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Life Cycle Assessment of Compact Fluorescent and Incandescent Lamps: Comparative Analysis
Abstract
The estimates indicate that the energy consumption by lighting is 20-45% of a commercial building’s and 3-10% of an industrial plant’s total energy consumption. It is more reasonable to use energy efficient lamps such as compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), consuming only 20% electricity for the same light output compared with incandescent lamp. The aim of this work is to compare the CFL and incandescent lamp in the field of life cycle assessment (LCA). The methodological framework of all the LCA techniques is based on the ISO standards 14040-14043. The life cycle analysis is performed using the Gabi4 software in order to compare environmental impacts of the 15 W CFL and 60 W incandescent lamps providing similar amount of light (800-850 lumens). The functional unit is selected according to the operation time of 10.000 hours. All the materials, energy use and pollutant emissions to the environment from each process were analyzed. The environmental impact was estimated for the 6 environmental impact categories: potentials of Abiotic Depletion, Acidification, Eutrophication, Global Warming, Ozone Layer Depletion, Photochemical Ozone Creation. The results showed that during the operation period of 10,000 hours of each kind of lamp, the negative impact on the environment of the product is highest in the use phase due to electricity use. According to the analyzed environmental impact categories and from an environmental point of view the CFL is more appropriate source of light than incandescent bulb mainly because of their more efficient use of electricity and due to longer exploitation time.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.erem.61.3.2425
... However, despite the evident energy savings of the fluorescent and LED lamps, there are impacts on the manufacturing and final disposal phase that are not clear and need to be known (Elijošiutė et al., 2012;DOE, 2012a). ...
... (Parson, 2006). All the comparative studies indicate this condition (Michaud andBelley, 2008, DEFRA, 2009;Ramroth, 2008;OSRAM, 2009;Weltz, et al., 2011;Elijošiutė et al, 2012;DOE, 2012b,Tähkämö et al., 2013Hadi et al., 2013;Principi e Fioretti, 2014;Sangwanet al., 2014;Tahkamo et al., 2014;Bergesen et al., 2015;Tan et al., 2015;Yu et al., 2016). DOE (2012b) and OSRAM (2009) already indicate that LED lamps will be able to reduce more emissions when achieving its technological apex. ...
... The recent study by Tahkamo et al. (2013) stands out the average (in terms of magnitude), although, differently from Elijošiutė et al. (2012), it demonstrates CC lower than all others, 0.069 kg CO2 eq. In this case, apart from the reasons aforementioned, other possibility is described by the authors when system product was compared to literature values -the luminaire in this study has a more simple structure, lower system weight, higher light output (Mlmh) (Tahkamo et al., 2013). ...
As lâmpadas foram desenvolvidas da tecnologia incandescente, para a fluorescente e para o diodo emissor de luz (LED), o que aumentou a eficiência na conversão da iluminação e estendeu a vida útil do produto, consequentemente ocasionando na diminuição dos impactos ambientais. No entanto, a melhoria da fase de uso das lâmpadas, exige um sistema de produção mais complexo, incluindo (por vezes) materiais perigosos, o que piorou também sua disposição final. Estudos de Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV) são desenvolvidos desde 1996 envolvendo lâmpadas, e agora, com a evolução da tecnologia, as comparações estão ficando mais comuns. Esses estudos geram resultados variados, em que a unidade funcional (UF) desempenha um papel fundamental para gerar essas diferenças, mesmo quando os sistemas de produto são semelhantes, dificultando a compreensão das comparações. O objetivo deste artigo é analisar a produção científica de ACVs de lâmpadas, desenvolvendo um panorama dos sistemas de produto e suas definições de UF, bem como dos resultados, para indicar tendências e padrões da aplicação neste tema. A metodologia proposta foi de uma revisão integrativa da literatura aplicada a bases de dados científicos e outros documentos. A pesquisa identificou 16 artigos, onde ficou evidente o recente aumento dos estudos de ACVs comparativos. Nesta amostragem foram encontradas quatro diferentes definições de UF. Contudo, uma descrição complementar do desempenho do produto permite equalizar a UF numa base comum, em que os valores para a mudança climática têm mostrado que as lâmpadas LED são preferíveis às lâmpadas fluorescentes, que são preferíveis às incandescentes. Embora a comparação tenha sido possível, a UF deve ser claramente indicada para representar a função dos produtos, neste caso: a quantidade de lúmen.horas.
Resumen
Las lámparas se han desarrollado a partir de la tecnología incandescente, fluorescente, y un diodo emisor de luz (LED), lo que significa un aumento de la eficiencia de conversión de luz, que extiende la vida útil del producto y reduce así el impacto ambiental. Sin embargo, mejorar la fase de uso de las lámparas requiere un sistema de producción más complejo, incluyendo (a veces) materiales peligrosos, lo que empeora la disposición final. La Análisis del Ciclo de Vida (ACV) se ha dirigido a las lámparas desde 1996, y ahora con su evolución, las comparaciones son cada vez más comunes. Estos estudios llevan a resultados diferentes, donde la unidad funcional (UF) tiene un papel clave para la generación de estas diferencias, mismo cuando los sistemas de productos son similares, lo que dificultaría la comprensión general de las comparaciones. El objetivo fue analizar la producción científica de ACV de lámparas, el desarrollo de un marco de sistemas de productos, la definición de UF y los resultados para indicar tendencias y normas de aplicación de la metodología del ACV, incluyendo las posibilidades de comparabilidad. La metodología propuesta fue una revisión integrativa de la literatura aplicada a bases de datos científicas y análisis de contenido de documentos adicionales. La investigación identificó 16 artículos, donde está claro el reciente aumento en los estudios comparativos de ACV dirigidos a las tecnologías de iluminación. Había 4 diferentes definiciones de UF en los documentos. Sin embargo, la descripción adicional del rendimiento del producto permite equiparar el UF a una base común, donde los valores para el cambio climático han demostrado que las lámparas LED son mejores que las fluorescentes, que a su vez son preferibles que las incandescentes. Aunque esto podría ser posible, UF debe estar siempre claramente indicado y representar la función de los productos, en este caso la cantidad lúmen.hora de una lámpara
Abstract
Lamps have been developed since incandescent technology, to fluorescent and light emitted diode (LED), increasing lighting conversion efficiency, extending product’s life span, and, consequently, decreasing environmental impacts. However, improving the use phase of lamps demand a more complex production system, including (sometimes) hazardous materials, what have worsened final disposal as well. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been addressed to lamps since 1996, and now with its evolution, comparisons are getting more common. These studies lead to different results, wherein functional unit (FU) plays a key role to generate these differences, even when product systems are similar, making difficult the overall understanding of comparisons. We aimed to analyze the scientific production of LCA of lamps, developing a framework of the product systems, the FU definition and the results to indicate trends and patterns of the LCA methodology application, including comparison possibilities. The proposed methodology was an integrative literature review applied to scientific databases and further papers content analysis. The survey identified 16 papers, where it is clear the recent increase on comparative LCA studies addressed to lighting technologies. There were 4 different FU definitions in papers. However, complementary description of product performance enable one to equalize FU into a common basis, wherein values for climate change have shown that LED lamps are preferable than fluorescents, that are preferable than incandescent. Even though this was possible, FU should be clearly indicated and represent products function, in this case: an amount of lumen-hour.
