Life Cycle Inventory of Particleboard: A Case Study in the Wood Sector (8 pp)

Rivela, Beatriz; Hospido, Almudena; Moreira, Marı́a Teresa; Feijoo, Gumersindo

doi:10.1065/lca2005.05.206

Cited by 126 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The production of capital goods (machineries, buildings and roads) and transport of energy carriers were not included within system boundaries, since the contribution of their manufacturing was found to be negligible (long life time and high number of operations performed) compared to their operation stage (Jungmeier et al 2002;Rivela et al 2006). The transport of workers and the maintenance were not included in the system boundaries.…”

Section: System Boundariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forestry operations in the alpine context. Life cycle assessment to support the integrated assessment of forest wood short supply chain

Mirabella

Castellani

Sala

2014

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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2 AbstractPurpose Biotic resources are considered a key element of bio-economy. In the present study we focus on the forest supply industry, assessing environmental sustainability through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. We explored and evaluated forestry operations in order to support decision-makers in choosing the best operational modes for site-specific conditions. Main aims of the study are: 1) a LCA-based systematic comparative analysis of different operational modes and technological options associated with wood extraction considering site specific conditions; 2) the quantification of impacts associated with transport of wood material.Methods A case study on the alpine region of Italy (Intelvi Valley) is presented and discussed. Different forestry activities were investigated, comparing the traditional operational method with a more mechanized one (advanced mechanization). All operations were included within the system boundaries, from felling to transport to sawmill.Regarding the traditional operational method, different options were evaluated, considering that: 1) the extraction could be performed by cable-yard or winch; and 2) the delimbing phase could be performed before or after extraction phase. Each activity was modeled using primary data, assuring that real forest conditions are modeled and assessed.Results In spite of the expectations associated with advanced mechanization, the hypothesis to choose traditional mechanization was preferable for Intelvi Valley conditions. Fuel consumption and related emissions proved to be the main source of impacts. Sensitivity analyses highlighted that advanced mechanization could be the best method to perform forestry operations, if used in proper conditions (i.e. at the top productivity rate) and that the choice of a short supply chain drastically reduces the impacts induced by long distance transportation.Conclusions the choice of the best technological options should be based on a site-specific and context-related assessment. It is very important to give priority to the operational mode which minimizes the hours necessary to perform each operation. It was also found that the technological option should be chosen according to the geomorphology and topography and the site-specific characteristics of the area investigated, and no one option can be considered as the most suitable for all conditions. Furthermore, current impact assessment methods are still lacking in the evaluation of potential impact to biodiversity in the specific context were the extraction takes place. Further investigations related to the environmental profile of a product will be object of a second study that will concern the design of green furniture pieces, starting from certified wood as raw material.

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Section: System Boundariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forestry operations in the alpine context. Life cycle assessment to support the integrated assessment of forest wood short supply chain

Mirabella

Castellani

Sala

2014

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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“…All data was computed in dry mass. A mass balance considering all inputs materials and all outputs of products and emissions had a difference of 0.41% that is suitable within the maximum 5% balance required in the literature (RIVELA et al, 2006;WILSON, 2010).…”

Section: Dryermentioning

confidence: 98%

“…On the other hand, wood panels began to be studied only in the late 2000s. Studies (BENETTO et al, 2009;GONZÁLEZ-GARCÍA et al, 2009;RIVELA et al, 2006) about the environmental impact of wood panels, particularly the medium-density fiberboard (MDF) were developed in the USA (WILSON, 2010), Canada (ATHENA SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS INSTITUTE, 2009) and Europe (RIVELA et al, 2007;WASTE & RESOURCES ACTION PROGRAMME -WRAP, 2009) in order to provide the environmental information about the panel, evaluate their impacts, propose improvements in the production system, direct scientific studies focusing on reducing environmental impacts and, finally, to promote innovation. Notwithstanding the diverse benefits of LCA, there have been some difficulties to disseminate this methodology in Brazil mainly by the lack of Life Cycle Inventories (LCI) (RIBEIRO; SILVA, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental profile analysis of MDF panels production: study in a brazilian technological condition

Piekarski

Francisco

Luz

et al. 2014

CERNE

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The main goal of this study was to analyze the environmental profile of MDF panel manufacturing in the Brazilian industry in terms of energy, emissions and dependence on renewable sources. The study was conducted by using the methodology of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), specifically through the development of the first Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) of MDF in a Brazilian industry. The life cycle inventory and the production processes analysis were constructed using Umberto® v.5.6 software and following the ISO 14040 series. The study covers the life cycle of MDF production from gate-to-gate perspective, involving the on-site manufacturing system. The functional unit was defined in 1 m³ of MDF. About 76% of energy required to produce MDF is thermal (52.8% of thermal energy is required for the drying process of wood fiber). CO2 is a major emission during the MDF production, where natural gas contributes to 96.7% of total CO2 fossils. It was observed a low dependence of non-renewable source (19.2%) compared with the literature.

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“…wood from partially decayed stems and branches) presents another, so far not exploited resource (see Chapter 18 of this book). Recycling of used board material in production of new panel boards is another important issue for ecosystem quality (Rivela et al 2006; . The construction and technical equipment matches industrial plants and allows fully-automatic bulking, gluing, drying, and spreading of fibres (see Fig.…”

Section: New Types Of Panelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wood production, wood technology, and biotechnological impacts

Kües¹

2007

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Life Cycle Inventory of Particleboard: A Case Study in the Wood Sector (8 pp)

Cited by 126 publications

References 21 publications

Forestry operations in the alpine context. Life cycle assessment to support the integrated assessment of forest wood short supply chain

Forestry operations in the alpine context. Life cycle assessment to support the integrated assessment of forest wood short supply chain

Environmental profile analysis of MDF panels production: study in a brazilian technological condition

Wood production, wood technology, and biotechnological impacts

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