission network in Great Britain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harrison, Gareth P.; Maclean, Edward J.; Karamanlis, Serafeim; Ochoa, Luis F.

    2010-01-01

    Analysis of lower carbon power systems has tended to focus on the operational carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions from power stations. However, to achieve the large cuts required it is necessary to understand the whole-life contribution of all sectors of the electricity industry. Here, a preliminary assessment of the life cycle carbon emissions of the transmission network in Great Britain is presented. Using a 40-year period and assuming a static generation mix it shows that the carbon equivalent emissions (or global warming potential) of the transmission network are around 11 gCO 2-eq /kWh of electricity transmitted and that almost 19 times more energy is transmitted by the network than is used in its construction and operation. Operational emissions account for 96% of this with transmission losses alone totalling 85% and sulphur hexafluoride (SF 6 ) emissions featuring significantly. However, the CO 2 embodied within the raw materials of the network infrastructure itself represents a modest 3%. Transmission investment decisions informed by whole-life cycle carbon assessments of network design could balance higher financial and carbon 'capital' costs of larger conductors with lower transmission losses and CO 2 emissions over the network lifetime. This will, however, necessitate new regulatory approaches to properly incentivise transmission companies.

  3. Life cycle assessment of crystalline photovoltaics in the Swiss ecoinvent database

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jungbluth, Niels [ESU-services, Environmental Consultancy for Business and Authorities, Uster (Switzerland)

    2005-07-01

    This paper describes the life cycle assessment (LCA) for photovoltaic (PV) power plants in the new ecoinvent database. Twelve different, grid-connected photovoltaic systems were studied for the situation in Switzerland in the year 2000. They are manufactured as panels or laminates, from monocrystalline or polycrystalline silicon, installed on facades, slanted or flat roofs, and have 3 kW{sub p} capacity. The process data include quartz reduction, silicon purification, wafer, panel and laminate production, mounting structure, 30 years operation and dismantling. In contrast to existing LCA studies, country-specific electricity mixes have been considered in the life cycle inventory (LCI) in order to reflect the present market situation. The new approach for the allocation procedure in the inventory of silicon purification, as a critical issue of former studies, is discussed in detail. The LCI for photovoltaic electricity shows that each production stage is important for certain elementary flows. A life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) shows that there are important environmental impacts not directly related to the energy use (e.g., process emissions of NO{sub x} from wafer etching). The assumption for the used supply energy mixes is important for the overall LCIA results of different production stages. The presented life cycle inventories for photovoltaic power plants are representative for newly constructed plants and for the average photovoltaic mix in Switzerland in the year 2000. A scenario for a future technology (until 2010) helps to assess the relative influence of technology improvements for some processes. The very detailed ecoinvent database forms a good basis for similar studies in other European countries or for other types of solar cells. (Author)

  4. Life-Cycle Assessment of Cookstove Fuels in India and China

    Science.gov (United States)

    A life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to compare the environmental footprint of current and possible fuels used for cooking within China and India. Current fuel mix profiles are compared to scenarios of projected differences in and/or cleaner cooking fuels. Results are repo...

  5. Turbine casing bolts; a life assessment and bolt replacement strategy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bulloch, J H [ESB, Power Generation, Dublin (Ireland)

    1999-12-31

    The present presentation describes a detailed study concerning the life assessment and replacement strategy of large turbine casing bolts in a 120 MW steam raising unit. After 122000 hours service, circa 1991/92, the Cr-Mo-V steel casing bolts, involving a total of 184 bolts, from two identical 120 MW units, termed Units 1 and 2, were examined to establish the extent of Reverse Temper Embrittlement, RTE, and creep damage suffered during service. The bolt replacement plans for the two units were as follows; Unit 1 bolts were completely replaced with new bolts while Unit 2 embrittled bolts were withdrawn from service and replaced with Non- Embrittled bolts from Unit 1; basically Unit 2 bolts were made up from a mixture of Unit 1 and 2 Non- Embrittled bolts which had been in service for 122000 hours. Remnant life assessments, concerning both embrittlement and creep damage aspects, were earned out on this series of easing bolts at service times 122000, 150000 and 200000 hours. These assessments involved the use of general embrittlement and creep damage laws which were empirically derived and concerned such parameters as microstructural grain size, bulk phosphorus content and accumulated service strain. (orig.) 7 refs.