... Moving forward with the sustainable materials management means also considering the carbon footprint for the materials chosen [18,39]. It is known that the compact fluorescent bulbs are more energy efficient than the incandescent bulbs [41]. It has been estimated that the contribution to GWP of compact fluorescent bulbs (during the operation time of the 10,000 hours) would be about 25% (916.97 kg CO2-equiv) lower than the contribution of the incandescent bulbs over the same operational time (3876.03 ...
... It has been estimated that the contribution to GWP of compact fluorescent bulbs (during the operation time of the 10,000 hours) would be about 25% (916.97 kg CO2-equiv) lower than the contribution of the incandescent bulbs over the same operational time (3876.03 kg CO2-equiv) [41]. In a more recent advancement, real efforts have been made to make a transition from low voltage light-emitting device (LED) to organic light-emitting device (OLED) in order to further reduce carbon footprint in energy devices. ...
This study focuses the attention on clean energy and low-carbon materials as key enablers in circular economy (CE) transition and a more sustainable path of human development. Environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive economic growth has been suggested by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals since 1990s. Diverse stakeholders including governments, companies, international organizations, and scientific community are taking action in favor of the CE model. The long-sought sustainable development and CE goals encompass all endeavors of human beings. Currently clean energy transition is well defined in a broader global policy framework in many countries and areas to tackle the climate challenges, whereas materials with a low-carbon footprint are receiving less attention. This opinion article is aimed at critically reviewing the genesis; enabling conditions, some applications, and descriptions of low-carbon materials; and suggesting a way forward along with policy implications.
... In the existing works of literature, several researchers have presented investigations on the characteristics of CFLs. Some of these works examined the potential benefits and prospects of the CFLs while others assessed the various degrees of hazards posed by the CFLs [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Specifically, the work in [12] compares the CFL and incandescent lamps in the field of life cycle assessment (LCA). ...
... Some of these works examined the potential benefits and prospects of the CFLs while others assessed the various degrees of hazards posed by the CFLs [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Specifically, the work in [12] compares the CFL and incandescent lamps in the field of life cycle assessment (LCA). Similarly, a comparative analysis between the compact fluorescent lamps and conventional filament lamps is presented in [13]. ...
The introduction of electronic ballast in lighting systems design has dramatically revolutionized the lighting space. This is orchestrated by the entrance of the Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) and Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) into the lighting market. The CFLs currently being used in domestic and industrial lighting systems provide highly competitive alternatives to conventional incandescent lamps. The electronic ballast incorporated into the CFLs helps eliminate the flickering and slow starting flaws prevalent in traditional fluorescent lamps. To properly evaluate the performance characteristics and limitations of the CFLs, a critical analysis of its electronic circuit becomes imperative. To this end, this paper presents experimental and simulation analyses of the CFL circuits. To achieve this, two Futina CFL bulbs of 11W and 15W model YPZ220/11-BMSP RR/RDD and YPZ220/15-BMSP RR/RDD, respectively, were analyzed and experimentally verified. A function-based programming paradigm was applied to develop a graphical user interface (GUI) used for the circuit analyses. The GUI is designed using MATLAB graphical user interface development environment (GUIDE). Experiments were conducted to obtain the performance characteristics of the CFLs, and measurements show that the 11W lamp has a higher amplitude than the 15W lamp. However, both lamps show similar waveforms after 300 seconds. The maximum voltage amplitudes for both CFLs are the same, with a peak value of 218V. The current waveforms in the spectral domain gave a maximum amplitude of 0.3 A for the 11W CFL and 0.2 A for the 15W. The voltage frequency (0.00196) of both CFLs are the same, whereas the current frequencies are different. This indicates that the wattage of a CFL does not affect the frequency of its voltage waveform. The frequency of the 11W CFL current (0.00157) is higher than that of the 15W CFL current (0.00784). This implies that the higher the CFL wattage, the lower the frequency of its current waveform. Additionally, simulation results revealed that the key difference between the CFLs is the current total harmonic distortion (THDI), which increases with increasing rated power of the CFL or the aggregation of a number of the smaller rated CFLs.
... Tähkämö et al. [29] but updated by adding two recent publications [51,44]. The data on the material contents of the incandescent lamps, CFLs and LED lamps is collected in Tables 2, 3 and 4, respectively. ...
... Examen des analyses de cycle de vie précédentes Plusieurs ACVs de lampes et luminaires ont été réalisées au cours de deux dernières décennies. Typiquement elles sont réalisées en comparant les lampes à incandescence avec les fluocompactes, mais également avec les autres sources lumineuses, en particulier les sources lumineuses à LED[30,[40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][51][52][53][54][55]. De nombreuses différences ont été identifiées dans les ACVs précédentes. ...
... LCA can quantify the environmental impact of each life cycle stage of a product system, from the material extraction to the end of life. LCA studies on luminaires have been carried out covering various aspects of these products, especially related to the energy-saving theme (Casamayor et al., 2018;Clarke-Sather et al., 2016;Elijošiutė et al., 2012;Ferreira et al., 2021;Principi & Fioretti, 2014;Tähkämö et al., 2012;Wang, Su et al., 2022;Wu & Su, 2021). However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no academic publications focusing on the quantification of the embodied carbon deriving from the production of luminaires. ...
