The interoperability of exergy and Life Cycle Thinking in assessing manufacturing sustainability: A review of hybrid approaches

Selicati, Valeria; Cardinale, Nicola; Dassisti, Michele

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124932

Cited by 17 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 99 publications

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“…These assertions are backed by the number of hybrid approaches in the literature, which vary from one another in terms of the distinct degrees of hybridization between EA and LCA and the diversity of input and output flows that are inventoried, see [36] for a deepen review about these methods and their issues. Far from describing each method as it is not the core of this work, here is a chronological list of hybrid/coupled methods used in manufacturing:…”

Section: Hybrid/coupled Ea-lcamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Benefits in Coupling Exergy Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment in the Context of Sustainable Manufacturing for Industry 4.0: A Real Industrial Case

Selicati¹,

Cardinale²

2021

IJHT

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The continuously rising cost of energy and its impact on environmental policy are the primary boost for industry to stay global competitive in terms of maximizing productivity and raising operational costs. The prevailing goal in the height of industry 4.0 is to inspect and optimize manufacturing processes. The challenge is to consider thermodynamics as simulation and modelling solution that enables improve energy production and help efforts to shift towards a smart factory. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that using thermodynamic models as Exergy and Life Cycle thinking provides major benefits since it allows evaluation results more reliable and aims to develop a retrofitting approach that enhances the process to avoid system failures efficiently. Any practitioner may pick suitable sensing networks in line with Industry 4.0, in order to develop a monitoring and control infrastructure and improve any manufacturing system, getting it smarter. In this article, an explanatory case study on the production process of an Italian SME will be presented and discussed.

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Section: Hybrid/coupled Ea-lcamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Benefits in Coupling Exergy Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment in the Context of Sustainable Manufacturing for Industry 4.0: A Real Industrial Case

Selicati¹,

Cardinale²

2021

IJHT

Self Cite

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“…[6]) were adopted frequently in various problems in the literature. A recent review of hybrid approaches [36] indicated that the mid and endpoint impact assessment is necessary to couple the results of LCA studies in manufacturing industries' sustainability assessment to have a holistic understanding from the entire life cycle of activities. For instance, the manufacutring e-waste disposal is a huge issue in China as 70% of world's e-waste is collected in Guiyu, China, where about 25% of this was recycled.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Time-Series Investigation of China and U.S. Manufacturing Industries’ Global Supply-Chain-Linked Economic, Mid and End-Point Environmental Impacts

Saber¹,

Eğilmez

Gedik

et al. 2021

Sustainability

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Manufacturing activities of China and the U.S. account for a substantial portion of the global manufacturing output and environmental sustainability impacts. The two countries’ economies account for one third of the global economic output. Their supply chains are critically linked with and serve most of the production and service industries across the globe. Recent global trends in manufacturing necessitate a study that comparatively analyzes the two countries’ manufacturing industries from an economic and environmental perspective. In this paper, U.S. and China manufacturing industries were investigated to analyze the economic and mid and endpoint environmental impacts over a 20-year study period. The literature is abundant with single period and single country focused works, and this study contributes to the state-of-art by extending the temporal dimension to 20 years and spatial focus to the global economy (40 countries and rest of the world). In terms of the methodology, Multi-region input-output (MRIO) models were built using the World Input-Output Database (WIOD) as the primary database, global input-output tables, environmental impact and economic output multipliers, and manufacturing industries’ final demand. Twenty MRIO models, each comprised of 40 major economies and the rest of the world (ROW), were built to cover the global trade linkages, which yielded the global supply chain linked cradle-to-gate life cycle inventory (LCI) of economic outputs and environmental impacts. The environmental LCI was extended to midpoint (Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP)) and endpoint (human health and ecosystem) impact dimensions by ReCipe framework. Lastly, the relative impact of a unit change in Leontief inverse, final demand and Green House Gas (GHG) emission multipliers on the total economic output and environmental impacts were explored with structural decomposition analysis (SDA). Results indicated that both countries’ manufacturing industries experienced positive economic output growth, in which China was more dominant in recent years. Both countries’ manufacturing industries’ midpoint and endpoint impacts were found to be steeply rising despite the negative growth observed in emissions intensities. The amount of GHG emissions and related midpoint (global warming and ozone depletion) and endpoint (damage to ecosystems and human life) impacts seemed to be quickly worsening in China compared to the USA.

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“…In fact, classical LCA approach focuses deeply on environmental emissions, while EA is much more centered on products, highlighting the availability of resources and system efficiency. EA and LCA can interact with each other to provide a more holistic view of the system/process to be assessed [3].…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are several ways to integrate or couple EA and LCA, that cluster in different hybrid methods, all explained in depth in [3]. Among those mentioned in the review are:…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The evaluation of these dimensions requires advanced assessment methods Among these existing in the literature, the article focuses on the strategic coupling between the laws of thermodynamics, i.e., the Exergetic Analysis, and the Life Cycle of the product or process. These two methods have been hybridized in various ways, on different levels, so much so that it was even difficult to interpret the results quickly in order to produce the decision-making strategies most suitable for the case studied [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Interpretation of Manufacturing Sustainability-Assessment Through Hybrid Exergetic and Life-Cycle Metrics

Selicati¹,

Cardinale²

2021

TI-IJES

Self Cite

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At present, the focus on manufacturing-sustainability is not necessarily on energy management, but rather on its intelligent use. An increase in productivity leads to a reduction in costs, but may increase consumptions based on demand elasticity as rebound effect. The article focuses on exergy coupled with Life Cycle Assessment to address manufacturing-sustainability. Indicators are widely adopted in order to better interpret and communicate the results of a hybrid analysis; they are easy to interpret and represent a useful strategy to quickly and intuitively detect changes in the energy efficiency and quality of processes that are subject to change in time. The aim of this work is to firstly provide an overview on the metrics related to the hybrid or coupled use of exergy and Life Cycle Assessment, their meaning, their practice in particular use cases. The most representative indicators are compared within a real case study and discussion of the results is provided. Among the main outcomes, their accuracy in evaluating environmental but especially on social and economic aspects is not yet clear. The lack of complete and up-to-date data and uncertainty analysis is often problematic, such as the lack of scientific consistency in the interpretation of the assessment.

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The interoperability of exergy and Life Cycle Thinking in assessing manufacturing sustainability: A review of hybrid approaches

Cited by 17 publications

References 99 publications

The Benefits in Coupling Exergy Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment in the Context of Sustainable Manufacturing for Industry 4.0: A Real Industrial Case

The Benefits in Coupling Exergy Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment in the Context of Sustainable Manufacturing for Industry 4.0: A Real Industrial Case

A Comparative Time-Series Investigation of China and U.S. Manufacturing Industries’ Global Supply-Chain-Linked Economic, Mid and End-Point Environmental Impacts

Interpretation of Manufacturing Sustainability-Assessment Through Hybrid Exergetic and Life-Cycle Metrics

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