Implementation of energy efficiency standards of household refrigerator/freezer in China: Potential environmental and economic impacts

Due to the rapid economic development, living standards in China are improving fast. Chinese families are having more household electrical appliances, among which refrigerators are indispensable. Energy consumption of refrigerators is huge in China and causes environmental concerns. China has issued the national energy efficiency standards of household refrigerators, GB12021.2-2003 and GB12021.2-2008 to promote high-efficiency refrigerator production and use. This study evaluated the impacts of the standards on the environment, manufacturers and consumers over a long-term period of 2003-2023. It first evaluated the potential electricity conservation and GHG emission reduction resulting from energy efficiency improvements driven by the standards. Next, manufacturers' technological and economic concerns about complying with the standards were discussed. Some efficiency improving design options were considered and the resulting increases in manufacturing cost and retail price were estimated. The return of consumers from invest in efficiency was analyzed based on lifecycle cost saving of the improved models. The economical viability of the standards was then evaluated by national consumer costs and benefits. Results showed that the considered efficiency standards will potentially save a cumulative total of 588-1180 TWh electricity, and reduce emission of 629-1260 million tons of CO2, 4.00-8.04 million tons of SOx and 2.37-4.76 million tons of NOx by 2023, depending on sale share of models by efficiency. In a more environmentally optimal case (75% sale share of high-efficiency models), the national consumer benefits are 121 billion RMB (discounted), with the benefit/cost ratio of consumer's expenditure being 1.45:1. However, the preference to high-efficiency models is substantial influenced by consumer's expectation on return from the additional cost on efficiency.Household refrigerator Energy efficiency standard Electricity conservation Life cycle cost Benefit/cost ratio

Economic, energy and environmental evaluations of biomass-based fuel ethanol projects based on life cycle assessment and simulation

This paper summarizes the research of Monte Carlo simulation-based Economic, Energy and Environmental (3E) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the three Biomass-based Fuel Ethanol (BFE) projects in (the) People's Republic of China. Our research includes both theoretical study and case study. In the theoretical study part, 3E LCA models are structured, 3E Index Functions are defined and the Monte Carlo simulation is introduced to address uncertainties in BFE life cycle analysis. In the case study part, projects of Wheat-based Fuel Ethanol (WFE) in Central China, Corn-based Fuel Ethanol (CFE) in Northeast China, and Cassava-based Fuel Ethanol (KFE) in Southwest China are evaluated from the aspects of economic viability and investment risks, energy efficiency and airborne emissions. The life cycle economy assessment shows that KFE project in Guangxi is viable, while CFE and WFE projects are not without government's subsidies. Energy efficiency assessment results show that WFE, CFE and KFE projects all have positive Net Energy Values. Emissions results show that the corn-based E10 (a blend of 10% gasoline and 90% ethanol by volume), wheat-based E10 and cassava-base E10 have less CO2 and VOC life cycle emissions than conventional gasoline, but wheat-based E10 and cassava-based E10 can generate more emissions of CO, CH4, N2O, NOx, SO2, PM10 and corn-based E10 can have more emissions of CH4, N2O, NOx, SO, PM10.Biomass-based Fuel Ethanol (BFE) E10 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Monte Carlo simulation

A modular eco-design method for life cycle engineering based on redesign risk control

International audienceAbstract

A Sensitivity Analysis Approach to Identify Key Environmental Performance Factors

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is widely used in design phase to reduce the product’s environmental impacts through the whole product life cycle (PLC) during the last two decades. The traditional LCA is restricted to assessing the environmental impacts of a product and the results cannot reflect the effects of changes within the life cycle. In order to improve the quality of ecodesign, it is a growing need to develop an approach which can reflect the changes between the design parameters and product’s environmental impacts. A sensitivity analysis approach based on LCA and ecodesign is proposed in this paper. The key environmental performance factors which have significant influence on the products’ environmental impacts can be identified by analyzing the relationship between environmental impacts and the design parameters. Users without much environmental knowledge can use this approach to determine which design parameter should be first considered when (re)designing a product. A printed circuit board (PCB) case study is conducted; eight design parameters are chosen to be analyzed by our approach. The result shows that the carbon dioxide emission during the PCB manufacture is highly sensitive to the area of PCB panel

A PLM components monitoring framework for SMEs based on a PLM maturity model and FAHP methodology

International audienceRight PLM components selection and investments enlarge business’ benefits. This paper develops a PLM components monitoring framework to assess and guide PLM implementation in small and middle enterprises (SMEs). The framework builds upon PLM maturity models and decision - making methodology. PLM maturity model has the capability to analyze PLM functionalities and evaluate PLM components. A proposed PLM components maturity assessment (PCMA) model can obtain general maturity levels of PLM components based on key performance indicators. Investment decisions should be made from the relative weaker PLM components based on the results of PCMA. One developed method of the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (Fuzzy AHP) is applied to extract the premier needed improvement component. The results of a first empirical assessment in a swimming industry are presented, which could be as benchmark data for the other Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) to develop their own PLM components monitoring framework to increase the success of their PLM implementation

A LCIA Model Considering Pollution Transfer Phenomena

Part 7: PLM and Influence of/from Social NetworksInternational audienceDue to market pressure and government regulations, environmental consciousness in manufacturing is becoming increasingly important. Currently, the global environmental impact (EI) of a product is a crucial criterion to judge its environmental performance. Many models were proposed in the last three decades to evaluate the global EI of products, but none of them considers the pollution transfer phenomena (PTP) of product’s material flow. PTP refers to the EIs propagate from one phase to another one caused by different processes on the product’s materials in different phases. PTP may have a consequence of EIs reduce in one phase but increase in other phases. The outcome will severely influence on the global EI of a product. Based on a PCB (printed circuit board) product case study, this paper proposes a new simplified life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) model which can help enterprises evaluate the global EI of product by considering the PTP in the whole product life cycle (PLC)

A PLM components monitoring framework for SMEs based on a PLM maturity model and FAHP methodology

Right PLM components selection and investments increase business advantages. This paper develops a PLM components monitoring framework to assess and guide PLM implementation in small and middle enterprises (SMEs). The framework builds upon PLM maturity models and decision-making methodology. PLM maturity model has the capability to analyze PLM functionalities and evaluate PLM components. A proposed PLM components maturity assessment (PCMA) model can obtain general maturity levels of PLM components based on key performance indicators. Investment decisions should be made from the relatively weaker PLM components based on the results of PCMA. One developed method of the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (Fuzzy AHP) is applied to extract the premier improvement component needed. The results of a first empirical assessment in a swimming industry are presented, which could be used as benchmark data for the other Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) to develop their own PLM components monitoring framework to increase the success of their PLM implementation.Scopu

A novel approach to assess the products' global environmental impacts by considering pollution transfer phenomena

As environmental issues become more serious, governments and customers are more sensitive about the environmental impacts which are produced by products. Many methods have been proposed to assess environmental impacts. The interdependent relationship among different lifecycle phases must be considered during the assessment of environmental impacts as the complex network relationship existing in different phases. The network is built on the phenomena that the output of one lifecycle phase may be the input of the other phases. The existing environmental impacts assessment adapts the idea of collecting all the potential data from all the lifecycle phases which is quite time-consuming. With the aim of describing the pollution transfer varied in a phase caused by the mass of materials changed in the lifecycle phases, this paper innovatively proposes a matrix-based approach to depict the interdependent relationship. A case study of printed circuit board production is conducted. The main lifecycle phases are taken into account and the results show that the new approach can more precisely assess the global environmental impacts of different designs.Scopu