The European legislative landscape on sustainability is steadily growing to meet objectives to reach net zero targets by mid‐century. In this context, companies and manufacturers may soon be legally required to provide quantification of the environmental impact of their products and services. A key challenge is applying a consistent and robust methodology that ensures comparability between assessments made by different companies, as there is still fragmentation among environmental impact reporting methodologies. The objective of this study is to analyze and compare the results of two different methodologies for the calculation of the embodied carbon in lighting products using the cradle‐to‐grave approach. One is the globally known life cycle assessment (LCA) method, and the other is Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers Technical Memorandum 65's (TM65) mid‐level calculation methodology, which has been specifically tailored to building services. The two were applied to six different luminaires to evaluate their differences. Results show that the values of the embodied carbon calculated with TM65 are higher than those calculated with LCA and that the weight of the products plays a crucial role in creating discrepancies between the two methodologies.
... Fluorescent lighting is the most preferred lighting system nowadays. A recent study by Erika et al. (2012) attempted to demonstrate the performance of that system. The study compared the compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) and incandescent lamp using life cycle approach. ...
While buildings, including office buildings, residential buildings, etc. are vital assets to provide shelters for people to work and live, they also impose significant environmental impact on society due to the enormous amount of raw materials, energy consumption, and various emissions involved during their construction, operations, maintenance, and end-of-life demolish. For example, more than one-third of the US total C02 emissions are attributed to the building sector alone, which poses a serious challenge yet also provides a great opportunity for the building industry to be greener. Green building research has been rapidly advanced recently through advanced material technology, innovative construction methods, smart building operations, management strategy, etc. On the other hand, life cycle assessment has been widely accepted as a scientific tool to quantify the environmental impacts of chemicals, consumer products, and services and now increasingly adopted for long-lasting building infrastructures. The longevity of the buildings and complexity of the building systems also raise many challenges and uncertainties in the modeling of their life cycle environmental performance. In this paper, we would like to conduct a literature review on the impact of various green building technologies on the sustainability performance of buildings based on the life cycle assessment technique. Through this literature review, the direction and research needs for potential improvement of these technologies can be found in line with sustainable development.
... Lighting consumes 20~45% of the total site energy in commercial buildings [53]. This section presents embodied carbon analysis results for three representative light bulbs, one for each Table 10 presents the weights, materials, unit processes, and GWPs for the three types of lights. ...
This paper presents a holistic building life-cycle assessment methodology that estimates the embodied and operational global warming potentials (GWPs) of a building covering the envelope, mechanical and lighting systems. The methodology relies on EnergyPlus to generate the use-phase energy consumption for any given building and incorporates a streamlined procedure to extract construction materials, which are used for building envelope GWP analysis. Embodied GWP accounting was performed for a representative packaged electric cooling and gas heating system and three types of lighting technologies, i.e., incandescent, compact fluorescent (CFL) and light-emitting diode (LED). The methodology was applied for carbon footprint analysis of five U.S. Department of Energy commercial building prototypes across seven climate locations. The results show that the operation phase has a dominant contribution (more than 74%) on the overall building environmental impact. LED and CFL lighting result in 45% whole-building energy consumption and 35% GWP reductions compared to incandescent lights.
... Improvements in repairability are most likely not caused by missing spare parts, but instead by technical limitations or safety concerns. In 2009, the incandescent lamp faced competition from compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), which proved to be much more efficient and durable, but contained the toxic substance mercury [53]. Accordingly, there were product-specific reasons why the ecodesign requirements should address durability, e.g., to avoid the release of toxic substances. ...
The EU Ecodesign Directive was introduced as a framework to improve the environmental impact of energy-using and later energy-related products. From the beginning, the directive offered the possibility to consider not only the energy consumption of a product during its use phase, but a wider range of environmental aspects throughout the life cycle of a product, including circular economy aspects. We developed a circular economy taxonomy and analysed the coverage of functional and informational circular economy requirements in the 27 product groups regulated by ecodesign implementing measures from 2008 until 2021 by performing a content and keyword analysis of the legislative texts of 30 implementing measures and 16 amendments or repeals. We found circular economy requirements in 75% of currently regulated product groups and an increase in circular economy requirements over time and in particular in the legislations published in 2019. We found lighting products to be outliers, with many circular economy requirements early on and a focus on durability. For white goods, the focus was found to be on repairability requirements.
... ,50 . In addition, ...
Promoting products for ‘green’ people has become an important strategy to encourage sustainable consumption. We test the effectiveness of the green identity labelling technique, which encourages pro-environmental purchases by associating them with an eco-friendly image. We conducted four experiments (online, laboratory and two field experiments) in which individuals could purchase green products that, in the treatment groups, were accompanied by a green identity label (for example, ‘this product is for green shoppers’). We find that the green identity labelling technique increases purchase of environmentally friendly products across the consumer settings examined in our experiments. We also examine factors that can moderate this effect. Green identity labels increase sales only if no price discount on the green product is advertised, and they have a bigger impact on people with demographics associated with pro-environmental values. Four experiments where participants choose between products ‘for green shoppers’ and/or cheaper products show that the green label encourages purchases only in the absence of price discount.
... Until recently, low-pressure fluorescent lamps (FL lamps) were one of the most popular light sources used both in interior lighting installations and in outdoor lighting [1][2][3]. The fluorescent lamps in outdoor lighting are used to illuminate underground passages, parking lots, public transport stops, bus and railway platforms or signs, billboards and advertising panels [4]. ...
