A Framework for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Road Salt Used in Winter Maintenance Operations

It is important to assess from a holistic perspective the sustainability of road salt widely used in winter road maintenance (WRM) operations. The importance becomes increasingly apparent in light of competing priorities faced by roadway agencies, the need for collaborative decision-making, and growing concerns over the risks that road salt poses for motor vehicles, transportation infrastructure, and the natural environment. This project introduces the concept of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), which combines Life Cycle Costing, Environmental Life Cycle Assessment, and Social Life Cycle Assessment. The combination captures the features of three pillars in sustainability: economic development, environmental preservation, and social progress. With this framework, it is possible to enable more informed and balanced decisions by considering the entire life cycle of road salt and accounting for the indirect impacts of applying road salt for snow and ice control. This project proposes a LCSA framework of road salt, which examines the three branches of LCSA, their relationships in the integrated framework, and the complexities and caveats in the LCSA. While this framework is a first step in the right direction, we envision that it will be improved and enriched by continued research and may serve as a template for the LCSA of other WRM products, technologies, and practices

Life Cycle Assessment Practices: Benchmarking Selected European Automobile Manufacturers

With the rise of environmental concerns in the general public, re-appropriated by influential politicians, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become a widely used set of tools for the management of all impacts on environment by industrial products. LCA is carried out at the very early stages of product research, development and design. This is particularly true in the automobile industry where vehicle manufacturers Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are launching several new or re-vamped models each year. The automobile industry is therefore a very emblematic sector for best practices of LCA. The paper is based on available literature and interviews with top LCA professionals in Germany-based OEMsLife cycle assessment; automobile; best practices

Consolidation of an EV Project Based Learning program integrated within a complete Bachelor Engineering Degree

Proyecto docente para el aprendizaje de competencias fundamentales de la ingeniería a través del aprendizaje basado en un proyecto multianual y multidisciplinar coordinado sobre las asignaturas troncales de este tipo de grados. Los resultados obtenidos son del tipo docente, funcionales y científicos que han permitido fabricar varios modelos de vehículos eléctricos ligeros con los que se ha acudido a competiciones internacionales.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Life cycle sustainability assessment of next generation energy infrastructure in Africa: Is there a case for biohydrogen after biomethane?

