Tesi sul tema "Life cycle emission (LCE)"

Många länder försöker minska sitt användande av fossila bränslen och istället använda sig utav förnyelsebara alternativ. Ett vanligt sätt att göra detta är att gå från bensindrivna motorer till eldrivna. Denna studie undersöker därför produkter ur samma produktsortiment som har samma grundfunktion och användningsområde men olika drivmedel. Syftet med detta är att få ökad förståelse för produkternas kostnader samt öka förståelsen för hur deras drift påverkar miljön. Studien genomfördes som en fallstudie på Swepac i Ljungby. Studiens genomförande följer delar ur LCC, LCA, CELA och break-even metoder för att kunna uppnå syftet. Miljöpåverkan mäts i koldioxidekvivalenter och en omräkningsfaktor används för att omvandla utsläppen till ett monetärt värde som går att använda i beräkningar av kostnader. Resultatet visar att ett break-even mellan maskinerna uppstår efter 6.9 år, livslängden är dock 5 år. Både miljöpåverkan, drift- och underhållskostnader är lägre för den eldrivna, dock gör den stora skillnaden i inköpspris att det tar lång tid innan ett break-even uppstår.
Many countries are trying to reduce the usage of fossil fuels and instead they are trying to find renewable alternatives. A common way to do this is to go from gasoline engines to electric engines. The purpose of the study is to gain a greater understanding of the products costs and environmental impact during their usage. The study was conducted as a case study at Swepac, Ljungby. The study’s implementation follows parts from LCC, LCA, CELA and the breakeven method in order to achieve the purpose. The environmental impact is measured in carbon dioxide equivalents and a conversion factor is used to convert the emissions to a monetary value that can be used in calculations of costs. The result shows that breakeven between the machines arises after 6.9 years, however, the service life is only 5 years. Both environmental impact, operating and maintenance costs is lower for the electrical option, however, the big difference in purchase price makes it take a long time for a breakeven to occur.

The presented doctoral thesis is focused on environmental impact assessment of basic engineering materials used in a production machine construction. Ecological profile of the machine itself develops already in the phase of its design. It is not only about the choice of future machine parameters and materials that it is built from, but also about technologies used for its manufacture and operation conditions of the finished machine (consumption of energy and service fluids). The thesis occupies in detail with environmental impact analysis of the production machine design from the viewpoint of material production that mentioned machine consists of. The output from the performed analysis is methodology for evaluating of machine design from the viewpoint of greenhouse gas emissions. Created methodology enables evaluating of machine ecological profile and its possible adjustments even during pre-production stage. In the first part of the thesis the analysis of current legislation in the field of fighting against climate changes, reducing of products energy consumption and increasing of production machines energy efficiency is presented. Also in this part of the thesis description of methods that were used to achieve thesis goals is stated. Furthermore analysis of production machine as a system of structural components that fulfil the certain functions and description of used basic engineering materials are presented. The second part of the thesis is devoted to environmental impact analysis of the production machine design process. There the design process and environmental impact of machine design are described. This is followed by description of production machine life cycle and detailed analysis of undesirable substances emissions emitted during pre-production phases of machine life cycle (i.e. during the raw materials extraction and materials production). From this analysis the particular constituents’ pre-production phases which are sources of undesirable substances emissions (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions) were derived. The thesis also includes analysis of these constituents’ life cycles and description of electric power generation as a basic constituent of any phase of product life cycle. In this part of the thesis calculations of particular fuel type’s amounts that is required to produce 1 MWh of electric power and carbon dioxide amount produced during electric power generation are presented. The third part of the thesis contains created models of manufacturing processes of basic engineering materials and calculations of related emissions of selected greenhouse gases. The practical output from this part of the thesis is methodology that enables environmental impact assessment of machine design from the viewpoint of engineering materials used in its construction.

In recent decades, life cycle assessment (LCA) has become a commonly used approach worldwide when studying environmental impacts linked to waste management systems. These systems are of a complex nature which includes everything from technical solutions, the environmental influence, and various stakeholders. To facilitate studies within this area of research, different LCA models are often utilised. WAMPS is a software specifically developed for assessing the environmental and economic impacts for a waste management system. During recent years, the work to bring the model up to date has begun as the software has not been modernised since it was developed in the early 2000s. The purpose of this degree project is to propose new emission factors for recycling and virgin production of glass, aluminium, steel, and plastic. In addition to this, the study intends to investigate how the implementation of the new figures may affect the results obtained in WAMPS.  To fulfil the purpose of the thesis, LCI datasets were collected for each material and evaluated according to three DQIs (Temporal representativeness, geographical representativeness, and documentation). New emission factors were developed based on the evaluation and discussions within the project group, to ensure that all relevant activities of the studied life cycles were included. The implications from implementing the new emission factors were investigated through a comparison with the old values. This was conducted through comparing the obtained results from WAMPS per one tonne of material as well as for a simple scenario.  The evaluation of the collected LCI data shows that many of the datasets represent average production in countries within Europe and that the data were generally older than five years old. The results show that the datasets were primarily well documented according to the criterion utilised in this study. Processes from EcoInvent were mainly used to develop the proposed emission factors. The implementation of the new emission factors in WAMPS resulted in significant change in potential environmental impact per tonne of material. Especially for the impact category photooxidation formation. For the scenario, the results indicated that a significant change in potential environmental burden is received when implementing the new emission factors. A reduction in total impact was obtained for all categories where eutrophication showed the largest absolute difference.  The developed emission factors are considered appropriate based on the design of this thesis. However, it is concluded that these have several limitations that are important to take into account if these were to be implemented in WAMPS in the future. In addition, it is considered established that an update may be considered reasonable based on the result obtained.
Under de senaste decennierna har livscykelanalys (LCA) blivit ett vanligt tillvägagångssätt världen över vid analyser av potentiella miljöeffekter kopplade till avfallshanteringssystem. Dessa system är av komplex natur och inkluderar allt från teknologiska lösningar, miljöpåverkan samt flera intressenter. För att underlätta dessa studier används idag ofta olika LCA-modeller. WAMPS är ett program som är särskilt utvecklad för att bedöma både miljömässiga- och ekonomiska konsekvenser kopplat till avfallshanteringssystem. Under de senaste åren har arbetet med att uppdatera modellen påbörjat eftersom programvaran inte har uppdaterats sedan början av 2000-talet. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att föreslå nya emissionsfaktorer för återvinning och jungfrulig produktion av glas, aluminium, stål, och plast. Utöver detta avser studien att studera hur implementeringen av de nya siffrorna inverkar på resultatet som erhålls i WAMPS.  För att uppfylla tesen av detta arbete samlades LCI data in för varje material och utvärderades enligt tre DQI:er (Temporal representativitet, geografisk representativitet och dokumentation). Nya utsläppsfaktorer utvecklades baserat på utvärderingen och genom diskussioner inom projektgruppen. Framförallt för att säkerhetsställa att alla relevanta aktiviteter i de studerade livscyklerna är inkluderade. Konsekvenserna av implementeringen av utsläppsfaktorerna undersöktes genom en jämförelse av resultat som erhölls i WAMPS då de nya samt de tidigare faktorerna nyttjas. Detta gjordes både per ton material samt genom ett enkelt scenario.  Utvärderingen av den insamlade LCI datan påvisar att många av dataseten representerar genomsnittlig produktion inom Europa och att datan generellt var insamlad för minst 5 år sedan. Resultatet påvisar att dataseten är väldokumenterad enlig indikatorn som ställts upp i denna studie. Främst användes processer från EcoInvent för att utveckla de nya emissionsfaktorerna. Implementeringen av emissionsfaktorerna i WAMPS resulterade i signifikanta skillnader i potentiell miljöpåverkan per ton material, främst för bildning av fotooxid. För fallet med scenariot indikerade studiens resultat att en betydande förändring av den potentiella miljöbelastningen erhålls när de nya utsläppsfaktorerna implementeras. Dessutom påvisades en minskning av miljöeffekterna för alla kategorier varav eutrofiering visade den största absoluta skillnaden.  Slutligen anses de utvecklade emissions faktorerna vara lämpliga utifrån utformningen av denna tes. Dock dras slutsatsen att dessa har flertalet begränsningar som är viktiga att ta i hänsyn ifall dessa implementeras i WAMPS i framtiden. Dessutom anses det vara fastställt att en fortsatt uppdatering kan anses rimlig utifrån det erhållna resultatet.

Idag görs livscykelanalyser (LCA) för att identifiera de byggkomponenter somorsakar stora koldioxidutsläpp i byggbranschen.Syftet med denna studie är att med hjälp av livscykelanalysverktyget One ClickLCA jämföra hur stora koldioxidutsläpp som bildas av materialen i enlimträstomme, som tillhör en inomhusarena jämfört med materialen i en fiktivstålstomme, som är dimensionerad för att klara samma laster och funktion somlimträstommen. Detta görs i syfte att lyfta fram skillnaderna mellankoldioxidutsläppen i produktskedet (A1-A3) mellan en limträstomme och enstålstomme.En konstruktör har konstruerat stålstommen för jämförelsen. Konstruktören togfram dimensionerna och byggmaterialen, men stålstommen blev inte tillräckligtgenomarbetad och projekterad för att jämförelsen skulle kunna göras direkt.I One Click LCA behövs mängderna och byggkomponenterna för båda stommarnaför att kunna göra fullständiga livscykelanalyser. Med mängder menas volymeroch vikter för byggkomponenterna. I studien saknades från början mängder förvissa av byggkomponenterna och en del av syftet blev därför att ta fram allamängder för stommarna. För att få rätt mängder i studien användes bland annat tvåprogram, Bluebeam och Excel. Med dessa program togs längdmåtten för olikabyggkomponenter från ritningar. Tillsammans med de övriga uppgifterna ombyggkomponenterna kunde mängderna sedan tas fram.I One Click LCA behöver resurser väljas. Dessa kan vara kopplade till specifikabyggkomponenter och innehåller data om hur stora koldioxidutsläpp sombyggkomponenter orsakar. Med byggkomponenter och mängder som grund valdessedan resurser i One Click LCA. När resurser väljs räknar programmet ut hur storakoldioxidutsläpp som bildas i produktskedet (A1-A3) för byggkomponenterna.Med mängder och resurser kunde två resultat erhållas i programvaran. Resultatetvisar att 55 ton koldioxid bildas av limträstommen och 779,9 ton koldioxid bildasav stålstommen. I stålstommen är det fackverken som orsakar mestkoldioxidutsläpp och i limträstommen är balkarna i högdelen av inomhusarenansom orsakar mest koldioxidutsläpp.
Today, life-cycle assessment (LCA) are performed to identify the buildingcomponents that cause large carbon dioxide emissions in the construction industry.The purpose of this study is to use the life-cycle assessment tool One Click LCA tocompare how large carbon dioxide emissions are formed by the materials in aglulam frame, which belongs to an indoor arena compared to the materials in afictitious steel frame, which is dimensioned to withstand the same loads andfunction as the glulam frame. This is done in order to highlight the differencesbetween the carbon dioxide emissions in the product phase (A1-A3) between aglulam frame and a steel frame.A designer has designed the steel frame for comparison. The designer producedthe dimensions and building materials, but the steel frame was not sufficientlyworked out and projected for the comparison to be made directly.In One Click LCA, the quantities and building components for both frames areneeded to be able to make complete life-cycle assessment. By quantities is meantvolumes and weights for the building components. The study initially lackedquantities for some of the building components and part of the purpose wastherefore to produce all quantities for the frames. To get the right amounts in thestudy, two programs were used, Bluebeam and Excel. With these programs, thelength measurements for different building components were taken from drawings.Together with the other information about the building components, the quantitiescould then be produced.In One Click LCA, resources need to be selected. These can be linked to specificbuilding components and contain data on how large carbon dioxide emissions thatbuilding components cause. Based on building components and quantities,resources were then selected in One Click LCA. When resources are selected, theprogram calculates how large carbon dioxide emissions are formed in the productphase (A1-A3) for the building components. With quantities and resources, tworesults could be obtained in the software. The results show that 55 tonnes ofcarbon dioxide are formed by the glulam frame and 779.9 tonnes of carbon dioxideare formed by the steel frame. In the steel frame, it is the trusses that cause themost carbon dioxide emissions and in the glulam frame, the beams in the upperpart of the indoor arena cause the most carbon dioxide emissions.

L’elaborato si pone l’obiettivo di analizzare, sia sul piano economico che su quello ambientale, un intervento di manutenzione straordinario che ha previsto l’ampiamento e la sopraelevazione di un fabbricato esistente, sull’intero ciclo di vita della nuova struttura. Dapprima sono state presentate le due metodologie utilizzate, rispettivamente il Life Cycle Assessment per la valutazione ambientale e il Life Cycle Cost per la valutazione economica, esaminando le tecniche in maniera teorica, dall’evoluzione storica alle normative odierne. Dopodiché è stato esposto il caso di studio, presentando tre differenti metodologie costruttive ipotizzate per l’intervento: la prima stratigrafia è stata ipotizzata in blocchi di laterizio portante e isolamento in polistirene espanso, la seconda alternativa consiste in una struttura a telaio in calcestruzzo armato con blocchi di laterizio con funzione di tamponamento e isolante in polistirene espanso mentre l’ultima stratigrafia prevede una struttura portante in legno XLAM con isolante in lana di legno. Al fine di poter computare al meglio le prestazioni economiche ed ambientali delle tre differenti strutture è stato effettuato anche un calcolo dei consumi e delle prestazioni in fase di utilizzo delle metodologie costruttive con l’ausilio di un software di certificazione energetica. Il comportamento dell’intera vita utile delle tre stratigrafie è stato infine analizzato e confrontato utilizzando la tecnica LCA per valutare le performance energetiche, gli impatti ambientali e le emissioni inquinanti, e tramite la metodologia LCC per analizzare prestazioni economiche.

In recent decades, the environmental issues from the construction sector have attracted increasing attention from both the public and authorities. Notably, the bridge construction is responsible for considerable amount of energy and raw material consumptions. However, the current bridges are still mainly designed from the economic, technical, and safety perspective, while considerations of their environmental performance are rarely integrated into the decision making process. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a comprehensive, standardized and internationally recognized approach for quantifying all emissions, resource consumption and related environmental and health impacts linked to a service, asset or product. LCA has the potential to provide reliable environmental profiles of the bridges, and thus help the decision-makers to select the most environmentally optimal designs. However, due to the complexity of the environmental problems and the diversity of bridge structures, robust environmental evaluation of bridges is far from straightforward. The LCA has rarely been studied on bridges till now. The overall aim of this research is to implement LCA on bridge, thus eventually integrate it into the decision-making process to mitigate the environmental burden at an early stage. Specific objectives are to: i) provide up-to-date knowledge to practitioners; ii) identify associated obstacles and clarify key operational issues; iii) establish a holistic framework and develop computational tool for bridge LCA; and iv) explore the feasibility of combining LCA with life cycle cost (LCC). The developed tool (called GreenBridge) enables the simultaneous comparison and analysis of 10 feasible bridges at any detail level, and the framework has been utilized on real cases in Sweden. The studied bridge types include: railway bridge with ballast or fix-slab track, road bridges of steel box-girder composite bridge, steel I-girder composite bridge, post tensioned concrete box-girder bridge, balanced cantilever concrete box-girder bridge, steel-soil composite bridge and concrete slab-frame bridge. The assessments are detailed from cradle to grave phases, covering thousands of types of substances in the output, diverse mid-point environmental indicators, the Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) and monetary value weighting. Some analyses also investigated the impact from on-site construction scenarios, which have been overlooked in the current state-of-the-art. The study identifies the major structural and life-cycle scenario contributors to the selected impact categories, and reveals the effects of varying the monetary weighting system, the steel recycling rate and the material types. The result shows that the environmental performance can be highly influenced by the choice of bridge design. The optimal solution is found to be governed by several variables. The analyses also imply that the selected indicators, structural components and life-cycle scenarios must be clearly specified to be applicable in a transparent procurement. This work may provide important references for evaluating similar bridge cases, and identification of the main sources of environmental burden. The outcome of this research may serve as recommendation for decision-makers to select the most LCA-feasible proposal and minimize environmental burdens.

