Life Cycle Research Highlights

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With our Life Cycle Research Highlights we are putting a spotlight on open access papers we feel deserve special attention! Each month, we highlight four papers that we consider innovative, insightful and well written. Support us in identifying great research and submit a paper for consideration by our selection committee here. Subscribe to our dedicated project newsletter and receive our summaries each month directly in your mailbox!

Sizing a hybrid hydrogen production plant including life cycle assessment indicators by combining NSGA-III and principal component analysis (PCA)

Authors: Hemant Sharma, Guillaume Mandil, Élise Monnier, Emmanuelle Cor, Peggy Zwolinski,

Journal: Energy Conversion and Management: X

Our Summary:

For the design of a hybrid hydrogen production plant, the authors considered the assessment of the environmental performance of each component using an LCA model in Brightway2 (Python). An evolutionary algorithm NSGA-III was used to evaluate the performance of 13 midpoint indicators selected from IMPACT World+. The study found that the following impact categories should be considered to avoid impact transfer: climate change, freshwater ecotoxicity, land acidification, water scarcity, ozone depletion, ionising radiation, and fossil and nuclear energy use.
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Progress of social assessment in the framework of bioeconomy under a life cycle perspective

Authors: Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, MarĂ­a Teresa Moreira, Sara Gonzalez-GarcĂ­a,

Journal: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

Our Summary:

The shift towards a bioeconomy framework requires greater attention to the societal context in which new technologies, bioenergy systems, and bioproducts will be developed. During the review, it was determined that the social aspects are largely limited to labour issues, product, and organisational perspectives. Therefore, the authors suggest integrating multi-level perspectives into the S-LCA to promote the transition to the bioeconomy. Including indicators related to social norms and values, entrepreneurship, consumer behaviour, and government promotion and support.
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Economic Indicators for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: Going beyond Life Cycle Costing

Authors: Vivek Arulnathan, Mohammad Davoud Heidari, Maurice Doyon, Eric P. H. Li, Nathan Pelletier,

Journal: Sustainability

Our Summary:

The article emphasizes the need to establish a broader framework for addressing the economic dimension of LCSA. Accordingly, the Environmental LCC approach is incorporated to assess all internal and external costs associated with a product's life cycle, including monetized externalities. The review resulted in 21 indicators, with a high level of measurability and usability, grouped into six economic impact categories: profitability, stability, autonomy, productivity, customers, and innovation. Therefore, this catalogue provides decision-makers with a diverse representation of economic performance.
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How to embed environmental sustainability: The role of dynamic capabilities and managerial approaches in a life cycle management perspective

Authors: Guia Bianchi, Francesco Testa, Sara Tessitore, Fabio Iraldo,

Journal: Business Strategy and the Environment

Our Summary:

The study identified how internal capabilities and managerial approaches influence the probability of an organization embedding LCM within its operations. For this purpose, the study conducted an empirical survey of 187 Italian medium and large manufacturing enterprises. The concept model was based on four profiles, considering organizational barriers and levels of willingness to adopt LCM strategies. The authors concluded that firms could spot environmental opportunities for innovation and LCM embeddedness by combining sensing and seizing capabilities with an integrative approach.
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Life Cycle Gap Analysis for Product Circularity and Sustainability—a Case Study with Three Different Products

Authors: Michael Dieterle, Tobias Viere,

Journal: Materials Circular Economy

Our Summary:

This paper evaluates life cycle gaps of three products, plastic bottles (54%), rechargeable batteries (61%) and t-shirts (98%) and compares the three. It concludes that there is a large potential in improving current life cycle systems of several industries and product groups. Furthermore, a methodological weakness is also identified, i.e. the fact that a life cycle gap analysis assumes the general necessity of a product or service as opposed to evaluating whether circularity can be improved with more disruptive innovations.
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Life cycle assessment of behind-the-meter Bitcoin mining at US power plant

Authors: Martin Roeck, Thomas Drennen,

Journal: The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment

Our Summary:

The study conducts a Life Cycle Assessment of a natural gas power plant that produces 88,840 metric tons of CO2-eq annually to mine Bitcoin behind-the-meter. If the powerplant directed 100% of its electricity production for mining Bitcoin, it would emit 656,983 metric tons of CO2-eq . In behind-the-meter Bitcoin mining, 79% to the major GHG emissions are attributed to the mining itself. This is especially relevant for the New York State as it aims to curb 85% of GHG emissions...
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Sustainability improvements in complex systems composed of products and services

Authors: Anna Biedermann, Natalia Muñoz López, José Luis Santolaya Sáenz, José Ignacio Valero Martín,

Journal: The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment

Our Summary:

The aim of this study is to assess and improve the sustainability of the products and services system composite. Thus, it proposes an approach to analyse system sustainability using the life cycle sustainability assessment method (LCSA) consisting of environmental, economic and social dimensions in four phases: (i) identification of links between involved systems; (ii) sustainability assessment of the P+S system; (iii) application of sustainability strategies; and (iv) sustainability results comparison. The research culminates in a set of quantitative sustainability indicators...
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Review and expert survey of allocation methods used in life cycle assessment of milk and beef

Authors: Venla Kyttä, Marja Roitto, Aleksi Astaptsev, Merja Saarinen, Hanna L. Tuomisto,

Journal: The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment

Our Summary:

LCA results of beef and dairy products differ considerably depending on the impact allocation method used for by-products. The study reviews various available impact allocation methods and seeks to provide clarity when to use which one. As the demand for diverse materials from the Circular Economy grows, the review also concludes that inedible outputs of these systems (bone, hides, internal organs and manure) should be recognized as products and included in future LCA studies.
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Evaluation of a challenge-derived social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) framework

Authors: Ricardo J. Bonilla-Alicea, Katherine Fu,

Journal: International Journal of Sustainable Engineering

Our Summary:

This paper develops an S-LCA framework using categories of challenges to facilitate methodologies for making social impact assessments. The framework proposes an approach to evaluate the social impact of product systems using an LCA framework. The final framework is presented in the format of the different LCA assessment stages: (1) Goal and Scope, (2) Inventory Analysis, (3) Impact Assessment and, (4) Interpretation of Results.
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Risk and sustainability: trade-offs and synergies for robust decision making

Authors: Karsten Arnbjerg Nielsen, Bo F. Nielsen, Michael Z. Hauschild, Tine Hald, Thomas E. McKone, Stefan E. Mabit, Peter Fantke,

Journal: Environmental Sciences Europe

Our Summary:

This research paper proposes a framework for decoupling risk assessment and sustainability to minimize risk-sustainability trade-offs and to maximise optimum synergies. The framework consists of four steps: (1) identifying assessment scope and aligning system boundaries, (2) harmonizing assessment metrics and applied methods, (3) addressing cross-cutting issues and, (4) intermediate results are exchanged.
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