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... The methodology was later improved by Alvarenga et al. [38] by differentiating between resources extracted from natural and humanmade systems and by adding spatially-explicit characterization factors (CFs) for land resources. Additional improvements were made by Taelman et al. [39], who determined characterization factors for sea surface occupation (SSO) to quantify resource impacts from the marine environment. ...
... In this calculation, the characterization factor (CF) refers to the NPP in a specific location, as for example land occupation in a tropical rainforest has a different impact than land occupation in a desert [38]. A similar calculation is applied to resource extraction from the marine environment [39], where for resources extracted from human-made systems within the marine environment, impacts can be attributed to sea surface occupation (SSO). Sea surface occupation is assumed to block sunlight penetration, thus reducing NPP in that area. ...
... Again, a CF is applied which refers to the NPP in a specific marine location, which has been previously computed by Taelman et al. [39]. For the wild harvesting pathways, it is assumed that the impact of natural resource extraction is equal to the exergetic value of seaweed at 13.44 MJex/kg dry weight (DW), or 1.34 MJex/kg FW [25]. ...
... Compared to Dewulf et al. (2007), Alvarenga et al. (2013) used the exergy value of biomass to account for its extraction from natural systems and the natural potential net primary production (NPP) as proxies for land occupation from human-made systems. Characterization factors for the land occupation of marine environments were implemented by Taelman et al. (2014), using the same methodological approach. In the latest version of CEENE, spatially-differentiated land occupation characterization factors are provided, combining the NPP with a factor to represent the naturalness of the occupied land (Taelman et al., 2016). ...
... from natural environment to provide the functional unit using an exergy-based LCIA indicator and to determine the exergetic efficiency at life cycle level. The impact indicator applied was the Cumulative Exergy Extraction from the Natural Environment (CEENE) method, in the version of Alvarenga et al. (2013) and Taelman et al. (2014). As the geographic scope of this study is Germany, a characterization factor of 26.5 MJ ex /m 2 x yr for land occupation from Alvarenga et al. (2013) was used for all processes. ...
... Although exergy analysis is a feasible approach to compare the resource use of multifunctional cascade systems, the approach as applied in this study shows shortcomings in the characterisation of land use with respect to the suitability for forest ecosystems. In exergy analysis, land area is accounted using either the solar radiation available for photosynthesis (Dewulf et al., 2007;Huysveld et al., 2015) oras applied in this studythe net primary production (NPP) Taelman et al., 2016;Taelman et al., 2014) as a proxy for the value of land. Such a proxy does not follow the same rationale as for other resources or materials, which are directly characterised by their exergy value. ...
Article
Driven by the scarcity of non-renewable resources and a growing environmental awareness in Germany, the demand for wood could likely exceed its sustainable supply within the next decades. In response to this development, cascading, i. e. the sequential use of one unit of material in material applications with energy generation as final step, is expected to enhance the resource efficiency of wood utilization. In this context, the objective of this paper is to determine the resource consumption and resource efficiency of wood cascading compared to the use of primary wood to provide the same multiple functions. To account for resource use and calculate the efficiency, exergy analysis was applied. The exergy of a material is the potential work that can be obtained from the material in the natural environment. By using Exergy Flow Analysis, key drivers of exergy dissipation and thus hotspots for improvement were identified. Exergetic Life Cycle Assessment was applied to determine resource use and the resource efficiency at a life cycle level. The results indicate that cascading leads to less resource consumption compared to the use of primary wood, indicated by higher resource efficiency (46% vs. 21%) at life cycle level. The main resource saving potential through cascading arises from avoiding primary production in forestry systems. In conclusion, cascading reduces the primary resource extraction and makes wood utilization highly efficient. Exergy analysis proved to be a viable method to study the resource use of multifunctional cascading systems, although showing some limitations with respect to land use accounting.
... The cumulative exergy extraction from the natural environment (CEENE) method Taelman et al. 2014) aggregates the exergy embedded in extracted resources (e.g., copper), measured as the exergy difference between a resource as found in nature and the defined reference state in the natural environment. Using the definition of Szargut et al. (1988) the reference state is represented by a reference compound that is considered to be the most probable product of the interaction of the element with other common compounds in the natural environment and that typically shows high chemical stability (e.g., SiO2 for Si) (De Meester et al. 2006). ...
... CEENE)Taelman et al. 2014); the cumulative exergy demand (CExD)Hischier et al. 2009); thermodynamic rarity (TR) (Valero and Valero 2015); and solar energy demand (SED)(Rugani et al. 2011). For metals and minerals, exergy methods account for a) the difference between the exergy of these resources as found in nature and as found in a defined reference state (CEENE and CExD) or b) the exergy 6 The Future Welfare Loss method suggested by De Caeval et al.(2012) was discussed extensively in this task force prior to the Pellston Workshop but the method has only been published after the workshop inHuppertz et al. (2019). ...
... A Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) method to measure the environmental resource footprint of marine area occupation has been proposed for natural marine systems, where the 'exergy' content (the maximum work a system can deliver in equilibrium with its environment) of extracted resources is quantified (Taelman et al. 2014). A 'sea use' impact category has also been developed to assess transformation and occupation impacts in marine ecosystems as a measure of the free Net Primary Production (fNPP) (Langlois et al. 2011;Langlois et al. 2014a, b;Langlois et al. 2016). ...
... No such index currently exists to express how impacts from marine production move the state of the ecosystem away from the natural one, although an index for water bodies is reportedly in the early stages of development (Fehrenbach et al. 2015). Adaptation of the hemeroby concept to marine habitats may present an opportunity to overcome the lack of consideration for marine systems in current LCIA methods (Taelman et al. 2014) and provide a more informed comparison of impacts between terrestrial and marine production systems. ...
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PurposeMethods to quantify biodiversity impacts through life cycle assessment (LCA) are evolving for both land- and marine-based production systems, although typically independently from each other. An indicator for terrestrial food production systems that may be suitable to assess marine biodiversity, and is applicable across all food production systems, is a measure of hemeroby or distance from the natural state. We explore the possibility of adapting this approach to marine systems to assess the impact of fishing on seawater column and seafloor systems. Methods The terrestrial hemeroby concept is adapted here for marine ecosystems. Two commercial fishery case studies are used to trial the effectiveness of hemeroby in measuring the influence exerted by fishing practices on marine biodiversity. Available inventory data are used to score areas to a hemeroby class, following a semi-quantitative scoring matrix and a seven-point scale, to determine how far the seafloor and seawater column are from their natural state. Assessment can progress to the impact assessment stage involving characterisation of the hemeroby score, to determine the Naturalness Degradation Potential (NDP) for use in calculating the Naturalness Degradation Indicator (NDI). The method builds on well-established processes for assessing fisheries within the ecosystem-based fisheries management framework and is designed to enhance assessment of fishing impacts within LCA. Results and discussionAustralian fisheries case studies were used to demonstrate the application of this method. The naturalness of these fisheries was scored to a hemeroby level using the scoring matrix. The seafloor of the Northern Prawn Fishery and the seawater column of the South Australian Sardine Fishery were both classified as partially close to nature. Impact assessment was carried out following the process outlined for the NDI. The naturalness degradation results were highly sensitive to area calculation method and data. There was also variation in results when using annual or averaged data for catch. Results should therefore be interpreted in the context of these sensitivities. Conclusions Adaptation of the hemeroby concept to marine habitats may present an opportunity for more informed comparison of impacts between terrestrial and marine systems. Incorporating a measure of naturalness into assessments of food production can be useful to better understand the cost, in terms of transforming ecosystems from natural to more artificial, of meeting growing food demand. Biodiversity is a broad concept not easily captured through one indicator, and this method can complement emerging biotic LCA indicators, to provide a suite of indicators capable of capturing the full impact of fishing on marine biodiversity.