QC 20150311

Questo lavoro di tesi si inserisce nell'ambito del progetto LIFE+ AGRICARE, il cui obiettivo è quello di dimostrare come l’applicazione di avanzate tecniche di agricoltura di precisione, abbinate a diversi tipi di coltivazione conservativa, possa avere un effetto importante in termini di riduzione di gas climalteranti e di protezione del suolo. In particolare la tesi aveva come obiettivo quello di studiare come il software PestLCI risponde quando varia la lavorazione del terreno, informazione che è inserita fra le variabili di input. Il software PestLCI calcola il frazionamento fra i diversi comparti ambientali (aria, suolo, acque sotterranee) di un pesticida sparso su un campo coltivato. Per tale motivo PestLCI può essere definito un software di supporto al calcolo dell’inventario nell’applicazione della metodologia Life Cycle Assessment. I risultati di questo studio hanno evidenziato come PestLCI vari le frazioni di pesticida emesse nei diversi comparti ambientali in base alla lavorazione del terreno. In particolare, considerando gli scenari in cui viene applicata la Terbutilazina, è stato possibile mostrare come le frazioni emesse nelle acque sotterranee siano strettamente collegate alla lavorazione del campo. Infatti queste emissioni aumentano se diminuisce la lavorazione del campo; ciò è causato principalmente dall’incremento dei macropori presenti nel suolo dato dalla minor lavorazione del terreno, i quali permettono un collegamento diretto verso le acque sotterranee e quindi facilitano le emissioni in questo comparto ambientale.

Wind energy technologies are considered to be among the most promising types of renewable energy sources, which have since attracted broad considerations through recent years due to the soaring oil prices and the growing concerns over climate change and energy security. In Kuwait, rapid industrialisation, population growth and increasing water desalination are resulting in high energy demand growth, increasing the concern of oil diminishing as a main source of energy and the climate change caused by CO2 emissions from fossil fuel based energy. These demands and challenges compelled governments to embark on a diversification strategy to meet growing energy demand and support continued economic growth. Kuwait looked for alternative forms of energy by assessing potential renewable energy resources, including wind and sun. Kuwait is attempting to use and invest in renewable energy due to the fluctuating price of oil, diminishing reserves, the rapid increase in population, the high consumption of electricity and the environment protection. In this research, wind energy will be investigated as an attractive source of energy in Kuwait.

Road infrastructure is essential in the development of human society, but has both negative and positive impacts. Large amounts of money and natural resources are spent each year on its construction, operation and maintenance. Obviously, there is potentially significantenvironmental impact associated with these activities. Thus the need for integration of life cycle environmental impacts of road infrastructure into transport planning is currently being widely recognised on international and national level. However certain issues, such as energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the construction, maintenance and operation of road infrastructure, are rarely considered during the current transport planning process in Sweden and most other countries.This thesis examined energy use and GHG emissions for the whole life cycle (construction, operation, maintenance and end-of-life) of road infrastructure, with the aim of improving transport planning on both strategic and project level. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was applied to two selected case studies: LCA of a road tunnel and LCA of three methods for asphalt recycling and reuse: hot in-plant, hot in-place and reuse as unbound material. The impact categories selected for analysis were Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) and Global Warming Potential (GWP). Other methods used in the research included interviews and a literature review.The results of the first case study indicated that the operational phase of the tunnel contributed the highest share of CED and GWP throughout the tunnel’s life cycle. Construction of concrete tunnels had much higher CED and GWP per lane-metre than construction of rocktunnels. The results of the second case study showed that hot in-place recycling of asphalt gave slightly more net savings of GWP and CED than hot in-plant recycling. Asphalt reuse was less environmentally beneficial than either of these alternatives, resulting in no net savings of GWP and minor net savings of CED. Main sources of data uncertainty identified in the two case-studies included prediction of future electricity mix and inventory data for asphalt concrete.This thesis contributes to methodological development which will be useful to future infrastructure LCAs in terms of inventory data collection. It presents estimated amounts of energy use and GHG emissions associated with road infrastructure, on the example of roadtunnel and asphalt recycling. Operation of road infrastructure and production of construction materials are identified as the main priorities for decreasing GHG emissions and energy use during the life cycle of road infrastructure. It was concluded that the potential exists for significant decreases in GHG emissions and energy use associated with the road transport system if the entire life cycle of road infrastructure is taken into consideration from the very start of the policy-making process.
QC 20120229

Global warming is one of the biggest challenges of our society. The road transport sector is responsible for a big share of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, which are considered to be the dominant cause of global warming. Although most of those emissions are associated with traffic operation, road infrastructure should not be ignored, as it involves high consumption of energy and materials during a long lifetime. The aim of my research was to contribute to improved road infrastructure planning by developing methods and models to include a life cycle perspective. In order to reach the aim, GHG emissions and energy use at different life cycle stages of road infrastructure were assessed in three case studies using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). These case studies were also used for development of methodology for LCA of road infrastructure. I have also investigated the coupling of LCA with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the possibility to integrate LCA into Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The results of the first case study indicated that operation of the tunnel (mainly, lighting and ventilation) has the largest contribution in terms of energy use and GHG emissions throughout its life cycle. The second case study identified the main hotspots and compared two methods for asphalt recycling and asphalt reuse. The results of the third case study indicated that due to the dominant contribution of traffic to the total impact of the road transport system, the difference in road length plays a major role in choice of road alternatives during early planning of road infrastructure. However, infrastructure should not be neglected, especially in the case of similar lengths of road alternatives, for roads with low volumes of traffic or when they include bridges or tunnels. This thesis contributed in terms of foreground and background data collection for further LCA studies of road infrastructure. Preliminary Bill of Quantities (BOQ) was identified and used as a source for site-specific data collection. A new approach was developed and tested for using geological data in a GIS environment as a data source on earthworks for LCA. Moreover, this thesis demonstrated three possible ways for integrating LCA in early stages of road infrastructure planning.

QC 20160329

Products, throughout their life cycle from production to waste management, create emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). This leads to environmental impacts on the climate (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, 2016). The consumed products from households are increasing (World Wildlife Fund, 2008) and so is the waste generated from them (Avfall Sverige, n.d.). A more sustainable development generating from circular economy should be focused on to increases the reuse of products and by so reduce the amount of waste generated (Göteborgs Stad, n.d.a.) This study have examined if the use of Free Shops can help the city of Gothenburg to reach higher up the waste management hierarchy towards reuse and prevention, and if carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) can be avoided by using Free Shops.    Two Free Shops with the purpose to increase reuse in Gothenburg have been studied and their effect on GHG emissions, presented as CO2e, have been analysed. A Life Cycle Inventory Study (LCI) has been conducted on all, but two, different materials entering the Free Shops for four weeks, including the production, waste management, transportation and storage. The result of the study shows that a mean of 10 ton CO2e per Free Shop per year can be avoided when reusing at a Free Shop instead of buying new products. This equals leaving a low energy lamp on for approximately 590 years (World Wildlife Fund, 2009) based on a low energy lamp using 0,007 kWh (Eon, 2007). To examine if the Free Shops can reduce the amount of waste disposed of by households in Gothenburg the material entering the Free Shops was weight and analysed to estimate how it corresponded to the amount of waste disposed of. The result shows that the material entering a Free Shop only corresponds to 0.0025 percent of the household waste disposed of in the city. This indicates that Free Shops by themselves will not solve the problem with increasing amounts of waste and emissions from increasing production. However, they can help in a small scale.

20180625

In this thesis, the primary energy use and carbon emissions of residential buildings are studied using a system analysis methodology with a life cycle perspective. The analysis includes production, operation, retrofitting and end-of-life phases and encompasses the entire natural resource chain. The analysis  focuses, in particular, on to the choice of building frame material; the energy savings potential of building thermal mass; the choice of energy supply systems and their interactions with different energy-efficiency measures, including ventilation heat recovery systems; and the effectiveness of current energy-efficiency standards to reduce energy use in buildings. The results show that a wood-frame building has a lower primary energy balance than a concrete-frame alternative. This result is primarily due to the lower production primary energy use and greater bioenergy recovery benefits of wood-frame buildings. Hour-by-hour dynamic modeling of building mass configuration shows that the energy savings due to the benefit of thermal mass are minimal within the Nordic climate but varies with climatic location and the energy efficiency of the building. A concrete-frame building has slightly lower space heating demand than a wood-frame alternative, because of the benefit of thermal mass. However, the production and end-of-life advantages of using wood framing materials outweigh the energy saving benefits of thermal mass with concrete framing materials. A system-wide analysis of the implications of different building energy-efficiency standards indicates that improved standards greatly reduce final energy use for heating. Nevertheless, a passive house standard building with electric heating may not perform better than a conventional building with district heating, from a primary energy perspective. Wood-frame passive house buildings with energy-efficient heat supply systems reduce life cycle primary energy use. An important complementary strategy to reduce primary energy use in the building sector is energy efficiency improvement of existing buildings, as the rate of addition of new buildings to the building stock is low. Different energy efficiency retrofit measures for buildings are studied, focusing on the energy demand and supply sides, as well as their interactions. The results show that significantly greater life cycle primary energy reduction is achieved when an electric resistance heated building is retrofitted than when a district heated building is retrofitted. For district heated buildings, the primary energy savings of energy efficiency measures depend on the characteristics of the heat production system and the type of energy efficiency measures. Ventilation heat recovery (VHR) systems provide low primary energy savings where district heating is based largely on combined heat and power (CHP) production. VHR systems can produce substantial final energy reduction, but the primary energy benefit largely depends on the type of heat supply system, the amount of electricity used for VHR and the airtightness of buildings. Wood-framed buildings have substantially lower life cycle carbon emissions than concrete-framed buildings, even if the carbon benefit of post-use concrete management is included. The carbon sequestered by crushed concrete leads to a significant decrease in CO2 emission. However, CO2 emissions from fossil fuels used to crush the concrete significantly reduce the carbon benefits obtained from the increased carbonation due to crushing. Overall, the effect of carbonation of post-use concrete is small. The post-use energy recovery of wood and the recycling of reinforcing steel both provide higher carbon benefits than post-use carbonation. In summary, wood buildings with CHP-based district heating are an effective means of reducing primary energy use and carbon emission in the built environment.

La raccolta di rifiuti urbani ed assimilati può essere effettuata con modalità differenti che consentono il raggiungimento di risultati diversi in termini di miglioramento della percentuale di Raccolta Differenziata, quantità dei rifiuti indifferenziati e qualità delle frazioni raccolte in modo differenziato. Lo scopo di questo studio è quello di effettuare una analisi LCA su sistemi alternativi per la raccolta rifiuti, al fine di valutare i differenti impatti ambientali, quali siano i contributi dei trasporti a tali impatti, l’influenza delle singole filiere di rifiuti e della qualità dei materiali raccolti in modo differenziato. Sono stati confrontati i seguenti Scenari di raccolta territoriale: • Sistema stradale con cassonetti a libero accesso; • Sistema con Isole Ecologiche di Base (IEB) accessibili mediante tessere identificative individuali; • Sistema “Porta a Porta”. Sono state inoltre definite due diverse Unità Funzionali, utilizzate per effettuare due differenti analisi LCA degli scenari sopra indicati: 1. Raccolta di rifiuti in un anno, in un territorio di dimensioni definite (LCA sistema); 2. Impatti specifici (pertanto rapportati alle effettive tonnellate) delle differenti filiere di rifiuti territoriali (LCA filiere). Come perimetro di analisi sono state considerate le principali raccolte territoriali dei rifiuti urbani e assimilati del Comune di Dozza (BO), circa 6.600 abitanti. Sono state valutate le emissioni di gas serra prodotti considerando i processi relativi a: • Trattamenti e smaltimenti delle diverse tipologie di rifiuti; • Recupero materiali ed energia; • Raccolta territoriale e trasporto agli impianti di primo conferimento; • Trasporto a successivi impianti di effettivo recupero.

There is an urgency within the building sector to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change. An increased proportion of biobased building materials in construction is a potential measure to reduce these emissions. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has often been applied to compare the climate impact from biobased materials with that from e.g. mineral based materials, mostly favouring biobased materials. Contradicting results have however been reported due to differences in methodology, as there is not yet consensus regarding certain aspects. The aim of this thesis is to study the implications from non-traditional practices in climate impact assessment of timber buildings, and to discuss the shortcomings of current practices when assessing such products and comparing them with non-renewable alternatives. The traditional practices for climate impact assessment of biobased materials have been identified, and then applied to a case study of a building with different timber frame designs and an alternative building with a concrete frame. Then, non-traditional practices were explored by calculating climate impact results using alternative methods to handle certain methodological aspects, which have been found relevant for forest products in previous research such as the timing of emissions, biogenic emissions, carbon storage in the products, end-of-life substitution credits, soil carbon disturbances and change in albedo. These alternative practices and their implications were also studied for low-carbon buildings. The use of non-traditional practices can affect the climate impact assessment results of timber buildings, and to some extent the comparison with buildings with lower content of biobased building materials. This effect is especially evident for energy-efficient buildings. Current normal practices tend to account separately for forest-related carbon flows and aspects such as biogenic carbon emissions and sequestration or effects from carbon storage in the products, missing to capture the forest carbon cycle as a whole. Climate neutrality of wood-based construction materials seems like a valid assumption for studies which require methodological simplification, while other aspects such as end-of-life substitution credits, soil carbon disturbances or changes in albedo should be studied carefully due to their potentially high implications and the uncertainties around the methods used to account for them. If forest phenomena are to be included in LCA studies, a robust and complete model of the forest carbon cycle should be used. Another shortcoming is the lack of clear communication of the way some important aspects were handled.