  6. Turbine casing bolts; a life assessment and bolt replacement strategy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bulloch, J.H. [ESB, Power Generation, Dublin (Ireland)

    1998-12-31

    The present presentation describes a detailed study concerning the life assessment and replacement strategy of large turbine casing bolts in a 120 MW steam raising unit. After 122000 hours service, circa 1991/92, the Cr-Mo-V steel casing bolts, involving a total of 184 bolts, from two identical 120 MW units, termed Units 1 and 2, were examined to establish the extent of Reverse Temper Embrittlement, RTE, and creep damage suffered during service. The bolt replacement plans for the two units were as follows; Unit 1 bolts were completely replaced with new bolts while Unit 2 embrittled bolts were withdrawn from service and replaced with Non- Embrittled bolts from Unit 1; basically Unit 2 bolts were made up from a mixture of Unit 1 and 2 Non- Embrittled bolts which had been in service for 122000 hours. Remnant life assessments, concerning both embrittlement and creep damage aspects, were earned out on this series of easing bolts at service times 122000, 150000 and 200000 hours. These assessments involved the use of general embrittlement and creep damage laws which were empirically derived and concerned such parameters as microstructural grain size, bulk phosphorus content and accumulated service strain. (orig.) 7 refs.

  7. Assessment of Novel Routes of Biomethane Utilization in a Life Cycle Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elham Ahmadi Moghaddam

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Biomethane, as a replacement for natural gas, reduces the use of fossil-based sources and supports the intended change from fossil to bio-based industry. The study assessed different biomethane utilization routes for production of methanol, dimethyl ether (DME, and ammonia, as fuel or platform chemicals, and combined heat and power (CHP. Energy efficiency and environmental impacts of the different pathways was studied in a life cycle perspective covering the technical system from biomass production to the end product. Among the routes studied, CHP had the highest energy balance and least environmental impact. DME and methanol performed competently in energy balance and environmental impacts in comparison with the ammonia route. DME had the highest total energy output, as fuel, heat, and steam, among the different routes studied. Substituting the bio-based routes for fossil-based alternatives would give a considerable reduction in environmental impacts such as global warming potential and acidification potential for all routes studied, especially CHP, DME, and methanol. Eutrophication potential was mainly a result of biomass and biomethane production, with marginal differences between the different routes.

  8. Environmental assessment of waste incineration in a life-cycle-perspective (EASEWASTE).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riber, Christian; Bhander, Gurbakhash S; Christensen, Thomas H

    2008-02-01

    A model for life-cycle assessment of waste incinerators is described and applied to a case study for illustrative purposes. As life-cycle thinking becomes more integrated into waste management, quantitative tools for assessing waste management technologies are needed. The presented model is a module in the life-cycle assessment model EASEWASTE. The module accounts for all uses of materials and energy and credits the incinerator for electricity and heat recovered. The energy recovered is defined by the user as a percentage of the energy produced, calculated on the lower heating value of the wet waste incinerated. Emissions are either process-specific (related to the amount of waste incinerated) or input-specific (related to the composition of the waste incinerated), while mass transfer to solid outputs are governed by transfer coefficients specified by the user. The waste input is defined by 48 material fractions and their chemical composition. The model was used to quantify the environmental performance of the incineration plant in Aarhus, Denmark before and after its upgrading in terms of improved flue gas cleaning and energy recovery. It demonstrated its usefulness in identifying the various processes and substances that contributed to environmental loadings as well as to environmental savings. The model was instrumental in demonstrating the importance of the energy recovery system not only for electricity but also heat from the incinerator.