The recovery of energy in the form of biomethane gas from inexpensive biodegradable organic wastes is starting to become a cornerstone of green economy investments. It is possible that such installations could serve as a precursor for the infrastructural development of a hydrogen economy, since biogas processes can be modified to produce hydrogen instead of methane. It is unclear whether such a change would improve or worsen the environmental, social, and economic performance of such waste-to-energy installations. Earlier studies show that the dark fermentation process for biohydrogen production faces several challenges such as low yield and slower production rate. Furthermore, it is unclear whether the biohydrogen production technology offers potential benefits in terms of ecological and socioeconomic sustainability. This study explores the usage of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) to investigate next generation energy options to support green economies in Africa. LCSA has been advocated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to consider the evaluation of all environmental, social and economic negative impacts and benefits in decision-making processes towards more sustainable products throughout their life cycle. This thesis uses LCSA for comparing biomethane versus biohydrogen produced from organic wastes in three settings: agro-industrial processing, represented by brewery wastewater; urban, represented by the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW); and rural, represented by cattle manure. In each setting, two end-uses of both fuels are considered, viz. electricity generation (combined heat and power (CHP) systems vs. fuel cell (FC) systems), and as vehicle fuel (compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles vs. fuel cell (FC) vehicles). According to published information on biogas yields of the substrates (i.e. brewery wastewater, OFMSW, and cattle manure), biomethane achieve a significantly higher energetic yield than biohydrogen estimated at 9.0, 10.5, and 9.7 MJ/kg of volatile solids (VS) for the case of biomethane, and at 4.8, 1.4, and 0.9 MJ/kg of VS in the case of biohydrogen, for the three substrates respectively. This difference in energetic yields significantly impacts on all further sustainability performance of the fuels. Nevertheless, an LCSA comparison was constructed, combining environmental and social life cycle assessment with a life cycle cost calculation to present the overall sustainability performance index of the results. The results show that for the urban setting (exemplified by OFMSW), the application of biomethane in CHP systems provides the highest sustainability performance index (SPI) value estimated at 1.90, while that of vehicle operations in CNG vehicles stands at 1.83. For biohydrogen, the recovery of energy from brewery wastewater in the agro-industrial setting (exemplified by brewery wastewater), the application of biohydrogen in the FC systems commands the SPI value of 1.75, but the vehicle operation in the FC vehicles records a much lower performance value of 0.90. The results clearly indicate that the biomethane technology for the electricity generation offers the most sustainable performance outcome when compared with the biohydrogen technology for the electricity generation which stands at 1.90 and 1.75, respectively. In the case of vehicles operations the application of biomethane in the CNG vehicles records much higher sustainability performance index value when compared to FC vehicles which stands at 1.83 and 0.90, respectively. In the agro-industrial settings the application of the biomethane in the electricity generation systems is equal that of the application of the biomethane in the vehicle operations in the CNG vehicles, which stand at 1.73. In the case of the urban settings the application of biomethane in the electricity generations provides higher sustainability performance index value when compared to the vehicle operations in the CNG vehicles which records the value of 1.90 and 1.83, respectively. In rural settings (exemplified by cattle manure) the application of biomethane produced from cattle manure in CHP systems records high SPI value of 1.75, but application in the CNG vehicles records the SPI value estimated at 1.68. The outcomes of the study thus show that the generation and use of biomethane in all selected settings promises a better sustainability performance, when compared to biohydrogen. Agro-industrial settings, in particular, seem to be very well suited for biohydrogen production, and there is no strong case for the application of biohydrogen technology in both the urban and rural settings. It is observed that the life cycle cost performance is significantly influenced by the application of the fuel (i.e. either in electricity generation, or as fuel for vehicles), and not only by the type of technology implemented (i.e. anaerobic digestion vs. dark fermentation process). Clearly, decision making for implementation of a particular technology requires a sound decision on the demand of a particular fuel type, end application of the fuel and also the type of the technology implemented. It has been reported that the energetic efficiencies in fuel cells for electrical energy generation has reached the efficiency of approximately 80%. The results of this study demonstrate that biohydrogen application for electricity generation seems to be promising for application in agro-industrial settings. This setting has access to skilled technicians required for the operating of the biohydrogen production technology, and also the economic power for the implementation of the biohydrogen technology. Often the implementation of the biomethane technology in the agro-industrial settings is to advance economic savings that result from the installations of the biogas digester. Thus, the private sector can either directly or indirectly play a crucial role in the research and development for the next energy generation infrastructural development. The social aspects need to be considered when analysing the potential role of different energy technologies for sustainable development. Actually, people are accustomed to infrastructural development of biogas installation in rural areas when compared to the biohydrogen technology. The social performance in such settings is faced with serious challenges regarding the level of education among the people and availability of human capacity in terms of skill development for the implementation of the proper infrastructural development. In rural areas, there is a need to effectively pay attention to various stakeholders. It has been reported that in certain instances the energy generation technology can come to a halt if proper stakeholders and community leaders are not well informed about the plan to implement new energy generation technology. This thesis thus demonstrates how UNEP’s call to consider environmental, social and economic dimensions of new developments can be interpreted, with a special focus on technological advancement in energy production systems. The energy sector in Africa faces enormous twin challenges of making a leading development contribution whilst respecting environmental sustainability imperatives. This thesis provides realistic solutions and advice for policy development of implementation of renewable technological options in three types of African settings. In respect to the development of the methodological approach for assessment of energy production systems, this study specifically contributed through developing a stakeholder analysis. The stakeholder analysis presents the framework for mapping of relevant impact indicators across the three dimension of sustainability analysis, for the production of gaseous energy carriers from organic wastes. The approach shows how different participating parties, such as government, companies primarily in the energy sector, end users (domestic users), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can collaborate and clearly understood impacts in the three dimension of sustainability. Furthermore, this developed stakeholder analysis within the context of LCSA has a role to play in the policy development by creating awareness between government, energy users and energy companies during energy technological innovations. The stakeholder analysis developed in this study was shown to help determine the social indicators within the context of LCSA. In summary, while hydrogen may soon be applied as an energy carrier in practice, this thesis shows that as long as biohydrogen yields remain much lower than biomethane yields, there is no strong case for admitting biohydrogen technology in both urban and rural settings. At the moment it remains possible that biomethane infrastructural development could serve as a precursor for the infrastructural development for the biohydrogen technology in the agro-industrial settings

