Use of Life Cycle Assessment

Transcription

1 Use of Life Cycle Assessment Craig Cammarata, MPP, MS E2S2 Symposium, New Orleans 11 May 2011

2 Lecture Road Map 1. What is LCA? 2. Why use LCA? 3. Incorporating LCA into Acquisition

3 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) LCA is a cradle-to-grave approach for assessing industrial systems; it evaluates all stages of a product s life from the perspective that they are interdependent, meaning that one operation leads to the next.

4 LCA = Systems Approach By including impacts throughout the product life cycle, LCA provides a comprehensive or holistic view of the environmental aspects of the product or process and a more accurate picture of the true Human Health and Environmental (HH&E) trade-offs in product and process selection. This systems approach is useful for acquisition because it links these potential life-cycle HH&E impacts to the functionality of the product or service in question.

5 Traditional LCA = 4 Step Process ISO 14040:2006

6 Goal and Scope Definition

7 Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Analysis

8 LCI for a Process or Activity ex. Aluminum plating

9 Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA)

10 Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) LCIA comprises several steps: Selection and definition of impact categories GWP, human toxicity, water consumption, etc. Classification assigning LCI results to impact categories (CH 4 = GHG) Characterization modeling impacts within impact categories using science-based conversion factors ex. GHGs to global warming potential (1 kg CH 4 = 25 kg CO 2 eq) Normalization, grouping, weighting techniques used so that we can better compare and assign priority Normalization process emissions vs. nation-wide emissions Weighting Multiply GHG results by 2 when comparing to water use

11 Possible Impact Categories for DoD LCIA Mission Impacts: Energy Availability Material Availability Water Availability Basing Potential Is land available? If yes, can you use it for basing operations? Human Health Impacts: Toxicity: Cancer and Non- Cancer Respiratory Effects Noise Environmental Impacts: Global Warming Potential Ozone Depletion Potential Ecological Toxicity Natural Resource Depletion Fossil Fuels Metals Water Land Conversion/Occupation

12 Interpretation Assessing whether results are in-line with project goals, providing an unbiased summary of results, defining significant impacts and recommending methods for reducing environmental burdens

13 Lecture Road Map 1. What is LCA? 2. Why use LCA? 3. Incorporating LCA into Acquisition

14 Reason #1: LCA Can Answer Many Acquisition-Related Questions By performing an LCA, analysts can: 1. Develop systematic evaluation of environmental consequences associated with a given product 2. Compare impacts between two or more products 3. Quantify and compare the magnitude of environmental releases to air/water/land for each life cycle stage 4. Identify and quantify impacts of a specific process 5. Inform design 6. Quantify uncertainty in product choice

15 Consequences of a Product Impacts normalized as percentages for comparison by impact and process *Results generated from use of SimaPro Software tool using Ecoinvent data

16 Compare Two or More Products Impacts normalized as percentages for comparison by impact and product *Results generated from use of SimaPro Software tool using Ecoinvent data

17 Inform Product Design (ex. GHG Emissions) Specified unit of product being analyzed (GHGs/m2) Thick line indicates greater impact contribution Percentage of total impact contribution Amount of material or energy used to produce specified unit of product *Results generated from use of SimaPro Software tool using Ecoinvent data

18 Quantifying Product Uncertainty (ex. aircraft coatings) Green = probability that Coating A is better than Coating B Red = probability that Coating B is better than Coating A Results of Monte Carlo Simulation show that we are very confident that Coating A is a better (meaning less HH&E impact) option than Coating B for all impact categories. *Results generated from use of SimaPro Software tool using Ecoinvent data

19 Reason #2: Policy Drivers LCA can help the DoD track and manage sustainability indicators to meet sustainability requirements under multiple U.S. policies Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct05) Energy Independence & Security Act (EISA 2007) Executive Orders and LCA identifies supply chain hot spots, which informs efforts to reduce use of limited inputs caused by international policies Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)

20 Reason #3: LCA is a Standardized Procedure per ISO 14040:2006 Of the 21 international standards under the Environmental Management family of standards (ISO 14000), 8 specifically relate to LCA.

21 Reason #4: Program Cost Control LCAs enhance Life Cycle Cost Analyses (LCCAs) and budgetary activities by identifying/quantifying HH&E impacts that lead to hidden costs not typically accounted for in traditional program budgeting and cost forecasting. Understanding these impacts and their associated costs before technology lock-in could help prevent program cost escalation. Long-term vision: LCAs that utilize LCI data from legacy systems can better identify future HH&E impacts and associated costs, improve cost forecasts, and inform new system design to lower a program s true life-cycle costs.

22 Lecture Road Map 1. What is LCA? 2. Why use LCA? 3. Incorporating LCA into Acquisition

23 Chicken or Egg: Is it Possible to Utilize LCA for Weapon System Design? Need: Life cycle information is most needed early in the acquisition process when the system design is still malleable and it is possible to incorporate substitutes for harmful processes and inputs. Problem: Most input and output data is inaccessible at the design stage. Accurate and system specific data only exists after the system life cycle is completed. At this point in time, an LCA is too late.

24 Standardizing Input Data Solution: Life cycle analysts often circumvent the chicken-or-egg problem by standardizing the impacts associated with common inputs and/or processes. Standardization = taking data from similar systems that have completed their life cycle and statistically extrapolating the impacts from those systems to apply to a broader category of products or services. The rules governing data standardization are fuzzy Why? Populating the LCI with average impacts per unit of input is a good way to reduce the time needed to complete a LCA and inform the design stage for a new system that lacks adequate data. Not exact, but standardized data puts estimate in the ballpark

25 The LCA Paradox LCAs show substantial utility as consciousness-raising devices that lead to environmental improvement, BUT Full blown LCAs can be problematic (expensive, inefficient, contentious) and often border on the unworkable as a routine assessment tool DoD has limited, if any, data pre-ms B and programs have time constraints. Therefore, it is essential that we create a framework that incorporates an efficient, cost-effective, and easy-to-use LCA into defense acquisition. Source: Matthew Eckelman, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies

26 Solution: Develop Streamlined LCA (SLCA) To address these challenges, develop a SLCA that: Identifies the most sustainable materiel solution at AoA stage of acquisition Informs materiel decision when life cycle data do not exist Utilize SME input Identifies most sustainable components during technology development Significantly reduces the time and data needed to complete LCA Identifies and qualitatively assesses HH&E risk before a materiel solution is chosen or system design has been implemented. Start thinking of HH&E consequences before technology lock-in to prevent avoidable costs and negative impacts.

27 Questions? POC Information: Craig Cammarata Senior Life Cycle Analyst Concurrent Technologies Corporation Arlington, VA (703)