Niels Jungbluth

ESU-services Ltd. · www.esu-services.ch/publications/

Nutrition has an impact on human health and the natural environment. Its share of the total environmental impact of Swiss final consumption is about 20-25%, depending on the assess-ment method. This environmental damage in turn also affects human health. For example, periods of heat in summer lead to deaths due to the climate crisis. If nutritional...

About 156 datasets for crude oil and natural gas extraction and transportation have been investigated in a project commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the Verband der Schweizer Gasindustrie (VSG). Data are updated and extended for the following stages: • Crude oil and natural gas production onshore/offshore/mix •...

Natural gas is an important fossil fuel for Switzerland's energy supply. Fossil fuels cause environmental problems, particularly regarding climate change. Frequently, the environmental impacts of gaseous and liquid fuels and their use are compared, considering the upstream process chain. A prerequisite for such a comparison is the use of current an...

About 156 datasets for crude oil and natural gas extraction and transportation have been investigated in a project commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the Verband der Schweizer Gasindustrie (VSG). Data are updated and extended for the following stages: • Crude oil and natural gas production onshore/offshore/mix •...

The online version of the original article can be found at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-020-01790-0

When conducting life cycle assessments (LCA) for environmental product declarations (EPD), researchers struggle with many methodological questions. For certain products there are several standards (e.g. ISO and EN) and Product Category Rules (PCR) available which all seem applicable. These standards, however, might lead to different results. Depend...

Pets are an important leisure activity in industrialised countries. From the point of view of ecological consumption, the question arises whether this development is relevant from an environmental point of view. For the first time a life cycle assessment study was carried out to examine the environmental impact of Swiss pet ownership. In the indivi...

Purpose There are specific effects of emissions in high altitude, which lead to a higher contribution of aviation to the problem of climate change than just the emission of CO2 from burning fuels. The exact relevance is subject to scientific debate, but there is a consensus that aircrafts have an impact that is higher than just their contribution d...

Introduction Commodities such as metals, crude oil and products such as diesel or staple foods (e.g. coffee, wheat, etc.) are often traded by Swiss companies, without being physically transported to Switzerland. Like this, they are excluded from foreign trade statistics or input-output analyses. Associated environmental impacts have not been evalu...

Introduction Commodities such as metals, crude oil and products such as diesel or staple foods (e.g. coffee, wheat, etc.) are often traded by Swiss companies, without being physically transported to Switzerland. Like this, they are excluded from foreign trade statistics or input-output analyses. Associated environmental impacts have not been evalu...

Purpose There are specific effects of emissions in high altitude, which lead to a higher contribution of aviation to the problem of climate change than just the emission of CO2 from burning fuels. The exact relevance is subject to scientific debate, but there is a consensus that aircrafts have an impact that is higher than just their contribution d...

Purpose This study analyses the environmental impacts referring to dairy products and to the operation of a dairy. The study aims to better understand different process stages in a dairy operation. This analysis can be used to improve the flows of energy, water, and materials in the dairy operation. The results are also used to suggest an improved...

Purpose The purpose of the European SENSE project was to define an integral system to assess and communicate the environmental impacts of food products and to develop a web-based tool for Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMEs). The tool has been tested in salmon, beef-and-dairy, and fruit juice production sectors. Methods The SENSE project has ev...

Purpose Private food consumption accounts for 30 % of total environmental impacts caused by the final consumption of Swiss households. The private expenses for gastronomy and hotels account for another 6 %. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate and better understand the environmental impacts of food consumption and the possibilities for a reduc...

Purpose This article introduces the special issue “LCA of nutrition and food consumption” and 14 papers selected from the Ninth LCA Food Conference in San Francisco in October 2014. Literature overview The scientific literature in the field of food LCA has increased more than ten times during the last 15 years. Nutrition has a high contribution to...

Each year, 1 300 000 tons of whey occur in Switzerland as a by-product of cheesemaking: 24 % is used in the food industry, 31 % is transformed into high-value animal feed and 45 % is fed directly to pigs. Increasing the percentage made into foodstuffs would be desirable but is difficult to realize because production is scattered and concentrating t...

La fabrication du fromage génère annuellement en Suisse 1 300 000 t de petit-lait, dont 24 % sont déjà utilisés pour l’alimentation humaine, 31 % transformés en aliments fourragers de valeur et 45 % distribués directement aux porcs. Une augmentation de l’utilisation du petit-lait dans les denrées alimentaires est souhaitable, mais elle se heurte à...

Simplified modeling of fertilizer N emissions in inventories of agricultural products may lead to considerable deviations of N emissions from actual N surpluses present in farming system. We compared impacts for global warming, eutrophication, and acidification of four crops either produced in organic or integrated (IP) production using ecoinvent i...

Purpose Bio-based products are often considered sustainable due to their renewable nature. However, the environmental performance of products needs to be assessed considering a life cycle perspective to get a complete picture of potential benefits and trade-offs. We present a life cycle assessment of the global commodity ethanol, produced from diff...

There are different ways and strategies to reduce the environmental impacts caused today. One starting point for reducing the environmental impacts of today is the private consumption. Finally, all goods and services provided in a country contribute to fulfil the needs and demands of consumers. Several national and international initiatives therefo...

