The capacity to calculate and communicate the beneficial environmental impact of products and services is lacking in scientific guidelines. To fill this gap, this article presents a new approach for calculating the carbon handprint of products. The core of the suggested approach involves comparing the carbon footprint of an improved product with the carbon footprint of the baseline product, and subsequently calculating the reduction in greenhouse gas emission that can be achieved by utilizing the improved product. The proposed approach is founded on the standardized life cycle assessment methodology for footprints until the use stage, and it provides a framework to recognize the effects of the remaining life cycle stages in the actual operational environment. This calculation is meant to be used by manufacturers that wish to show potential customers the positive climate impacts offered by the manufacturer's product. The carbon handprint approach complements the existing methodologies by introducing new definitions and consistent guidelines for comparing the baseline product and the improved product. This article presents the developed calculation approach and demonstrates the approach with one case study about renewable diesel. Results of the diesel handprint calculation indicate that a driver can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by choosing renewable diesel over baseline fuel. Thus, the producer of the renewable diesel will create a handprint.Organizations can use carbon handprints for quantifying the greenhouse gas reductions their customers can achieve by utilizing the product. Thus, the carbon handprint can be a powerful tool in communications and marketing. By conducting carbon handprint assessments, a company can also find out how their product qualifies in comparison to baseline products. Therefore, carbon handprints can also support decision-making and lifelong product design.
Cite as: Kasurinen, H., Uusitalo, V., Väisänen, S., Soukka, R., Havukainen, J., From Sustainability-as-usual to Sustainability Excellence in Local Bioenergy Business, J. sustain. dev. energy water environ. syst., 5(2), pp 240-272, 2017, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13044/j.sdewes.d5.0146
ABSTRACTBioenergy business operators can significantly contribute to the sustainability of bioenergy systems. While research has addressed the maturity of corporate responsibility for sustainability, the maturity levels of bioenergy business have not been determined. The objectives of this research were to characterise the maturity levels of bioenergy corporate responsibility for sustainability and outline an approach by which companies can operate at the most mature sustainability excellence level. Literature, three workshops attended by bioenergy experts and a case study on biobutanol production in Brazil were used to develop the maturity model and approach. The results characterise the profitability, acceptability, and sustainability orientation maturity levels through sustainability questions and methods, and list the components of a systemic, holistic approach. Although the shift of business mindset from sustainability-as-usual to sustainability excellence is challenging, a systemic approach is necessary to broadly identify sustainability questions and a multitude of methods by which they can be answered.
The novel life cycle assessment (LCA)-based carbon handprint indicator represents a potential carbon footprint reduction that producers/products create for customers who use the(ir) product instead of a baseline product. The research question is how to consider a situation in which multiple customers use a product for different purposes to provide a carbon handprint quantification and the associated communication. The study further provides new insight into the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction potential within the mobile telecommunications and energy sectors. The carbon handprint of a novel Finnish liquid-cooled base station technology is quantified. The liquid-cooled base station provides a telecommunications service and waste heat that is recoverable through the cooling liquid for heating purposes. The baseline solutions are an air-cooled base station, and district and electrical heating. The liquid-cooled base station creates a carbon handprint, both through energy savings in telecommunications and additional waste heat reuse, replacing other energy production methods. A large-scale climate change mitigation potential through a liquid-cooled base station expansion could be significant. Different supply chain operators’ contributions to the total carbon handprint could be terminologically distinguished in communications to emphasize their roles in a shared handprint. The handprint should be transparently communicated for each customer and function.
Nutrients such as nitrogen are required to secure food production. However, nitrogen cycles have been disturbed by excess nitrogen intake and low nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), which have several environmental impacts.In order to address nitrogen-related issues, the magnitude of the problem and hotspots in the value chain must first be identified. Various methods to quantify nitrogen use, NUE, and nitrogen-related environmental impact potential have been proposed to tackle this challenge. The approaches, methods, and indicators that can be used in assessing particular food systems are presented in this chapter.The methods serve different purposes and present certain differences in terms of scoping and system boundaries. The aim of this chapter is to present currently relevant methods to analyze the nitrogen footprint of a food chain in order to help those tasked with carrying out assessments to choose the method which best meets their needs.
Life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology is a standardized method for assessing the potential environmental impact of a product or service throughout its lifetime (ISO 14040). As such, it represents a valuable tool by which researchers and organizations can identify, and avoid, unnecessary environmental burdens that have a negative impact on the ecological health of the globe. Environmental sustainability challenges mainly stem from humanity's current production and consumption habits. In this regard, there is a need to develop production practices and consumption behaviors that support sustainable development. It is imperative that we find solutions by which we can reduce environmental impacts and resource use within production chains. The first ISO standard for LCAs was published in 1996, and updated versions 14040 and 14044 were published in 2006. These LCA standards act as valuable guidelines and standards by which practitioners can reduce their (Klöpffer & Grahl 2014) carbon footprint and product environmental footprint. It also acts as a tool that can support decision making pertaining to various questions related to the environmental impacts of products and systems.
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