Addressing temporal considerations in life cycle assessment

Beloin-Saint-Pierre, Didier; Albers, Ariane; Hélias, Arnaud; Tiruta-Barna, Ligia; Fantke, Peter; Levasseur, Annie; Benetto, Enrico; Benoist, Anthony; Collet, Pierre

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140700

Cited by 67 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 174 publications

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“…The special feature of biomass-based systems is the uptake of short cycle atmospheric carbon and its accumulation in the feedstock, which can be accounted as negative flow in the GHG-emissions profile, and then, this negative flow is neutralized in case of a CO 2 emission in the end of life treatment (e.g. as a result of combustion and rerelease to the atmosphere) [57][58][59]. However, time separation between carbon uptake and release in end-of-life treatments can be long and the accounting of biogenic carbon storage depends on the product's durability but also on the land management practices used in generating the feedstock [32].…”

Section: (C) Accounting For the Temporal Dimensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…the inclusion of temporal dynamics in LCA) is another area where guidance is urgently needed. Recent approaches allow the inclusion of time considerations in LCA, but this remains uncommon and is mostly handled on a case-by-case basis [ 57 , 58 ]. The special feature of biomass-based systems is the uptake of short cycle atmospheric carbon and its accumulation in the feedstock, which can be accounted as negative flow in the GHG-emissions profile, and then, this negative flow is neutralized in case of a CO 2 emission in the end of life treatment (e.g.…”

Section: Land Use and Biomass Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The need to capture time-sensitive indicators such as biogenic carbon flows along the product lifetime is especially relevant for the GHG performance of biomass value chains, and hence, the temporal scope of the study is critical [ 32 ]. In addition, time consideration is also relevant in other life cycle stages and life cycle phases including LCI and LCIA [ 58 ]. Although traditionally LCA studies have disregarded the accounting of biogenic carbon and time in the evaluation of bioenergy and biomaterials [ 29 , 57 , 58 , 61 – 63 ], the inclusion of temporal dynamics in LCA is needed to reduce uncertainties and increase representativeness.…”

Section: Land Use and Biomass Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, time consideration is also relevant in other life cycle stages and life cycle phases including LCI and LCIA [ 58 ]. Although traditionally LCA studies have disregarded the accounting of biogenic carbon and time in the evaluation of bioenergy and biomaterials [ 29 , 57 , 58 , 61 – 63 ], the inclusion of temporal dynamics in LCA is needed to reduce uncertainties and increase representativeness. It is also advisable to perform full LCA including end of life, as well as conduct scenario analysis by considering alternative waste treatment options [ 32 ] as a way to overcome these challenges.…”

Section: Land Use and Biomass Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…LCA can guide the possible co-location of biorefineries with existing petrochemical refineries [ 64 ] by analysing scenarios of preserving and using existing petrochemical infrastructures, process and technologies in relation to new biobased supply chains and emerging technologies. LCA can also be applied to promote sustainability at early stages in the development of a technology or suite of technologies in a value chain [ 58 ], influence design and ensure that sustainability goals of innovation are achieved [ 65 ] and not compromised. Possible limitations to this include lack of data, incumbents against which to compare, and uncertainty with respect to both how the emerging technology will be deployed as well as the market conditions into which the technology will be deployed [ 65 ].…”

Section: Biomass Processing and Its Conversion To Biobased Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Life cycle assessment (LCA): informing the development of a sustainable circular bioeconomy?

Sevigné‐Itoiz

Mwabonje

Panoutsou

et al. 2021

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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The role of life cycle assessment (LCA) in informing the development of a sustainable and circular bioeconomy is discussed. We analyse the critical challenges remaining in using LCA and propose improvements needed to resolve future development challenges. Biobased systems are often complex combinations of technologies and practices that are geographically dispersed over long distances and with heterogeneous and uncertain sets of indicators and impacts. Recent studies have provided methodological suggestions on how LCA can be improved for evaluating the sustainability of biobased systems with a new focus on emerging systems, helping to identify environmental and social opportunities prior to large R&D investments. However, accessing economies of scale and improved conversion efficiencies while maintaining compatibility across broad ranges of sustainability indicators and public acceptability remain key challenges for the bioeconomy. LCA can inform, but not by itself resolve this complex dimension of sustainability. Future policy interventions that aim to promote the bioeconomy and support strategic value chains will benefit from the systematic use of LCA. However, the LCA community needs to develop the mechanisms and tools needed to generate agreement and coordinate the standards and incentives that will underpin a successful biobased transition. Systematic stakeholder engagement and the use of multidisciplinary analysis in combination with LCA are essential components of emergent LCA methods. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bio-derived and bioinspired sustainable advanced materials for emerging technologies (part 1)’.

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Section: (C) Accounting For the Temporal Dimensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Land Use and Biomass Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Land Use and Biomass Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Land Use and Biomass Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Biomass Processing and Its Conversion To Biobased Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Life cycle assessment (LCA): informing the development of a sustainable circular bioeconomy?

Sevigné‐Itoiz

Mwabonje

Panoutsou

et al. 2021

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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Sustainability assessment of strategic asset management decisions on municipal water infrastructure systems: Framework and application

2022

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Developing socially acceptable, environmentally friendly, and financially viable asset management plans (AMPs) is a major challenge for water and wastewater utilities and calls for a comprehensive Sustainability Assessment (SA). This paper proposes a novel framework that applies System Dynamics and Life Cycle Assessment tools to evaluate the long-term sustainability of strategic asset management decisions for water and wastewater infrastructure systems. The merit of the proposed framework in dealing with the non-linearity and dynamic behavior of the socio-economic systems and its utility for SA of strategic asset management decisions are demonstrated in a case study of a Wastewater Collection (WWC) network system. Furthermore, the significant importance of population growth and urban densification policies in sustainability of AMP are highlighted by comparing four alternative scenarios of (1) 100% urban densification, (2) 0% urban densification, (3) 50% densification, and (4) no population growth in the case study. The results of the case study show that the greenhouse gas emission, operational and capital expenses, and bill burden of WWC and treatment services significantly reduce with urban densification.

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Extensible carbon emission factor database: empirical study for the Chinese construction industry

Lu,

Deng,

Zhang

et al. 2023

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Addressing temporal considerations in life cycle assessment

Cited by 67 publications

References 174 publications

Life cycle assessment (LCA): informing the development of a sustainable circular bioeconomy?

Life cycle assessment (LCA): informing the development of a sustainable circular bioeconomy?

Sustainability assessment of strategic asset management decisions on municipal water infrastructure systems: Framework and application

Extensible carbon emission factor database: empirical study for the Chinese construction industry

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