Introduction to Life Cycle Assessment

1. Introduction to Environmental Life Cycle Assessment
2. The Idea and Principles of LCA
3. LCA: Goal and Scope of the Study
4. Life Cycle Inventory – General Idea
5. Scope of an LCA
6. Identifying the Boundaries of Analysis
7. System Boundaries
8. Life Cycle Inventory
9. Life Cycle Inventory – General Idea
10. Life Cycle Inventory – Important Considerations
11. Life Cycle Inventory – Modeling the System and Results
12. Life Cycle Inventory – Modeling the System and Results
13. Impact Assessment
14. Life Cycle Impact Assessment
15. Life Cycle Impact Assessment: Environmental impacts
16. Life Cycle Impact Assessment: Basis: The Inventory Table
17. Characterization of Environmental Impacts
18. Calculating Environmental Impacts
19. Environmental Concerns over the Life Cycle
20. Interpretation of the Results
21. Interpretation - Objectives
22. Interpretation - Elements
23. Summary of Life Cycle Assessment

In this module you learnt about the idea of Life Cycle Assessment, its procedure and major steps. You should now be able to understand how effects on the environment caused by products and processes can be accounted for.

Life Cycle Assessment is a method to include environmental issues in design and processing, not only of industrial processes and products, but also for life style decisions. The use of life cycle assessment is not simply an academic exercise, but it is being used increasingly by industry and investors, helping decision makers to shift from a so-called “end of pipe”-manner of handling environmental issues (fixing problems after they occur) to a new environmental ethic that is proactive and holistic.

This completes the current section. If necessary, please ensure that you have achieved the learning outcomes for this section:

• Explain the idea and general principles of Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
• Describe the procedure and the major steps of conducting an LCA
• Explain the principles of Life Cycle Assessment in terms of Goal and Scope definition, System Modelling, Life Cycle Inventory, Life Cycle Impact Assessment and Interpretation
• Assign environmental parameters contributing to different environmental impacts
• Explain the role of the individual taking responsibility for the environmental consequences of their decisions
• Define relevant environmental inventory parameters

Now proceed to the next section.

References

• Eyerer, P,  Ganzheitliche Bilanzierung, Springer-Verlag, 354059356X 
• Rubin, ES,  Introduction to Engineering and the Environment, McGraw-Hill, 0072354674 
• ISO 14040-Series,  Environmental Management – Life Cycle Assessment, ISO,  
• Meadows, DL,  Die Grenzen des Wachstums, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 3421026335 
• Enquete-Kommission "Schutz des Menschen und der Umwelt" des Deutschen Bundestages (Hrsg.),  Verantwortung für die Zukunft : Wege zum nachhaltigen Umgang mit Stoff- und Materialströmen, Economica-Verlag GmbH, 3870815035