  9. Life cycle assessment of hydrogen energy pattern

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aissani, Lynda; Bourgois, Jacques; Rousseaux, Patrick; Jabouille, Florent; Loget, Sebastien; Perier Camby, Laurent; Sessiecq, Philippe

    2007-01-01

    In the last decades transportation sector is a priority for environmental research. Indeed, it is the most impacting sector because it involves greenhouse emissions and fossil resources exhaustion. The Group of 'Ecole des Mines' (GEM), in France, carries out studies concerning clean and renewable energies for this sector with the 'H2-PAC' project. The GEM with four teams performs studies concerning energy systems for transportation sector and more particularly the hydrogen system. The four teams of the GEM work each one on a process of this system. More precisely, the team of Albi studies biomass gasification in order to produce synthesis gas. The team of Nantes studies purification of this gas to obtain pure hydrogen and hydrogen storage on activated carbon. The team of Paris studies fuel cell use and especially Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell. Finally, the team of St Etienne evaluates this system along its life cycle from an environmental point of view. This paper presents this environmental evaluation witch is realized according to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. (authors)

  10. Fatigue life assessment for pipeline welds by x-ray diffraction technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Sang Guk; Yoo, Keun Bong

    2006-01-01

    The objective of this study is to estimate the feasibility of X-ray diffraction method application for fatigue life assessment of the high-temperature pipeline steel such as main steam pipe, re-heater pipe and header etc. in power plant. In this study, X-ray diffraction tests using various types of specimen simulated low cycle fatigue damage were performed in order to analyze fatigue properties when fatigue damage conditions become various stages such as 1/4, l/2 and 3/4 of fatigue life, respectively. As a result off-ray diffraction tests for specimens simulated fatigue damages, we conformed that the variation of the full width at half maximum intensity decreased in proportion to the increase of fatigue life ratio. And also, He ratio of the full width at half maximum intensity due to fatigue damage has linear relationship with fatigue life ratio algebraically. From this relationship, it was suggested that direct expectation of the life consumption rate was feasible.

  11. Certified Basic Life Support Instructors Assess Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Skills Poorly

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Camilla; Rasmussen, Stinne E; Kristensen, Mette Amalie

    2016-01-01

    Introduction: High-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) improves survival from cardiac arrest. During basic life support (BLS) training, instructors assess CPR skills to enhance learning outcome. Emergency department staff and senior residents have been shown to assess chest compression...... quality poorly. Currently no studies have evaluated CPR assessment among certified BLS instructors. The aim of this study was to investigate certified BLS instructors’ assessment of chest compressions and rescue breathing.Methods: Data were collected at BLS courses for medical students at Aarhus...... of CPR skills may be beneficial to ensure high-quality learning outcome.Author Disclosures: C. Hansen: None. S.E. Rasmussen: None. M.A. Nebsbjerg: None. M. Stærk: None. B. Løfgren: None....

  12. Land Use and Land-use Changes in Life Cycle Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    De Rosa, Michele

    2017-01-01

    The assessment of Land Uses and Land-use Changes (LULUC) impacts has become increasingly complex. Sophisticated modelling tools such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are employed to capture both direct and indirect damages. However, quantitative assessments are often incomplete, dominated...... by environmental aspects. Land uses are a multidisciplinary matter and environmental and sustainable development policies intertwine. Yet, LCAs mostly focus on environmental impacts excluding socioeconomic implications of land occupation. This paper investigates the limitations of current LULUC modelling practices....... Consequently, results informing land policies may be biased towards determined development strategies or hide indirect effects and socioeconomic damages caused by large-scale land acquisitions, such as violation of tenure rights, speculation and displacement. Quantitative assessments of LULUC impacts...