The paper presents the results of calculations of colorimetric parameters of LED sources operating at a temperature range from -25oC to 25oC. The chromaticity coordinates and color rendition quality parameters were calculated on the basis of registered spectral distributions of radiation. For individual LED chromaticity shift is illustrated at CIE 1931 x,y diagram with 3 step and 7 step MacAdam ellipses. Full Text: PDF ReferencesJ. P. Freyssinier, D. Frering, J. Taylor, N. Narendran, and P. Rizzo, Reducing lighting energy use in retail display windows. Sixth International Conference on Solid State Lighting, Proceedings of SPIE 6337, 63371L (2006). CrossRef Aman, M. M., et al., 2013. Analysis of the performance of domestic lighting lamps, Energy Policy, CrossRef E. Elijošiute, J. Balciukevičiute, G. Denafas, Life cycle assessment of; compact fluorescent and incandescent lamps: Comparative analysis. Environ Res. Eng. Manag. 61 (3), pp. 65-72, (2012), CrossRef D. Czyzewski, LED substitutes of conventional incandescent lamps Przeglad Elektrotechniczny R. 88, No. 11 (2012), CrossRef P. Tabaka, P. Rozga, Assessment of methods of marking LED sources with the power of equivalent light bulb, ulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Technical Sciences, Vol. 65, No. 6, (2017) CrossRef I. Fryc, P. Jakubowski, K. Kołacz, Analysis of optical radiation parameters of compact discharge HID lamps and LED COB modules used for illuminating shop windows, Przeglad Elektrotechniczny,R. 93, No 11, (2017); pp. 186-189, CrossRef T. Kawabata, Y. Ohno; Optical measurements of OLED panels for lighting applications, pp 1176-1186 Jun 2013, Journal of Modern Optics, Vol. 60, 2013 Issue 14 CrossRef W. Żagan, Conditions necessary to replacing the conventional lamps by energy-saving lamps, Przeglad Elektrotechniczny R. 85, No. 5, pp. 100-104, (2009). DirectLink P. Tabaka; Influence of Ambient Temperature on Colour Properties of Low-Pressure Fluorescent Lamps, Light & Engineering, Vol. 23; No. 2; (2015). DirectLink W. R. Ryckaert, et al., Linear LED tubes versus fluorescent lamps: An evaluation. Energy Build. 49, pp. 429-436. CrossRef M. Zalesinska, J. Zablocka, K. Wandachowicz, Evaluation of Selected Parameters of Non-Directional Household Lamps, Conference: 2018 VII. Lighting Conference of the Visegrad Countries (Lumen V4), CrossRef I. Fryc; Measurement techniques of optical LEDs properties performed with compliance conformity with CIE 127:2007 standard, Przeglad Elektrotechniczny R. 85, No. 11, pp. 317-319, (2009) DirectLink IESNA, IES Approved Method: Measuring Lumen Maintenance of LED Light Sources. IES LM-80-08', IES Subcommittee on Solid-State Lighting of the IES Testing Procedures Committee (2018). DirectLink D. B. Judd, Estimation of chromaticity differences and nearest color temperature on the standard 1931 ICI colorimetric coordinate system. J. Opt. Soc. America 26 (11), 421, (1936) CrossRef CIE 177:2007 Colour Rendering of White LED Light Sources DirectLink CIE 13.3-1995 Method of Measuring and Specifying Colour. DirectLink CIE 224:2017 Colour Fidelity Index for accurate scientific use DirectLink CIE 15:2004 Colorimetry. DirectLink D. Mozysrska, M. Wyrwas, I. Fryc, The determination of the LEDs colorimetric parameters, in the range of their operating temperature, Przeglad Elektrotechniczny, R. 93, No. 4a, pp. 232-234, (2012). DirectLink J. Kowalska, Analysis of parameters describing the quality of the color rendering of light sources according to the IES TM-30-15 and the CIE 013.3-1995, Przeglad Elektrotechniczny, R. 93, No. 6; pp. 50-54, (2017) CrossRef J. Kowalska, I. Fryc, Colour rendition quality of typical fluorescent lamps determined by CIE Colour Fidelity Index and Colour Rendering Index, Przeglad Elektrotechniczny, R. 95, No. 7; (2019), pp. 94-97 CrossRef J. Kowalska, Ambiguity and limitations in determining the quality of the color rendering of light sources by index Ra (CIE CRI), Przeglad Elektrotechniczny, R. 93 No. 5, pp. 74-78, (2017) CrossRef I. Fryc, J. Fryc, A. Wasowski, Considerations about determining color rendering of light sources, Przeglad Elektrotechniczny, R. 92 No. 2, pp. 218-223, (2016) CrossRef I. Fryc, LED's spectral power distribution under different condition of operating temperature and driving current, Przeglad Elektrotechniczny, R. 86, No. 10, pp. 187-189, (2010). DirectLink A. David, P. Fini, K. Houser et al., Development of the IES method for evaluating the color rendition of light sources, Optics Express; Vol. 23; Issue 12, pp. 15888-15906, (2015). CrossRef K. Houser, M. Mossman, K. Smet et al, Tutorial, Color Rendering and Its Applications in Lighting, LEUKOS; Vol. 12, Issue 1-2; pp. 7-26; (2016). CrossRef
... Emissions that are linked with materials transportation and mobile equipment were calculated by utilizing emission factors for mobile fuel combustion (Heede, 2014). For materials and components whose emission coefficients were not included in the ICE database, available emission factors from literature were utilized (Elijošiutė et al., 2012). Therefore, the material EC emission was computed by utilizing the formula: CEM = QM x ECC (1) Where; CEM = material carbon emission, QM = material quantity and ECC = embodied carbon coefficient. ...
... In the inventory analysis phase, all flows of matter and energy related to the defined functional unit are identified and quantified (Elijošiute et al., 2012). In this phase, the inputs and outputs of matter and energy are recorded in the various stages of the product life cycle within the boundary defined in the previous phase. ...
The recent ban on conventional incandescent lamps for residential use led Brazilian consumers to choose from three main lighting technologies: incandescent halogen, CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lamp), and LED (Light Emitting Diode). Despite the fact that their electrical performances are well known, there are still some technical features to be discussed and compared. Therefore, this paper tends to show a comparative study of three low-cost lighting technologies. Laboratorial apparatus were used to measure electricity quality, electrical performance and photometric indicators. With the aid of the lumen method, the number of lamps needed to light a hypothetical apartment was evaluated. The consequent costs and environmental impacts were evaluated as well. This study finds out that LED lamps are clearly the best lighting option, considering the overall comparisons of the variables mentioned above. However, the tested LED lamp present some disadvantages as compared with the others, such as power factor, harmonic introduction and environmental impacts in manufacturing phase. Also, it was noted that there are some inconsistencies between measured lighting data and information given by manufacturers. Among the evaluated technologies, the incandescent lamp shows more measured values that are approximately the same as the values indicated by the manufacturer. Keywords: Power quality, Quality of energy, Energy efficiency, Photometry, Lighting calculation, Life cycle assessment
... Emissions associated with materials transportation and mobile equipment were estimated using emission factors for mobile fuel combustion (IPCC 2006). Where materials and components whose emission coefficients were not included in the ICE database, available emission factors from literature can be used (Elijosiute et al. 2012). Hence, embodied carbon emission of material was calculated using the equation (1): ...