... Correlation models between process data (e.g., temperature, mass yield, organic solvent use) and environmental sustainability performance (e.g., cumulative resource consumption, carbon emissions, etc.) that were found by De Soete et al. (2014) and adopted by the Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) of the British National Health Service (NHS) were tested on their feasibility to be integrated in customized ERP applications [14,35]. It was proven that by combining MES data from batch reports (e.g., time duration of a chemical synthesis step), line sensors (e.g., operating temperatures), Bill of Materials (BOM) (e.g., raw material use), indicators for environmental sustainability could be derived (e.g., Cumulative Exergy Extracted from the Natural Environment, CEENE and the Carbon Footprint, CF) [36][37][38][39][40][41][42]. Ideally, these aforementioned correlations, engineering modules, design software such as ASPEN are to be built in in a customized ERP application for LCA (as visualized in Figure 2) in order to couple primary engineering data, Life Cycle Inventory databases (LCI, e.g., ecoinvent) and Life An ERP system is generally customized for a certain enterprise. ...
... Exergy Extracted from the Natural Environment, CEENE and the Carbon Footprint, CF) [36][37][38][39][40][41][42]. Ideally, these aforementioned correlations, engineering modules, design software such as ASPEN are to be built in in a customized ERP application for LCA (as visualized in Figure 2) in order to couple primary engineering data, Life Cycle Inventory databases (LCI, e.g., ecoinvent) and Life Cycle Impact Assessment Methods (LCIAM, such as CEENE and CF). ...
Article
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Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) is a widely used approach through manufacturing environments in a variety of sectors. With a tendency to go to specialized, smaller lot sizes in several industries (e.g., the pharmaceutical sector), companies are dealing with capacity bottlenecks if the planning rhythm wheel is not well calibrated or when production lines are not flexible enough in terms of changeover (C/O) and set-up times (S/U) (OEE is too small). A well-established communication system including other enterprise resources or production factors (e.g., Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP) is favorable to any extent. More and more questions arise from stakeholder communities and end-users on whether or not supply chains and manufacturing environments are sustainable and safe. Departments such as Environmental Health, Safety & Sustainability (EHS & S) and Product Stewardship are too often at the “blind” side of the ICT interface. When it comes to product and organizational sustainability, data seems to be lacking in order to conduct sustainability assessments proficiently. Years of intensive research and experience proved that primary data to perform sustainability assessments often are measured through equipment control sensors (e.g., flow rates, temperatures, etc.) and sent to PLCs and many other systems. Nevertheless, these data measurements are in many cases simply not penetrating through the Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) because these bottom-up engineering data seems to be of little value to planning, procurement, etc. This communication paper deals with how sustainability assessments can be embedded in business operational management systems. After all, who does not want a “live Carbon Footprint” for process improvements and external sustainability reporting instead of a series of expensive resource consuming studies of 4 to 6 months digging into data logs in traditional Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)? This communication paper has taken one step further in coupling business ERP systems with environmental sustainability of products, services and enterprises.
... A thermodynamically-based resource accounting method that accounts for the impact of land use is the Cumulative Exergy Extraction from the Natural Environment (CEENE) method, of which to date three versions exist: CEENE 2007 (Dewulf et al., 2007), CEENE 2013 and CEENE 2014 (Taelman et al., 2014). In the initial version, the exergy content of the solar radiation that can be metabolized through photosynthesis by natural ecosystems (set at 2% of the total irradiation) was quantified to be 68.14 ...
... Therefore, the CFs where calculated based on a [0] (natural systems) -[1] (man-made systems) accounting approach: CFs for land occupation in a natural system were set to zero (only accounting for the extracted biomass) and the CFs for land use in, for example, European man-made systems were equal to 23.20 MJ ex m −2 yr −1 , which represents the average natural potential NPP (NPP 0 ) in Europe, regardless of the type of land that was occupied. The same approach was used to account for marine resources (biomass and sea surface occupation), which resulted in the extended CEENE 2014 version (Taelman et al., 2014). ...
... However, increasingly, these resources are facing depletion or becoming less sustainable due to overuse . As a result, of late, the focus of human resource development and utilisation has gradually begun to turn towards the utilisation of oceanic resourcesreferred to as blue the economy (Taelman et al. 2014; given the extensive nature of oceans and that it creates new opportunities. ...
... The ocean accounts for approximately 71% of the earth's area [59]. It is known that the marine ecosystem is the most important ecosystem in the world, which affects the stability and security of the global ecosystem. ...
Article
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With the development of 5G, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, diversified sensors (such as the signal acquisition module) have become more and more important in people’s daily life. According to the extensive use of various distributed wireless sensors, powering them has become a big problem. Among all the powering methods, the self-powered sensor system based on triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) has shown its superiority. This review focuses on four major application areas of wireless sensors based on TENG, including environmental monitoring, human monitoring, industrial production, and daily life. The perspectives and outlook of the future development of self-powered wireless sensors are discussed.
... Moreover, as FLS generally exhibits excess strength, most researchers mix it with river sand, manufactured sand, and fly ash to maximize the raw material (FLS) and reduce construction costs [14][15][16][17][18]. However, the sustainable applications of FLS have been remarkably restricted by resource scarcity, poor grading of sand, and significant performance variation [19][20][21][22][23]. Notably, there is an enormous resource of offshore marine sand (MS) worldwide (~6.8 × 10 11 m 3 ) [24,25], indicating that resource depletion (i.e., natural aggregates) could be alleviated by reasonably harnessing MS in FLS, thus contributing to sustainable environmental development. Studies abound on the application of FLS in construction, and they mainly focus on their foaming agents [26,27], raw materials [28][29][30], basic physical properties [31,32], durability [33][34][35], and micropore structure [36,37]. ...
... They are different in the area and context for evaluating the indicators and interpreting the results [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. Further insufficiency in the selected studies is their lack of practicability for other regions and projects since all these works were intended for a particular task such as energy, wastewater management, and urban water with country-specific indicators [28,29,31,34,[38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46]. Moreover, there are limitations in the work proposed by them. ...
Article
Full-text available
Infrastructure projects require lifecycle-based assessment, considering the interests of multiple stakeholders concerning the three pillars of sustainability. There has been a heightened curiosity in employing sustainability indicators for gauging the impacts of developmental projects. Even though the literature is abundant on sustainability assessment methods, there is no proper one for the assessment of urban infrastructure projects in the context of Gulf states. Thus, our research intends to fill in this research gap and recommend an incorporated, hierarchically coordinated approach of sustainability indicators to be employed for the sustainability assessment of urban infrastructure development projects. This aim is achieved through a questionnaire survey, by identifying the sustainability indicators related to the infrastructure projects for the cities, in the context of Gulf states. The survey uses the criteria; "Important", "Practicality", "Reliability", and "Relevance" to assess those indicators. Based on expert opinions, the weights of the indicators are approximated through the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method. Thus, the study proposes an innovative hierarchically defined structure of sustainability indicators fitting for the Gulf context. Further, it informs urban planners and policymakers, particularly in the Gulf states, about the shift in the direction of sustainability of urban infrastructure systems.
... In recent years, with the depletion of terrestrial resources, the focus of human resource development and utilization has gradually begun to turn to the ocean (Taelman et al., 2014). Marine resources are vital to human survival and prosperity as an important part of the Earth's life support system, a treasure trove of resources for sustainable social development and a strategic location for future high-quality economic development. ...
Article
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Purpose With increasing marine resource development, the rapid development of the marine economy, and the continuous decline of the marine natural resource system, the contradiction between marine resources and economic development is becoming increasingly acute. The study of marine resources and economic development has become a hot and challenging issue in marine resource economics research in recent years. The purpose of this study is to analyze the current situation of marine resources and to realize the sustainable use of marine resources. Design/methodology/approach This study systematically reviews and analyzes the current status of research on marine resources and economic development issues in four main aspects: marine resource management, marine resources and economic growth, marine resources and economic security, and marine resource accounting in the field of marine resource economics. Findings It is found that compared to the current status of research on land-based resources and economic development, there is a significant lag in both theoretical construction and methodological innovation in marine resources and economic development. Originality/value The purpose of this study is to systematically grasp the current status of marine resources research, promote the coordinated development of marine resources and economic growth, and then realize the safe and sustainable development and utilization of marine resources.