The potential of additive manufacturing in the smart factory industrial 4.0: A review

Additive manufacturing (AM) or three-dimensional (3D) printing has introduced a novel production method in design, manufacturing, and distribution to end-users. This technology has provided great freedom in design for creating complex components, highly customizable products, and efficient waste minimization. The last industrial revolution, namely industry 4.0, employs the integration of smart manufacturing systems and developed information technologies. Accordingly, AM plays a principal role in industry 4.0 thanks to numerous benefits, such as time and material saving, rapid prototyping, high efficiency, and decentralized production methods. This review paper is to organize a comprehensive study on AM technology and present the latest achievements and industrial applications. Besides that, this paper investigates the sustainability dimensions of the AM process and the added values in economic, social, and environment sections. Finally, the paper concludes by pointing out the future trend of AM in technology, applications, and materials aspects that have the potential to come up with new ideas for the future of AM explorations

Comprehensive examination of automotive product impact. A look ahead in light of sustainable development challenges: the Magneti Marelli S.p.a business case.

Sustainable development imperatives drive industrial selection in the field of product development. Indeed, automotive productiveness plays a key-role in the worldwide trend for the transition towards a more environmentally friendly, economically affordable and socially sustainable balance. In the last few years automotive industry has been rapidly changed due to the increasingly concerned about resource depletion and GHG emissions generation. In this framework, actions addressed to reduce automotive impact has increased. To meet environmental improvement expectation a new design mind-set formula is necessary to integrate environmental attribution to component characteristic: the life cycle thinking approach. In this way, the selection of design for environment strategy is based on a balance between technological, manufacturing and sustainability aspect without shifting environmental consequences beyond company area. Magneti Marelli© Spa as a part of automotive sector has started to be committed on sustainability programs in order to reduce the impact caused by its product on the environment. The Company adopted a methodology, modeled on proposals made by scientific institutes, for the creation of its own system, devoted to obtain results, which could be measurable, understandable and implementable to their strategic plan. The well-recognized Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment methodology, was used and adapted to the company’s context for R&D applications and purposes. This effort was accomplished with the collaboration of company members at different levels (R&D, purchase, logistics, innovation) and with the stakeholders’ collaboration (suppliers of materials and semi-products, EoL management companies and vehicle users) and resulted in over fourteen projects which introduced a wide array of innovative materials, processes and technological applications. The outcome of these projects have enriched the company’s knowledge and have become the basis for more conscious and strategic choices for achieving goals relating to a reduction in product impact, thus helping to protect the planet while guaranteeing company development and progress

Research on Ecological Assessment and Dynamic Optimization of Energy-saving and New Energy Vehicle Business Model Based on Full Life Cycle Theory

The rapid development of China's automobile industry has brought ever-increasing impact on resources, energy and environment, the energy-saving and new energy vehicles come into being accordingly. This article firstly systematically introduces the technical route of energy-saving and new energy vehicles of China, focusing on the key bottleneck problems arising from  the construction process of current assessment system of the technical route for energy-saving and new energy vehicles, establishes the energy-saving and new energy vehicle business model assessment index system afterward based on the comparative analysis on energy-saving and new energy vehicle business assessment model and the full life cycle theory, and finally makes prospects and forecasts on vital problems of system boundary, dynamic optimization, simulation system of full life cycle assessment of energy-saving and new energy vehicle