Climate Change Mitigation Strategies in the Nigerian
Housing Sector: The Role of Life Cycle CO2eq Assessment
Abstract:
Climate change poses serious threats to building performance as well as human settlements. The growing global warming concerns and huge portion of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from buildings construction, underlines the sustainable development. Nigerian housing sector lacks any framework or consensuses on green building assessment parameters, leaving unaddressed a range of unverifiable environmental performances. The paper aims at assessing the sustainability of residential buildings with the intent of providing guidelines for environmental sustainability assessment for housing sector. The objectives are focused on whole life cycle based environmental sustainability assessment, incorporating the careful audit of material, energy, and emissions. ICE database, activity base and statistical methods were used to estimate the embodied and operational CO2eq emissions associated with selected case study buildings. The study found that embodied emissions were very significant when compared with scenarios in other countries and that there is a significant relationship between the Embodied energy/emission and the operational energy/emission contribution of selected residential buildings. The study concluded that climate change mitigation strategies from an architectural perspective should be targeted at embodied emission rather than just operational emission, especially at the design stage and material specifications.
Keywords: Architect, Abakaliki, climate change, carbon dioxide equivalence, life cycle assessment
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7492/IJAEC.2018.024
... Life of incandescent lamp is also shorter than other lighting options. It is approximately 1000 hours in comparison to 10000 hours for CFL and 30000 hours for LED [5]. ...
... For the plug, the Ecoinvent dataset has been modified to reflect the actual mass of different materials (22 g of PVC, 20 g of brass and 3 g of copper). Data for the light bulb have been obtained from Elijošiutė et al. (2012). For the magnetron, only raw materials extraction and metal-shaping processes have been considered due to a lack of data. ...
More than 130 million microwaves are affected by European Union (EU) legislation which is aimed at reducing the consumption of electricity in the standby mode (‘Standby Regulation’) and at more sustainable management of end-of-life electrical and electronic waste (‘WEEE Directive’). While legislation focuses on these two life cycle stages, there is little information on the environmental impacts of the entire life cycle of microwaves. To address this gap, this paper presents a comprehensive life cycle assessment of microwaves and assesses the environmental implications of the Standby Regulation and the WEEE Directive at the EU level. The impacts are first considered at the level of individual appliances and then at the EU level, with the aim of evaluating the potential environmental implications of the full implementation of the above two EU regulations by 2020. The effects of the electricity decarbonisation and the expected increase in the number of microwaves in use have also been considered. The results suggest that implementation of the EU regulation by 2020 will reduce the environmental impacts considered by 4%-9% compared to the current situation. The majority of these reductions is due to the Standby Regulation, with the contribution of the WEEE Directive being small (~0.3%). However, the expected decarbonisation of electricity will result in much higher reductions (6%-24%) for most impact categories. The results also show that materials used to manufacture the microwaves, the manufacturing process and end-of-life disposal are environmental hot-spots for several impacts, including depletion of abiotic elements. Therefore, efforts to reduce the environmental impacts of future electricity mix should be combined with the development of specific eco-design regulations for microwaves that stipulate optimisation of resource consumption. Possible future trends, such as shorter lifetimes and limited availability of some resources, make the development of such product regulations more critical.
... Where stationary equipments were used, emission factors for stationary combustion were used. For materials and components whose emission coefficients were not included in the ICE database, available emission factors from literature were used (see Elijosiute et al., 2012). Hence, embodied carbon emission of material was calculated using the formula: Specifically, carbon emissions from grid electricity component of operational energy were estimated using the electricity-specific emission factors developed from IEA data sets by Brander et al. (2011). ...
Carbon in the form of carbon dioxide (CO 2) is the most important chemical compound in the climate change process as it is the main causative agent of global warming and climate change. International efforts aimed at arresting climate change are all directed at carbon elimination or reduction. Buildings especially residential buildings have been found to contribute substantially to climate change through the carbon emitted to the environment in the process of building procurement and use. This paper aims at tracking the CO 2 content of the various activities and processes involved in building procurement and use in a Nigerian context with a view to indentifying the target areas for de-carbonization. This is done by applying the life cycle CO 2 assessment (LCCO 2 A) approach to a typical urban residential apartment building in Lagos, Nigeria's most populous and urbanized city. In this respect, the ICE database and the activity based method were used to estimate the embodied and operational CO 2 emissions associated with the case building. The study found that the embodied and operational emissions were significant when compared with baseline scenarios in other countries. Hence the paper concluded that de-carbonization strategies should be targeted at both the embodied and operational carbon emissions of buildings. The best result will be achieved if the de-carbonization efforts are combined with natural and active carbon sinks that exist in the study context.
... Public policy has already started to seek to address environmental issues in a range of countries. For example, Australia has banned incandescent light bulbs replacing them with long-life bulbs, although there are some who suggest these are not n ecessarily any less environmentally harmful (Elijošiutė, Balciukevičiūtė, and Denafas, 2012). As such, policy has been used to c onstrain consumer choice. ...
This chapter presents the fundamentals of "green" marketing by drawing on traditional marketing theory as well as research focused on green marketing context. It discusses five critical areas in green marketing. The first critical area stems from green marketing theory and practice that examines the logic for reducing the environmental impact of value creation and exchange. The second critical area highlights green marketing strategy that focuses on achieving organizational goals in ways that can reduce or eliminate negative impacts on the natural environment. The third critical area examines the green marketing mix that accounts for green products, green distribution, green pricing, and green promotion. By using traditional marketing concepts, the chapter identifies how the entire marketing mix elements should consistently provide a complete green product offering. Green products and processes need to be researched, designed, and manufactured to include environmentally safe ingredients and components. Products need to be strategically priced to reflect their green values, distributed in the green chain channels and displayed effectively to highlight their status, and accurately communicated to consumers and stakeholders. The fourth critical area illustrates governance and control. It shows how the holistic transformation toward greening the organization requires organizational culture change to gain support within and outside the firm to ensure environmental issues are appropriately considered. These can be assessed by using existing management mechanisms, such as environmental management systems and/or triple bottom line management, which ensure best practice and continuous improvements to occur. Lastly, the chapter discusses the future of green marketing and the direction that businesses need to take if they seek to be sustainable.
... Public policy has already started to seek to address environmental issues in a range of countries. For example, Australia has banned incandescent light bulbs replacing them with long-life bulbs, although there are some who suggest these are not n ecessarily any less environmentally harmful (Elijošiutė, Balciukevičiūtė, and Denafas, 2012). As such, policy has been used to c onstrain consumer choice. ...