... The novel CF's applicability was evaluated for a variety of biobased goods. And [16], who included the CEENE method in the LCIA method and was capable of analyzing the environmental impact (and, more specifically, the resource footprint) of marine area occupation in two case studies: comparing resource consumption of on-and offshore oil production, and fish and soybean meal production for fish feed applications. ...
Article
Full-text available
The journey to sustainability is becoming increasingly crucial in manufacturing, particularly in resource and energy intensive industries. In recent years, the matter of sustainability in industrial contexts has become an important point on the legislative agendas of many governments as well as in public opinion, with the latter becoming increasingly sensitive to enterprises' dedication to this problem. As a result, companies have started to implement sustainable approaches into their manufacturing processes and increased the amount of information about these practices to customers and stakeholders. The purpose of this work is to evaluate manufacturing sustainability using coupled exergetic and life cycle performance indicators, which are used to comprehend the outcomes of the studies as well as to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the models developed. The purpose of this study is to first present an overview of the metrics associated with the integrated or combined implementation of Exergetic Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment, their significance, and their application in specific use scenarios. Some illustrative indicators are then compared in an actual industrial case study, and the outcomes are discussed. Among the highlights, it is not yet able to determine a metric that measures the degree of manufacturing sustainability individually and thoroughly owing to the multifaceted character of the manufacturing processes. The overall conclusion is that combining Exergy with Life Cycle Thinking is indeed a beneficial solution for enhancing industrial processes, although the accuracy in measuring environmental, but primarily social and economic, concerns is not obvious. he assessment's interpretation is typically troublesome due to a lack of full and up-to-date data and confidence analysis, as well as a lack of scientific coherence.
... The development of LCIA pathways for ecosystem services faces main challenges related to its site-specificity requiring datasets for high spatial resolution, to feedback loops and interrelations amongst ecological The assessment of marine ecosystem services impacts in LCA is limited by data gaps regarding marine ecosystem functioning. However, some CFs for marine impact categories are somehow related to ecosystem services such as CFs for marine NPP decrease as indicator for biotic resources production (Langlois et al., 2014a;Taelman et al., 2014;Langlois et al., 2015). On the other hand, some reviews of marine ecosystem services provide a good overview for the development of specific LCIA indicators (Liquete et al., 2013). ...
Thesis
To sustain the needs of growing world population, seas and oceans are becoming heavily exploited. Initially exploited for food and transportation, offshore marine areas are nowadays supplying energy and minerals. Whilst the extraction of terrestrial natural resources led to major environmental consequences (i.e. biodiversity loss), it is crucial to ensure the global environmental sustainability of marine products on their entire life cycle. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods have the potential to provide such information and to identify hotspots of environmental impacts in the value chain of the product under analysis. At the endpoint level, LCA results consider impacts on three areas of protection (AoP): human health, ecosystem quality and natural resources. However, LCA methods have been traditionally applied to industrial processes and thus, are limited to include site-specific aspects (e.g. disturbance of the local ecosystem) in the scope of the assessment. The application of LCA to assess the environmental sustainability of marine products including ecosystem-specific life cycle impact assessments (LCIAs) in the evaluation of impacts belonging to the three AoP. Moreover, quantitative data on mass and energy flows associated to the entire life cycle of the products (production / extraction of raw materials and their processing to final commodities) are required to perform global environmental sustainability assessments. The overall objective of this PhD is to reinforce LCA capacity to assess the global sustainability of marine products. Two operational frameworks are proposed to include site-specific aspects related to the sourcing of marine raw materials, and data related to the processing of wet biomass are provided. In this way, the evaluation of the global environmental sustainability of marine products through LCA will be more inclusive and meaningful for comparative assessments with terrestrial alternatives. The PhD starts with a general introduction (Chapter 1) divided into four sections. First, an overview of marine activities is provided. The most important marine activities in terms of economic importance are described and the concept of the industrial revolution of the seas and oceans is introduced. This refers to the growing importance of the marine-sourced materials and energy for the global economy. Indeed, the importance of the marine economy is expected to follow a two-fold increase by 2030. On a longer time horizon, the potential recovery of deep-sea minerals might significantly increase our dependence on marine commodities. The second section provides background information related to the classification of natural resources and their link with ecosystem services. Natural resources are classified according to renewability, exhaustibility and their form at the moment of extraction (biotic / abiotic). Marine natural resources are presented according to this classification and in the context of ecosystem services. Deep-sea minerals are extensively presented as they might become substantial for our economy in a near future. The ecological pressures on marine ecosystems are discussed in the third section. Direct drivers of impact caused by the marine economy are highlighted, such as the reduction of commercial fish stock size. The fourth section introduces the global concepts of LCA and the development of site-specific LCIA pathways to assess changes in local ecosystem quality, measured through biodiversity related metrics. The main limitations for global environmental sustainability assessments of marine products are exposed. The needs for site-specific marine LCIAs and further data regarding the processing of marine raw materials are highlighted. Chapter 2 quantifies trade-offs amongst seaweed farming and wild catches fisheries. Both are considered as marine natural resources and marine ecosystem services. The reduction in fisheries yields caused by the harvesting of net primary production (NPP) (i.e. seaweed) is estimated through a trophic food web approach. A site-specific LCIA framework relying on the seasonal ecosystem NPP, seaweed biomass growth and fish landings is proposed to assess the Lost Potential Yield (LPY) of the area under study. LPY are reported in terms of biomass, economic value and eco-exergy, a metric measuring the genomic complexity of the organisms. The framework is illustrated for the Greater North Sea and shows a net positive contribution of seaweed farming in terms of marine natural resources (i.e. the production of seaweed exceeds the decrease in fisheries landings for the three LPY metrics). Further research could consist in the development of additional impact pathways to NPP reduction (e.g. habitat provision) and on the consideration of ecosystem carrying capacity. The following chapter (Chapter 3) develops a site-specific LCIA framework to assess impacts of deep seafloor disturbance on regional and global biodiversity as proxy for ecosystem quality. Changes in ecosystem quality are measured through a biodiversity-related metric: the potentially disappeared fraction of species (PDF), expressing relative changes in species richness caused by the intervention. The framework builds on existing LCIAs assessing impacts on ecosystem quality from land-use (i.e. land transformation and occupation). According to existing literature, the framework identifies three kinds of impacts: transformation, occupation and permanent impacts that can be summed to obtain the total impact on regional and global ecosystem quality. The regional biodiversity impacts are first assessed and converted to global biodiversity impacts considering the vulnerability and the scarcity of the ecosystem impacted. The framework is operationalized in a case study consisting to polymetallic nodules mining in the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCZ). Despite the very limited knowledge on benthic recovery from deep-sea mining, the framework shows consistency with existing LCA characterization models for biodiversity. The total impact on regional and global biodiversity is mostly influenced by the permanent impact on biodiversity because of the absence of recovery of a significant fraction of species. This framework can be integrated into LCA studies in order to understand the global environmental sustainability of deep-sea activities. Next to the development of additional LCIAs, the availability of detailed and transparent datasets is another challenge to assess the global environmental sustainability of marine products. Chapter 4 computes mass and energy flows associated with the harvesting and the processing of microalgae under eight biorefinery scenarios to produce lipids, proteins, energy and dried biomass. Two cell disruption methods are tested and two solvents for lipid extraction are compared. Complete flowsheets are provided for each step of the downstream processing of the raw biomass. The chapter highlights the impact of the cell disruption method on the total energy demand but also, the influence amongst downstream processes in a cascade design. Lipid extraction has influence on protein extraction, this latter improving energy production as it has a more favourable carbon to nitrogen ratio. In addition, lipids are extracted with a conventional solvent (hexane) for some scenarios and with a biobased solvent (2-methytetrahydrofuran) for other scenarios. The azeotropic distillation required for the recovery of the biobased solvent (and thus its extra energy demand) shows that solvent selection is crucial to control the total energy demand of the process, but lipid profiles will vary according to solvent properties. The last chapter (Chapter 5) consists of the conclusions and perspectives of the manuscript. Whilst the conclusions discuss the main outcomes of the three (published) research chapters (Chapter 2, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4), the perspective section opens a discussion on the requirement for an exhaustive classification of marine ecosystems. In a similar way as for the terrestrial ecosystems, such classification will facilitate the development of databases for marine ecosystem attributes and hence, the implementation of site-specific LCIAs. Furthermore, the section discusses alternatives to species richness related metrics to monitor changes in the ecosystem quality. Different types of biodiversity are defined according to the combination of biodiversity level (i.e. genetic, species, communities and landscape) and biodiversity attribute (i.e. composition, structure, function). Consequently, it is not possible to grasp the entire complexity of biodiversity through a single indicator such as species richness in LCA methods. The use of potential additional indicators for ecosystem quality and the main challenges arising from it are discussed. Finally, the discussion highlights the importance of aligning the scope of LCA studies with the descriptors used by European policy makers to assess the environmental status of marine ecosystems (under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, MSFD). It emphasizes the needs for additional marine LCIAs to consider all descriptors identified by the MSFD (11) in LCA studies of marine products. The challenge of integrating marine ecosystem services in the scope of LCA studies is considered. Because of the complexity of quantifying ecosystem services and their link with biodiversity, the use of regional biodiversity as midpoint indicator for ecosystem services is proposed. Finally, the section concludes by discussing the challenge of evaluating the total cumulative impact caused by different stressors on a given marine ecosystem. Whilst existing LCIAs do not consider interactions amongst each other, it is relevant to make use of ecological risk assessment tools to model the final ecosystem response to various disturbances occurring in parallel. To conclude, this work has emphasized two main challenges for the global environmental sustainability assessment of marine products: the implementation of site-specific LCIA frameworks and the development of datasets regarding further processing of the harvested products.
