Evaluating source separation wastewater systems using traditional life cycle assessment and the planetary boundaries approach

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a commonly used method for assessing environmental impacts of systems, but cannot produce absolute values, i.e. a comparison with existing calculated values, which represents limits of what can be emitted into the environment. Therefore, absolute environmental sustainability assessments have been developed to assess impacts against the planetary boundaries (PBs) of the safe operating space for humanity. Since PB-LCAs are novel, it is useful to analyze both results from this method and conventional LCAs, something which has not been done before. This study applied both methods to two full-scale sanitation systems in the city of Helsingborg, Sweden. The current conventional system for handling wastewater with active sludge and food waste to biogas production was compared with the novel project H+ source separation system with three pipes (food waste, grey and black water) with increased resource recovery through anaerobic digestion, ammonia stripping, struvite precipitation and pelletization. The Planetary Boundaries LCA (PB-LCA) results showed that both systems exceeded eight of the assigned shares of PBs, including climate change and biogeochemical flows of nutrients. Traditional LCA (ReCiPe impact assessment) showed net savings for the H+ system in a few categories and considerable reductions in several impacts, e.g., global warming potential (GWP), stratospheric ozone depletion, terrestrial acidification, and water consumption. In PB-LCA the H+ system gave additional impacts in both assessments for a few categories, mostly due to high consumption of chemicals in the ammonium stripping process used for nutrient recovery. In conclusion, the combined assessments highlight hotspots for process optimization in the H+ system. From a methodological standpoint, PB-LCA still needs improvements to better reflect avoided burdens and results from traditional LCA should be fully transparent and analyzed carefully. The assessment methods complement each other and can be combined to better represent environmental performances of systems

Meeting optimally the environmental challenge: A methodology for the lead industry

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Does the lead industry have a future, in the face of the developing environmental challenge? This thesis addresses this question and concludes, it should have for the foreseeable future, providing it adopts the changes detailed. These changes are posited within a framework, which consists of a strategy, approaches and tools. The changes are both technical and philosophical. They are technical, in the sense that the tools and approaches provide practical means whereby the environmental `risks' may be identified, assessed and managed. They are philosophical, because they set out and identify the features of a new conceptual paradigm, whose basis is in the concept of the `risk society'. The paradigm is significantly more holistic, multi-dimensional, inherently flexible, and is intended to be reflexive. Adoption of the elements of the framework, will facilitate a more effective establishment, and management of environmental `risk' credentials, which will help encourage better environmental decision making. Hence, it will facilitate, the balancing of resource consumption and environmental impact costs, versus social and economic benefits, in an improved manner. The modelling approaches, and selected inventory and environmental impact assessment tools, enclosed within this thesis, have been designed to facilitate the development of, and to function within, the new paradigm. These have been developed for BRM and MIM case studies, and function at the site-specific and the cradle-to-gate scales. The former consider the company site of Britannia Refined Metals (BRM) Ltd., where refining to produce primary and secondary refined lead products takes place, whilst the latter consider the life-cycle of the refined primary lead products of MIM Ltd. The modelling approaches have also been designed so, that they may be re-aggregated into models able to operate at many different scales, as required. The framework, and its elements, are applicable for all industries facing similar challenges.Britannia Refined Metals Ltd. (BRM

Quantifying the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Hazards: Incorporating Disaster Mitigation Strategies in Climate Action Plans