QC 20150310

The life cycle analysis compares the environmental impacts of catalytic converters and the effects of not using these devices. To environmentally evaluate the catalytic converter, the emissions during extraction, processing, use of the product are considered. All relevant materials and energy supplies are evaluated for the catalytic converter. The goal of this life cycle is to compare the pollutants of a car with and without a catalytic converter. Pollutants examined are carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrocarbons (HC), and nitrogen oxides (NOx). The main finding is that even considering materials and processing, a catalytic converter decreases the CO, HC and NOx pollutant emissions. The CO2 emissions are increased with a catalytic converter, but this increase is small relative to the overall CO2 emissions. The majority of catalytic converter pollutants are caused by the use phase, not extraction or processing. The life cycle analysis indicates that a catalytic converter decreases damage to human health by almost half, and the ecosystem quality damage is decreased by more than half. There is no damage to resources without a converter, as there are no materials or energy required; the damages with a converter are so small that they are not a significant factor. Overall, catalytic converters can be seen as worthwhile environmental products when considering short term effects like human health effects of smog, which are their design intent. If broader environmental perspectives that include climate change are considered, then the benefits depend on the weighting of these different environmental impacts.
Master of Science

Byggprocesser och produktionen av byggmaterial orsakar stora delar av världens och Sveriges växthusgasutsläpp. För att uppnå en hållbar utveckling är det av stor vikt att minska klimatpåverkan från byggnadskonstruktioner. Genom att göra klimat- och livscykelanalyser av byggnader i tidiga designskeden ökar möjligheten att påverka design, material- och produktval för att minska klimatpåverkan. I denna studie undersöktes hur byggnadsinformationsmodeller (BIM) och BIM-metodik kan användas för ökade möjligheter att effektivt utföra klimat- och livscykelanalyser av ingående byggnadsmaterial iterativt under projekteringsprocessen. Två 3D-modeller importerades till två verktyg för klimat- och livscykelanalyser, Bidcon och One Click LCA. Mängdavtagningen från objekten i modellen till båda LCA-verktygen fungerade automatiskt medan kopplingen mellan objekten och databaser med miljöpåverkansdata för byggobjekt och material innebar mycket handpåläggningsarbete. Processerna förutsätter att modellerna innehåller någon information om de ingående materialen i modellens objekt, vilket därför bör kravställas under projekteringen. För att kopplingen mellan materialbeskrivningar och databaser i LCA-programmen ska ske mer automatiskt bör materialen eller objekten benämnas standardiserat, till exempel med BSAB-koder, ett klassifikationssystem från Svensk Byggtjänst. Benämningarna bör sedan kunna kopplas automatiskt till poster i databaser för effektivare klimat- och livscykelanalyser.  Även intervjuer utfördes, i syfte att undersöka hur metodiken för integrering av BIM och LCA kan tillämpas i byggprojekt. Möjligheten att tillämpa detta i konsultföretag beror på beställarens krav samt i vilka skeden och discipliner konsulterna arbetar. Integreringsprocesser av BIM- och LCA-verktyg borde kombineras med interdisciplinära möten för bättre resultat. Detta tillsammans med ökad efterfrågan på klimat- och livscykelanalyser, exempelvis för att uppnå miljöcertifieringar, kan öka motivationen att använda metodiken. På så sätt kan byggnadsinformationsmodellering användas för effektivare klimat- och livscykelanalyser vilket bidrar till minskad klimatpåverkan från byggnadskonstruktioner.
Construction processes and the production of building material cause a large part of the emissions of greenhouse gases around the world. To achieve a sustainable development it is of great importance to reduce emissions from construction projects. Doing climate analyses and life cycle assessments of building materials during early design phases could enable more sustainable design and material choices. This thesis focuses on Swedish conditions. During this study it was investigated how Building Information Modeling/Management (BIM) can be used to improve possibilities of doing efficient life cycle assessments (LCA) of buildings and included materials, during the whole design phase. Two 3D building models were transferred to two software tools, Bidcon and One Click LCA, for climate analysis and life cycle assessment of the building components. Quantity take-off from the model objects to the tools worked automatically while the connection between the material descriptions and databases inside the tools had to be done manually. The process requires information about the materials in the model to work. To make the connections more automatic, material descriptions need to be more standardized and connect to entries in the databases. Moreover interviews were held to investigate how the methods of integrating BIM with LCA can be used in construction projects. For consulting firms this depends on the demands from the client and which stages of the project the consultants work in. LCA-methods based on BIM should be combined with interdisciplinary meetings for better results. This together with an expanding demand for LCA could increase the motivation to use these methods, which enables reduction of climate impact from buildings.

A causa del largo utilizzo di acciaio e calcestruzzo per la costruzione degli edifici, il settore delle costruzioni è responsabile di un terzo delle emissioni globali di gas serra in atmosfera. Il presente lavoro di tesi mira a valutare le emissioni di anidride carbonica dovute alla costruzione di un edificio con materiali convenzionali e a confrontarle con le emissioni dello stesso edificio se fosse in legno laminato: in particolare vengono analizzati tre principali scenari: nel primo si analizza l’edificio costruito con materiali convenzionali, nel secondo vengono sostituiti da materiali convenzionali sostenibili, nel terzo viene eliminato il calcestruzzo e al suo posto vengono inseriti pannelli di legno laminato. Viene utilizzato il software One Click LCA prodotto dalla Bionova, che, valutando le fasi di estrazioni di materie prime, lavorazione, produzione, trasporto e messa in opera, permette di quantificare l’anidride carbonica immessa in atmosfera in seguito a tali processi. Dai risultati emerge un netto miglioramento sin dal secondo scenario in cui le emissioni si riducono del 47%, al terzo scenario dove si abbassano del 75% rispetto al valore iniziale: per questo motivo, un’analisi LCA dovrebbe essere sempre effettuata durante la progettazione di un edificio.

Life cycle assessment of soil remediation options:Study of options at Norrbyskär - which alternative has the least climate impact?  The purpose of this report was to make a life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare four suggested options for soil remediation at Norrbyskär, Umeå. The question formulation was to find out which option that had the least climate impact depending on the aim of the remediation. Main focus of the study was emissions of CO2 from transportation and machine work for each remediation option. The LCA was a screening and presented a good overview for the results. What sets the four remediation options apart is the amount of soil that is processed for each option. The LCA was performed according to the standards ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006. Calculations in the report was performed with the LCA-software SimaPro and general data from EcoInvent. The results showed that the total emissions from each soil remediation option varied between 310 and 590 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e). The option that only included covering of the contaminated area with new soil had the least emissions and the option that included excavation and filling with new soil had the highest emissions. Both options do not fulfill the same goals in the end, though. One conclusion is that the more extensive remediation is the greater is the climate impact.

La sostenibilità è un concetto chiave della società moderna ed è ampiamente utilizzato per valutare organizzazioni, aziende o istituzioni. A tal proposito, il presente studio è stato realizzato per Pietro Fiorentini Spa, con l’obiettivo principale di valutare il confronto degli impatti, in particolare delle emissioni di gas serra come CO2 equivalente, generati dalla produzione di due contatori gas. Il NexMeter AS IS, è un contatore costituito da sole componenti di plastica vergine, mentre il NexMeter Green, realizzato dall'azienda per la multiutility Gruppo Hera, è primo nel suo genere a livello internazionale per tecnologie all’avanguardia e funzioni di sicurezza anche in termini di riduzione delle dispersioni di gas in atmosfera, realizzato con oltre il 68% di componenti plastiche riciclate ed è già utilizzabile per la distribuzione in rete dell’idrogeno (fino a un massimo del 20% di compatibilità), con una sperimentazione sul campo prevista nei prossimi mesi. È stata condotta, quindi, un’analisi LCA in grado di quantificare l’intera gamma degli impatti ambientali imputabili a un prodotto o a un servizio a causa dei flussi materiali da e verso la natura e consentire il confronto di prodotti diversi con uguale funzione. L’ulteriore obiettivo dello studio è stato quantificare il profilo ambientale dell’intero ciclo di vita dei singoli contatori, per poter individuare i processi maggiormente impattanti e di conseguenza intervenire con soluzioni migliorative che possano mitigare le pressioni ambientali. In questo modo l’analisi ha permesso di individuare quali sono le categorie che provocano gli impatti più rilevanti, per permettere all’azienda di intervenire con adeguate soluzioni migliorative che le consentano di operare nella maniera più sostenibile possibile. A seguito dei risultati ottenuti, alcune possibili soluzioni sono state direttamente proposte ed analizzate nell’elaborato seguente.

The fight against the climate change is the biggest challenge of the 21st century. The keyword in this context is “decarbonisation”: the development and management of an economic system with low Greenhouses Gases emissions. In this thesis, the environmental assessment of power generation technologies exploiting a renewable and environmentally friendly energy source, namely the geothermal energy, is presented. To evaluate the advantages and hot-spots of implementing such technologies the Life Cycle Assessment method was employed as the most powerful analytical tool for environmental sustainability analysis with a life cycle approach. With this method, it is possible to investigate a system with a multi-criteria approach, not limited to climate change only, but overarching a wide portfolio of environmental impact categories and indicators such as acidification, use of fresh water and depletion of natural resources. A rigorous scientific analysis should always be based on high-quality and robust data. Therefore, the atmospheric emissions of all the geothermal plants currently operating in Italy were carefully collected and analysed. In addition to direct emissions information, an extensive work to build the complete Life Cycle inventory of a state-of-the-art geothermal power plant. From the methodological point of view, the application of the Life Cycle Assessment to geothermal power plants allowed to point out a critical aspect method itself. To this purpose, special relevance in this work is given to the results related to the toxicity issue because they are the ones that attract the most public opinion and at the same time are more uncertain and unreliable. To improve the dissemination of LCA results and the diffusion of correct information, an essential step could be the implementation of methodological advances that facilitate the use LCA. In this work the development of simplified LCA models is presented and discussed in terms of the support that can provide both for decision-makers in their function, but also for experienced LCA practitioners.

Forest fuels can be recovered, stored and handled in several ways and these different ways have different implications for CO2 emissions. In this thesis, comparative analyses were made on different forest-fuel systems. The analyses focused on the recovery and transport systems. Costs, primary energy use, CO2 emissions, storage losses and work environment associated with the use of forest fuel for energy were examined by using systems analysis methodology in a life cycle perspective. The bundle system showed less dry-matter losses and lower costs than the chip system. The difference was mainly due to more efficient forwarding, hauling and large-scale chipping. The potential of allergic reactions by workers did not differ significantly between the systems. In difficult terrain types, the loose material and roadside bundling systems become as economical as the clearcut bundle system. The stump and small roundwood systems showed the greatest increase in costs when the availability of forest fuel decreased. Stumps required the greatest increase in primary energy use. Forest fuels are a limited resource. A key factor is the amount of biomass recovered per hectare. Combined recovery of logging residues, stumps and small roundwood from thinnings from the same forest area give a high potential of reduced net CO2 emissions per hectare of forest land. Compensation fertilization becomes more cost-effective and the primary energy use for ash spreading becomes low – about 0,25‰. The total amount of available forest fuel in Sweden is 66 TWh per year. This would cost 1 billion €2007 to recover and would avoid 6.9 Mtonne carbon if fossil coal were replaced. In southern Sweden almost all forest fuel is obtainable in high-concentration areas where it is easy to recover. When determining potential CO2 emissions avoidance, the transportation distance was found to be less important than the other factors considered in this work. The type of transportation system did not have a significant influence over the CO2 avoided per hectare of forest land. The most important factor analysed here was the type of fossil fuel (coal, oil or natural gas) replaced together with the net amount of biomass recovered per hectare of forest land. Large-scale, long-distance transportation of biofuels from central Sweden has the potential to be cost-effective and also attractive in terms of CO2 emissions. A bundle recovery system meant that more biomass per hectare could be delivered to end-users than a pellet system due to conversion losses when producing pellets.

Microgrid can provide stable, clean, and sustainable electricity supply for remote places since it can operate on renewable energy sources and work isolated from the utility grid. This thesis evaluates the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the microgrid system which is located at the ‘North-five Islands’ of Changshan archipelago in China. The existing electricity generation technologies of the microgrid system are wind turbine, PV system and diesel generators with the capacity of 2 MW, 300 kW and 2046 kW, respectively. The total demand of electricity (362.2 GWh) will be supplied by the wind turbine, PV system and diesel generators with 32.03%, 2.36% and 65.62%, respectively, if the microgrid system is required to supply the electricity demand for the ‘North-five Islands’ area alone under the islanded mode during 20 years lifespan. The thesis uses the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate the life cycle GHG emissions of the microgrid system. The life cycle stages of this study include: raw material extraction, manufacturing, transportation and operation. In order to assess the environmental benefits of the microgrid system, three electricity supply options – ‘microgrid electricity supply option’, ‘grid extension electricity supply option’, and ‘conventional fossil diesel generators electricity supply option’ are designed to evaluate the life cycle GHG emissions for supplying 20 years electricity demand (362.2 GWh) of the ‘Northfive Islands’. The results show that the life cycle GHG emissions of the ‘microgrid electricity supply option’ are 223.19 million kgCO2eq. Compared to the ‘grid extension electricity supply option’ and ‘conventional fossil diesel generators electricity supply option’, the net savings of the GHG emissions are 70.56 and 112.18 million kgCO2eq, respectively. It mainly results from the differences of the electricity supply methods of the three electricity supply options. For the ‘microgrid electricity supply option’ itself, the operation stage takes the most responsibility of the life cycle GHG emissions with 97.6%. The raw material extraction, manufacturing and transportation stages account for 1.93%, 0.44% and 0.026%, respectively. For the system components of the microgrid system, the wind turbine, PV system, diesel generators, energy storage system, and cables account for 0.34%, 0.18%, 97.75%, 0.60%, and 1.12%, respectively, of the microgrid system’s life cycle GHG emissions. The thesis conducts the sensitivity analysis of diesel burn rate efficiency (L/kWh) of the microgrid system’s diesel generators due to a large quantity (60.84 million L) of diesel consumption by the diesel generators during 20 years operation time. According to the results of the sensitivity analysis, the diesel burn rate efficiency can directly impact the diesel consumption of the diesel generators, and consequently has a significant impact on the life cycle GHG emissions of the ‘North-five Islands’ microgrid system. Since the diesel burn rate efficiency represents the amount of diesel consumption, this results highlight the significance of any factors that affect the diesel consumption (e.g. quantity of diesel, temperature, altitude, etc.), in affecting the life cycle GHG emissions of the ‘North-five Islands’ microgrid system. In addition, the thesis performers the sensitivity analysis of renewable energy (wind and solar energy in specific) fraction of the studied microgrid system because of the huge potential of available renewable energy (63.65 MW of wind turbines) nearby the microgrid system. The results of the sensitivity analysis show that the life cycle GHG emissions of the microgrid system decrease linearly with the increase of wind and solar energy fraction. Particularly, the life cycle GHG emissions of the microgrid system decrease 1.46% (3.26 million kgCO2eq) and 1.37% (3.05 million kgCO2eq) with an increase of 1% in wind and solar energy, respectively.

Nanotechnology research and its commercial applications have experienced an exponential rise in the recent decades. Although there are a lot of studies with regards to toxicity of nanoparticles, the exposure to nanoparticles, both in terms of quality and quantity, during the life cycle of nanocomposites is very much an unknown quantity and an active area of research. Unsurprisingly, the regulations governing the use and disposal of nanomaterials during its life cycle are behind the curve. This work aims to assess the quantity of nanoparticles released along the life cycle of nanocomposites. Machining operations such as milling and drilling were chosen to simulate the manufacturing of nanocomposites parts, and impact testing to recreate the end-of-life of the materials. Several studies have tried to simulate different release scenarios, however these experiments had many variables and in general were not done in controlled environments. In this study, a reliable method was developed to assess the release of nanoparticles during machining and low velocity impact of nanocomposites. The development and validation of a new prototype used for measurement and monitoring of nanoparticles in a controlled environment is presented, as along with release experiments on different nanocomposites. Every sample tested was found to release nanoparticles irrespective of the mechanical process used or the type of material tested. Even neat polymers released nanoparticles when subjected to mechanical forces. The type of matrix was identified to play a major role on the quantity of nanoparticles release during different process. Thermoset polymers (and especially polyester) were found to release a higher number concentration of particles, mainly due to their brittle properties. A polyester sample was found to release up to 48 times more particles than a polypropylene one during drilling. The nanofiller type and percentage used to reinforce the polymer is also a key point. For example, the addition of 2 wt.% of nano-alumina into polyester increases the number concentration of particles by 106 % following an impact. The nanofiller chosen and its quantity affect the mechanical properties and machinability of the composites and therefore its nanoparticles release potential. The mechanical process and the process parameters chosen were also found to be crucial with regards to the nanoparticles released with different trends observed during drilling and impact of similar materials. Finally, thermal ageing of nanocomposites increases the number concentration of nanoparticles released (by 8 to 17 times after 6 weeks).