... Provisioning ES principally dictate that the availability of biotic resources and stocks of biotic natural resources and water can directly be depleted by their removal. Although ILCD does not yet consider the depletion of biotic resources, there have been several attempts over the years to recognize biotic resources within an LCA framework (Alvarenga et al., 2013;Bach et al., 2017;Crenna et al., 2018;Dewulf et al., 2007;Emanuelsson et al., 2014;Langlois et al., 2014;Rugani et al., 2011;Steen, 1999;Taelman et al., 2014). Beylot et al. (2020) propose a comprehensive approach to characterizing impacts from overexploitation of naturally occurring biotic resources. ...
Article
This paper uses bibliometric mapping and network analysis to review decades of research on ecosystem services and life cycle assessment (LCA). The study reveals how these two academic fields evolved to become distinct fields with little interaction despite shared environmental sustainability objectives. In assessing more than 56,000 publications, we identified just 91 LCA studies that integrate biotic ecosystem services in a meaningful way. We further classified these papers based on an ecosystem service standardization system – the Common International Classification for Ecosystem Services (CICES) – and the use of LCA midpoints and endpoints. LCA research has focused on a relatively small number of regulation and maintenance ecosystem services (especially carbon balance), with far less emphasis on provisioning services. Research on cultural services is especially scarce. Land use is a particularly promising area for integrative ecosystem services–LCA research but will require more sophisticated accounting of geographic and temporal variation, as well as the dynamic exchanges of flows between regions. We conclude by illustrating how Geographic Information Science (GIScience) can help address these challenges, enabling much deeper and wider integration of ecosystem service accounting in the LCA field.
... The analytical LCIA approach of evaluating the potential impacts of mineral resources has been controversial [20,21]. At the time of writing, the debate in the research community remains hot [20]: there is no consensus regarding which of the many methods reported is the most suitable for quantifying the potential impact on the use of natural mineral resources using the concept life cycle impact assessment (e.g., [22,23,24,25]). Various methods in the LCIA narrative have been employed to analyze the impact of this use on resource depletion [26,27,28,29,30], and the criticality and availability of some specific metals [31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38]. ...
Article
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Automobile companies have attempted to achieve a transition of vehicle types from internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) to new-generation vehicles (NGVs). Many studies have addressed the resource-related issues of vehicles. Despite the significant attention to the potential impacts of resource use in the LCIA narrative, the volume of natural resource exploitation has yet to be fully investigated. In this study, the concept of total material requirement (TMR), which is an indicator for assessing the scale of land disturbance caused by mining activities, was employed to evaluate the natural resource use for gasoline vehicles (GVs), electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). Using this approach, the lifecycle TMR of automobiles at the production, operation and maintenance stages was assessed. It was found that NGV production uses more than twice the resources required for GV production. In particular, the production of the traction Li-ion battery accounts for approximately half of the total resource exploitation in the case of EV production due to the use of Cu, and nearly 40% of resource exploitation in the case of FCV production is attributed to the production of fuel cells due to the use of Pt. The inverse trend between lifecycle TMR and CO2, which was observed for each type of vehicle, implies that recent transportation policies, with their focus on environmental implications of emissions, have overlooked the hidden factors associated with resource exploitation.
... In addition, a critical evaluation of seaweed cultivation and application also requires the evaluation of the potential benefits and impacts that cannot be quantified (yet) by LCA, as well as development of novel LCA impact characterization methods. Directly applicable quantitative methods are under development (Taelman et al., 2014;Cosme and Hauschild, 2017). Such methods should be further developed and tested in relation to seaweed cultivation and application. ...
Article
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Seaweeds are seen as important future feedstock for Europe, providing biomass for food, feed, and other applications. Seaweeds can contribute to a circular food system a protein transition and bio-based economy. Europe is a minor player in the world market dominated by the Asian producers and processors. According to the FAO, total production of aquatic plants (dominated by seaweed) was 30 million tonnes in 2016, with China (47.9%) and Indonesia (38, 7%) dominating production. This article discusses the challenges to seaweed production and use in Europe and formulates future directions for upscaling the European seaweed sector. From a People, Planet, Profit perspective, there is no need to focus on producing large volumes of seaweed per se. We need to focus on nature-inclusive production systems, producing the right amount of the right seaweeds, based on the carrying capacity of the European seas. The seaweed sector must avoid developing along the “old” economy’s way of cost leadership but develop along the way of the “new” circular economy. Seaweeds should not be seen as a new product “added” to the market but become an integral part of the European food system, being used for human consumption, feed and improving production processes.
... CEENE is a resource accounting method which has been extensively applied in LCA studies of aquaculture systems (Huysveld et al., 2013;Nhu et al., 2016). In this method, all material and energy flows are quantified in one single unit (joule of exergy), thus making the calculation of overall resource efficiency metric straightforward (Alvarenga et al., 2013;Dewulf et al., 2007;Huysveld et al., 2015;Taelman et al., 2014). The overall resource efficiency from life cycle perspective, called cumulative degree of perfection (CDP), can be defined as the ratio of exergy contained in the product to CEENE of its supply chain. ...
Article
In this paper, the specific primary production required (SPPR expressed as kg-NPP/kg-fish in wet weight) of more than 1700 marine species were calculated directly from 96 published food web models using the newly developed SPPR calculation framework. The relationship between SPPR and other ecological factors were then statistically analyzed. Among- and within-species variability of SPPR were found to be both explained by trophic level (TL), suggesting similar mechanisms underpinning both sources of variability. Among species, we found that harvesting species at higher mean trophic levels (MTL) increases the mean SPPR by a factor of 19 per 1 unit increase in MTL. Based on our empirical relationship, the mean SPPR of more than 9000 marine species were predicted and subsequently used to assess the primary production required (PPR) to support fisheries in five major fishing countries in Europe. The results indicated that conventional approach to estimating PPR, which neglects food web ecology, can underestimate PPR by up to a factor of 5. Within species, we found that harvesting populations occupying a higher TL leads to a higher SPPR. For example, the SPPR of Atlantic cod in the Celtic Sea (TL = 4.75) was 5 times higher than in the Gilbert Bay (TL = 3.3). Our results, which are based on large amounts of field data, highlight the importance of properly accounting for ecological factors during the impact assessment of fisheries.