Reconstruction after natural disasters can represent large peaks in a community’s greenhouse gas emission inventory. Components of the built environment destroyed by natural hazards have their useful life shortened, requiring replacement before functionally necessary. Though the hazard itself does not release greenhouse gasses, the demolition and rebuilding process does, and these are the emissions we can quantify to better understand the climate impacts of disasters. The proposed methodology draws data from existing emission and hazard resource literature and combines the information in a community scale life cycle assessment. Case studies of past disasters are used to refine the methodology and quantify the emissions of single events. The methodology is then annualized projecting the emissions of future hazards. The annualization of greenhouse gasses caused by hazard events provides a baseline from which reduction strategies can be measured against. Hazard mitigation strategies can then be quantified as greenhouse gas reduction strategies for use in Climate Action Plans. The methodology combines the fields of climate action, hazard mitigation, and climate adaptation. Each field attempts to create sustainable and resilient communities, but most plans silo each discipline, missing opportunities that are mutually beneficial. Quantifying the greenhouse gasses associated with recovery following a disaster blends these fields to allow development of comprehensive resilience and sustainability strategies that lower greenhouse gases and decrease risk from existing or projected hazards. An online supplement to this thesis is available online at disasterghg.wordpress.co

Carbon accounting in the context of multi-criteria assessment for SLES: challenges and opportunities

In the UK, national carbon emission reduction targets aim to reach Net Zero by 2050, with a fully decarbonised electricity system by 2035. Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES) are being deployed to combine and intelligently control complementary low and zero carbon technologies within micro-gridsto amplify their impacts and accelerate this ambitious transition towards a decarbonized energy system and low-carbon society. Today, national and local governments monitor the potential carbon reduction of energy system retrofitting and policy implementation through simplified carbon accounting methods, which allow for calculation of the accumulated carbon emissions. This focus on carbon may, however, neglect broader socioeconomic impacts and benefits of these actions. This paper describes the how the application of a multi-criteria assessment tool focusing on SLES can be used to evaluate (i) the carbon emissions from an energy system and (ii) the carbon reduction potential of renewable and smart energy technology implementation. Alongside the carbon accounting this MCA-SLES tool provides assessment and insights into the local socioeconomic and environmental benefits and impacts of the SLES development. The application of such a complex assessment tool has challenges in application, such as data collection, the intensity of the stakeholder approach, and the large volume of information for user dissemination. This paper illustrates how the developed assessment tool mitigates for these challenges and highlights the opportunity for small-scale energy development projects to employ it to assess project feasibility and progress towards economic, social, and environmental co-benefits

鼻咽癌细胞培养上清对正常人淋巴细胞钙调蛋白、白细胞介素-2、白细胞介素-2受体活性及T淋巴细胞增殖的影响

观察鼻咽癌低分化细胞株(CNE-2)培养上清(CNE-2S)对正常人外周血淋巴细胞(PBL)的作用,结果表明:CNE-2S可明显抑制正常人T淋巴细胞的增殖,白细胞介素-2(IL-2)的产生及钙调蛋白(CaM)的活性。但对IL-2受体活性无明显影响。提示CNE-2S有可能是通过抑制淋巴细胞内CaM的活性,使细胞代谢改变,而阻碍T淋巴细胞增殖

Optimización de la cadena de suministros de bioetanol explorando opciones de mezcla para mejorar la sustentabilidad

El uso de combustibles líquidos renovables se encuentra en continuo crecimiento dada la necesidad de una transición energética que garantice el desarrollo sostenible. En el presente trabajo se busca realizar el rediseño de la cadena de suministros de etanol de caña de azúcar en la Argentina, considerando la posibilidad de utilizar un corte de combustible distinto en cada provincia para el transporte de pasajeros. De esta forma, se pretende establecer una política tanto para la conformación de las mezclas como para el uso de combustibles y así garantizar un mejor desempeño ambiental. Para ello se desarrolla una formulación lineal mixta entera (MILP) para modelar la cadena de valor del bioetanol, desde el campo hasta su uso en el vehículo, en la cual se busca minimizar el impacto ambiental asociado al cambio climático. Los resultados revelan que flexibilizar el contenido de etanol en los combustibles en cada provincia, permitiendo una variación entre el 0% y el 25%, puede mejorar el desempeño ambiental de la cadena de valor. Además, haciendo un cambio tecnológico en el parque automotor para utilizar naftas al 85% de etanol, se podría mejorar aún más sin implicancias económicas significativas sobre la cadena de producción