The discussion forum on life cycle assessment (LCA) on September 15, 2011, aimed at summarizing recent environmentally extended input–output analysis (EE-IOA) and the combination with LCA for the computation of environmental impact of imports. Input–output tables (IOT) represent the financial flows in a country or economic regions. Extending IOT wi...

In the recent past, several initiatives have been launched to reveal the carbon footprint of consumer products or provide other life cycle based environmental information. The presentation of environmental product information (EPI) may contribute to better informed purchase decisions. It would help to direct the attention of companies to more eco-e...

Nutrition accounts for 30 % of environmental impacts caused due to the final consumption of Swiss households. Therefore, it is nec-essary to investigate possibilities for the reduction of these impacts. We developed a general framework for such an analysis. Based on a more detailed analysis of this consumption domain, it is investigated, for which...

The 41st discussion forum addressed different concepts of environmental product information (EPI). The goal was on the one hand to discuss EPI in a theoretical perspective, addressing issues on functional unit and use phase, LCIA methods, and comprehensiveness of environmental indicators. On the other hand, practical examples were presented to show...

Background, aim and scopeThe evaluation of packaging’s environmental performance usually concentrates on a comparison of different packaging materials or designs. Another important aspect in life cycle assessment (LCA) studies on packaging is the recycling or treatment of packaging wastes. LCA studies of packed food include the packaging with speci...

Results. The analysis confirms the fact that capital goods can-not be excluded per se. On one hand, toxicity related environ-mental impacts such as freshwater ecotoxicity or human toxic-ity are more sensitive towards an inclusion or exclusion of capital goods. On the other, certain products like photovoltaic and wind electricity are very much or ev...

Recently, the data for photovoltaics in the ecoinvent database have been updated on behalf of the European Photovoltaics Industry Association and the Swiss Federal Authority for Energy. Data have been collected in this project directly from manufacturers and were provided by other research projects. LCA studies from different authors are considered...

IntroductionConceptual Background to LCA in ISO 14040ffGoal and Scope DefinitionInventory AnalysisLCI Data Documentation and Exchange FormatConsequential versus Attributional LCISummaryReferences

This paper describes the life cycle assessment (LCA) for photovoltaic (PV) power plants in the new ecoinvent database. Twelve different, grid-connected photovoltaic systems were studied for the situation in Switzerland in the year 2000. They are manufactured as panels or laminates, from monocrystalline or polycrystalline silicon, installed on facad...

Goal, Scope and Background This paper describes the modelling of two emerging electricity systems based on renewable energy: photovoltaic (PV) and wind power. The paper shows the approach used in the ecoinvent database for multi-output processes.Methods Twelve different, grid-connected photovoltaic systems were studied for the situation in Switzerl...

Goal, Scope and Background The energy systems included in the ecoinvent database v1.1 describe the situation around year 2000 of Swiss and Western European power plants and boilers with the associated energy chains. The addressed nuclear systems concern Light Water Reactors (LWR) with mix of open and closed fuel cycles. The system model ‘Natural Ga...

Introduction This paper provides an overview on the content of the ecoinvent database and of selected metholodogical issues applied on the life cycle inventories implemented in the ecoinvent database. Goal, Scope and Background In the year 2000, several Swiss Federal Offices and research institutes of the ETH domain agreed to a joint effort to harm...

This paper provides an overview on the content of the ecoinvent database and of selected metholodogical issues applied on the life cycle inventories implemented in the ecoinvent database. In the year 2000, several Swiss Federal Offices and research institutes of the ETH domain agreed on a joint effort to harmonise and update life cycle inventory (L...

The coincidence effect--a phenomenon known in similarity research--suggests that people assign extra weight to features that 2 items have in common. The role of this effect in 2 kinds of environmental judgments about food products is investigated. Task 1 ("How environmentally friendly is a particular food product compared with a reference?") provid...

The environmental impacts caused by different types of consumers while purchasing food products were investigated in a diary study and assessed with a modular LCA approach. This research shows, in collaboration with a group of psychologists, the ecological, economic, and cognitive restrictions and options for an ecological orientation of food purch...

Data availability and data quality are still critical factors for successful LCA work. The SETAC-Europe LCA Working Group ‘Data Availability and Data Quality’ has therefore focused on ongoing developments toward a common data exchange format, public databases and accepted quality measures to find science-based solutions than can be widely accepted....

The goal of this research work was to assist consumers in considering environmental aspects of food consumption. A simplified, modular LCA approach has been used to evaluate the impacts from the consumers’ point of view. Comparative LCA’s have been calculated for five single aspects of decisions: type of agricultural practice, origin, packaging mat...

-

Zugl.: Zürich, Eidgenössische Techn. Hochsch., Diss., 2000.

The use of energy for cooking is one of the most important sectors for the energy consumption in India. Results of a life cycle inventory are presented for the use of kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas as cooking fuels. The situation in India was investigated through life cycle inventories for the following stages of the life cycle: Extraction of...

The use of energy for cooking is one of the most important sectors for the energy consumption in India. Results of a life cycle inventory are presented for the use of kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas as cooking fuels. The situation in India was investigated through life cycle inventories for the following stages of the life cycle: Extraction of...

Environmental indicators are used to compare the state of sustainable development and the relevance of consumption patterns between differ- ent countries. Results from the review of different case studies are used to propose a set of indicators that covers many environmental impacts related to food consumption patterns in different countries.