... Another aspect is the selection of robust, reliable and relevant indicators to assess the impacts related to the previously selected categories. This choice is not straightforward, as continuously new developments are published in the field of impact indicators (e.g., [109] for smell and [110] for marine surface area resources). Overall, LCSA is an abstract framework, with a multi-dimensional perspective and based on multi-criteria decision analysis, which needs to be made more operational. ...
... Moreover, since exergy can achieve more efficient use of energy, it shall be reduced the heat waste emitted to the environment as well as the depletion of those materials being used as energy sources . As prominent examples, exergy application has successfully been used in several environmental considerations along with agriculture (Nhu et al., 2015), marine environment (Taelman et al., 2014), food waste (Vandermeersch et al., 2014), and solid waste treatment (Dewulf and Van Langenhove, 2002). ...
... The use of impact categories from well-known methods supports comparability of results among different studies. However, practitioners can create new impact categories to include aspects relevant for the aquaculture sector, such as sea surface occupation [46,47], sea bottom impact [48], and phosphorus-limited marine eutrophication [45]. Other impacts such as on biodiversity have been developed for other systems; however, no characterization factors have been set up for marine environment yet [30,[49][50][51]. ...
Chapter
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a holistic methodology that identifies the impacts of a production system on the environment. The results of an LCA are used to identify which processes can be improved to minimize impacts and optimize production.LCA is composed of four phases: (1) goal and scope definition, (2) life cycle inventory analysis, (3) life cycle impact assessment, and (4) interpretation.The goal and scope define the purpose of the analysis; describe the system and its function, establish a functional unit to collect data and present results, set the system boundaries, and explain the assumptions made and data quality requirements. Life cycle inventory analysis is the collection, processing and organization of data. Life cycle impact assessment associates the results from the inventory phase to one or multiple impacts on environment or human health. The interpretation evaluates the outcome of each phase of the analysis. In this phase the practitioner decides whether it is necessary to amend other phases, e.g., collection of more data or adjustments of goal of the analysis. In the interpretation, the practitioner draws conclusions, exposes the limitations, and provides recommendations to the readers.The quality of LCA of seaweed production and conversion is based on data availability and detail level. Performing an LCA at the initial stage of seaweed production in Europe is an advantage: the recommended design improvements can be implemented without significant economic investments. The quality of LCA will keep improving with the increase of scientific publications, data sharing, and public reports.
... With respect to land and marine occupation, its importance in agriculture and aquaculture production suggests that the impacts of the local aquaculture industry are higher than our estimations, as suggested by previous studies [34,69]. Although some indicators have been created to account for these factors [39,70,71], none have been formally integrated in the most recent Ecoinvent databases and they were not considered in our analysis for practical reasons. ...
Article
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China is the biggest provider of aquaculture products, and the industry is still growing rapidly. Further development of the sector will affect the provision of ecosystem services that maintain the livelihood of local populations. In particular, the current size and growth rate of China’s mariculture has raised many environmental concerns, but very few studies of this sector have been conducted to date. Here, we report the resource use in the production of six main Chinese mariculture products (Larimichthys crocea, Apostichopus japonicus, Haliotis spp., Laminaria japonica, Gracilaria spp., Porphyra spp.), taking the city of Ningde as a case study. We used the life cycle assessment framework and the Cumulated Exergy Demand indicator to quantify resource use, and implemented a Monte Carlo simulation where model uncertainty was included using various methods. The mean exergy demand values of the production of one live-weight ton of large yellow croaker, sea cucumber, abalone, laminaria, gracilaria, and porphyra are 106 GJ eq., 65 GJ eq., 126 GJ eq., 0.25 GJ eq., 1.55 GJ eq., and 0.98 GJ eq., respectively. For animal products, 45–90% of the impacts come from the feed requirements, while in seaweed production, 83–99% of the impacts are linked to the fuel used in operation and maintenance activities. Policies oriented toward efficient resource management in the mariculture sector thus should take the farm design, input management, and spatial planning of marine areas as the main targets to guide current practices into more sustainable ones in the future. Improvements in all those aspects can effectively increase resource efficiency in local mariculture production and additionally reduce other environmental impacts both locally and globally.
... A list of the used ecoinvent data can be found in Table S1 and Table S2. The Natural Resource Savings, expressed in CEENE, were calculated from the LCI by using the characterization factors described in the background papers (Alvarenga et al., 2013;Dewulf et al., 2007;Taelman et al., 2014). ...
Article
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is a key resource in the circular economy given its high concentration of valuable materials such as metals. The complexity of recycling this resource, however, is high due to different collection, separation and reprocessing steps. A combined Material Flow Analysis (MFA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can be used to optimise the environmental performance of this recycling chain. Whereas usually these methodologies are used post-factum, i.e. when data is available, this paper presents how MFA and LCA can be used to predict material flows and the potential environmental benefit of the recycling chain, guiding policy makers and industries towards effective decision making. Based on a case study in Flanders, Belgium, firstly, it is shown that currently only 32% of WEEE materials are recycled towards high-end applications whereas 68% is lost in low-end applications, landfill or incineration. Ferrous and non-ferrous metals such as aluminium and copper achieve the highest high-end material recoveries (54, 46 and 44% respectively), whereas precious metals and plastic achieve lower high-end material recoveries (21–38% and 20% respectively). Secondly, it is shown that the most promising factors to improve material recovery and environmental benefit are consumer behaviour and technological progress (mainly in separation technologies), both potentially doubling the current environmental benefit.
... Dewulf et al. developed a cumulative exergy extraction from the natural environment (CEENE) method (Dewulf et al., 2007) to evaluate all the natural resources in the LCA (Liao et al., 2012). Land as a natural resource has been evaluated by using indicators such as solar irradiation exergy (Dewulf et al., 2007) and net primary production loss (Alvarenga et al., 2013;Taelman et al., 2014). ...
Article
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In view of the increasing demand for metal use, it is of significant importance to evaluate the environmental impact of metal production. The global warming potential (GWP) in the process of metal production has often been focused upon as a major indicator for evaluating the burden on the environment. Moreover, the environmental impact and mineral exploitation arising from metal ore mining activities, which generate unavoidable mine wastes and have an impact on the ecological biodiversity, cannot be ignored. The major factors for determining the intensity of resource exploitation being the ore grades and strip ratio, the existing indicators for land use employed in the life cycle assessment (LCA) may not fully cover the criteria of the impact of metal mining on the environmental system. Therefore, this study employs the method of total material requirement (TMR) assessment, involving not only the direct and indirect material inputs but also the hidden flows, which are particularly associated with mine wastes. Firstly, the methodology of computing the TMR in the process of metal production is developed. Next, the relation between the GWP and TMR for 58 metals is assessed and finally, the environmental impact through metal substitutes is evaluated from the perspectives of the GWP and TMR. This analysis could identify some of the aspects overlooked in the previous environmental criteria that were concentrating on greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. The developed algorithm may be useful in identifying appropriate metal substitutes, considering the environmental impact.
... The CEENE 2014 updated characterization factors adapted for Ecoinvent database (Taelman et al., 2014) and the SimaPro software were used for the assessment. ...
