As industrialized nations look into emerging new technologies focusing on renewable or efficient energy use — along with the move towards Sustainable Development Goals — challenges related to achieving low carbon economy projects have gained much attention. This book explores various initiatives and potential methods to achieve net-zero carbon targets and issues.Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) will play an important role as an effective and comprehensive method to analyze potential greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts of a technology or system. LCA is a holistic and system-wide scientific method that can be used to quantify impact metrics chosen to evaluate any emerging Net-Zero Carbon technologies of interest, and reveal environmental trade-offs or further research opportunities that are required for balancing CO2 emissions. LCA perspectives of Net-Zero Carbon Technologies can also be used to outline decision-making strategies for a nation's shift towards low carbon economic development.

As industrialized nations look into emerging new technologies focusing on renewable or efficient energy use -- along with the move towards Sustainable Development Goals -- challenges related to achieving low carbon economy projects have gained much attention. This book explores various initiatives and potential methods to achieve net zero carbon targets and issues.Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) will play an important role as an effective and comprehensive method to analyse potential greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts of a technology or system. LCA is a holistic and system-wide scientific method that can be used to quantify impact metrics chosen to evaluate any emerging Net Zero Carbon technologies of interest, and reveal environmental trade-offs or further research opportunities that are required for balancing CO2 emissions. LCA perspectives of Net Zero Carbon Technologies can also be used to outline decision making strategies for a nation's shift towards low carbon economic development.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become the recognized instrument to assess the ecological burdens and human health impacts connected with the complete life cycle (creation, use, end-of-life) of products, processes and activities, enabling the assessor to model the entire system from which products are derived or in which processes and activities operate. This volume introduces the major new book series LCA Compendium - The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment. In this volume, the main drivers in the development of LCA are explored. The volume also discusses strengths and limitations in LCA as well as challenges and gaps, thus offering an unbiased picture of the state-of-the-art and future of LCA.

This book covers the latest developments in life cycle assessment LCA both in terms of methodology and its application in various research areas. It includes methodological questions as well as case studies concerning energy and mobility, materials and engineering, sustainable construction and future technologies. With numerous research articles from leading German and Austrian research institutes, the book is a valuable source for professionals working in the field of sustainability assessment, researchers interested in the current state of LCA research, and advanced university students in various scientific and technical fields. Chapter “Life Cycle Assessment of a Hydrogen and Fuel Cell RoPax Ferry Prototype” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Environmental life cycle assessment is often thought of as cradle to grave and therefore as the most complete accounting of the environmental costs and benefits of a product or service. However, as anyone who has done an environmental life cycle assessment knows, existing tools have many problems: data is difficult to assemble and life cycle studies take months of effort. A truly comprehensive analysis is prohibitive, so analysts are often forced to simply ignore many facets of life cycle impacts. But the focus on one aspect of a product or service can result in misleading indications if that aspect is benign while other aspects pollute or are otherwise unsustainable. This book summarizes the EIO-LCA method, explains its use in relation to other life cycle assessment models, and provides sample applications and extensions of the model into novel areas. A final chapter explains the free, easy-to-use software tool available on a companion website. (www.eiolca.net) The software tool provides a wealth of data, summarizing the current U.S. economy in 500 sectors with information on energy and materials use, pollution and greenhouse gas discharges, and other attributes like associated occupational deaths and injuries. The joint project of twelve faculty members and over 20 students working together over the past ten years at the Green Design Institute of Carnegie Mellon University, the EIO-LCA has been applied to a wide range of products and services. It will prove useful for research, industry, and in economics, engineering, or interdisciplinary classes in green design.

Life Cycle Assessment

Zero Emission Buildings shows what can be achieved when researchers and practitioners work together to develop the building performance level of tomorrow that is needed today. This book is based on the research and development activities performed in the Research Centre on Zero Emission Buildings (the ZEB Centre) from 2009 to 2017. Emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases must be reduced to limit global warming. Thus, the goal of the ZEB Centre has been to develop knowledge, competitive products, and solutions for existing and new buildings whose production, operation, and demolition give zero emissions of greenhouse gases, while also considering the users' needs for comfort and flexibility. The results presented here are based on research, as well as experience, from the development of nine real demonstration buildings. The key knowledge areas needed when designing, building, and operating zero emission buildings is discussed in detail. This book should be read by students of architecture and engineering, as well as practitioners looking for ways to contribute to a sustainable future. [Subject: Architecture, Environmental Studies, Sustainability & Green Design]

In the 21st century, management of municipal solid waste (MSW) continues to be an important environmental challenge facing the U.S. Climate change is also a serious issue, & the U.S. is embarking on a number of voluntary actions to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that can intensify climate change. By presenting material-specific GHG emission factors for various waste management options, this report examines how the two issues -- MSW management & climate change -- are related. The report's findings may be used to support a variety of programs & activities, including voluntary reporting of emission reductions from waste management practices. Charts, tables & graphs.

This book is published under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license. The editors present essential methods and tools to support a holistic approach to the challenge of system upgrades and innovation in the context of high-value products and services. The approach presented here is based on three main pillars: an adaptation mechanism based on a broad understanding of system dependencies; efficient use of system knowledge through involvement of actors throughout the process; and technological solutions to enable efficient actor communication and information handling. The book provides readers with a better understanding of the factors that influence decisions, and put forward solutions to facilitate the rapid adaptation to changes in the business environment and customer needs through intelligent upgrade interventions. Further, it examines a number of sample cases from various contexts including car manufacturing, utilities, shipping and the furniture industry. The book offers a valuable resource for both academics and practitioners interested in the upgrading of capital-intensive products and services. “The work performed in the project “Use-It-Wisely (UiW)” significantly contributes towards a collaborative way of working. Moreover, it offers comprehensive system modelling to identify business opportunities and develop technical solutions within industrial value networks. The developed UiW-framework fills a void and offers a great opportunity. The naval construction sector of small passenger vessels, for instance, is one industry that can benefit.” Nikitas Nikitakos, Professor at University of the Aegean, Department of Shipping, Trade, and Transport, Greece. “Long-life assets are crucial for both the future competiveness and sustainability of society. Make wrong choices now and you are locked into a wrong system for a long time. Make the right choices now and society can prosper. This book gives important information about how manufacturers can make right choices.” Arnold Tukker, Scientific director, Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden University, and senior scientist, TNO.

This book is a uniquely pedagogical while still comprehensive state-of-the-art description of LCA-methodology and its broad range of applications. The five parts of the book conveniently provide: I) the history and context of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with its central role as quantitative and scientifically-based tool supporting society’s transitioning towards a sustainable economy; II) all there is to know about LCA methodology illustrated by a red-thread example which evolves as the reader advances; III) a wealth of information on a broad range of LCA applications with dedicated chapters on policy development, prospective LCA, life cycle management, waste, energy, construction and building, nanotechnology, agrifood, transport, and LCA-related concepts such as footprinting, ecolabelling,design for environment, and cradle to cradle. IV) A cookbook giving the reader recipes for all the concrete actions needed to perform an LCA. V) An appendix with an LCA report template, a full example LCA report serving as inspiration for students who write their first LCA report, and a more detailed overview of existing LCIA methods and their similarities and differences.