Best Environmental Management Practice for the Car Manufacturing Sector Learning from frontrunners

The European automotive industry is one of the EU's largest manufacturing sectors, and the automotive value chain covers many activities largely carried out within the EU, such as design and engineering, manufacturing, maintenance and repair, and end-of-life vehicle (ELV) handling. This Best Practice report describes Best Environmental Management Practices (BEMPs), i.e. techniques, measures or actions that are implemented by the organisations within the sector which are most advanced in terms of environmental performance in areas such as energy and resource efficiency, emissions, or supply chain management. The BEMPs provide inspirational examples for any organisation within the sector to improve its environmental performance. The report firstly outlines technical information on the contribution of car manufacturing and end-of-life vehicle (ELV) handling to key environmental burdens in the EU, alongside data on the economic relevance of the sector. The second chapter presents best environmental management practice of interest primarily for manufacturing companies (car manufacturers and associated manufacturers in the supply chain) covering cross-cutting issues related to key environmental impacts (such as energy, waste, water management, or biodiversity) before exploring best practice linked to specific topics, such as supply chain management. Subsequently, specific information concerning actors in the treatment of end-of-life vehicles is presented in the third chapter, focussing in particular on best practice applicable to processers of ELVs. This Best Practice Report was developed with support from a Technical Working Group of experts from the car manufacturing and ELV sector and associated fields. The report gives a wide range of information (environmental benefits, economics, indicators, benchmarks, references, etc.) for each of the proposed best practices in order to be a source of inspiration and guidance for any company of the sector wishing to improve environmental performance. In addition, it will be the technical basis for a Sectoral Reference Document on the car manufacturing sector, to be produced by the European Commission according to the EMAS Regulation.JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

The development of life-cycle and risk assessment methodology using data from AWE Aldermaston

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The research described in this thesis further develops Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to include radiological releases to air, water and as waste. A new methodology has been developed to characterise radioactive aspects based on known effects to man and behaviour in the environment. Equivalency factors have been developed for nine radioisotopes (24'Am, 137Cs56 0Co, 239Pu52 41Pu53 HI 234U, 235U and 238U). A new LCA valuation method is developed for weighting environmental impacts in an Environmental Management System (EMS). A detailed LCA inventory of environmental burdens has been compiled from data from AWE Aldermaston and used as a case study to develop and demonstrate the methodologies developed in this work. As part of the research, the links between environmental aspects and impacts has been investigated using LCA, based on the high hazard facilities at AWE Aldermaston, which is a major industrial site. The case study also includes the contribution from vehicle use in the impact assessment. The results of this work have clearly identified which facilities and hence which processes are causing the most damaging environmental impact. New risk assessment methods are developed to quantify environmental accidents, that include revised consequence definitions that can be applied without the need for modelling and thus offer an economical alternative to existing methods. A new six-step screening methodology is presented to identify potential major accidents to the environment (MATTE) and to comply with the COMAH Regulations 1999. A method to prioritise MATTE scenarios has also been developed. The research has revealed that the current approach to significance assessment does not provide enough sophistication for sites as complex as AWE Aldermaston. The impacts of most concern are environmental irradiation, the generation of all categories of waste and global warming. The impacts associated with radioactive discharges (to air, water and as waste) are given the highest weighting largely reflecting the concern of the major stakeholder groups (local community, regulatory bodies and pressure groups). The methods proposed can be readily applied to any nuclear or chemical site.Financial support for this work was obtained from AEA Technology Plc, AWE Plc and UKAEA

Life Cycle Assessment Practices: Benchmarking Selected European Automobile Manufacturers

International audienceWith the rise of environmental concerns in the general public, re-appropriated by influential politicians, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become a widely used set of tools for the management of all impacts on environment by industrial products. LCA is carried out at the very early stages of product research, development and design. This is particularly true in the automobile industry where vehicle manufacturers Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are launching several new or re-vamped models each year. The automobile industry is therefore a very emblematic sector for best practices of LCA. The paper is based on available literature and interviews with top LCA professionals in Germany-based OEM