Article
Full-text available
In this study, Solar Energy Demand (SED), Cumulative Exergy Extraction from the Natural Environment (CEENE), and LCA-ReCiPe 2016 (using both midpoint and endpoint modeling) life cycle impact assessment methods has been used to assess the performance of hydrogen (H2) production with renewable and non-renewable electricity sources via high-temperature Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells. The analysis identified most relevant impact categories, life cycle stages, and processes, both from a thermodynamic and an environmental viewpoint. Electrolysis with non-renewable energy is characterized by the greatest environmental burdens, however, renewable energy systems also have considerable environmental impacts, some of which are significant. While no perfect electricity source exists, a growing portion of the renewable-based electricity production in the grid mix is an attractive option to lower environmental impacts of H2 production. Irrespective of the evaluation method, the contribution analysis from different life-cycle stages shows and confirm that the major contributor to the environmental burdens is the electricity supply. The manufacturing stage has high relevance for mineral and metal resources and toxicity-related impacts. Calculations of grid-based electrolysis life cycle environmental impacts in some European countries showed that significant variations. For example, global warming potential per kgH2 produced vary between 3.31 and 48.24 kgCO2. Trade-off analysis between the midpoint and endpoint indicators revealed that water consumption, global warming, and particulate matter formation, play a major role in the ranking of electricity supply options. The findings suggest that all potential impacts both at the midpoint and endpoint level should be considered to ensure robust results of the LCA evaluation, a fair comparison between pathways towards more transparent and evidence-based decisions. Towards that end, a further country site-specific assessment with optimization strategies and integration of traditional LCA with resource accounting (thermodynamic metrics) will need to be developed to explore additional valuable insights towards sustainable electrolytic H2 production systems.
... (2009). Taelman et al. (2014) propose an assessment for fish, molluscs, crustaceans and seaweed using the exergetic approach ("loss of useful property" category) according to the chemical composition of the biomass. It permits the introduction of the marine environment into the Cumulative Exergy Extraction from the Natural Environment (CEENE) method (Dewulf et al., 2007). ...
Article
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the normed and international framework for assessing the environmental impacts of most human activities. LCA is commonly used to assess various aspects of fisheries but is only at the onset for estimating impacts of fish removal. This study proposes original characterization factors (CFs) to quantify impacts on biotic resources using the mass of fish caught. This mid‐point assessment occurs in impact pathways leading to “natural resources,” one of the three areas of protection in LCA, and thus fisheries can be compared according to the depleted stock fraction. CFs are defined by the marginal approach applied to the Schaefer model, representing the dynamics of the stocks. They combine catches, current biomass and maximum intrinsic growth rates, determined from the application of the CMSY algorithm (Froese et al. (2017), Fish Fish, 18, 506) with FAO and FishBase data. A multistock CF is also proposed and used for multispecies‐stocks. CFs for the 4,993 stocks defined from global FAO areas are obtained and sorted according to the robustness of the model hypotheses. CF values among stocks generally tend to decrease when fish catches increase because high catches are generally associated with abundant stocks. Multispecies‐stocks CFs for the northeast Atlantic Ocean are compared to ICES‐based CFs and are reliable for the main fished stocks. With this simple and generic structure, this operational fish resource depletion potential could be extended to other biotic resources.
... Another aspect is the selection of robust, reliable and relevant indicators to assess the impacts related to the previously selected categories. This choice is not straightforward, as continuously new developments are published in the field of impact indicators (e.g., [109] for smell and [110] for marine surface area resources). Overall, LCSA is an abstract framework, with a multi-dimensional perspective and based on multi-criteria decision analysis, which needs to be made more operational. ...
Article
Full-text available
Waste management represents a challenge for public authorities due to many reasons such as increased waste generation following urban population growth, economic burdens imposed on the municipal budget, and nuisances inevitably caused to the environment and local inhabitants. To optimize the system from a sustainability perspective, moving the transition towards a more circular economy, a better understanding of the different stages of waste management is necessary. A review of recently developed sustainability frameworks for waste management showed that no single framework captures all the instruments needed to ultimately provide a solid basis for comprehensive analyses of the potential burdens associated with urban waste management. Bearing this limitation in mind, the objective of this research is to propose a conceptual and comprehensive sustainability framework to support decision-making in waste management of European cities. The framework comprises a combination of methods capable of identifying future strategies and scenarios, to assess different types of impacts based on a life cycle perspective, and considers the value of waste streams, the actors involved, and possible constraints of implementing scenarios. The social, economic, environmental, technical and political domains are covered, and special attention is paid to impacts affecting foremost the local population.
... Marine productivity was calculated by Taelman et al. (2014) for 2012, more precisely 0.11 kg C m À2 yr À1 , i.e. 1 kg m À2 yr À1 based on 9 kg per kg C NPP as reported by Pauly and Christensen (1995). The ratio of marine to world average productivity was derived from the work of Wackernagel et al. (2005). ...
Article
This paper presents a pragmatic framework to inform stakeholders about the sustainability of canteen meals. The framework consists of four parts: (1) an ecological scoring system, based on life cycle assessment results, to score the ecological impact of meals or their components, from which the customer can select to compose a meal; (2) a nutritional scoring of meals based on meeting nutritional criteria; (3) a scoring system to assess the efforts undertaken by the canteen suppliers with regard to sustainable production and management and (4) collected information on relevant topics in food sustainability not covered in previous parts. The framework has furthermore been customized for and applied to the canteen of Ghent University. In light of part 1, several methods to characterize the environmental impact of food products were benchmarked, pinpointing the ecological footprint, the amount of land needed for production and to sequester CO2, as most appropriate one. Moreover, the ecological footprint of harvested fish was newly characterized as amount of land indirectly needed for their growth in nature. This highlighted the much lower (2–15 times) ecological footprint of aquaculture than caught fish products, according to this method. The ecological scoring system was consequently based on the ecological footprint but also the carbon footprint due to its relevance, covering the discrepancy between meat, with relatively higher carbon footprint, and caught fish products, with relatively higher ecological footprint. Besides a promotion of more sustainable meals, following guidelines and conclusions were derived: (1) the ecological impact depends on more than just the main component, e.g. frying oil contributes the most to the ecological footprint of fries, and type of food, e.g. a portion ‘pangasius orientale’ (fish), has an about 30% lower ecological footprint than a portion ‘ratatouille vegetables’ (vegetarian); (2) lower salt content, which can mount up to >80% for a meal, to improve nutritional value and (3) provide a variety of portion sizes because nutritional demand varies. Although further improvement is needed, the framework is prominent because of the better characterization of environmental impact, its pragmatic coverage of various sustainability aspects through its four parts, feedback to all stakeholders and its easiness of application for a manifold of meals.
... However, there is a huge potential risk for the operation of coastal nuclear power plants, as radionuclides may be directly released into oceans and the marine environment may become seriously polluted under accident conditions (Sudbrock et al., 2016). In recent decades, radionuclide migration and its effects under accident conditions have received worldwide attention, especially after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident in 2011 (Taelman et al., 2014). Simulation methods are an important tool to reveal radionuclide migration under accident conditions and predict the influences of accidents on the marine water environment (Wang et al., 2010;Batlle et al., 2016;Zhai et al., 2020;. ...
... Other models are based on thermodynamic features of resources. For example, exergy-based LCA models, such asDewulf et al. (2007), Alvarenga et al. (2013), Taelman et al. (2014, aim at assessing the quality of resources depending on the amount of useful energy needed for producing them and that could be obtained from them. Besides, emergy-based LCA model (Rugani et al., 2011) aims at measuring the Solar Energy Demand (SED) associated with the extraction of resources, including both naturally occurring and man-made biotic ones. ...
