• Title/Summary/Keyword: life cycle inventory

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Environmental Impact Assessment of Agricultural Systems Using the Life Cycle Assessment (전과정평가 도입을 통한 농업환경영향 평가)

  • Shim, Kyo-Moon;Jeong, Ji-Sun;So, Kyu-Ho;Lim, Song-Tak;Roh, Kee-An;Kim, Gun-Yeob;Jeong, Hyun-Cheol;Lee, Deog-Bae
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.43 no.2
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    • pp.237-241
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    • 2010
  • Many policies have been implemented to mitigate the greenhouse gases in atmosphere overall of sectors. With considering the distinct characteristics of the food security, agricultural sector is no exception to this situation. To this regard, total amount of carbon which is emitted through all of the agricultural production process is calculated, and being based on this result, the demand for the introduction of agricultural production system with low carbon has been rising. Case studies on the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) technique to agricultural sector are found in many countries. For example, life cycle inventory (LCI) data bases of crop, farm infrastructure, fertilizer, farm machinery, and etc., have been constructed and provided by Ecoinvent (Swiss centre for life cycle inventories) of Swiss. In Japan, Top-down typed LCA methodology for agriculture is developed based on the inter-industry analysis, and is evaluated according to the productive method of crop. On the other hand, environmental impact assessment of agricultural system using LCA in Korea is just in the beginning stages. So it is required to assess environmental impact on agricultural fertilizer and pesticide, and to develop their flow modeling, and methodology of LCA of agricultural sector. Environmental impact assessment on agricultural materials, machinery, and infrastructure will also be carried out.

Evaluation of Environmental Impact with Application of the Life Cycle Assessment Method to Swine Waste Treatment Systems (가축분뇨 처리 시스템에 대한 전과정평가 방법을 적용한 환경영향 평가)

  • Shin, Joungdu;Lee, Sun-Ill;Park, Wu-Kyun;Hong, Seung-Gil;Choi, Yong-Su
    • Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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    • v.21 no.3
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    • pp.64-73
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    • 2013
  • The application of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to analyze the environmental impact to different swine waste treatment systems was investigated. The first part of LCA is to organize an inventory of parameters and emissions released due to the system under investigation. In the following step of the Life Cycle Impact Assessment, the inventory data were analyzed and aggregated in order to finally get one index representing the total environmental burden. For the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) the Eco-indicator 95 method has been chosen because this is well documented and regularly applied impact method. Two different swine waste treatment systems such as aerobic and anaerobic digestion systems were chosen as an example for the life cycle impact analysis. For establishing the parameters to be assessed the agricultural environmental effects to above swine waste treatment systems, it has been observed that there was high at T-P emission in anaerobic digestion system and $CO_2$ emission in aerobic digestion system. For Eco-indicator values per environmental effect for swine waste treatment systems related to one tonne of swine waste, it was shown that there was a negative index for global warm potential and soil acidification in aerobic digestion system, but relatively high positive index for eutrophication in anaerobic digestion system.

Life Cycle Analysis and Feasibility of the Use of Waste Cooking Oil as Feedstock for Biodiesel

  • Gahlaut, Aradhana;Kumar, Vasu;Gupta, Dhruv;Kumar, Naveen
    • International journal of advanced smart convergence
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    • v.4 no.1
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    • pp.162-178
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    • 2015
  • Petroleum based fossil fuels used to power most processes today are non-renewable fuels. This means that once used, they cannot be reproduced for a very long time. The maximum combustion of fossil fuels occurs in automobiles i.e. the vehicles we drive every day. Thus, there is a requirement to shift from these non-renenewable sources of energy to sources that are renewable and environment friendly. This is causing the need to shift towards more environmentally-sustainable transport fuels, preferably derived from biomass, such as biodiesel blends. These blends can be made from oils that are available in abundance or as waste e.g. waste cooking oil, animal fat, oil from seeds, oil from algae etc. Waste Cooking Oil(WCO) is a waste product and so, converting it into a transportation fuel is considered highly environmentally sustainable. Keeping this in mind, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed to evaluate the environmental implications of replacing diesel fuel with WCO biodiesel blends in a regular Diesel engine. This study uses Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to determine the environmental outcomes of biodiesel from WCO in terms of global warming potential, life cycle energy efficiency (LCEE) and fossil energy ratio (FER) using the life cycle inventory and the openLCA software, version 1.3.4: 2007 - 2013 GreenDelta. This study resulted in the conclusion that the biodiesel production process from WCO in particular is more environmentally sustainable as compared to the preparation of diesel from raw oil, also taking into account the combustion products that are released into the atmosphere as exhaust emissions.

