Ex-ante life cycle assessment of directed energy deposition based additive manufacturing: A comparative gearbox production case study

As new technologies emerge is necessary to assess if they can actually contribute to sustainable improvement of industrial processes. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a valuable tool to determine environmental impacts and compare systems. However, this comparison raises challenges when they have different maturity. This paper performs ex-ante LCA of an additive manufacturing (AM) technology, based on a step-wise approach built with parametrized modelling, allowing fair comparison with its conventional counterpart, for the study case of a gearbox component. Results show that AM technology generates higher impacts than conventional manufacturing (CM) casting process, using baseline values. These impacts can be reduced by 94% with best operating performances from literature, with emissions from 4520 to 264 kg CO2 eq./kg piece, and non-significant difference with CM (demonstrated by Monte Carlo sampling). A 58% weight reduction is necessary for the AM process to improves its environmental sustainability. This research provides eco-design recommendations supporting decision making for further development of new technology.This research has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No. 814552) in the context of the LightMe project. In this context, authors especially acknowledge the help from IRIS and DIAD. It has also received funds from Board of Education of Junta de Castilla y León and the European Social Fund (EDU/1508/2020). The authors want to acknowledge the support of the Environmental Research and Innovation department from the Luxembourg Institute of Science & Technology for facilitate the research stay that made this work possible

Driving sustainability at early-stage innovation in production of zinc oxide nanoparticles

Despite its industrial relevance and the methods that have been described for its synthesis, little is known about the performance of the production processes of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), either pure or doped, from the sustainability perspective. The Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) framework brings to this context an excellent opportunity to 1) evaluate the impacts of chemical processes from the safety and sustainability perspectives, and 2) design and test safety and sustainability strategies to study and optimise these key aspects in early innovation stages. This work aims at assessing the production of ZnO NPs using this approach, testing the sustainability of the materials, designed and produced by Phornano, an Austrian SME, under this scheme. Three scenarios were analysed: the original process (BS) and two alternatives resulting from the application of SSbD strategies to the former (S1 and S2). BS is a linear process in which Zn(NO3)2·6H2O, whey, water and a dopant (a Mn salt) are used as starting materials. However, obtention of the desired product entails the release of toxic fumes (SOx and NOx) to the atmosphere. S1 and its scale-up version, S2, are circular processes in which SOx emissions are avoided, due to the replacement of whey by a non-aminated starch, and NOx are transformed into HNO3, which reacts with Zn powder to produce Zn(NO3)2·6H2O; in this way, no harmful substances are freed and the zinc salt employed as a raw material in BS is generated during the manufacture of ZnO NPs. Four well-known evaluation tools were employed to achieve a holistic sustainability perspective: Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA), Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), according to the standardised methodologies or the most broadly spread ones; the study was complemented with an uncertainty analysis. The results for the production of 1 kg of ZnO NPs show that the after-SSbD scenarios are remarkably more sustainable than BS: the environmental evaluation reveals that S2 outperforms BS for 10 environmental indicators, allowing a reduction of 67 % in terms of total aggregated impact (from 13.7 to 4.4 mPt); from the economic viewpoint, synthesis of ZnO NPs through S2 is around four times cheaper than that achieved via BS (512 vs 2206 €); finally, the social footprint is reduced from 159 mPt in the original process to 21 mPt in S2. MCDA of BS, S1 and S2 considering the three assessments performed confirms that S2 is, with almost 100 % probability, the best-performing alternative from the sustainability perspective, followed by S1. Overall, this work, the most complete in this field to date, contributes to the sustainable synthesis of ZnO NPs and to the methodological advance of the SSbD framework through the revision of its limitations and opportunities.This research was funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No. 953152) in the context of the ‘Diagonal’ project

Integration of future water scarcity and electricity supply into prospective LCA: Application to the assessment of water desalination for the steel industry

The urgency of tackling global environmental issues calls for radical technological and behavioral changes. New prospective (or ex ante) methods are needed to assess the impacts of these changes. Prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) can contribute by detailed analysis of environmental consequences. A new stream of research has taken up the challenge to create prospective life cycle inventory (LCI) databases, building on projections of integrated assessment models to describe future changes in technology use and their underlying environmental performance. The present work extends on this by addressing the research question on how to project life cycle impact assessment methods for water scarcity consistent with prospective LCI modeling. Water scarcity characterization factors are projected from 2010–2050 using the AWARE method, based on SSP-RCP scenario results of the integrated assessment model IMAGE. This work is coupled with prospective LCI databases, where electricity datasets are adapted based on the energy component of IMAGE for the same scenario. Based on this, an LCA case study of water desalination for the steel industry in Spain is presented. The resulting regional characterization factors show that some regions (i.e., the Iberian Peninsula) could experience an increase in water scarcity in the future. Results of the case study show how this can lead to trade-offs between climate change and water scarcity impacts and how disregarding such trends could lead to biased assessments. The relevance and limitations are finally discussed, highlighting further research needs, such as the temporalization of the impacts