This chapter presents the fundamentals of “green” marketing by drawing on traditional marketing theory as well as researchfocused on green marketing context. It discusses five critical areas in green marketing. The first critical area stems from green marketingtheory and practice that examines the logic for reducing the environmental impact of value creation and exchange. The second criticalarea highlights green marketing strategy that focuses on achieving organizational goals in ways that can reduce or eliminate negativeimpacts on the natural environment. The third critical area examines the green marketing mix that accounts for green products, greendistribution, green pricing, and green promotion. By using traditional marketing concepts, the chapter identifies how the entiremarketing mix elements should consistently provide a complete green product offering. Green products and processes need to beresearched, designed, and manufactured to include environmentally safe ingredients and components. Products need to be strategicallypriced to reflect their green values, distributed in the green chain channels and displayed effectively to highlight their status, and accuratelycommunicated to consumers and stakeholders. The fourth critical area illustrates governance and control. It shows how theholistic transformation toward greening the organization requires organizational culture change to gain support within and outside thefirm to ensure environmental issues are appropriately considered. These can be assessed by using existing management mechanisms,such as environmental management systems and/or triple bottom line management, which ensure best practice and continuousimprovements to occur. Lastly, the chapter discusses the future of green marketing and the direction that businesses need to take if theyseek to be sustainable.
... Public policy has already started to seek to address environmental issues in a range of countries. For example, Australia has banned incandescent light bulbs replacing them with long-life bulbs, although there are some who suggest these are not n ecessarily any less environmentally harmful (Elijošiutė, Balciukevičiūtė, and Denafas, 2012). As such, policy has been used to c onstrain consumer choice. ...
In the late 1980s and early 1990s there has been a renewed interest in green marketing from both practitioners and academics. One of the key problems with examining green marketing is that it often means different things to different people. This confusion results in some organisations having difficultly developing green marketing strategies. One problem firms face is that they don't understand the importance of the various green marketing stakeholders. The literature has pointed to a number of important green stakeholders including, consumers, shareholders, special interest groups, governmental bodies, employees, suppliers, the media and the scientific community. Thus a firm cannot successfully develop appropriate green marketing strategies unless it understands how it inter-relates with all stakeholder groups.
... However, due to the complex structure of these alternatives, they are harder to produce and dispose of in an environmentally friendly manner. A summary of percentages taken from past literature [4,6,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] of the impact of different phases in three impact areas are shown in Figure 1 below. Although the results of past literature are not directly comparable to each other due to different lamp parameters and functional units chosen in LCA, there is a general consensus that the relative manufacturing impacts are higher for CFLs and LEDs than ICLs. ...
Energy efficient lamps offer significant energy savings throughout their life. However, there is a variety of energy saving lamps available and it is unclear which impacts the environment least throughout the lifecycle under different use patterns. Different use patterns have a significant impact on the lifetime of each light globe alternative and therefore affect the life cycle impact of each globe.
... CFLs have high light production efficiency, as they utilize the advantage of both passive and semi conducting electronic components. The manufacturing of these components involve complex material flows inducing high energy demand (Balciukevičiūtė et al., 2012). Similarly, literature review reveals that lighting device based on LEDs showed enormous potential to outstrip many conventional lighting technologies in terms of colour quality, versatility, life time and energy efficiency. ...
In the modern era, tremendous technological and sustainable development has forced the societies to adopt modern energy efficient lighting devices instead of old fashioned less efficient incandescent lamps. The examples of such new lamps compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamps. These devices can provide similar light output at the expense of only 20 % electricity consumption in comparison to incandescent lamps due to less energy lost as heat during luminance phenomenon. CFLs convert about 45 % energy into visible light, while incandescent lamp converts only 10 % (Tosenstock, 2007). The ecological footprint evaluation for street lighting network in Veszprem County, Hungary has been carried out utilising Sustainable Process Index (SPI) methodology (Narodoslawsky and Krotscheck, 1995). The analysis was carried out considering three different light bulbs i.e. conventional or old fashioned less energy efficient incandescent lamps and high tech more energy efficient CFLs and LED lamps. The analysis results reveal that there is a potential to decrease environmental impacts by 2 to 4 times by changing lamps from conventional incandescent to CFL and LEDs. These results are in coherence with the ecological assessment study conducted by the Department of Energy (DOE, 2012) for replacement of incandescent lamps with more efficient CFLs and LED lamps.
... There is potential for improvement in order to reduce the environmental impact of these luminaires. The biggest efforts are usually focused on the efficiency of the lighting system, reducing the environmental impact during the use phase of the product, where the main environmental impact is produced [8][9][10][11]. In spite of that, the other phases of the life cycle should not be overlooked, as improvements in the mechanical components can also be used to reduce the environmental impact of LED luminaires. Apart from changing consumer behavior, the electricity mix or improving LED efficiency to reduce environmental impact at the use phase, the other way to reduce the environmental impact is by applying design actions to the product through its whole life-cycle. ...
This paper analyzes the high relevance of material selection for the sustainable development of an LED weatherproof light fitting. The research reveals how this choice modifies current and future end of life scenarios and can reduce the overall environmental impact. This life cycle assessment has been carried out with Ecotool, a software program especially developed for designers to assess the environmental performance of their designs at the same time that they are working on them. Results show that special attention can be put on the recycling and reusing of the product from the initial stages of development.
Fluorescent lamps are hazardous materials, as they contain toxic elements, which may lead to environmental contamination. Therefore, assessing potential environmental impacts arising from inadequate lamp disposal is paramount. Studies addressing the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of end-of-life fluorescent lamps are, however, still scarce, and inappropriate lamp disposal remains a matter of concern, especially in developing and underdeveloped countries. In Brazil, fluorescent lamps are still used countrywide and are often inadequately discarded. Studies assessing fluorescent lamp impacts and potential impact reduction through enhanced recycling are, however, still scarce in the country, despite Brazil's size and high waste generation rates. Furthermore, Brazil's lamp recycling program is a recent measure and still falls short of the country's needs. Thus, this study aimed to assess potential environmental impacts of end-of-life fluorescent lamps in Rio de Janeiro, the second largest capital in Brazil, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time. Potential impact reductions due to higher recycling program adherence considering 5, 20, 80 and 100% recycling rates were also assessed. The findings indicate that the impact categories most influenced by end-of-life lamps were terrestrial ecotoxicity, human non-carcinogenic toxicity, global warming potential, and fossil resource scarcity. Increased recycling rates, in turn, reduced the environmental impact potential for all evaluated categories, reaching an almost 90% reduction in most categories when applying a 100% recycling rate. The current national program target recycling rate of 20%, however, already contributes to an average impact reduction of over 70%, comprising a more viable national application rate and already significantly contributing to reduced impacts.
