Welcome to
Life Cycle Assessment (AG2800)
Div. Environmental Strategies Research - fms
Dept. Urban Planning and Environment
Anna Björklund
Åsa Moberg
Göran Finnveden
Clara Borggren
Definition of LCA (ISO 14040)
Technique for assessing environmental aspects
and potential impacts of a product or service by:
-compiling an inventory of relevant inputs and
outputs of a product system;
-evaluating potential environmental impacts
associated with those inputs and outputs;
-interpreting the results.
Overall aim of LCA course
•Give a basic analyst’s competence
in LCA.
•Develop your skills of systems
thinking in environmental issues,
related to your own area of
expertise.
• What’s the environmental impact
of a glass bottle?
• Which is better; aluminium cans,
PET bottles, or glass bottles?
Life cycle phases of a glass bottle
Energy &
material Emissions
Raw materials Manufacture Use Waste
extraction management
LCA system boundaries Types of LCA
• cradle-to-grave • stand-alone/comparative
• resource use & emissions
• foreground & background • attributional (accounting)/
consequential (change oriented)
The life cycle model
Raw material
acquisition Resources
(e.g. raw
Process materials,
energy,land)
Transport
Manufacture
Emissions
to air,
Use water,
ground
Waste
management
Simplified flow chart
Life cycle of a Soda Limestone Sand Feldspar
Tr. Tr. Tr. Tr.
glass bottle
Production
of bottle
Tr.
Filling
w. drink
Tr.
Retail
Tr.
Recycling
Use
Waste
Landfill collection
Work in pairs (5 min)
Draw a (simplified) flow chart of the life cycle of a car
Include the different life cycle phases
1. Raw materials extraction (what materials?)
2. Materials processing (what processes?)
3. Manufacturing of parts
4. Manufacturing of the car
5. Use
6. Waste management (recycling and final disposal)
Indicate (with arrows)
1. emissions (some examples)
2. resource use (which ones and in what life cycle phases?)
Schmidt et al., 2004 (International Journal of LCA, 9(6), 405-416)
Simplified diagram of
automobile life cycle.
(Maclean and Lave, 2003)
During the break
• Pick up:
– Course memo (also available at Bilda).
– List of suggested project topics. Start
thinking about project topics.
• Sign list if you need:
– access card to computer labs in L-building
– KTH-ID to login in computer labs
LCA methodology in brief
Life cycle assessment framework
Goal
and scope
definition
Inventory
analysis Interpretation
Impact
assessment
Source: ISO 14040:2006
ISO 14040 series
LCA standards
• ISO 14040: Principles and framework
• ISO 14044: Requirements and guidelines
• ISO 14047: Impact assessment - Examples of
application
• ISO 14048: Data documentation format
• ISO 14049: Goal and scope definition and
inventory analysis - Examples of
application
LCA methodology in brief
Life cycle assessment framework
Goal
and scope
definition
Inventory
analysis Interpretation
Impact
assessment
Source: ISO 14040:2006
Goal and scope definition
• Goal:
– Purpose
– Intended application
– Intended audience
• Scope:
– Studied product (or service)
– Functional unit (quantified measure of product)
– System boundaries (what, where, and when?)
– Impacts (e.g. global warming, acidification)
– Data requirements (eg. age, technical and
geographical representativity)
LCA methodology in brief
Life cycle assessment framework
Goal
and scope
definition
Inventory
analysis Interpretation
Impact
assessment
Source: ISO 14040:2006
Inventory (& modelling)
1. Draw flow chart (simplified and detailed)
2. Collect data (resource use, emissions)
– LCA databases, reports, scientific papers, on-site
investigation, expert knowledge, qualified guesses (!)
3. Build model of product system
– computerised in generic LCA software tool, Excel, or
other
4. Calculate resource use and emissions
Iterative procedure!