The United States' next generation of atmospheric composition and coastal ecosystem measurements : NASA's Geostationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEO-CAPE) Mission

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 93 (2012): 1547–1566, doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00201.1.The Geostationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEO-CAPE) mission was recommended by the National Research Council's (NRC's) Earth Science Decadal Survey to measure tropospheric trace gases and aerosols and coastal ocean phytoplankton, water quality, and biogeochemistry from geostationary orbit, providing continuous observations within the field of view. To fulfill the mandate and address the challenge put forth by the NRC, two GEO-CAPE Science Working Groups (SWGs), representing the atmospheric composition and ocean color disciplines, have developed realistic science objectives using input drawn from several community workshops. The GEO-CAPE mission will take advantage of this revolutionary advance in temporal frequency for both of these disciplines. Multiple observations per day are required to explore the physical, chemical, and dynamical processes that determine tropospheric composition and air quality over spatial scales ranging from urban to continental, and over temporal scales ranging from diurnal to seasonal. Likewise, high-frequency satellite observations are critical to studying and quantifying biological, chemical, and physical processes within the coastal ocean. These observations are to be achieved from a vantage point near 95°–100°W, providing a complete view of North America as well as the adjacent oceans. The SWGs have also endorsed the concept of phased implementation using commercial satellites to reduce mission risk and cost. GEO-CAPE will join the global constellation of geostationary atmospheric chemistry and coastal ocean color sensors planned to be in orbit in the 2020 time frame.Funding for GEO-CAPE definition activities is provided by the Earth Science Division of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.2013-04-0

HF Radar activity in European coastal seas: next steps toward a Pan-European HF Radar network

High Frequency Radar (HFR) is a land-based remote sensing instrument offering a unique insight to coastal ocean variability, by providing synoptic, high frequency and high resolution data at the ocean atmosphere interface. HFRs have become invaluable tools in the field of operational oceanography for measuring surface currents, waves and winds, with direct applications in different sectors and an unprecedented potential for the integrated management of the coastal zone. In Europe, the number of HFR networks has been showing a significant growth over the past 10 years, with over 50 HFRs currently deployed and a number in the planning stage. There is also a growing literature concerning the use of this technology in research and operational oceanography. A big effort is made in Europe toward a coordinated development of coastal HFR technology and its products within the framework of different European and international initiatives. One recent initiative has been to make an up-to-date inventory of the existing HFR operational systems in Europe, describing the characteristics of the systems, their operational products and applications. This paper offers a comprehensive review on the present status of European HFR network, and discusses the next steps toward the integration of HFR platforms as operational components of the European Ocean Observing System, designed to align and integrate Europe's ocean observing capacity for a truly integrated end-to-end observing system for the European coasts

Ökobilanz von Abwasserbehandlungslösungen : Wie Pollutant Entfernungsvorteile zu berücksichtigen?