There is a growing demand for climate reporting of digital solutions and Internet services. However, the impacts of data transmission have historically been the least studied part of the ICT sector and in the few studies that exist, the magnitude of Internet energy intensity varies by a scale as large as 20,000. This indicates that the assessment of network traffic is a complex task, and there is currently no consensus of how to correctly assess it.  In an attempt to guide process development within the area, this report sought to identify and address potential challenges with assessing the environmental impact of network traffic during its life cycle. This was completed through a combination of a literature review and semi-structured interviews with experts in the field. Several areas in the form of knowledge gaps, unsolved methodological issues, and areas in need of further development were identified and addressed.  Eight key challenges were identified and relate to the areas of system boundaries, data collection methods, energy intensity metrics, transparency and data availability, age of data, allocation procedures, assumptions on inventory level, and impact categories. In an attempt to address said challenges, several suggestions on how to proceed were presented, as well as areas in need of further investigation. It was furthermore found that the sector should strive to agree upon a number of parameters of significance to enable future harmonized studies of the environmental impact of network traffic during its life cycle.
Efterfrågan på klimatrapportering av digitala lösningar och Internettjänster ökar allt mer. Samtidigt är effekterna av datatrafik historiskt sett den minst studerade delen av IKT-sektorn, och i de få studier som finns varierar storleken på Internets energiintensitet med en skala på 20 000. Detta indikerar att bedömningen av nätverkstrafik är en komplex uppgift, och i nuläget saknas en konsensus kring hur det bäst kan mätas.  I ett försök att vägleda processutveckling inom området försökte rapporten identifiera och analysera potentiella utmaningar som kan uppstå när man bedömer miljöpåverkan av nätverkstrafik under dess livscykel. Med en kombination av en litteraturstudie och halvstrukturerade kvalitativa forskningsintervjuer med experter inom forskningsområdet identifierades och behandlades ett flertal områden i form av kunskapsluckor, olösta metodologiska frågor och områden i behov av vidareutveckling.  Resultatet visade att åtta utmaningar av hög relevans existerar inom områdena systemgränser, datainsamlingsmetoder, energiintensitetsmätvärden, transparens och datatillgänglighet, snabb teknikutveckling, allokering, antaganden och miljöpåverkningskategorier. I ett försök att ta itu med de nämnda utmaningarna presenterades ett flertal förslag till lösningar samt områden som behöver undersökas ytterligare i framtiden. Det konstaterades dessutom att sektorn behöver sträva efter att enas om ett antal parametrar av betydelse för att möjliggöra framtida harmoniserade studier av nätverkstrafikens miljöpåverkan under dess livscykel.

This study aims to undertake a comprehensive analysis of different waste management systems for the wastes produced in Östersund municipality of Sweden with an impact assessment limited to greenhouse gas emissions and their total environmental effects in terms of global warming potential, acidification potential, and eutrophication potential. A life cycle assessment methodology is used by integrating knowledge from waste collection, transportation, waste management processes and the product utilization. The analytical framework included the definition of functional unit, system boundaries, complimentary system design, waste management, and partial use of the energy. Three different municipal solid waste management scenarios, incineration, composting, and digestion were considered for the study. All wastes from Östersund municipality were classified into biodegradable and combustible and thereafter treated for energy and compost production. Greenhouse gas emissions and total environmental impacts were quantified and evaluated their corresponding benefits compared to three different types of marginal energy production system. The results showed that the major greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions are greater in composting scenario, whereas methane emission is greater in digestion scenario. Composting scenario that uses additional coal fuel has greater global warming potential and acidification potential compared to other scenarios. Composting scenario using wood fuel additional energy has greater eutrophication potential. The highest reduction in global warming potential is achieved when digestion scenario replace coal energy. The greater reduction in acidification and eutrophication potential achieved when digestion scenario replaced coal energy, and wood fuel respectively. Based on the assumptions made, digestion scenario appears to be the best option to manage solid waste of Östersund municipality if the municipality goal is to reduce total environmental impact. Although there may have plentiful of uncertainties, digestion and incineration scenario results are competitive in reducing environmental effects, and based on the assumptions and factors used for the analysis, the results and conclusions from this study appear to be strong. Key words: Solid waste, incineration, composting, digestion, total environmental effect, wood fuel, biogas.

The Well-To-Wheels (WTW) methodology is widely used for policy making in the transportation sector. In this paper updated WTW calculations are provided, relying on 2013 statistic data, for the carbon intensity (CI) of the European electricity mix; detail is provided for electricity consumed in each EU Member State (MS). An interesting aspect presented is the calculation of the GHG content of electricity traded between Countries, affecting the carbon intensity of the electricity consumed at national level. The amount and CI of imported electricity is a key aspect: a Country importing electricity from another Country with a lower CI of electricity will lower, after the trade, its electricity CI, while importing electricity from a Country with a higher CI will raise the CI of the importing Country. In average, the CI of electricity used in EU at low voltage in 2013 was 447 gCO2eq/kWh, which is the 17% less compared to 2009. Then, some examples of calculation of GHG emissions from the use of electric vehicles (EVs) compared to internal combustion engine vehicles are provided. The use of EVs instead of gasoline vehicles can save (about 60% of) GHG in all or in most of the EU MSs, depending on the estimated consumption of EVs. Compared with diesel, EVs show average GHG savings of around 50% and not savings at all in some EU MS.

L’agricultura urbana (AU) consisteix en el desenvolupament d’activitats agrícoles dins i al voltant de les ciutats. Actualment, aquestes pràctiques estan creixent en tot el món per fer front al creixement de la població (tant a les zones urbanes com a nivell planetari), reduir les conseqüències ambientals de proporcionar aliments a les ciutats i augmentar-ne l’autosuficiència alimentaria. Un dels espais lliures amb gran disponibilitat, i d’interès per les practicants de l’AU, són les cobertes dels edificis. En concret, les cobertes de les naus industrial podrien ser d’interès per la instal·lació de cultius intensius amb objectius comercials, com els hivernacles en coberta. Els hivernacles en coberta poden ser connectats amb l’edifici sobre el qual estan instal·lats, amb la finalitat de generar un intercanvi de fluxos (aigua, energia i CO2) entre els dos sistemes. Aquestes estratègies poden ser de gran interès per reduir els impactes ambientals dels hivernacles en coberta, obtingudes principalment per la reducció de les distancies de transport dels aliments, l’atenuació de les pèrdues d’aliments durant el seu transport i la reutilització del packaging pel transport. No obstant això, no s’han detectat millores ambientals en la resta d’etapes de cicle de vida; per tant, sembla ser que encara manca realitzar una recerca més profunda sobre aquests aspectes. La present tesis doctoral pretén cobrir aquest àmbit de recerca a través d’intentar donar resposta a les següents preguntes: • Pot un sistema passiu fet amb materials de canvi de fase substituir els sistemes convencionals de calefacció agrícoles i reduir la petjada de carboni dels hivernacles en coberta? • Pot l’aire residual dels edificis ser utilitzat per l’enriquiment carbònic dels hivernacles en coberta? • Es possible millorar la precisió del càlcul de la petjada de carboni dels hivernacles en coberta? • És la creació de subproductes, a partir dels residus agrícoles, una estratègia per fixar el CO2 capturat pels cultius dels hivernacles en coberta? La principal metodologia de recerca aplicada, per respondre les preguntes plantejades, és l’anàlisi de cicle de vida (ACV). A més a més, altres materials i mètodes han sigut utilitzats d’acord amb els requeriments de les línies de recerca estudiades; com per exemple: un sistema de cambra oberta; anemòmetres; piranòmetres; sensors de CO2; sensors de temperatura o cromatògrafs de gasos i líquids. Els resultats obtinguts mostren que la creació de subproductes, amb residus de l’AU, podria ser l’estratègia estudiada amb major viabilitat per minimitzar els impactes ambientals dels hivernacles en coberta. L’ús de residus agrícoles per produir subproductes evita la gestió final d’aquests residus. A més a més, els subproductes obtinguts tenen un gran potencial per fixar les emissions de CO2 capturades pels cultius de l’AU. Els materials de canvi de fase, en canvi, no podran ajudar a minimitzar les conseqüències ambientals dels sistemes de calefacció agrícoles actuals fins que el seu preu i impactes mediambientals, generats durant la seva producció, es redueixin. Malgrat això, gràcies a les elevades concentracions de CO2 dels espais tancats d’habitatges i edificis d’oficines, l’aire residual d’aquests immobles podria ser injectat dins els hivernacles en coberta (situats sobre el mateix edifici) per enriquir amb carboni els cultius. Finalment, a dia d’avui i d’acord amb la recerca realitzada, la petjada de carboni dels hivernacles en coberta podria no haver sigut calculada amb precisió. L’ús de factors de d’emissions de nitrogen no específics, per calcular les emissions de N2O de cultius realitzats en hivernacles en coberta, podria haver causat una sobreestimació del 7.5% de la petjada de carboni calculada. En futures recerques, podria ser de gran interès profunditzar amb més detall les línies de recerca iniciades i començar noves recerques sobre altres aspectes metodològics detectats, encara pendents d’estudi.
La agricultura urbana (AU) consiste en el desarrollo de actividades agrícolas dentro y en los extrarradios de las ciudades. En la actualidad, estas prácticas están creciendo para hacer frente al crecimiento de la población (tanto en las zonas urbanas como a nivel planetario), reducir las consecuencias ambientales de proporcionar alimentos a las ciudades y aumentar su autosuficiencia alimentaria. Uno de los espacios libres con gran disponibilidad, y de interés para las practicantes de la AU, son las cubiertas de los edificios. Las cubiertas de las naves industriales podrían ser de interés para la instalación de cultivos intensivos con fines comerciales, como son los invernaderos en cubierta. Los invernaderos en cuberita pueden ser conectados con el edificio sobre el cual están instalados, con la finalidad de generar un intercambio de flujos (agua, energía y CO2) entre los dos sistemas. Estas estrategias pueden ser de gran interés para mitigar los impactos ambientales de los invernaderos en cubierta, principalmente debido a la reducción de las distancias de transporte de los alimentos, la atenuación de las pérdidas de alimentos durante su transporte y la reutilización del packaging para el transporte. Sin embargo, no se han detectado mejoras ambientales en el resto de las etapas de ciclo de vida. La presente tesis pretende cubrir este vacio a través de intentar dar respuesta a las siguientes preguntas: • ¿Puede un sistema pasivo hecho con materiales de cambio de fase substituir los sistemas convencionales de calefacción agrícolas y reducir la huella de carbono de los invernaderos en cubierta? • ¿Puede el aire residual de los edificios ser utilizado para el enriquecimiento carbónico de los invernaderos en cubierta? • ¿Es posible mejorar la precisión del cálculo de la huella de carbono de los invernaderos en cubierta? • ¿Es la creación de subproductos, a partir de residuos agrícolas, una estrategia para fijar el CO2 capturado por los cultivos de los invernaderos en cubierta? La principal metodología de investigación aplicada es el análisis de ciclo de vida (ACV). Además, otros materiales y métodos fueron utilizados según los requerimientos de las líneas de investigación; por ejemplo: un sistema de cámara abierta; anemómetros; piranómetros; sensores de CO2 y de temperatura; o cromatógrafos de gases y líquidos. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que la creación de subproductos, con residuos de la AU, podría ser la estrategia estudiada con una mayor viabilidad para minimizar los impactos ambientales de los invernaderos en cubierta. El uso de residuos agrícolas para producir subproductos evita la gestión final de estos residuos. Asimismo, los subproductos obtenidos tienen un gran potencial para fijar las emisiones de CO2 capturadas por los cultivos de la AU. Los materiales de cambio de fase, en cambio, no podrán ayudar a minimizar los impactos ambientales de los sistemas de calefacción agrícolas actuales hasta que su precio e impactos ambientales, generados durante su producción, se reduzcan. Gracias a las elevadas concentraciones de CO2 de los espacios cerrados de las viviendas y edificios de oficinas, el aire residual de estos inmuebles podría ser inyectado dentro de los invernaderos en cubierta para enriquecer con carbono los cultivos. Finalmente, a día de hoy y de acuerdo con la investigación realizada, la huella de carbono de los invernaderos en cubierta podría no haber sido calculada con precisión. El uso de factores de emisiones de nitrógeno no específicos, para calcular las emisiones de N2O de los cultivos realizados en invernaderos en cubierta, podría haber causado una sobreestimación del 7.5% de la huella de carbono calculada. En futuras investigaciones, podría ser de gran interés profundizar con más detalle las líneas de investigación iniciadas y empezar nuevas investigaciones sobre otros aspectos metodológicos detectados, todavía pendientes de estudio.
Urban agriculture (UA) consist of farming operations taking place in and around cities. At present, these practices are growing all around the world to face the increasing world and urban population, reduce the environmental implications of feeding urban areas and increase food self-sufficiency in cities. An interesting vacant space for UA practitioners is the roof of buildings. The roof of industrial buildings may be of great interest for the installation of intensive crops for commercial purposes, such as rooftop greenhouse (RTGs). RTGs can be connected with the building they are placed on to exchange water, heat or CO2 flows. These types of RTGs are named integrated RTGs (i-RTGs). i-RTGs, for example, can use the rainwater harvested by the building to irrigate crops, take advantage of the thermal inertia of the building to warm crops without using heating systems or use the residual air of the building, with high CO2 concentration due to human respiration or other processes, to increase the CO2 concentration of crops. These strategies are of great interest to mitigate the environmental burdens of i-RTGs. In comparison with conventional decentralized agriculture, previous studies show that i-RTGs could reduce the environmental implications of feeding cities. Benefits are mainly obtained due to reduced food transportation distances, minimized food losses during transportation and improved packaging logistics which allows its reutilization. However, no advantages were detected for the other life cycle stages; therefore, further research is still lacking in this area. This doctoral thesis aims to fill this gap by addressing the following research questions: • Can passive systems made with phase change materials (PCMs) replace conventional heating in greenhouses and reduce the carbon footprint of i-RTGs? • Can the residual air of a building be used for CO2 enrichment in i-RTGs? • Could the GHG emissions of i-RTGs be calculated with more accuracy? • Is the creation of new by-products, with UA wastes, a strategy to sink the CO2 emissions captured by crops grown in i-RTGs? Life cycle assessment (LCA) was the main method used to answer these questions. In addition, other specific methods and materials (i.e.; open chamber system, pyranometers; anemometers; temperature sensors; CO2 sensors and gas or liquids chromatography) were used according to the requirements of each specific research line. The results evidence that the creation of by-products with UA wastes could be the strategy studied with the higher feasibility to reduce the environmental implications of i-RTGs. When waste biomass generated in i-RTGs is used to produce new by-products, biomass waste management is avoided. Moreover, the new by-products obtained have the potential to fix the CO2 emissions captured by crops, for a long time. The use of PCMs to reduce the energy consumption of conventional heating systems in greenhouses and i-RTGs will not be of interest until PCMs prices go down and the efficiency of its production increases. However, due to the high CO2 concentration in household and office buildings, the residual air from their ventilation systems could be used for the carbon enrichment of i-RTGs. Finally, according to research done, the carbon footprint of i-RTGs has not been calculated with accuracy until today. The application of non-specific nitrogen emission factors to calculate the direct N2O emissions in crops grown in i-RTGs could have caused the overestimation of their carbon footprint by 7.5%. In the near future, further research would be of interest to address in more detail the new topics studied during this dissertation and develop research on other methodological aspects detected.