Article
Full-text available
Natural resources, biotic and abiotic, are fundamental from both the ecological and socio-economic point of view, being at the basis of life-support. However, since the demand for finite resources continues to increase, the sustainability of current production and consumption patterns is questioned both in developed and developing countries. A transition towards an economy based on biotic renewable resources (bio-economy), is considered necessary in order to support a steady provision of resources, providing an alternative to a fossil- and abiotic resource-based economy. However, to ensure a sustainable use of biotic resources, there is the need of properly accounting for their use along supply chains as well as a robust and comprehensive model of impact assessment. Since so far naturally occurring biotic resources have gained little attention in impact assessment methods, such as life cycle assessment, the aim of this study is to enable the inclusion of biotic resources in the assessment of products. The paper puts forward a model for biotic resources assessment, including: i) a definition of system boundaries between ecosphere and technosphere, namely between naturally occurring and man-made biotic resources; ii) an impact pathway to identify potential impacts on both resource provision and ecosystem quality; iii) a list of naturally occurring biotic resources which have a commercial value, as basis for building life cycle inventories (e.g. wild animals, plants etc); iv) a renewability-based indicator (NOBRri) for the impact assessment of naturally occurring biotic resources and the associated characterization factors. The study, building on a solid review of literature and of available statistical data, highlights and discusses the critical aspects and paradoxes related to biotic resource inclusion in LCA: from the system boundaries definition up to the resource characterization.
... LCAs of wild-caught fish can also be complemented with fishery-specific impact categories and indicators, such as the biotic resource use (net primary productivity appropriation) (Pauly and Christensen 1995); mean trophic level of landings, proportion of predatory fish and inverse fishing pressure (Shin et al. 2010); lost potential yield (Emanuelsson et al. 2014); exergy-based approaches applied to the occupation of marine space and removal of biomass (Taelman et al. 2014); and biotic resource depletion indicators expressed as the time required for a fish stock or an ecosystem to recover itself from a given rate of biomass extraction (Hélias et al. 2014;Langlois et al. 2014) (review of approaches in Avadí (2014)). We retained the indicator Bimpact on the biotic natural resource at the species level^(I BNR,sp ) which is based on historical catches and maximum sustainable yield (MSY), to compare the extraction of 1 t of hake, from several global hake stocks, in terms of the relative biotic resource depletion exerted by fisheries on each stock. ...
Article
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Purpose The Peruvian hake (Merluccius gayi peruanus) stock has been in a delicate state in the last decades due to overexploitation combined with adverse climatic events. The stock is showing certain signs of recovery since 2012. This work analyses the environmental impacts of current fleet operations and its likely trend. Methods The fleet was divided into coherent segments, per holding capacity and engine power. The validity of both segmentations, as well as the presence of an effect of economies of scale driving fuel use intensity (FUI), was tested. Life cycle assessment was used to calculate environmental impacts, per individual sampled vessel and per segment, complemented with indicators of energy efficiency and biotic resource depletion. Results and discussion The fleet is highly fuel-efficient (120 kg fuel per tonne fish) when compared with other reported values, despite a large overcapacity that increases the impact of the construction and maintenance phases. Significant inter-annual FUI variations were observed (80.0 kg t⁻¹ in 2008 to 210.3 kg t⁻¹ in 2006), but no clear trend. Neither significant differences in FUI among fleet segments nor a clear effect of economies of scale were found (but FUI analysis was based on a small sample of 32 values for nine vessels, two of which had data for a single year). Only the largest vessels, featuring 242 m³ holding capacity and 850 hp engine power, were found to have lower FUI than any of the other vessels, but no statistical test could be applied to validate this difference. Differences in environmental impacts of individual vessels are mostly dominated by their relative FUI. Fuel use and, to a lower extent, maintenance are the main sources of environmental impacts. The most contributing impacts to ReCiPe single score are climate change, human toxicity and fossil depletion. The fishery’s impacts on the biotic natural resource were orders of magnitude higher than many other global hake stocks, due to overexploitation. Conclusions The environmental impacts of the national hake fleet are relatively low during the study period, despite an overcapacity of the fleet. With the perspective of expanding its operations and obtaining better yields on the eventuality that the stock fully recovers, these impacts should decrease. More research based on additional FUI data is necessary to effectively compare the performance of these vessels with larger ones (featuring >180 m³ and >500 hp, of which nine existed in 2016) before possibly recommending their preferential use.
... It should be pointed out that chemical exergy will be here applied exclusively for the assessment of the mass fluxes. Hybrid methodologies that combine exergy and LCA, although very popular [25], are not considered since they are affected by the previously described LCA limitations. ...
Article
Industrial processes may frequently produce wastewater with high concentrations of heavy metal ions. Heavy metals can be harmful both for the environment and for the human health even in small concentrations. This study has the scope to assess the efficiency of four different sorbent-assisted ultrafiltration methods that were applied for enhancing the treatment of industrial wastewater. Each treatment has different levels of removal success for each heavy metal ion. In the framework of this manuscript chemical exergy is utilized as an evaluating parameter of mass fluxes. The total efficiency of each treatment method is assessed by calculating the total chemical exergy dissipation of each mass flux. All the treatment methods successfully removed more than 96% of copper and lead ions while the performances with respect to nickel and zinc ions removal were more erratic. The ultrafiltration/ bentonite absorption had the best overall performance with a total chemical exergy dissipation of 66.82%, and ultrafiltration/vermiculite absorption had the second best overall performance with 64.29%. The method was able to combine different parameters and return meaningful results that can be used for optimization of wastewater plants treatment management.
... This mixing exergy term is shown in equation ( [7] says it is preferable to consider the more accurate group contribution method over the -method. In the macronutrient method, the composition in terms of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, ash and water is identified [8]. For each of these macronutrients an exergy value is calculated, e.g. for proteins based on their respective average amino acid composition, and then based on the shares of macronutrient fractions, a total exergy value is calculated. ...
Chapter
Exergy is a thermodynamic metric that represents the amount of useful energy one can obtain out of an object in a given reference environment. The exergy concept is used in several applications: from the analysis of industrial processes to the analyses of economic, sustainability, and ecosystem. In this chapter, the focus is on cumulative exergy consumption (CExC) methods used in sustainability assessment. Since these methods account consistently for the total resource intake, they are often used as a measure for environmental impacts, mainly of resource consumption.
... are several multi-criteria indicators to assess changes in soil properties (Cowell and Clift 2000;Oberholzer et al. 2006;Beck et al. 2010), whereby the LAN C A a p pr o ac h ( Be ck et a l. 2 0 1 0) h a s b ee n operationalized and is used in the method of Saad et al. (2013) and recently by LANCA developers themselves (Bos et al. 2016). Furthermore, there are exergy methods accounting for occupation of land and marine surfaces (Alvarenga et al. 2013;Taelman et al. 2014). Núñez et al. (2013) use the surplus energy concept and estimate the solar energy required to generate one gram of soil lost by erosion. ...
Article
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_____ http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11367-017-1297-8 _____ View only: http://rdcu.be/qlja _____ Purpose - In this paper, we summarize the discussion and present the findings of an expert group effort under the umbrella of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Life Cycle Initiative proposing natural resources as an Area of Protection (AoP) in Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA). _____ Methods - As a first step, natural resources have been defined for the LCA context with reference to the overall UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) framework. Second, existing LCIA methods have been reviewed and discussed. The reviewed methods have been evaluated according to the considered type of natural resources and their underlying principles followed (use-to-availability ratios, backup technology approaches, or thermodynamic accounting methods). _____ Results and discussion - There is currently no single LCIA method available that addresses impacts for all natural resource categories, nor do existing methods and models addressing different natural resource categories do so in a consistent way across categories. Exceptions are exergy and solar energy-related methods, which cover the widest range of resource categories. However, these methods do not link exergy consumption to changes in availability or provisioning capacity of a specific natural resource (e.g. mineral, water, land etc.). So far, there is no agreement in the scientific community on the most relevant type of future resource indicators (depletion, increased energy use or cost due to resource extraction, etc.). To address this challenge, a framework based on the concept of stock/fund/flow resources is proposed to identify, across natural resource categories, whether depletion/dissipation (of stocks and funds) or competition (for flows) is the main relevant aspect. _____ Conclusions - An LCIA method - or a set of methods - that consistently address all natural resource categories is needed in order to avoid burden shifting from the impact associated with one resource to the impact associated with another resource. This paper is an important basis for a step forward in the direction of consistently integrating the various natural resources as an Area of Protection into LCA. _____ http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11367-017-1297-8 _____ View only: http://rdcu.be/qlja
... It should be pointed out that chemical exergy will be here applied exclusively for the assessment of the mass fluxes. Hybrid methodologies that combine exergy and LCA, although very popular [25], are not considered since they are affected by the previously described LCA limitations. ...