The development of our society contributed to increased occurrence of emerging substances (pesticides, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, etc.) in wastewater. Because of their potential hazard on ecosystems and humans, Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) need to adapt to better remove these compounds. Technology or policy development should however comply with sustainable development, e.g. based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) metrics. Nevertheless, the reliability or consistency of LCA results can sometimes be debatable. The main objective of this work was to explore how LCA can better support the implementation of innovative wastewater treatment options, in particular including removal benefits. The method was applied to support solutions for pharmaceuticals elimination from wastewater, regarding: (i) UV technology design, (ii) choice of advanced technology and (iii) centralized or decentralized treatment policy. The assessment approach followed by previous authors based on net impacts calculation seemed very promising to consider both environmental effects induced by treatment plant operation and environmental benefits obtained from pollutants removal. It was therefore applied to compare UV configuration types. LCA outcomes were consistent with degradation kinetics analysis. For the comparison of advanced technologies and policy scenarios, the common practice (net impacts based on EDIP method) was compared to other assessments, to better consider elimination benefits. First, USEtox consensus was applied for the avoided (eco)toxicity impacts, in combination with the recent method ReCiPe for generated impacts. Then, an eco-efficiency indicator (EFI) was developed to weigh the treatment efforts (generated impacts based on EDIP and ReCiPe methods) by the average removal efficiency (overcoming (eco)toxicity uncertainty issues). In total, the four types of comparative assessment showed the same trends: (i) ozonation and activated carbon perform better than UV irradiation, and (ii) no clear advantage distinguished between policy scenarios. It cannot be however concluded that advanced treatment of pharmaceuticals is not necessary because other criteria should be considered (risk assessment, bacterial resistance, etc.) and large uncertainties were embedded in calculations. Indeed, a significant part of this work was dedicated to the discussion of uncertainty and limitations of the LCA outcomes. At the inventory level, it was difficult to model technology operation at development stage. For impact assessment, the newly developed characterization factors for pharmaceuticals (eco)toxicity showed large uncertainties, mainly due to the lack of data and quality for toxicity tests. The use of information made available under REACH framework to develop CFs for detergent ingredients tried to cope with this issue but the benefits were limited due to the mismatch of information between REACH and USEtox method. The highlighted uncertainties were treated with sensitivity analyses to understand their effects on LCA results. This research work finally presents perspectives on the use of transparently generated data (technology inventory and (eco)toxicity factors) and further development of EFI indicator. Also, an accent is made on increasing the reliability of LCA outcomes, in particular through the implementation of advanced techniques for uncertainty management. To conclude, innovative technology/product development (e.g. based on circular economy approach) needs the involvement of all types of actors and the support from sustainability metrics.The development of our society contributed to increased occurrence of emerging substances (pesticides, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, etc.) in wastewater. Because of their potential hazard on ecosystems and humans, Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) need to adapt to better remove these compounds. Technology or policy development should however comply with sustainable development, e.g. based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) metrics. Nevertheless, the reliability or consistency of LCA results can sometimes be debatable. The main objective of this work was to explore how LCA can better support the implementation of innovative wastewater treatment options, in particular including removal benefits. The method was applied to support solutions for pharmaceuticals elimination from wastewater, regarding: (i) UV technology design, (ii) choice of advanced technology and (iii) centralized or decentralized treatment policy. The assessment approach followed by previous authors based on net impacts calculation seemed very promising to consider both environmental effects induced by treatment plant operation and environmental benefits obtained from pollutants removal. It was therefore applied to compare UV configuration types. LCA outcomes were consistent with degradation kinetics analysis. For the comparison of advanced technologies and policy scenarios, the common practice (net impacts based on EDIP method) was compared to other assessments, to better consider elimination benefits. First, USEtox consensus was applied for the avoided (eco)toxicity impacts, in combination with the recent method ReCiPe for generated impacts. Then, an eco-efficiency indicator (EFI) was developed to weigh the treatment efforts (generated impacts based on EDIP and ReCiPe methods) by the average removal efficiency (overcoming (eco)toxicity uncertainty issues). In total, the four types of comparative assessment showed the same trends: (i) ozonation and activated carbon perform better than UV irradiation, and (ii) no clear advantage distinguished between policy scenarios. It cannot be however concluded that advanced treatment of pharmaceuticals is not necessary because other criteria should be considered (risk assessment, bacterial resistance, etc.) and large uncertainties were embedded in calculations. Indeed, a significant part of this work was dedicated to the discussion of uncertainty and limitations of the LCA outcomes. At the inventory level, it was difficult to model technology operation at development stage. For impact assessment, the newly developed characterization factors for pharmaceuticals (eco)toxicity showed large uncertainties, mainly due to the lack of data and quality for toxicity tests. The use of information made available under REACH framework to develop CFs for detergent ingredients tried to cope with this issue but the benefits were limited due to the mismatch of information between REACH and USEtox method. The highlighted uncertainties were treated with sensitivity analyses to understand their effects on LCA results. This research work finally presents perspectives on the use of transparently generated data (technology inventory and (eco)toxicity factors) and further development of EFI indicator. Also, an accent is made on increasing the reliability of LCA outcomes, in particular through the implementation of advanced techniques for uncertainty management. To conclude, innovative technology/product development (e.g. based on circular economy approach) needs the involvement of all types of actors and the support from sustainability metrics

Comparative and integrative environmental assessment of advanced wastewater treatment processes based on an average removal of pharmaceuticals

Pharmaceuticals are normally barely removed by conventional wastewater treatments. Advanced technologies as a post-treatment, could prevent these pollutants reaching the environment and could be included in a centralized treatment plant or, alternatively, at the primary point source, e.g. hospitals. In this study, the environmental impacts of different options, as a function of several advanced treatments as well as the centralized/decentralized implementation options, have been evaluated using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. In previous publications, the characterization of the toxicity of pharmaceuticals within LCA suffers from high uncertainties. In our study, LCA was therefore only used to quantify the generated impacts (electricity, chemicals, etc.) of different treatment scenarios. These impacts are then weighted by the average removal rate of pharmaceuticals using a new Eco-efficiency Indicator EFI. This new way of comparing the scenarios shows significant advantages of upgrading a centralized plant with ozonation as the post-treatment. The decentralized treatment option reveals no significant improvement on the avoided environmental impact, due to the comparatively small pollutant load coming from the hospital and the uncertainties in the average removal of the decentralized scenarios. When comparing the post-treatment technologies, UV radiation has a lower performance than both ozonation and activated carbon adsorption.</jats:p