The paper at hand presents the environmental impact analysis of a photovoltaic (PV) power station sited in Stockholm, Sweden, using life cycle assessment (LCA). The LCA considers the primary energy return on investment and global warming potential of the PV-station, including; resource extraction, manufacturing, transportation, operation and maintenance, and decommissioning. Other environmental impact indicators are also presented, such as; the eutrophication, acidification, human toxicity, and ozone depletion potentials. The results show that the most critical phase of the lifecycle is the upgrade from metallurgical to solar grade silicon due to the high consumption of energy. The emissions results are compared to the emissions factors used for calculations in Sweden in accordance with the Swedish Energy agency and the European Commission’s directive for emissions calculations. The results for the other environmental indicators showed inconsistencies compared to existing studies, something that is according to the IEA’s guideline for PV-systems LCA caused by data scarcity and the indicators lacking consensus within the PV LCA-community. The studied PV-station is expected to reach energy neutrality after 2,4 years and offset annual GHG emissions of up to18 ton of CO 2 equivalents.
Studien tillhands presenterar miljöutvärderingen av en fotovoltaisk solcellsanläggning i Stockholm. Detta utfördes med hjälp av livscykelanalysverktyget. Analysen använder energiåterbetalningstiden och den globala uppvärmningspotentialen som indikatorer på anläggningens miljöinverkan. Både återbetalningstiden och den globala uppvärmningspotentialen beräknas för gruvarbetet, transporten, drift och underhåll samt avveckling och bortskaffning av anläggningen. Överföringsförluster beräknas också över anläggningens livscykel. Andra indikatorer som beräknas i denna studie är potentialen för försurning, övergödning, ozonnedbrytning och humantoxicitet. Dessa beräknas endast för modulens tillverkningskedja. Studiens resultat visar att den mest kritiska processen under solcellsanläggningens livscykel är kiselmetallens omvandling till solkisel, detta med avseende på energiförbrukningen och utsläpp av växthusgaser. Anläggningens globala uppvärmningspotential uttrycks i växthusgasutsläpp och jämförs med den nordiska elmixens utsläppsfaktor. Jämförelsen görs enligt dem gällande EU-direktiven. Resultaten för dem andraindikatorerna har visat på väsentliga avvikelser jämfört med tidigare studier. Detta beror enligt det internationella energirådet på databrist och på att dessa indikatorer saknar stöd inomLCA samfundet. Solcellsanläggningen beräknas bli energineutral efter 2,4 år samt eutralisera utsläpp på upp till 18 ton koldioxidekvivalenta per år.

La modernisation du réseau électrique (RE) par la mise en œuvre de micro-réseaux offre un potentiel significatif pour améliorer la résilience énergétique, la durabilité et l'efficacité. Cependant, cette transition implique de naviguer dans un ensemble complexe de défis techniques, économiques et environnementaux. Les micro-réseaux nécessitent une planification et une optimisation méticuleuses pour équilibrer la génération, le stockage et la consommation d'énergie tout en minimisant les coûts et les émissions de carbone. Atteindre cet équilibre nécessite des stratégies d'optimisation avancées capables de traiter les subtilités des composants du système et des dynamiques opérationnelles. L'objectif de cette recherche est d'améliorer les capacités de prise de décision des concepteurs de micro-réseaux en fournissant une approche globale pour la planification des micro-réseaux. L'étude offre une analyse approfondie du projet sur toute sa durée de vie, du point de vue technique, économique et environnemental. Implémenté en Python et résolu à l'aide de CPLEX, le processus d'optimisation vise à minimiser à la fois le « Levelized Cost of Energy » (LCOE) et le « Life Cycle Emission » (LCE). L'étude utilise des données économiques et environnementales réelles, en tenant compte de la croissance de la charge ainsi que des données réelles d'irradiation solaire, de température ambiante et de vitesse du vent. La charge pour le bâtiment universitaire est basée sur des données de l'Université de Technologie de Compiègne, France, avec la charge des véhicules électriques (VE) modélisée à l'aide d'une modélisation probabiliste. L'étude introduit une stratégie d'optimisation multi-objectifs conjointe utilisant le « Mixed Integer Linear Programming » (MILP) pour garantir des solutions globalement optimales, facilitant ainsi des choix de conception plus informés et efficaces. Ces choix impliquent l'évaluation de diverses solutions proposées pour équilibrer les coûts et les émissions de carbone tout en abordant les complexités et les contraintes techniques du problème de gestion de l'énergie. Un aspect novateur de ce travail est l'intégration de la gestion d'énergie (GE) et du dimensionnement des composants dans un problème d'optimisation unifié, visant un écart d'optimalité de 0 % avec un temps de calcul réduit par rapport à la littérature existante. La méthode proposée évalue les compromis inhérents entre diverses solutions, identifiant le front de Pareto et permettant un équilibre optimal entre les objectifs économiques et environnementaux. Les résultats indiquent une réduction significative du LCOE et du LCE dans le GCMG par rapport à l'IMG. L'étude révèle que la capacité du système de stockage d'énergie par batterie (BESS) augmente à mesure que le LCE diminue, et que le nombre de systèmes photovoltaïques est plus élevé lorsque le LCOE est plus bas pour les deux modes de fonctionnement. Cela se produit parce que le BESS a un LCE légèrement inférieur à celui du PV, et que le LCOE du PV est également inférieur à celui du BESS. De plus, à mesure que la limite du RE augmente, les fronts de Pareto deviennent plus bas et plus raides. En outre, le même algorithme MILP est appliqué pour optimiser les micro-réseaux d'un campus universitaire tertiaire dans diverses villes. L'étude intègre également des éoliennes (WT) et des charges de VE dans le micro-réseau. L'étude fournit une analyse comparative de trois scénarios (PV/BESS, WT/BESS et PV/WT/BESS) dans différentes villes, évalue les impacts des fluctuations saisonnières sur le LCOE et le LCE, et évalue comment les technologies des composants des micro-réseaux influencent les résultats du LCOE et du LCE. Les résultats indiquent que les scénarios incluant PV/WT/BESS produisent les valeurs de LCOE et de LCE les plus basses, tandis que le scénario WT/BESS aboutit aux valeurs de LCOE et de LCE les plus élevées
The modernization of the electricity grid (EG) through the implementation of microgrids offers significant potential for enhancing energy resilience, sustainability, and efficiency. However, this transition involves navigating a complex web of technical, economic, and environmental challenges. Microgrids require meticulous planning and optimization to balance energygeneration, storage, and consumption while minimizing costs and carbon emissions. Achievingthis balance calls for advanced optimization strategies, which are capable of addressing theintricacies of system components and operational dynamics. The objective of this research is to enhance the decision-making capabilities of microgrid designers by providing a comprehensive approach for microgrid planning. The study offers an in-depth analysis of the project’s lifetime from technical, economic, and environmental perspectives. Implemented in Python and solved using CPLEX, the optimization process aims to minimize both the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and the levelized cost of emissions (LCE). The study utilizes real economic and environmental data considering load growth as well as actual solar irradiation, ambient temperature, and wind speed data. The load for the university building is based on data from the Université de Technologie de Compiègne, France with the electric vehicle (EV) load modeled using probabilistic modeling. The study introduces a joint multi-objective optimization strategy usingMixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) to ensure globally optimal solutions, thereby that facilitates obtaining more informed and effective design choices. These choices involve evaluating various proposed solutions to balance cost and carbon emissions while addressing the complexities and technical constraints of the energy management (EM) problem. A novel aspect of this work is the integration of EM and component sizing into a unified optimization problem, aiming for an optimality gap of 0% with reduced computation time compared to existing literature. The proposed method evaluates the inherent trade-offs among various solutions by identifying the Pareto front and allowing for an optimal balance between economic and environmental objectives. The results indicate a significant reduction in LCOE and LCE in the GCMG compared to the IMG. The study reveals that Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) capacity increases as the LCE decreases, and the number of Photovoltaic (PV) systems is higher when the LCOE is lower for both operation modes. This occurs because the BESS has a slightly lower LCE compared to PV, and the LCOE of PV is also lower than that of BESS. Furthermore, as the limit of the EG increases, the Pareto fronts become lower and steeper. Additionally, the same MILP algorithm is applied to optimize microgrids from a tertiary university campus across various cities. The study further integrates wind turbines (WT) and EV loads into the microgrid. The study provides a comparative analysis of three scenarios (PV/BESS, WT/BESS, and PV/WT/BESS) across different cities for evaluating the impacts of seasonal fluctuations on LCOE and LCE, and for assessing how microgrid component technologies influence LCOE and LCE outcomes. The results indicate that scenarios including PV/WT/BESS yield the lowest LCOE and LCE values, while the WT/BESS scenario results in the highest LCOE and LCE. It is also observed that the order of cities based on average solar irradiation or wind speed does not necessarily correspond to the order of LCOE and LCE. Monthly and daily fluctuations in solar irradiation and wind speed significantly impact these results. Regarding the technologies, locally produced PV panels contribute positively to the overall LCE of the microgrid, with PV panels incorporating phase changing material showing higher LCE. The research also compares two distinct algorithms

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The rate at which the world is consuming energy is growing, and with climate change an immediate concern (Stern, 2006), it is incumbent for the global society to find alternate ways of fuelling human activity. Along with greater energy use, global development is also generating ever-greater quantities of waste. Landfill space is becoming increasingly scarce and the assimilative capacity of Earth is reaching its limits. Society's current approach to the production, consumption, and disposal of goods is likely unsustainable. The goal of this research was to assess the difference in cumulative energy demand (CED) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for two waste management options: landfilling and recycling for the two materials of Construction and Demolition (C&D) rubble and container glass in the City of Cape Town (CCT) in order to determine which option has the lower climate impact.

The aim of this thesis is to explore the quantitative potential to reduce energy requirements and CO2 emissions through changed patterns of consumption, given unchanged levels of consumption expenditure. The thesis question is analysed using a systems analysis approach which in this case means that life cycle assessment data on energy requirements and CO2 emissions related to household consumption are combined with a financial and behavioural analysis to make sure that the budget constraint is kept and that both the first and second order effects of adopting a green consumption pattern are analysed. The budget constraints are kept using a general linear model. By using marginal propensities to spend to direct the reallocation of saved or deficit money calculated utility is maintained as far as possible. Further, investigations explore the impact of individual household demographic characteristics and geographic context on household consumption patterns, energy requirements and CO2 emissions. The key result of this thesis is that changed household behaviour, choosing “green“ products and energy efficient technology will not make a big difference. What can be achieved in the short time perspective by adopting an almost completely green consumption pattern and energy efficient technology is a reduction of energy requirements by around 8% and CO2 emissions by around 13%. With a longer time perspective and further technological change that provides additional possibilities to move consumption patterns in a greener direction, the effect on energy requirements and CO2 emissions is still fairly small. By 2020, the potential to reduce energy requirements is around 13% and CO2 emissions around 25%. In the most extreme scenario (2050), the scope for reducing energy requirements is 17% and for CO2 emissions 30%. All these reductions will be outpaced by growth in income almost as soon as they are implemented. Of policy relevance the results reveal that very limited impact can be expected by a policy relying on greener consumption patterns, whether adopted voluntarily or as a result of incentives such as tax changes. Such a policy cannot achieve more than a small and temporary reduction to growth in energy requirements and CO2 emissions. It is also shown that, prescribing specific consumption patterns as a means of reducing energy requirements and CO2 emissions has to be done with care. This is illustrated by one of the experiments in which adopting a partly green consumption pattern, a green diet, in fact increased total energy requirements and CO2 emissions. This, and the results of all the other experiments show the importance of applying a systems approach. It demonstrates that life cycle data alone are irrelevant for assessing the total effects of adopting green consumption patterns. Further research on the potential to reduce energy requirements and CO2 emissions thus primarily needs to better capture system wide effects rather than to improve on, and fine tune the measurement of the energy requirements and CO2 emissions related to individual products.

An increased awareness about the global warming has created a demand for more information on how the climate is affected by different activities.This master thesis was initiated by Tricorona, a Swedish company that offers its customers analysis and calculation of their climate impact. Tricorona also supplies climate neutralisation with CERs, in accordance with the Kyoto protocol and controlled by the UN. This work demands updated emission factors for greenhouse gases. An emission factor gives information about the greenhouse gasintensity of a service or a product [kg CO2-eq./ functional unit].The purpose of this thesis is to examine how electricity, district heating, hotels, taxis, food and materials affect the climate and how emission factors for these areas can be calculated.This was done by reviewing and comparing different studies and by interviewing experts. The information was evaluated and recommendations on calculations and emission factors were made.The consumption of energy is the main source of greenhouse gas emissions for district heating, electricity, hotels, taxis and materials. For food production the biogenic greenhousegas emissions are also important, such as the emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide from land use and the methane emissions from ruminants.For climate impact assessment of electricity, district heating, hotels and taxis it is recommended that the calculations should be based on an average consumption of energy. All types of energy carriers should be included in the calculations and the emission factors used should be based on Life Cycle Assessments. Climate impact assessments based on energy consumption is a simplification that underestimates the real greenhouse gas emissions. The recommended emission factors are associated with some uncertainties that originate from the quality of the data used, the assumptions made and the system boundaries that were chosen.Despite that, the recommended emission factors can be considered representative since they are based on the best available data. For food and materials it is recommended that emissionfactors from Life Cycle Inventories should be used.