The presence of Hg and the high consumption of fluorescent lamps (FL) have increased environmental concerns. However, other toxic and potentially toxic elements, like rare earth elements (REE), are neglected in FL. The problems FL cause are currently less in focus since they are being replaced with light emitter diodes (LED). However, replacement is lagging mainly in developing countries, which are usually more affected by electronic wastes. Therefore, it can take many years for FL to be completely phased-out and no longer be a matter of environmental concern. It is essential to keep the FL issue under our attention, considering current consumption and disposal scenarios and the lamps' composition, as demonstrated through life cycle assessment (LCA) works. This revision summarizes the information available in the literature, focusing on 2010 to 2020, on the current scenario of FL regarding its replacement, LCA, contamination risks, disposal, and recycling, highlighting the areas that still require attention. The Hg in lamps can reach the order of mg per lamp. However, Cd, As, Pb, and other potentially toxic metals are also found in FL. In fact, REE have high concentrations in FL, representing more than 23% of the phosphor, and these emergent contaminants are unregulated and have poorly understood environmental effects. Recycling of FL is often low or even inexistent among countries. However, authors have proposed efficient methods for recovering metals (>90% efficiency) and using end-of-life FL in manufacturing new materials. This might be a silver lining to the critical contamination problem arising from FL.
Tofu is a type of food that is preferred and widely produced by Indonesian people. The existence of the tofu industry will have an impact on the quality of the environment. To reduce this impact, an analysis related to the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is required. The research aims to determine eco-friendly tofu products and the part of the process that has a high potential to pollute the environment in the micro tofu industry. The research method uses a cradle-to-gate approach, which focuses on the processing of raw materials into products in the form of white tofu and fried tofu. The stages of this research are based on SNI ISO-14040: goal and scope, inventory analysis, life cycle impact assessment, and interpretation. The results showed that fried tofu has a high potential to pollute the environment compared to white tofu, namely the contribution value of white tofu is 0.121 pt and the contribution value of fried tofu is 2.83 pt, this is based on the highest value on important issues (hotspots) related to the impact category, namely global warming potential is 154 kg CO2(eq), ozone depletion potential is 1.43.10-5 kg CFC-11(eq), acid rain potential is 3.83.103 kg SO2(eq), eutrophication potential is 145 kg PO4 P-lim , energy use is 154 kg CO2(eq), and human health is 0.822 DALY. Based on the contribution analysis, hotspots on the results of the life cycle assessment of the micro tofu industry are in the frying process and the procurement of the main raw material used, soybeans. Alternative improvements can be made by changing the main ingredient of soybean seed into soybean slurry and replacing palm oil with soybean oil in frying firewood into biogas.
Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) of lighting products is a methodology that analyses and evaluates environmental impacts throughout their total life cycle, from the extraction and processing of raw materials, design, construction, transportation, distribution, use, recycling and re-use of materials, and last their final disposal. According to the results of a large number of LCIAs, lighting products have a substantial environmental impact in multiple areas, as for example in primary energy, toxicological effects, the effect on global warming, the level of environmental acidification, etc. All of those impacts could result in more efficient products by enhancing the product design process (using Ecodesign). At the initial design stage of lighting products, the manufacturer should also take into consideration circular economy aspects at the End of Life stage (EoL) such as repair, reuse, remanufacturing, retrofitting, recycling, and upcycling and not only the energy savings from the use stage or the selection of raw materials. The scope of this paper is to collect and present an overview of all environmental impacts of LCIA analyses focusing at EoL stage of lighting products. Those impacts could be used as data input into a future model that determines which lighting products are more environmentally friendly.
The lighting industry is facing a big challenge regarding the design of more sustainable lighting products. Although the development of LED technology has contributed enormously to their energy efficiency, more efforts are needed in reducing not only the energy consumption but also the use of key materials present in electronic components for a sustainable design. This can be achieved through new modular and configurable designs that can replace the generic LED luminaires that are disposable with a customized, sustainable product with high functional value, which should be supported by an assessment along its entire lifecycle to know the environmental performance to support the designs.
This study conducts life cycle assessment models to quantitatively assist sustainable design decision-making of a novel LED modular luminaire's architecture. Firstly, a comparative LCA between a new luminaire and an existing product was performed to be used in an industrial environment. The results from this study showed a reduction of around 30% in the environmental impact categories that are more influenced by the energy consumption in the use stage (such as climate change and primary energy demand), whereas the resource depletion impact category associated with the elements was reduced by around 50%. The latter is mainly attributed to the reduction in the total circuit board area for the LED modules and the use of LEDs with less environmental burden made possible by eliminating the major contribution from the gold bond wire.
Secondly, several scenarios are proposed based on modularity and replacement to change the LED luminaire life cycle towards more sustainability in the energy and material impact context. A scenario dedicated to analysing the optimal LED luminaire usage times in terms of energy and material efficiency is included. Two further scenario calculations treat the topic of replaceable components. One scenario investigates if exchanging the LED module regularly brings benefits by decreasing the primary energy demand category. The last scenario investigates the case of an LED module replacement because of a failure.
The findings from the LCA models conducted serve as a guide to suggest eco-design strategies for the environmental sustainability of the new LED modular luminaire listed as several recommendations and reflections along its life cycle.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SCIENCES, ENGINEERING AND SOCIAL SCIENCES 2017
ICSESS2017
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 17 -18 May 2017
The global potential for reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions was estimated by the means of energy-efficient LED lighting in residential buildings. LED lamps typically have greater luminous efficacy compared to conventional lamps used in residential lighting, which suggests potential for energy savings and reducing CO2 emissions. In addition to evaluating the CO2 emission reduction, the study included a cost analysis and evaluated indirect (life cycle) CO2 emissions of the transition to residential LED lighting. The life cycle costs were estimated based on purchase prices and operating costs (energy).
Results indicated that approximately 6.6 Gt of CO2 emissions could be reduced with high (90 %) adoption of LED lamps in residential buildings over the 30-year period (2015-2045). The transition to LED lighting was estimated to start from 3 % adoption in lumen-hours in general lighting applications in 2014 and to result to 90 % of lumen-hours in 2045. Changing from conventional residential lighting to LED solutions is clearly an important means for CO2 mitigation. In order to realize this great potential for CO2 emission reduction, good quality LED lamps need to be available at a reasonable purchase price and their luminous efficacy must continue to be improved.