  13. Validation of a Modified Life-Space Assessment in Multimorbid Older Persons With Cognitive Impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ullrich, Phoebe; Werner, Christian; Bongartz, Martin; Kiss, Rainer; Bauer, Jürgen; Hauer, Klaus

    2018-01-31

    To investigate the validity, reliability, sensitivity to change, and feasibility of a modified University of Alabama at Birmingham Study of Aging Life-Space Assessment (UAB-LSA) in older persons with cognitive impairment (CI). The UAB-LSA was modified for use in persons with CI Life-Space Assessment for Persons with Cognitive Impairment (LSA-CI). Measurement properties of the LSA-CI were investigated using data of 118 multimorbid older participants with CI [mean age (SD): 82.3 (6.0) years, mean Mini-Mental State Examination score: 23.3 (2.4) points] from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to improve motor performance and physical activity. Construct validity was asessed by Spearman's rank (rs) and point-biseral correlations (rpb) with age, gender, motor, and cognitive status, psychosocial factors, and sensor-derived (outdoor) physical activity variables. Test-retest reliability was analyzed using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs). Sensitivity to change was determined by standardized response means (SRMs) calculated for the RCT intervention group. The LSA-CI demonstrated moderate to high construct validity, with significant correlations of the LSA-CI scores with (outdoor) physical activity (rs = .23-.63), motor status (rs = .27-.56), fear of falling-related psychosocial variables (rs = |.24-.44|), and demographic characteristics (rpb = |.27-.32|). Test-retest reliability was good to excellent (ICC = .65-.91). Sensitivity to change was excellent for the LSA-CI composite score (SRM = .80) and small to moderate for the LSA-CI subscores (SRM = .35-.60). A completion rate of 100% and a mean completion time of 4.1 min) documented good feasibility. The LSA-CI represents a valid, reliable, sensitive, and feasible interview-based life-space assessment tool in multimorbid older persons with CI. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  14. Home-based versus center-based aerobic exercise on cardiopulmonary performance, physical function, quality of life and quality of sleep of overweight patients with chronic kidney disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aoike, Danilo Takashi; Baria, Flavia; Kamimura, Maria Ayako; Ammirati, Adriano; Cuppari, Lilian

    2018-02-01

    The association between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and obesity can decrease the patients' cardiopulmonary capacity, physical functioning and quality of life. The search for effective and practical alternative methods of exercise to engage patients in training programs is of great importance. Therefore, we aimed to compare the effects of home-based versus center-based aerobic exercise on the cardiopulmonary and functional capacities, quality of life and quality of sleep of overweight non-dialysis-dependent patients with CKD (NDD-CKD). Forty sedentary overweight patients CKD stages 3 and 4 were randomly assigned to an exercise group [home-based group (n = 12) or center-based exercise group (n = 13)] or to a control group (n = 15) that did not perform any exercise. Cardiopulmonary exercise test, functional capacity tests, quality of life, quality of sleep and clinical parameters were assessed at baseline, 12 and 24 weeks. The VO 2peak and all cardiopulmonary parameters evaluated were similarly improved (p functional capacity tests improved during the follow-up in the home-based group (p training was as effective as center-based training in improving the physical and functional capabilities, quality of life and sleep in overweight NDD-CKD patients.

  15. Social Work Assessment Notes: A Comprehensive Outcomes-Based Hospice Documentation System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansen, Angela Gregory; Martin, Ellen; Jones, Barbara L; Pomeroy, Elizabeth C

    2015-08-01

    This article describes the development of an integrated psychosocial patient and caregiver assessment and plan of care for hospice social work documentation. A team of hospice social workers developed the Social Work Assessment Notes as a quality improvement project in collaboration with the information technology department. Using the Social Work Assessment Tool as an organizing framework, this comprehensive hospice social work documentation system is designed to integrate assessment, planning, and outcomes measurement. The system was developed to guide the assessment of patients' and caregivers' needs related to end-of-life psychosocial issues, to facilitate collaborative care plan development, and to measure patient- and family-centered outcomes. Goals established with the patient and the caregiver are documented in the plan of care and become the foundation for patient-centered, strengths-based interventions. Likert scales are used to assign numerical severity levels for identified issues and progress made toward goals and to track the outcome of social work interventions across nine psychosocial constructs. The documentation system was developed for use in an electronic health record but can be used for paper charting. Future plans include automated aggregate outcomes measurement to identify the most effective interventions and best practices in end-of-life care.