The content of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is increasing resulting in climate change and efforts to stop the negative trend need to be intensified. The energy use in the Swedish residential and service sector constitutes 40 % of the total energy use of 378 TWh in the country. Nationally there is a target to reduce the energy use per heated area with 20 % to 2020 and 50 % to 2050. Energy renovation of buildings from the Million Programme is foreseen to be able to contribute to achieving the targets owing to the large building stock and energy efficiency potential. In the master thesis cost optimal energy renovation strategies are investigated for two multi-family buildings in Linkoping built during the Million Programme, one with an unheated attic and one with a heated attic. The thesis is carried out by using life-cycle cost optimisation (LCC-optimisation) by utilising the software OPERA-MILP, developed at Linkoping University. The aim of the thesis is to obtain the energy renovation strategy that is optimal from an LCC-perspective and to investigate the energy reduction and LCC. Optimal energy renovation strategies are also investigated for energy renovation to levels of the Energy Classes of the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning in Sweden and the stricter limits for nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEB) that will likely come into force in 2021. Greenhouse gas emissions and primary energy use are also investigated for the different cases with the purpose of putting energy renovation in relation to climate impact. Local environmental factors are used for district heating while electricity is assigned values based on the Nordic electricity mix and Nordic marginal electricity respectively. The current LCC and annual energy use is 2 945 kSEK and 133 MWh for the building with an unheated attic and 3 511 kSEK and 162 MWh for the building with a heated attic. The result shows that LCC can be reduced by approximately 70 kSEK and 90 kSEK respectively. The optimal solution constitutes of a window change from windows with U=3,0 W/m2°C to windows with U=1,5 W/m2°C and results in a reduction of the energy use by 13 % and 15 % respectively. LCC increases with 240 kSEK for the building with unheated attic and decreases with 18 kSEK for the other building when Energy Class D is reached. Energy Class C is attained through an increase in LCC by 300 – 590 kSEK and Energy Class B through an increase by 1610 – 1800 kSEK. It is not possible to reach Energy Class A or the future requirements for NZEB (55 kWh/m2Aheated) with the energy renovation measures that are implemented in OPERA-MILP. The largest energy reduction that can be attained is approximately 60 %. The most cost optimal insulation measure is additional insulation of the attic floor/pitched roof followed by additional insulation of the ground concrete slab. It was shown to be more cost efficient to change to windows with U=1,5 W/m2°C in combination with additional insulation compared to changing to windows with better energy performance. For greater energy savings additional insulation on the inside of the external wall is applied, while insulation on the outside of the external wall is never cost optimal. To reach Energy Class B installation of HRV is required which gives a large increase in cost. Less extensive energy renovation is needed to reach the energy classes for the building with heated attic compared to the building with unheated attic. The annual use of primary energy in the reference case is 22 MWh for the building with an unheated attic and 26 MWh for the building with a heated attic. The emissions of greenhouse gases are 18 tonnes CO2e and 22 tonnes CO2e per year respectively when the emission factor of the Nordic electricity mix is applied and 20 tonnes CO2e and 25 tonnes CO2e respectively when the Nordic marginal electricity is applied. The yearly primary energy use can be reduced with up to 7 MWh through energy renovation. When the energy renovation leads to an increase in electricity use the primary energy can however increase with up to 12 MWh. The yearly greenhouse gas emissions can be decreased with up to 14 tonnes CO2e. When Nordic marginal electricity is applied to estimate the emissions of greenhouse gases for an energy renovation strategy that leads to an increase in electricity use the result is less beneficial from a climate perspective compared to when Nordic electricity mix is applied.

Afin d’accompagner les acteurs des filières viticoles, notamment d’AOC, dans la nécessaire amélioration de l’éco-efficience de leurs produits, nous avons voulu identifier dans quelles conditions l’Analyse du Cycle de Vie est une méthode appropriée à l'évaluation environnementale des itinéraires techniques viticoles (ITKv) de production de raisins de qualité, à l’échelle parcellaire, afin de pouvoir choisir les plus performants. Pour établir et tester un cadre méthodologique de l’ACV, adapté à cet objectif, des ITKv réels et variés visant un même objectif qualitatif sont nécessaires. Nous proposons ici une chaîne de traitement d’enquête originale, Typ-iti, qui permet le choix de cas réels représentant chaque groupe. Cinq groupes ont ainsi été identifiés parmi les ITKv de production de raisins de Chenin blanc pour vins blancs secs d’AOC en Moyenne Vallée de la Loire, dont trois en viticulture conventionnelle et deux en viticulture biologique. Cinq cas réels ont été choisis pour les représenter. L’ACV est ici déclinée pour la viticulture sur la base de ces cinq cas, par l’établissement d’un cadre méthodologique qui comprend : i) la définition de limites du système incluant les phases non productives et productives, ii) le choix des modèles disponibles les plus pertinents, pour le calcul des émissions directes de polluants à la vigne, iii) l’adaptation fine du modèle d’émissions de pesticides organiques Pest LCI 2.0 aux spécificités viticoles, iv) la proposition et le test d’unités fonctionnelles basées sur un indicateur de qualité du raisin original permettant la prise en compte de la qualité dans les ACV de raisins destinés à la production de vins de qualité. L’ACV a révélé, à l’échelle parcellaire, i) des éco-efficiences contrastées pour les cinq ITKv contrastés, ii) les pratiques responsables de ces contrastes, iii) des solutions d’amélioration et leurs effets quantifiés sur les performances environnementales. La généricité des résultats de ces cas aux groupes qu’ils représentent varie selon l’homogénéité des groupes et avec les catégories d’impacts selon qu’elles sont, ou non, conditionnées par le milieu. L’effet important du millésime sur les résultats, mis en évidence ici sur un cas, mérite d’être pris en compte dans toute ACV viticole. De nombreuses perspectives d’améliorations méthodologiques sont discutées ici pour accroître la pertinence et la complétude des résultats ainsi que la généricité de la méthode et pour son application auprès d’acteurs du développement des filières viticoles
In order to contribute to the effort of eco-efficiency improvement of the wine sctor, especially in the Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO) contaxt, we worked to identify in which conditions Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an appropriate method for environmental assessment, at plot scale, of quality vineyard Technical Management Routes (TMRs), to permit the choice of the most eco-efficient technical operations and TMRs.A methodological framework for LCA suited to this objective was designed and tested on five real and contrasted TMRs, oriented towards a same qualitative objective. These cases were chosen thanks to an original statistical analysis chain, Typ-iti, on the basis of a survey, among the TMRs producing Chenin blanc grapes for PDO dry white wines in the Middle Lore Valley. Five groups were identified and characterized, threee in conventional viticulture, and two in organic viticulture.The methodological framework that was established includes i) the studied system definition including productive and non-productive phases, ii) the choice of the most suitable and available models for calculation of pollutant direct emissions in the vineyard, iii) the customization of the organic pesticide emision calculation model, Pest LCI 2.0, to viticulture specific needs iv) the inclusion of grape quality in the LCA by two functional units including an original grape quality index.LCA proves to be a method complex but powerful, usable at parcel scale for grape production TMRs choice. It revealed i) contrasted eco-efficiencies for the 5 contrasted TMRs, ii) the viticultural practices responsible for these contrasts, iii) solutions for eco-efficiency improvement and quantification of their eco-efficiency effects.The important effect of the production year on the results, highlighted here on one case, must be taken into account in any viticulture LCA. Numerous perspectives of methodological improvement are discussed here in order to increase relevance and completeness of the results as well as genericity of the method and its accessibility for viticulture development stakeholders

In stainless steelmaking, around 68% of the total greenhouse gas emissions come from the processing of raw materials. Thus, it is important for steelmakers to make efforts together with their raw material suppliers to implement low-carbon initiatives. To facilitate such initiatives, assessment of raw materials will provide guidance. In this work, the assessment of materials consists of two parts: i) different production scenarios are studied by using a static process model coupled with life cycle assessment approach to investigate the reduction potential of environmental impacts for Mo and Ni alloys; ii) assessment of the effect of trace element content (phosphorus) in stainless steel scrap on steel’s manufacturing cost, resource consumption and environmental impact using an online static process model. The results show that the overall GHG emission of FeMo production varies between 3.16-14.79 t CO2-eq/t FeMo (i.e. 5.3-24.7 tCO2-eq/t Mo). The main variance comes from the mining and beneficiation stages and depends mainly on the ore’s beneficiation degree. However, whether molybdenum is extracted as a co-product from copper mine or not can have an even greater effect on the total GHG emission of molybdenum due to the allocation of the impacts.  In the case of nickel alloys, the GHG emissions for producing nickel metal, nickel oxide, ferronickel and nickel pig iron are 14, 30, 6 and 7 tCO2-eq/t alloy (i.e. 14, 40, 18, and 69 tCO2-eq/t Ni), respectively. Extracting sulfide ore through flash smelting process has been shown to have the least energy requirement and greenhouse gas emissions. In comparison to sulfide ore processing, oxide ore processed in an electric furnace is much more energy intensive and less environmental friendly primarily due to high content of gangue. However, by using a sustainable electricity source such as hydro-powered electricity, or applying a thermal heat recovery, it is possible to reduce the impact from electric furnace smelting of laterite. Furthermore, the use of stainless steel scraps with low phosphorous contents reduces slag amount, alloy consumption, production cost and carbon footprint. An estimation equation between phosphorous content and scrap’s value-in-use is obtained in the study to support the development of purchasing strategy. To conclude, the application of static process model based on mass and energy balance provides the possibility to assess raw materials’ environmental impact (energy consumption and GHG emissions) and to identify potentials to realize sustainable stainless steelmaking.
Vid tillverkning av rostfritt stål kommer cirka 68% av växthusgaserna ifrån råvaruanvändningen. Därför är det viktigt för ståltillverkare att göra en samordnad insats med sina levenrantörer för att reducera dessa utsläpp. Den här avhandlingen ämnar att undersöka råvaror ur två perspektiv: i) att utvärdera olika produktionsscenarier för  molybden och nickelleggeringar genom en statisk processmodell i kombination med livscykelanalys för att undersöka potentialen för att minska miljöbelastningen; ii) att undersöka hur spårämnesinnehållet (fosfor) i rostfritt stålskrot påverkar ståltillverkningskostnaden, resursförbrukningen och miljöpåverkan med ett webbaserat verktyg för processmodellen. Resultaten visar att växthusgasutsläppen från produktionen av FeMo varierar mellan 3.16-14.79 t CO2-eq/t FeMo (d.v.s. 5.3-24.7 tCO2-eq/t Mo). Variationen beror främst på malmets anrikningsgrad under malmbrytnings- och anrikningsprocessen. När molybden förekommer  i kopparmalm och utvinns som en co-produkt så kan det ha en större effekt på molybdens energiförbrukning och växthusgasutsläpp än vad malmens anrikningsgrad har. I fallet för tillverkning av nickelmetall, nickeloxid, ferronickel och nickeltackjärn är växthusgasutsläppen 14, 30, 6 respektive 7 tCO2-eq/t legering (motsvarande 14, 40, 18, respektive 69 tCO2-eq/t Ni). Användningen av sulfidmalm i flashsmältningsprocessen har visat sig ha lägst energibehov och växhusgasutsläpp medan användningen av oxidmalm i ljusbågsugn både är mer energiintensiv och utsläppsintensiv  på grund av en stor mängd oxider i nickelmalmen. Dessa utsläpp kan dock förbättras genom användningen av hållbar energi (till exempel el från vattenkraft), eller genom värmeåtervinning under processen. Utöver detta kan skrot med lågt fosforinnenhåll också användas vid tillverkningen av rostfritt stål för att minska slaggmängden, förbrukningen av legeringar, produktionskostnaden och växthusgasutläppen.  En ekvation mellan fosforinnehållet och skrotets värde föreslås här som underlag för att utveckla en inköpsstrategi för skrot. Sammanfattningsvis så kan en statisk processmodell baserad på mass- och energibalans tillämpas för att utvärdera råvarors miljöbelastning (energiförbrukning och växthusgasutsläpp) och identifiera potentialen för en hållbar tillverkning av rostfritt stål.

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Funda??o de Amparo ? Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS)
The transport sector represents a significant responsibility in the pollution emissions. Also, the consumption of fossil fuels is related with the rising of global average temperature due to the greenhouse gas emissions. Biofuels and natural gas are investigated as alternative fuels to mitigate the environmental impacts. However, due to the several source emissions within a product life-cycle, the environmental performance of an environmental friendly product must be verified. This work aims to quantify greenhouse gas emissions during household waste collection by heavy vehicles (trucks) fueled with different fuels. It was proposed the development and implementation of a methodology to compare both pollutant gas emissions and noise for the use of CNG (compressed natural gas) and diesel-B5, aiming to mitigate environmental impacts in captive fleet that travels daily in the Porto Alegre city, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. The trucks were monitored using a portable gas analyzer equipment (O2, CO, CO2, NO, NO2, NOx, SO2, HC), and the fuel consumptions and autonomy were obtained from the company that provides the service. With the data collected on established routes, it was applied the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to carry out the study comparing the environmental performance of the use of CNG and Diesel-B5. The results showed that higher global warming impact (according IPCC method) was observed to CNG, independently of the time horizon considered (20 100 or 500 years). When comparing the contribution of the process stages (from production to use of fuels), CNG presented higher impacts in the collection and venting steps, while diesel -- B5 presented in the collection step.
O setor de transportes apresenta significativos problemas ambientais relacionados ?s emiss?es de poluentes, agravados em regi?es urbanas. A queima e a explora??o de combust?veis f?sseis s?o constantemente relacionadas ao aumento da temperatura m?dia global. O uso de combust?veis, como os de origem vegetal e g?s natural, tem sido uma alternativa frequente na mitiga??o de gases de efeito estufa. No entanto, devido ?s v?rias fontes de poluentes presentes no ciclo de vida do produto, o desempenho ambiental de produtos considerados amig?veis ao meio ambiente deve ser verificado. Este trabalho teve como objetivo quantificar as emiss?es de gases de efeito estufa emitidos durante a coleta de res?duos domiciliares por ve?culos pesados (caminh?es) abastecidos com diferentes combust?veis: g?s natural e diesel-B5. Prop?e-se o desenvolvimento e a implementa??o de uma metodologia para a compara??o das emiss?es de poluentes para o uso de GNV (g?s natural veicular) e Diesel-B5, objetivando a mitiga??o de impactos ambientais em frota cativa que trafega diariamente na cidade de Porto Alegre ? RS. Os caminh?es foram monitorados com um equipamento analisador port?til de gases (O2, CO, CO2, NO, NO2, NOx, SO2, HC), e os consumos e a autonomia dos combust?veis foram obtidos junto ? empresa prestadora do servi?o. Com os dados levantados nas rotas estabelecidas, foi aplicada a metodologia de Avalia??o do Ciclo de Vida (ACV) para realizar o estudo de compara??o do desempenho ambiental entre o uso de GNV e Diesel-B5, considerando todas as etapas desde a produ??o at? o consumo final dos combust?veis. Os resultados mostraram que o maior potencial para aquecimento global (segundo o m?todo IPCC) ocorre para o GNV, considerando per?odos de 20 anos, 100 anos e 500 anos. Quando comparadas as contribui??es das diferentes etapas do processo, desde a produ??o at? o uso do combust?vel, observou-se que o GNV apresenta os maiores impactos nas etapas de transporte e coleta de res?duos, enquanto o Diesel-B5 apresenta impacto significativo apenas na etapa de coleta de res?duos.