Human Health Area of Protection (HHAoP) has been receiving greater emphasis in recent years in the scope of EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) of products or services with more impact categories specifically dedicated to include different dimensions of HHAoP. Human health impacts of light sources, however, have received less attention despite their prevalent use for backlighting, general lighting and architectural purposes. Currently, Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) of lighting devices and electronic devices with backlit screens do not address endpoint impacts nor do they specify technical properties of the light that can enable such an assessment. This study investigates endpoint impacts of eleven lighting devices 1) due to light exposure during the use phase 2) due to emissions throughout their life cycle. Impacts are quantified as disease burden in terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY). The burden of exposure was calculated using Attributable Fraction (AF) method. The burden due to life cycle emissions was quantified using GaBi software and built-in Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) method ReCiPe. Endpoint impact categories included were climate change human health, human toxicity, ionizing radiation, ozone depletion, particulate matter formation, and photochemical oxidant formation. The disease burden due to light exposure of all light sources are of two orders of magnitude greater than the disease burden due to life cycle emissions pointing to the need for its treatment.
p class="emsd-body">The objective of this study is to compare the energy efficiency, potential energy savings and the environmental impact among different lighting types-incandescent lamps, CFL (compact fluorescent light) lamps and LED (light-emitting diode) lamps in a manufacturing facility. Three different tools were applied: Energy Assessment Spreadsheet (EAS), Pollution Prevention (P2) tool and GaBi 6. EAS was used to calculate the energy savings, P2 tool was used for carbon footprint analysis, and GaBi was used for the life cycle assessment (LCA) in lightings? use phase. The results indicated a saving of over 24,000 could be saved and 170 MTCO2e of GHGs could be reduced by using LED lamps instead of incandescent lamps every year for the operation phase of the facility. The environmental impact categories identified from the LCA in lighting use phase indicated that using incandescent lamps for the facility was much more harmful for the environment than using CFL and LED lamps. Additionally, the environmental impact from the use of LED lamps for the facility was less than that of CFL lamps.</p
There has been an increased focus on special waste types (WEEE, batteries, ink cartridges and cables) in Denmark and abroad, as many of these fractions constitute a special threat to the environment, due to their content of hazardous compounds and valuable resources. Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and batteries are some of the special waste types receiving significant focus as hazardous and valuable substances in WEEE and batteries are plentiful. WEEE and batteries, which are not sorted out for recycling
and recovery, do not only imply a loss of materials and metals but could also lead to pollution of other waste streams. In addition to this, there are significant environmental benefits to be obtained when recycling special wastes.
Many of the raw materials found in special waste are in an immediate supply risk for the development of emerging green technologies. The inherent resources in waste have become an obvious focus as a source of these critical raw materials, and the municipal solid waste is considered to be one of the largest potential sources for the recovery and recycling of scarce elements.
Special waste streams should, therefore, be collected and recycled. In particular, precious and scarce metals should be recovered due to environmental as well as sustainability issues.
In Denmark, there are still waste flows that are unaccounted for. One of these flows is the special waste that is being misplaced with residual household waste. Bigum et al. (II) investigated this by conducting a sorting analysis of the Danish residual household waste. The analysis showed that especially small household appliances, lamps, toys, leisure and sports equipment, and portable batteries were frequently misplaced with residual household waste. Misplaced special waste will, in Denmark, be incinerated. This leads to pollution of the surrounding environment with heavy and toxic metals, as well as being a significant source for abiotic resource depletion (Bigum et al., III).
Improvements with respect to the treatment of special waste are necessary. Traditional pre-treatment facilities seem to focus primarily on the traditional
metals such as iron (Fe), aluminium (Al), and copper (Cu), which can be recovered in bulk amounts. Recovery of the precious and scarce metals is to a lesser degree carried out, as these appear in much smaller amounts. Future recovery facilities should, however, aim at recovering these metals, even though they appear in smaller concentrations, as the recovery of these can have larger environmental relevance exceeding that of the traditionally recovered metals (Bigum et al., I).
Life cycle assessments (LCAs) are used as decision-making tools for supporting waste management decisions. LCAs must therefore also be able to incorporate issues related to special waste streams and management. The ability for LCAs to incorporate these issues is crucial for the tool to be able support decisions and to further justify the use of waste-LCAs when decisions are made.
One of these issues is related to special waste being a very heterogeneous waste type. The variation in composition is significant and data availability is scarce, which can make it difficult to include special waste in waste-LCAs. This also means that the environmental aspects connected with the special waste types can be difficult to fully assess, and that the consequences of these may risk being overlooked or underestimated.
The field of environmental assessment of special waste is relatively new, and many issues need to be resolved. One of these issues is the evaluation of resource depletion and scarcity. This area is in need of a much broader consensus and further scientific development in order to ensure that LCA is applicable and accepted as a decision-making tool.
This thesis shows the importance of including a detailed composition of the special waste types, as well as the importance of incorporating the resource depletion of unrecovered elements in waste-LCAs (Bigum et al., III). The thesis also shows that the recycling of metals is of significant environmental importance (Bigum et al., I) and quantifies the amount of special waste types being misplaced with residual household waste (Bigum et al., II). The thesis also concludes that there are still many issues that need to be resolved and suggested which areas need further research in order to improve the field of environmental assessments of special waste types.
Lighting is a major global energy consumer, and as such, it causes notable environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of lighting products are researched by life cycle assessment, a method that takes the whole life cycle of the product into account. It is important to study the product life cycle as whole so that the major environmental hot spots are identified and the environmental impacts are not shifted from one stage to another when choosing a different type of technology on the basis of environmental impacts.
This chapter presents the basics of the life cycle assessment for evaluating the environmental impacts of light sources in particular. The typical results of the life cycle assessment of light sources in general are presented, but the chapter concentrates only on the lamps used in households. Household lighting is changing in several countries in the world from old, inefficient technologies (incandescent lamp) to more modern light sources of a higher luminous efficacy (CFLs, LED lamps). The change is often justified by environmental reasons. The environmental assessments of household lamps show clearly that the change from incandescent lamps to lamps of higher luminous efficacy is a beneficial decision from the environmental point of view.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.