  16. Analysis of current research addressing complementary use of life-cycle assessment and risk assessment for engineered nanomaterials: have lessons been learned from previous experience with chemicals?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grieger, Khara D.; Laurent, Alexis; Miseljic, Mirko; Christensen, Frans; Baun, Anders; Olsen, Stig I.

    2012-01-01

    While it is generally agreed that successful strategies to address the health and environmental impacts of engineered nanomaterials (NM) should consider the well-established frameworks for conducting life-cycle assessment (LCA) and risk assessment (RA), scientific research, and specific guidance on how to practically apply these methods are still very much under development. This paper evaluates how research efforts have applied LCA and RA together for NM, particularly reflecting on previous experiences with applying these methods to chemicals. Through a literature review and a separate analysis of research focused on applying LCA and RA together for NM, it appears that current research efforts have taken into account some key “lessons learned” from previous experience with chemicals while many key challenges remain for practically applying these methods to NM. We identified two main approaches for using these methods together for NM: “LC-based RA” (traditional RA applied in a life-cycle perspective) and “RA-complemented LCA” (conventional LCA supplemented by RA in specific life-cycle steps). Hence, the latter is the only identified approach which genuinely combines LC- and RA-based methods for NM-risk research efforts to date as the former is rather a continuation of normal RA according to standard assessment procedures (e.g., REACH). Both these approaches along with recommendations for using LCA and RA together for NM are similar to those made previously for chemicals, and thus, there does not appear to be much progress made specific for NM. We have identified one issue in particular that may be specific for NM when applying LCA and RA at this time: the need to establish proper dose metrics within both methods.

  17. A program-level management system for the life cycle environmental and economic assessment of complex building projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Chan-Joong; Kim, Jimin; Hong, Taehoon; Koo, Choongwan; Jeong, Kwangbok; Park, Hyo Seon

    2015-01-01

    Climate change has become one of the most significant environmental issues, of which about 40% come from the building sector. In particular, complex building projects with various functions have increased, which should be managed from a program-level perspective. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a program-level management system for the life-cycle environmental and economic assessment of complex building projects. The developed system consists of three parts: (i) input part: database server and input data; (ii) analysis part: life cycle assessment and life cycle cost; and (iii) result part: microscopic analysis and macroscopic analysis. To analyze the applicability of the developed system, this study selected ‘U’ University, a complex building project consisting of research facility and residential facility. Through value engineering with experts, a total of 137 design alternatives were established. Based on these alternatives, the macroscopic analysis results were as follows: (i) at the program-level, the life-cycle environmental and economic cost in ‘U’ University were reduced by 6.22% and 2.11%, respectively; (ii) at the project-level, the life-cycle environmental and economic cost in research facility were reduced 6.01% and 1.87%, respectively; and those in residential facility, 12.01% and 3.83%, respective; and (iii) for the mechanical work at the work-type-level, the initial cost was increased 2.9%; but the operation and maintenance phase was reduced by 20.0%. As a result, the developed system can allow the facility managers to establish the operation and maintenance strategies for the environmental and economic aspects from a program-level perspective. - Highlights: • A program-level management system for complex building projects was developed. • Life-cycle environmental and economic assessment can be conducted using the system. • The design alternatives can be analyzed from the microscopic perspective. • The system can be used to

  18. A program-level management system for the life cycle environmental and economic assessment of complex building projects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Chan-Joong [Parsons Brinckerhoff, Seoul 135-763 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jimin; Hong, Taehoon; Koo, Choongwan; Jeong, Kwangbok; Park, Hyo Seon [Department of Architectural Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749 (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-09-15