With global emissions estimated at 7.1 Gt CO2 eq per annum, livestock represents 14.5% of all human-induced emissions and it is considered to be the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the agricultural sector. However, livestock can contribute to convert nutrients from plant biomass into animal-sourced foods, which are rich in essential macro and micronutrients in the form of milk and meat, thereby utilizing resources that cannot otherwise be consumed by humans. Livestock also contributes to global food security and poverty reduction, providing regular income to producers. To achieve a sustainable supply of animal origin food, farmers need, therefore, to identify strategies, in terms of livestock management and feeding, forage systems and feed growing practices, that make the best use of available resources and minimize the potential environmental impact. The studies of the PhD thesis were mainly developed inside the Life project “Forage4Climate”, a four years project, aimed at demonstrating that forage systems connected to milk production can promote climate change mitigation. The aim of the PhD thesis was the evaluation of GHG emission, related to dairy cattle milk production. Specific aims were: • to identify and evaluate the most common forage systems adopted in dairy cow farms in the Po plain, selecting the systems that can improve milk production and soil carbon (C) sequestration reducing emissions per kg of milk; • to evaluate commercial diets related to these different forage systems, in order to directly assess their digestibility, milk and methane (CH4) production; • to identify, through a survey analysis, the main ingredients used in the total mixed ration (TMR) of high producing lactating cows, in order to assess the best diet composition that can lead to high feed efficiency (FE) and low global warming potential (GWP) at commercial farms scale; • in a future perspective of circular economy, to study the exploitation of different inedible human by-products as growing substrates for Hermetia Illucens larvae, in order to substitute soybean meal (SBM) in the livestock diets with insect proteins. A total of 46 dairy cattle farms in Lombardy, Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna were visited, in order to map the main forage systems adopted in each area and to characterize them for GHG emission related to milk production (FPCM, fat and protein corrected milk), and soil organic C stock. The evaluation of environmental impact, in terms of GWP, related to the different forage systems was carried out though a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, using the Software SIMAPRO. Six forage systems based on different forages were identified. The main results in terms of GHG per unit milk were: - CONV - Conventional corn silage system: 1.37 kg CO2 eq/kg FPCM (SD 0.26) - HQFS - High quality forage system: 1.18 kg CO2 eq/kg FPCM (SD 0.13) - WICE - Winter cereal silage system: 1.44 kg CO2 eq/kg FPCM (SD 0.43) - MIXED - Mixed less intensive system: 1.36 kg CO2 eq/kg FPCM (SD 0.26) - PR FRESH- Hay and fresh forage system for Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese production: 1.51 kg CO2 eq/kg FPCM (SD 0.23) - PR DRY- Hay system for Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese production: 1.36 kg CO2 eq/kg FPCM (SD 0.19). The HQFS system registered the lowest value for GWP, mainly due to the higher milk production per cow (daily FPCM/head). More intensive systems, such as HQFS, confirmed that milk production per cow is negatively related to the impact per kilogram of product, as highlighted also by a PROC GLM analysis. The HQFS system also resulted to be more sustainable, in terms of feed self-sufficiency, as it provided a high amount of dry matter (DM) per hectare, consisting of high digestible forages. Despite the lowest value for GWP, the forage system identified as HQFS showed the lowest organic C soil density: 5.6 kg/m2 (SD 1.1). On the contrary, PR FRESH showed the highest value in terms of organic C density in the soil: 9.7 kg/m2 (SD 2.2), compared with an average of 6.7 kg/m2 (SD 0.88) for the other systems. Further investigations are needed to consider environmental sustainability over a wider spectrum. Enteric CH4 was the main contributor to GWP for all forage systems: on average 45.6% (SD 3.89). For this reason, an in vivo evaluation of CH4 and milk production of lactating dairy cows fed four different diets, obtained from the forage systems identified, was performed. Also digestibility of the diets, energy and nitrogen (N) balance were assessed. Four pairs of Italian Friesian lactating cows were used in a repeated Latin Square design, using individual open circuit respiration chambers to determine dry matter intake (DMI), milk production and CH4 emission and to allow total faeces and urine collection for the determination of N and energy balances. Four diets, based on the following main forages, were tested: corn silage (49.3% DM; CS), alfalfa silage (26.8% DM; AS), wheat silage (20.0% DM; WS), hay-based diet (25.3% DM of both alfalfa and Italian ryegrass hays; PR) typical of the area of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese production. Feeding cows with PR diet significantly increased DMI (23.4 kg/d; P=0.006), compared with the others (on average, 20.7 kg/d), while this diet resulted to be the least digestible (e.g. DM digestibility=64.9 vs 71.7% of the other diets, on average). This is probably the reason why, despite higher DMI of cows fed PR diet, the animals did not show higher production, both in terms of milk (kg/d) and energy corrected milk (ECM; kg/d), compared with the other treatments. The urea N concentration was higher in milk of cows fed WS diet (13.8) and lower for cows fed AS diet (9.24). This was also correlated to the highest urinary N excretion (g/d) for cows fed WS diet (189.5 vs 147.0 on average for the other diets). The protein digestibility was higher for cows fed CS and WS diets (on average 68.5%) than for cows fed AS and PR (on average 57.0%); the dietary soybean inclusion was higher for CS and WS than AS and PR. The higher values for aNDFom digestibility were obtained for CS (50.7%) and AS (47.4%) diets. The rumen fermentation pattern was affected by diet; in particular PR diet, characterized by a lower content of NFC and a higher content of aNDFom as compared to CS diet, determined a higher rumen pH and decreased propionate production as compared to CS. Feeding cows with PR diet increased the acetate:propionate ratio in comparison with CS (3.30 vs 2.44 for PR and CS, respectively). Ruminal environment characteristics (i.e higher pH and higher acetate: propionate ratio), together with increased DMI, led cows fed PR DRY diet to have greater (P=0.046) daily production of CH4 (413.4 g/d), compared to those fed CONV diet (378.2 g/d). However, no differences were observed when CH4 was expressed as g/kg DMI or g/kg milk. Hay based diet (PR) was characterized by the lowest digestible and metabolizable energy contents which overall determined a lower NEL content for PR than CS diet (1.36 vs 1.70 Mcal/kg DM respectively for PR and CS diets). In order to meet the high demand of nutrients needed to assure high milk production, in addition to fodder a lot of concentrates are also used in dairy cows’ TMR. A survey analysis conducted in commercial farms was performed to evaluate the GWP of different lactating cow TMR and to identify the best dietary strategies to increase the FE and to reduce the enteric CH4 emission. A total of 171 dairy herds were selected: data about DMI, lactating cows TMR composition, milk production and composition were provided by farmers. Diet GWP (kg CO2 eq) was calculated as sum of GWP of each ingredient considering inputs needed at field level, feed processing and transport. For SBM, land use change was included in the assessment. Enteric CH4 production (g/d) was estimated using the equation of Hristov et al. (2013) in order to calculate CH4 emission for kg of FPCM. The dataset was analysed by GLM and logistic analysis using SAS 9.4. The results of frequency distribution showed that there was a wide variation among farms for the GWP of TMR: approximately 25% of the surveyed farms showed a diet GWP of 15 kg CO2 eq, 20% of 13 kg CO2 eq and 16.7% of 17 kg CO2 eq. The variation among farms is due to the feed used. Among feed, SBM had the highest correlation with the GWP of the TMR with the following equation: TMR GWP (kg CO2 eq) = 2.49*kg SBM + 6.9 (r2=0.547). Moreover, an inclusion of SBM >15% of diet DM did not result in higher milk production with respect to a lower inclusion (≤15%). Average daily milk production of cows was 29.8 (SD 4.83) kg with a fat and protein content (%) of 3.86 (SD 0.22) and 3.40 (SD 0.14), respectively. The average value of DMI (kg/d) of lactating cows was 22.3 (SD 2.23). The logistic analysis demonstrated that a level of corn silage ≤ 30% on diet DM was associated with higher FE. Almost 50% percent of the farms had an average value of 15.0 g CH4/kg FPCM and about 30% a value of 12.5 g CH4/kg FPCM. The results demonstrated that a lower enteric CH4 production was related to inclusion (% on diet DM) of less than 12% of alfalfa hay and more than 30% of corn silage. Diets with more than 34% of NDF determined higher CH4 production (≥14.0 g/kg FPCM) compared with diets with lower NDF content. On the contrary, a lower enteric CH4 production (<14.0 g/kg FPCM) was related to diets characterized by more than 1.61 NEl (Mcal/kg) and more than 4% of ether extract. The variability in the GWP of TMR shows a significant potential to reduce both the GWP of the diet through a correct choice and inclusion level in the ration of the ingredients (mainly SBM) and the possibility to decrease CH4 enteric emission associated to milk production. Looking forward, in order to evaluate the opportunity of alternative protein sources in the cow diet, to reduce SBM, waste production, and competition between animals and human for crops, a study on the effects of different by-products for Hermetia illucens rearing on the chemical composition of larvae and their environmental impact was conducted, even if, according to the European legislation, today the use of insects as feed source is not possible in ruminants. Regarding climate change, okara and brewer’s grains were the most promising substrates: 0.197 and 0.228 kg CO2 eq/kg of larvae fresh weight, respectively. Results from these studies show the importance of adopting a holistic approach for the assessment of GHG emission from milk production. Therefore, any strategy aimed at mitigating CH4 emission of dairy cows must also take into account the possible effect on the other GHGs, as well as the effect on C sequestration. Based on the studies, it could also be worth evaluating novel feed as a new and useful solution for mitigation of GHG emission related to milk production. The thesis highlights essential differences among forage systems and among feed ingredients of cow ration, confirming that there is room for improvement in sustainability of milk production. These issues should be taken into consideration by farmers, technicians and policy makers, considering that sustainability of livestock production will be one of the priorities for humankind in next future.

The purpose of this study is to compare the life-cycle cost and environmental impact of the existing fuel-based propulsion system, on public commuter ferries in Stockholm, with a battery based propulsion system. The study is divided into multiple layers. First, the operating characteristics of the route Line 80 within Stockholm’s waterborne public transportation (WPT) are collected, such as fuel consumption, propulsion power output, speed, voyage time and propulsion system configuration. Second, based on the energy demand of the route, important parameters related to the existing fuel-based propulsion system and the battery-based propulsion system are accounted for and modeled. Third, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and the cost assessment methods are applied to examine the effectiveness of the electrification of commuter ferries on a financial and environmental scale. With the help of the software GaBi 2020, GREET 2020, and other literature studies, the environmental impacts at the construction, use and end-of-life (EOL) phase are evaluated. There are in total 8 scenarios considered, 4 for the fuel-based and 4 for the battery-based propulsion system. The environmental performance of these 8 scenarios are discussed in terms of Globalwarmingpotential(GWP), Acidificationpotential(AP), Eutrophicationpotential(EP) and Photo-chemical ozone creation potential (POCP). Themostpollutingphaseistheusephase for all scenarios. Propulsion system powered by diesel (scenario 1) is considered as a reference for comparative analysis of 7 other scenarios. The best performing system is the one powered by batteries with the assumption of an electricity mix based on hydro, wind and nuclear power, which is scenario 7 and 8 with a net reduction of GWP by more than 98%, AP by 90%, EP by 96%, and the POCP by 96%. If we consider the current Swedish electricity mix (scenario 5 and 6), the decrease in GWP, AP, EP and POCP are 90%, 80%, 82% and 91% respectively. Alternative fuels also present promising results for GWP in comparison to diesel (with the origin of the feed-stock creating mostly negative impacts) but the contribution to other impact categories is significantly higher. With inputs from the industry and the environmental evaluation, the cost assessment compares the costs related to fuel-based and battery-based propulsion systems with different energy sources. For the battery-based system, 3 scenarios are modeled for two different types of Li-ion batteries. The vessels in the developed scenarios are charged more frequently than the existing electric vessel and the number of charging stations is varied. The costs that are included in the assessment are the initial capital cost, the cost for fuel/electricity, maintenance cost, end-of-life cost and emissions cost. When concerning all the cost categories, the battery-based system is more cost-efficient than a fuel-based system, if run on the Swedish electricity mix, due to the lower cost for electricity and emissions. The reduction of cost is more than 68% when comparing traditional diesel with battery-based systems, but the source of the electricity is very important.
Syftet med denna studie är att jämföra livscykelkostnaden och miljöpåverkan av de befintliga framdrivningssystemen på pendelbåtarna inom Stockholms kollektivtrafik, med batteridrivna system på motsvarande båtar. De befintliga framdrivningssystemen drivs av olika typer av diesel. Studien är uppdelad i flera steg. Först samlas driftsegenskaperna in, såsom bränsleförbrukning, framdrivningseffekt, hastighet, färdtidochframdrivningssystemetsuppbyggnad, etc, på linje 80, som är en del av Stockholms vattenburna kollektivtrafik. För det andra undersöks det befintliga framdrivningssystemet som drivs av diesel eller alternativa bränslen som RME eller HVO och fullt batteridrivna system utifrån energibehovet. För det tredje tillämpas metoderna för kostnadsanalys och livscykelanalys (LCA) för att undersöka hur elektrifieringen av pendelbåtar påverkar ekonomin och miljön. Med hjälp av programmet GaBi 2020, GREET 2020 och andra litteraturstudier utvärderas miljöpåverkan av faserna tillverkning, användning och avfallshantering. Det är totalt 8 scenarier som övervägs, 4 för bränslebaserade och 4 för batteri baserade framdrivningssystem. Hur bra dessa 8 scenarier presterar miljömässigt diskuteras i termer av växthuseffekt (GWP), försurning (AP), övergödning (EP) och marknära ozon (POCP). Den fasen med mest utsläpp, för alla scenarier, är användningsfasen. Framdrivningssystemet som drivs av diesel (scenario 1) används som referens att jämföra de övriga 7 scenarierna mot. Det system som presterar bästa är det som drivs av batterier, med antagandet att elmixen är baserad på vatten-, vind-och kärnkraft, detta motsvarar scenario 7 och 8 med en reduktion av GWP på mer än 98%, AP med 90%, EP med 96% och POCP med 96%. Om vi tittar på den aktuella svenska elmixen (scenario 5 och 6) så är minskningen av GWP, AP, EP och POCP 90%, 80%, 82% respektive 91%. Alternativa bränslen ger också lovande resultat för GWP jämfört med diesel (där råvarans ursprung skapar mest negativa effekter) men bidraget till andra påverkanskategorier är betydligt högre. Med input från företag och miljöutvärderingen kan kostnadsanalysen jämföra kostnaderna för bränslebaserade och batteri baserade framdrivningssystem med olika energikällor. Det batteri baserade systemet modelleras även på 3 utvecklade scenarier för 2 olika typer av batterier. Fartygen i de utvecklade scenarierna laddas oftare än det befintliga batteridrivna fartyget och antalet laddstationer varierar mellan scenarierna. De kostnader som inkluderas i analysen är de initiala kapitalkostnaderna, kostnaden för bränsle/el, underhållskostnader, avfallshanteringskostnader ochutsläppskostnader. Medallakostnaderinkluderadeiberäkningarna är batteri baserade system mer kostnadseffektiva än bränslebaserade system om de körs på svensk elmix, tack vare de lägre kostnaderna för el och utsläpp. Minskningen av den totala kostnaden är mer än 68% när man jämför traditionell diesel med batterisystem, men elens ursprung är mycket viktig.