LCA methodology in brief
Life cycle assessment framework
Goal
and scope
definition
Inventory
analysis Interpretation
Impact
assessment
Source: ISO 14040:2006
Impact assessment
1. Classification: Sort/classify inventory
parameters (emissions, resources) according
to type of environmental impact.
2. Characterisation: Translate inventory
results to environmental impact categories.
Example: Global warming potential
(according to EDIP)
1 CH4 = 25 CO2 equivalents
1 N2O = 320 CO2 equivalents
1 CO = 2 CO2 equivalents
Impact assessment
(Optional steps)
• Normalisation: Calculating relative size of
each impact of a studied product system, by
”benchmarking” against total size of each
impact (system impact/total impacts).
• Weighting: Adding different impacts (with
different units) on a single scale (using a
single unit, eg. points, cost). Shows relative
contribution of each impact to the total
impact. Based on subjective values.
Short LCA history
• 1960-1970: Waste debate and oil crisis.
• 1969: First LCA-type study: Resource and
Environmental Profile Analysis (REPA) of beverage
packaging, by Coca Cola. Similar studies in UK,
Germany, Sweden (TetraPak).
• 1980’s: Growing use of LCA. Mainly applied to
packaging. Mostly know to researchers.
• 1991: The term ”LCA” was agreed on.
• 1996: Scientific LCA journal.
• 1997: ISO standard.
• Today: LCA used in public policy, design, decision
making, education.
Why LCA?
• System focus (not isolated details)
avoids sub-optimization and
problem shifting.
• Structured, quantitative analysis of
complex technical systems.
Suggest applications where LCA can
be a useful tool in different sectors
of industry and society.
Applications of LCA
• Product development & improvement
– eco-design, e.g. choice of materials
• Strategic planning
– Companies: e.g. choice of products, choice of supplier
– National level: e.g. transport, energy, and waste policy
• Public policy
– e.g. procurement, energy and waste policy
• Marketing
– Statement of product environmental performance
• Other
– Technology assessment
– Technology development & improvement
– Eco-labelling (Type III environmental declarations)
– Learning, develop systems thinking
Examples of LCA case
studies
• Environmental Systems Analysis of Pig Production - The
Impact of Feed Choice
• LCA for Waste Managament
• LCA of a Personal Computer and its Effective Recycling
Rate
• LCA of a District Heat Distribution System
• LCA of the Mobile Communication System UMTS
• LCA of Multicrystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Systems
• LCA of Kerosene Used in Aviation
• LCA of Wood Floor Coverings
Work in pairs (10 min)
Production of product A requires raw materials and fuel. Product A is
used for some years, then disposed of.
Scope
• The life cycle of product A includes raw materials extraction,
production, use, and disposal.
• The functional unit is one item of product A.
Life cycle data inventory
1. Raw materials extraction: 10 MJ fuel/product A
2. Production: 2 MJ fuel/product A
3. Use: 2 MJ fuel/year/product A; life time of A is 10 years
4. Disposal: 0,5 MJ/product A; 2 kg CH4 emitted/product A
5. 1 kg CO2 emitted/MJ fuel
Characterisation factors, global warming potential (GWP)
GWP(CO2)= 1 [kg CO2-equivalents/kg]
GWP(CH4)= 21 [kg CO2-equivalents/kg]
Task
• Draw process flow chart of product A.
• Calculate the total life cycle process energy demand of product A.
• Identify what life cycle stage has the highest contribution to global
warming potential (GWP).
10 kg 2 kg 20 kg 0.5 kg CO2
10 MJ 2 MJ 10*2 MJ 0.5 MJ 2 kg CH4
CO2 CO2 CO2
Raw
materials Production Use Disposal
extraction
• 1 kg CO2 emitted/MJ fuel
• life time of A is 10 years
• GWP(CH4)= 21 [kg CO2-equivalents/kg]
Total energy demand [MJ] = 10 + 2 + 10*2 + 0.5 = 32.5 MJ
GWP [kg CO2-eq] = 10 + 2 + 20 + 0.5 + 21*2 = 74.5 kg CO2-eq