    Climate change has become one of the most significant environmental issues, of which about 40% come from the building sector. In particular, complex building projects with various functions have increased, which should be managed from a program-level perspective. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a program-level management system for the life-cycle environmental and economic assessment of complex building projects. The developed system consists of three parts: (i) input part: database server and input data; (ii) analysis part: life cycle assessment and life cycle cost; and (iii) result part: microscopic analysis and macroscopic analysis. To analyze the applicability of the developed system, this study selected ‘U’ University, a complex building project consisting of research facility and residential facility. Through value engineering with experts, a total of 137 design alternatives were established. Based on these alternatives, the macroscopic analysis results were as follows: (i) at the program-level, the life-cycle environmental and economic cost in ‘U’ University were reduced by 6.22% and 2.11%, respectively; (ii) at the project-level, the life-cycle environmental and economic cost in research facility were reduced 6.01% and 1.87%, respectively; and those in residential facility, 12.01% and 3.83%, respective; and (iii) for the mechanical work at the work-type-level, the initial cost was increased 2.9%; but the operation and maintenance phase was reduced by 20.0%. As a result, the developed system can allow the facility managers to establish the operation and maintenance strategies for the environmental and economic aspects from a program-level perspective. - Highlights: • A program-level management system for complex building projects was developed. • Life-cycle environmental and economic assessment can be conducted using the system. • The design alternatives can be analyzed from the microscopic perspective. • The system can be used to

  19. Health related quality of life assessment in metastatic disease of the spine: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Street, John; Berven, Sigurd; Fisher, Charles; Ryken, Timothy

    2009-10-15

    Systematic literature review. To examine the available literature on health related quality of life (HRQOL) assessment in metastatic disease of the spine and identify the optimal functional outcome scales to be used in developing a disease-specific tool. There is a lack of consensus in the use of HRQOL measures in patients with metastatic spine disease. A systematic review was conducted using MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Science Citation Index (ISI), the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, the PsycINFO, the Allied and Complementary Medicine (AMED), Cochrane Reviews and Global Health databases for clinical studies addressing metastatic spine disease from 1966 through 2008. The validity of outcome tools was established by linkage analysis with the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF). One hundred forty-one clinical studies met inclusion criteria including 10,347 patients. Only 5 moderate grade and 1 high grade study were identified. Thirty- four studies used a patient self-assessment instrument to assess health status. None of the instruments were validated for metastatic spine patients. The most commonly used Pi-by-no tools were SF-36, SIP 5, and the ADL. None of the studies defined health related quality of life (HRQOL) or justified the choice of instrument. The most commonly used cancer-specific tools were ECOG, EORTC QCQ-C30, and EUROQOL 5D. Based on frequency of citation and on correlation with the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health, the ECOG and SF36 were judged as most valid and reliable. A systematic review of the available evidence suggests that valid and reliable health related quality of life measures exist for the assessment of oncology patients; however, a disease-specific tool for metastatic spine disease awaits development. Until such time as a disease-specific tool is available, we recommend that the ECOG and SF-36 be considered for use in studies addressing the outcome

  20. Combined nutritional and environmental life cycle assessment of fruits and vegetables

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stylianou, Katerina S.; Fantke, Peter; Jolliet, Olivier

    2016-01-01

    -LCA) framework that compares environmental and nutritional effects of foods in a common end -point metric, Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY). In the assessment, environmental health impact categories include green house gases, particulate matter (PM), and pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables, while......; 35 μDALY/serving fruit benefit compared to a factor 10 lower impact. Replacing detrimental foods, such as trans-fat and red meat, with fruits or vegetables further enhances health benefit. This study illustrates the importance of considering nutritional effects in food-LCA.......Nutritional health effects from the ‘use stage’ of the life cycle of food products can be substantial, especially for fruits and vegetables. To assess potential one-serving increases in fruit and vegetable consumption in Europe, we employ the Combined Nutritional and Environmental LCA (CONE...