Poster
Controlling the concentration of heavy metals in the effluent water from wastewater treatment plant is of high interest not only for industrial wastewater facilities but also for municipal wastewater. High heavy metals concentrations result to higher toxicity of the effluent and to notable environmental impact. Therefore, several methods have been incorporated for the reduction of heavy metals; from absorbents to membrane filtration systems. Some of these methods have been proved to be effective on some extend. Nonetheless, the degree of effectiveness can only be quantified on an individual basis for each heavy metal substance. There is a lack of evaluation methods of mass fluxes in terms of quality assessment. In addition, an integrated method that would provide one single efficiency of the removal process for all the heavy metal substances that are contained in a flow is a tool that would assist the management and optimization of wastewater treatment plants. The present study introduces a method that utilizes the chemical exergy of heavy metal substances and their respective concentrations in order to return a single efficiency of heavy metal removal. The method is applied in four different types of pretreatment as presented by [E. Katsou , S. Malamis and K. Haralambous, 2010].
... 16 Taelman et al. broadened the scope of the method by developing exergy based characterization factors for accounting land occupation in marine environments. 17 Liao et al. evaluated several resource indicators and recommended CEENE as the most appropriate thermodynamics-based life cycle impact assessment method for resource use accounting. 18 Compared to the previously developed methods, CEENE method covers a broader range of resource flows and includes up-to-date thermodynamic data for exergetic values of these resource flows. ...
Thesis
Today, increasing difficulty in waste disposal, energy costs for biosolids treatment and green-house gas (GHG) emissions along with rising concerns of the dwindling renewable-energy sources and growing scarcity in natural resources on a global scale are the driving forces toward sustainable biosolids management systems (BMSs). With respect to the economics of the biosolids, aka sewage sludge, stabilization and/ or more broadly wastewater treatment facilities in general, the energy use and disposal fees related to biosolids handling constitute the majority of the costs. To run BMSs in a more sustainable manner, there is first a need for improved systems analysis tools that serve a particular purpose: better identification and quantification of inefficiencies and resource use. These tools should also show how much benefit is achievable from the products generated by BMSs which are known to have valorization potential. In this study alternative tools that can either replace and/or supplement existing evaluation tools are evaluated in a way that is hoped to bridge the gaps of such that comprehensive system evaluation for BMSs. In recent studies, exergy analysis proved to be a useful tool to evaluate performance and measure inefficiencies of a system and its unit-processes, including water related systems. Exergy based analysis allow the identification and quantification of resource use, including energy and non-energy flows of a system via employing uniform units which enable better comparison and identification of improvements of a process. This study has two distinct themes. It first considers application of two alternative evaluation tools on BMSs and the performance and results of those two tools are compared against those of the conventional Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool. The two alternative tools employ exergy based analysis: exergy analysis and Cumulative Exergy Extracted from the Natural Environment (CEENE). Interpreting and comparing the results of the two techniques illustrated their differences and similarities as well as weaknesses and strengths. The second aspect is the development of a new practical exergy analysis tool (called EAST) for evaluating the environmental performance of BMSs. This tool evaluates environmental performance of BMSs and processes using exergy units on a MS Excel platform. The analyses are performed on two full-scale BMSs that use the most common stabilization process trains in the U.S. The results illustrate the process units where thermodynamic inefficiencies occur and provide a demonstration of the effectiveness and potential of exergy based analysis on BMSs. Particularly notable findings were; 1) CEENE analysis showed that anaerobic digestion is favorable over alkaline stabilization with about 35% lower natural resource use and biogas utilization has a significant influence on the overall system performance where adaptation of CHP system results in about 9 GJ/t.DS less exergy consumption, 2) Process level exergy analysis revealed that anaerobic digestion has the highest contribution to the overall exergy loss (73%) suggestion the process needs optimization. At a high level, the study revealed that for performance analysis, comparison of various facilities and self-monitoring, exergy units may serve as a good benchmark in terms of having normalized units to use in analysis while filling the information gap that is present in traditional performance evaluation tools. The study confirms the validity of the two exergy based tools to give guidance on critical environmental and economic decisions in BMSs. Furthermore, it is concluded that adaptation and application of exergy based analyses in sludge processing will be very useful in improving environmental performance of these systems.
... Thereafter, land resource was accounted in the evaluation according to the CEENE approach ). ELCA has been developed and widely used in recent years (Alvarenga et al. 2013;Taelman et al. 2014;Huysveld et al. 2015). ...
Article
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The critical issue of waste management in Thailand has been rapidly increasing in almost all of the cities due to the economic growth and rising population that could double the amount of solid waste in landfill area. The alternative ways of waste treatment that have more efficiency and effectiveness in terms of energy, ecology, and resources become the key issue for each municipality to replace the old fashioned technology and be able to enhance the ability of solid waste problem management. Waste to energy is one of the favorable approaches to diminish the amount of waste to landfill and utilize waste for electricity. The aim of this study is to identify and quantify the life cycle impacts of the municipal solid waste (MSW) of Mae Hong Son municipality (MHSM), and the case study is the selected waste treatment technology of the Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) hybrid with 20 kW of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11367-016-1216-4
... Brazilian academic research is following this tendency; therefore, even though the number of academic projects has been reducing, it is possible to expect more influent results in years to come. This prediction is enhanced by several efforts that have been made in collaboration with international institutions (e.g., UDESC, Ghent University, and JRC related to natural resource accounting based on exergy approaches (Alvarenga et al. 2013;Taelman et al. 2014); USP and Technical University of Denmark related to the regionalization of characterization factors for impact categories), as well as collaborative working groups that are dealing with databases, adaptation of LCIA factors, among others. ...
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Purpose We bibliometrically evaluated the scientific literature outlined around Brazilian life cycle assessment (LCA). Our aim is twofold: (1) Analyze the Brazilian scientific literature on LCA, forming a current view of how the LCA methodology is applied in the country; (2) within this view, trace the evolution of themes, characterize institution collaboration and indicate major influences in Brazilian LCA community. Methods Data were outlined around academic production and publications, from 1993 to 2015, indexed by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI- SCIE and SSCI) through a specific group of keywords. Initially, a temporal evolution and projection of papers, PhD and Master Theses was performed. In sequence, indexed papers were analyzed through performance indicators (i.e. number of authors, impact factor, among others), content evaluation (for instance, major addressed themes). Finally, a mapping of science was performed, with the aid of Cite Space software application, where co-word (and evolution), co-collaboration (and evolution) and co-citation maps were created. Results and Discussion The survey identified 429 documents divided among international and national papers, PhD and Master Theses. From those documents, 165 were indexed. In terms of production and performance, the results indicate an undeniable evolution of the Brazilian LCA research, as affirmed by relations solidified through time. The main research field is ‘LCA application’ with 84% of papers, whereas ‘LCA methodology’ completes the framework. In LCA applications, 25% of publications are related to Biofuels - divided into bioethanol and biodiesel - which makes it the current dominant LCA research area in Brazil. The collaboration network demonstrates three main institution groups, whereas evolution through the years indicates that this situation may further improve. Influential authors are linked to LCA of Biofuels, general LCA guidelines and methodological LCA developments. Conclusions Brazilian LCA research has been growing and more complex relations between themes and institutions denotes that further developments can be expected. Co-collaboration indicates three main clusters, led by USP, Unicamp and UFRJ. ‘Biofuels’ is the main research area where sugarcane ethanol and biodiesel from different sources are the domain product systems. Co-citation analysis solidifies this statement, pointing to Isaias Macedo (and other biofuel researchers) as the main author in Brazilian LCA after ISO and Mark Goedkoop.
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