A construção civil é responsável por relevante impacto ao meio ambiente, da extração das materiais-primas até a disposição dos seus resíduos em aterros. A avaliação do ciclo de vida (ACV) é uma ferramenta que possibilita a estimativa dos impactos ambientais potenciais do setor de forma sistemática. A simplificação da ACV, pelo uso de dados secundários e redução do escopo do estudo, facilita sua implementação como ferramenta de promoção da sustentabilidade. O objetivo dessa dissertação é estimar faixas dos cinco principais indicadores do setor de blocos de concreto do mercado brasileiro pela simplificação da ACV: consumo de materiais, energia incorporada, emissão de CO2, água e geração de resíduos. Este estudo foi o piloto do Projeto ACV Modular, iniciativa do Conselho Brasileiro de Construção Sustentável em parceria da Associação Brasileira de Cimento Portland e da Associação Brasileira da Indústria de Blocos de Concreto. O inventário foi desenvolvido com 33 fábricas localizadas em diferentes regiões do Brasil, estas sendo responsáveis por aproximadamente 50% da produção nacional. Os produtos selecionados foram blocos para pavimentação e alvenaria (estruturais e de vedação) considerados mais representativos no mercado. A fronteira do sistema adotada foi do berço ao portão da fábrica. O indicador de consumo de materiais não foi apresentado para garantir a confidencialidade dos dados das empresas, pois o teor de cimento foi dado direto informado no formulário. O indicador de resíduos não pode ser gerado devido a diferentes interpretações adotadas pelos fabricantes ao registrar seus dados. O indicador de água, apesar de incluir todo o consumo informado pela fábrica, apresentou valores muito baixos, alguns próximos a zero. O consumo de cimento, não o teor de clínquer, foi responsável por parcela significativa do CO2 e da energia incorporada do bloco, com participação de 62 a 99% das emissões de CO2. Assim, entre as empresas analisadas, mesmo com igual rota tecnológica, os insumos utilizados, a formulação do concreto, a eficiência de compactação da vibro prensa e o sistema produtivo tiveram maior influência nos indicadores de materiais, energia e CO2.
The civil construction is responsible for significant environmental impact from the extraction of raw materials to the disposal of their waste in landfills. The life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool that enables the estimative of the potential environmental impacts of a sector systematically. Simplification of LCA, the use of secondary data and reduce the scope of the study, facilitates its implementation as a tool for promoting sustainability. The purpose of this dissertation is to estimate ranges of the five main indicators of the concrete block industry in the Brazilian market by simplifying the LCA: consumption of materials, embodied energy, CO2 emissions, water and waste generation. This study was the pilot of Modular LCA Project, an initiative of the Brazilian Council for Sustainable Construction (CBCS) in partnership with the Brazilian Portland Cement Association (ABCP) and the Brazilian Association of Concrete Blocks Industry (BlocoBrasil). The inventory was raised from 33 factories located in different regions of Brazil, that accounting for approximately 50% of national production. The products selected were paving and masonry blocks considered most representative in the market. The boundary system adopted was from cradle to factory gate. The indicator material consumption has been omitted to ensure the confidentiality of company data, as the cement content was raised directly by the companies. The waste indicator cannot be generated due to different interpretations adopted by companies to register their data. The water indicator, although it includes all the consumption reported by the factory, showed very low values, some near zero. Cement consumption, not the clinker content, accounted for a significant portion of CO2 emission and embodied energy, accounting 62-99% of CO2. Thus, among the analyzed factories, even with the same technological route, the inputs, the concrete formulation, the compression efficiency of vibro press and the production system had a greater influence on indicators of materials, energy and CO2.

I Sverige används många olika interiöra golvmaterial i offentliga byggnader. Studien har undersökt fyra interiöra golvmaterial, keramik, enomer, massivt furu och linoleum. Dessa material är vanligt förekommande i svenska offentliga miljöer och de jämfördes ur ett livscykelperspektiv. Studien undersökte materialens olika livsskeden, från produktion till slutskede och omfattade materialens totala GHG-utsläpp för en referensbyggnad med en livslängd på 75 år, belägen i Växjö.Denna fallstudie visar att en byggnads klimatpåverkan går att minimera vid val av interiört golvmaterial. Keramik är att rekommendera i fuktkänsliga utrymmen då klimatpåverkan är 38 % minder och linoleum rekommenderas i allmänna utrymmen då klimatpåverkan är 20 % mindre. Det finns ytterligare möjlighet att minimera klimatpåverkan genom att använda trägolv i utrymmen med mindre folk i rörelse.
In Sweden, lots of different interior flooring materials are used in public buildings. This study examines four interior flooring materials, ceramics, mineral based, solid pine floor and linoleum flooring. These materials appear regularly in public buildings in Sweden and are compared to each other in a life cycle assessment perspective. The study examines the materials different life stages from production to its end of life and included the materials GHG-emissions for a reference building with a lifespan of 75 years in Växjö, Sweden.This case study shows that a buildings climate impact can be minimized through choices for interior flooring materials. Ceramics are to recommend in areas sensitive to moisture, do to 38 % less climate effect and linoleum are to recommend more public areas do to 20 % less climate effect. Further possibilities to minimize climate impact is through use of massive pine flooring in areas with low traffic.

L'analyse de cycle de vie (ACV), telle qu'elle est pratiquée aujourd'hui, peut conduire à des résultats biaisés. L'utilisation de cet outil s'avère particulièrement sensible dans des cadres réglementaires. En effet, au lieu d'inciter les entreprises à réduire leurs impacts sur l'environnement, les certifications obtenues à partir des ACV risquent de produire un effet contraire : comme elles tendent à récompenser des moyennes industrielles plutôt que les résultats propres aux entreprises, elles peuvent détruire toute incitation pour ces dernières à agir correctement sur le plan environnemental. Dans cette thèse nous proposons des éléments de réflexion en matière de gestion pouvant être utiles à l'évolution de l'ACV à partir d'une étude de cas sur l'évaluation de la soutenabilité d'une filière biodiesel issu d'huile de palme brésilienne dans le cadre de la Directive EnR. Trois principaux résultats émergent de ce travail doctoral. Le premier se rapporte à la réflexion que nous menons sur l'évaluation de la durabilité imposée par la Directive EnR. Le deuxième renvoie aux réponses concrètes sur l'évaluation de la filière biodiesel évaluée à l'égard de la Directive, notamment par rapport aux émissions de gaz à effet de serre. Le troisième résultat concerne l'identification des besoins latents en matière d'évaluation de qualité des données d'ACV

River restoration projects are being installed worldwide to rehabilitate degraded river habitat. Many of these projects focus on stream habitat improvement (SHI), and an estimated 60%of the 37,000 projects listed in the National River Restoration Science Synthesis Program focus on SHI for salmon and trout species. These projects frequently lack a sufficient monitoring program or account for the environmental costs associated with SHI. The present study used life cycle assessment (LCA) techniques and topographic effectiveness monitoring to quantify environmental costs on the basis of geomorphic change. This methodology was a novel approach to assessing the cost-benefit relationship of SHI. To test this methodology, two phases of the Lower Scotts Creek Floodplain and Habitat Enhancement Project (LSCR) were used as a case study. The LSCR was a SHI project installed along the northern coast of Santa Cruz County, California, USA. A limited scope LCA was used to quantify the life cycle impacts of raw material production, materials transportation, and on-site construction. Once these baseline results were produced, a topographic monitoring program was used to quantify the topographic diversity index (TDI) in pre- and post-project conditions. The TDI percent change was used to scale the baseline LCA results, which quantified the environmental impacts based on geomorphic change. Phase II outperformed phase I. Phase I had greater cumulative environmental impacts and experienced a 7.7 % TDI increase from pre- to post-project conditions. Phase II had 43% less cumulative environmental impacts and experienced a 7.9% TDI increase from pre- to post-project conditions. The impacts in phase I were greater because of the amount of material excavated to create off-channel features, which were a key feature of the LSCR. A scenario analysis also was conducted within the LCA component of this study. The scenario analysis suggests that life cycle impacts could be reduced by 30%-65% by using the accelerated recruitment method in place of importing materials to build large wood complexes. The results of this study suggest that managers may improve the environmental performance of SHI projects by: (1) using the accelerated recruitment method to introduce larger key pieces to the channel, reducing the need to import materials; (2) using nursery grown plants as opposed to excavating plants for revegetation; (3) minimizing fuel combustion in heavy equipment and haul trucks by ensuring clear access to the channel and streambank, using small engine equipment to clear access corridors during site preparation, running more fuel-efficient machinery or bio-fuel powered machinery, and by attempting to minimize haul distances by sourcing materials locally; and (4) utilizing a “franken-log” design (a ballasted LWC configuration with a rootwad fastened to the downstream end of a log) in LWCs which led to favorable TDI change. This study concluded that LCA could be a valuable tool for monitoring SHI and river restoration projects and that further research of the TDI analysis is justified.

Cette thèse de doctorat, a consisté, dans une première partie, à introduire d'une part, la notion de l'analyse du cycle de vie " ACV " et celle des biocarburants. D'autre part, à présenter l'intérêt d'appliquer une ACV sur des biocarburants afin de valoriser leurs bilans énergétiques et analyser leurs impacts environnementaux face aux carburants conventionnels. Dans une deuxième partie, nous avons comparé, d'un point de vue énergétique et environnemental, 3 scénarios de production d'électricité : 2 scénarios de cogénération (turbine à vapeur et ORC) pour la production d'énergie électrique et thermique à partir de biomasse, et un scénario de cogénération par moteur diesel. Ces scénarios sont comparés à l'aide de deux méthodes orientées " analyse des dommages ": Eco-indicateur 99 (E) et IMPACT2002+Dans une troisième partie, on a abordé la valorisation du biogaz sous forme de carburant dans des moteurs "dual fuel" pour des engins agricoles dans le but de déterminer l'impact environnemental lié à l'utilisation de ce carburant alternatif au diesel par rapport aux autres biocarburants. Les méthodes Eco-indicateur 99 (E) et CML ont été utilisées ici. On a pu ainsi identifier les principaux polluants générés à chaque étape du cycle de vie de l'agrocarburant et les étapes qui ont les plus grands impacts environnementaux et on a identifié, selon nos critères et par rapport au contexte, le scénario énergétique le plus compatible avec le principe de développement durable.

Il trasporto di persone rappresenta una delle principali fonti di sostanze inquinanti e climalteranti: in l’Italia il settore dei trasporti è responsabile di oltre il 25% delle emissioni totali di CO2, oltre che di migliaia di tonnellate di altri inquinanti. Gli organismi di Governo ribadiscono da tempo la volontà di indirizzare il mercato automobilistico verso vetture meno inquinanti, tuttavia non è ancora chiaro quali tipologie di propulsioni siano più ecocompatibili. Questo studio di cerca di chiarire, basandosi sull’analisi del ciclo di vita dell’auto in contesto italiano, quali tra le vetture commercialmente disponibili (benzina, diesel, GPL, metano, elettriche ed ibride) abbiano l’impatto minore dal punto di vista ambientale.

Energy efficiency within the transport sector - A case study on the vehicle fleet of a companyIsak EklövThe environmental objective of zero net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2045 asdecided by the Swedish parliament establishes a framework for a standard thatimplies a demand for considerable changes within many sectors at both technical and political level. The need for long term efficiency solutions with respect tosustainability to be able to reach this goal is great and one step towards this couldpotentially be an adaption to an increased amount of vehicles with alternative fuelsin the vehicle fleet of Sweden. This thesis examined the potential for companiesto reduce their life-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases as well as the total cost ofownership (TCO) for their vehicles by changing the composition of their vehiclefleet.The project started with a literature review of a general character where data forlife-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases as well as TCO for different vehicle typeswas examined and collected. Then the life-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases andTCO were calculated for the different vehicle types through a case study on thevehicle fleet of a company. Finally a programming script was developed to increasethe efficiency of the process which was then used to create scenarios with differentcompositions of the vehicle fleet. A sensitivity analysis was also carried out to evaluate the robustness of the life cycle calculations where the parameters individuallywere altered and the effect on the final result was examined.The result of the case study showed that alternative fueled vehicles are expected tolead to lower life-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases compared to the conventionalalternatives for all vehicle types where alternative fuels are commercially available.The only exception for this was the electric fringe benefit vehicle with a 100 kWhbattery which was expected to lead to higher life-cycle emissions than its fossilalternatives. The result of the cost analysis showed a similar pattern but in thiscase the service vehicle fueled with gas was expected to lead to a higher value ofTCO than its fossil alternatives. The sensitivity analysis for life-cycle emissionsof greenhouse gases showed that production of lithium-ion batteries, vehicle base production and tailpipe emissions were the most contributing parameters forfringe benefit vehicles. The purchase cost was found to be the most contributingparameter for TCO.The result of the scenario analysis showed that there is a potential to decreaseiiilife-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases by 22 % of the total life-cycle emissionsfor the vehicle fleet according to the Base-case scenario. The potential to decreaseTCO was found to be 1,1 %. The other scenarios showed a potential decrease forlife-cycle emissions of 37 % and a cost decrease of 7 % individually.Key words: greenhouse gas emissions, alternative fuels, electric vehicles, totalcost of ownership, life cycle assessment, sustainable vehicle fleet

With global emissions of human activities that drive climate change on the rise, global institutions and authorities are trying to introduce new regulations in the industry, in order to accomplish a significant reduction of carbon emissions. In order for companies to be more effective in reducing carbon emissions, not only from their products but also along their value chains and product portfolios, it is of vital importance to understand and quantify them. Following that need, tools that can measure the carbon footprint of various corporate operations (carbon calculators) have risen in popularity in the latest years. A sector in which companies can significantly improve their environmental impact is their IT equipment portfolio. WeCycle, as developed by Greener Scandinavia AB (partner of this project), is a platform that facilitates reselling of old IT equipment, while aiming to reduce its environmental impacts. This project then, in cooperation with WeCycle, aims to develop a software tool that calculates the environmental benefits (kg of CO2 eq. avoided) when reusing old IT equipment. This can help clients estimate this benefit, while also providing a CSR incentive. The specific methodological steps needed in order to complete the project included literature review concerning the state of e-waste and initiatives to minimize its environmental impacts, guidelines, and procedures related to LCA of IT equipment and various other carbon calculators, developing calculation model and assumptions in order to compile the database, interface design, and finally using and testing the software tool against a real case scenario - case study provided by WeCycle. The results, and design process of the project, were enlightening in the matter of understanding potential benefits of reusing IT equipment, but also in identifying the “hotspot” stages of an electronic device’s lifecycle. Even though variations were noticed depending on the type of the device (e.g. smartphones vs desktop computers), it is evident that the emissions that occur during the production phase are considered of major importance (ranked either 1st or 2nd most important/emission heavy stage), and therefore the benefits of reusing are of a high relative magnitude. All in all, this project resulted in a useful tool for WeCycle to measure the benefits of their practices, as well as for any user or company that would like to measure the carbon emissions that can be avoided when they give their old IT equipment up for resell. Hopefully, by easily quantifying these benefits, this tool can motivate both a behavioral change in the industry, as well as researchers to expand it in order to cover all sectors of the industry and everyday life.
När globala utsläpp av mänskliga aktiviteter stiger, försöker globala institutioner och myndigheter att införa nya regler för att minska koldioxidutsläppen. För att företagen ska vara mer effektiva när det gäller minskade koldioxidutsläpp, inte bara från sina produkter men också med sina värdekedjor och produktportföljer, är det viktigt att förstå och kvantifiera dem. För att uppnå detta, har verktyg som kan mäta koldioxidavtrycket av olika företagsverksamheter (kolkalkylatorer) ökat i popularitet de senaste åren. En sektor i vilken företag kan förbättra sin miljöpåverkan är deras IT-utrustning. WeCycle, ett projekt som utvecklats av Greener Scandinavia AB (partner för detta projekt), är en plattform som underlättar återförsäljning av gammal IT-utrustning medan den siktar på att minska miljöpåverkan. Projektet, i samarbete med WeCycle, syftar till att utveckla ett mjukvaruverktyg som beräknar miljöfördelar (kg CO2-ekv.) vid återanvändning av gammal IT-utrustning. Detta kan hjälpa kunder att uppskatta denna fördel, samtidigt som de ger ett CSR-incitament. Projektets resultat var till hjälp för att förstå de potentiella fördelarna med att återanvända IT-utrustning, men också för att identifiera "hotspot" -stadierna i en elektronisk apparats livscykel. Även om det märktes variationer beroende på enhetens typ (t.ex. smartphones jämfört med stationära datorer) är det uppenbart att utsläpp som uppstår under produktionsfasen är av stor betydelse (rankad antingen viktigaste eller näst viktigaste fasen) och därför ger återanvändning relativt stor miljönytta. Förhoppningsvis, genom att kvantifiera dessa fördelar med ett lättanvänt verktyg, kan detta projekt motivera både en beteendemässig förändring i branschen och forskare att vidareutveckla verktyget till att omfatta alla industrisektorer och hushållens konsumtion.