An Analysis of the Characteristics of Environmental Impact for PSC Beam Bridges using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA 기반 PSC 교량의 환경부하 특성분석에 대한 연구)

  • Cho, Namho;Yun, Won Gun;Lee, Wan Ryul;Kim, Kyong Ju
    • KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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    • v.36 no.2
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    • pp.297-305
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    • 2016
  • This study aims to analyze characteristics of environmental load for the construction phase of PSC beam bridge based on Life Cycle Assessment. For detail computation of environmental load, the construction materials and energy consumption are derived from the BOQ, also connecting with environmental load by Korea LCI Database Information Network. The characteristic of environmental impact was analyzed by 25 cases and cut-off ratio was 80% to 94%. The result sorted by construction materials revealed that environmental load were 53.3% for ready-mixed concrete, 9.6% for wire rod, 7.8% for rebar, 6.8% for cement, 5.5% for plywood, and 5.2% for energy. Furthermore, the result of environmental impact revealed that 45.5% for global warming, 30.4% for abiotic resources depletion, 10.5% for human toxicity, and 8.9% for photochemical oxidant creation. In the future, we can make a decision considering environmental load based on LCA at design phase.

A Study on the Evaluation of Water Consumption in Electric Appliances using Water Footprint - Focusing on Washing Machine - (Water Footprint 개념을 이용한 가전제품의 수자원 사용량 산정 (세탁기를 중심으로))

  • Jo, Hyun-Jung;Kim, Woo-Ram;Park, Ji-Hyoung;Hwang, Young-Woo
    • Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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    • v.25 no.5
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    • pp.691-697
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    • 2011
  • In this study, by using the Water footprint technique, the water consumption by washing machines, which holds higher ranks in using water than any other electric appliances, was analyzed during their life cycle. The life cycle is defined as raw materials production step, manufacturing step, and using step. In raw materials production step, Input materials were researched by using LCI DB(Life Cycle Inventory Database) and the water consumption was calculated with consideration of approximately 65% Input materials which were based weight. In manufacturing step, the water consumption was calculated by the amount of energy used in assembly factories and components subcontractors and emission factor of energy. In using step, referring to guidelines on carbon footprint labeling, the life cycle is applied as 5 years for a washing machine and 218 cycles for annual bounds of usage. The water and power consumption for operating was calculated by referring to posted materials on the manufacture's websites. The water consumption by nation unit was calculated with the result of water consumption by a unit of washing machine. As a result, it shows that water consumption per life cycle s 110,105 kg/unit. The water consumption of each step is 90,495 kg/unit for using, 18,603 kg for raw materials production and 1,006 kg/unit for manufacturing, which apparently shows that the using step consume the most water resource. The water consumption by nation unit is 371,269,584tons in total based on 2006, 83,385,649 tons in both steps of raw material production and manufacturing, and 287,883,935 tons in using step.

Design Approach of Concrete Structures Considering the Targeted CO2 Reduction (목표 탄소배출량 저감을 고려한 콘크리트 구조물의 설계 절차)

  • Jung, Yeon-Back;Yang, Keun-Hyeok
    • Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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    • v.3 no.2
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    • pp.115-121
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    • 2015
  • The objective of this study is to present the design approach of low $CO_2$ concrete structures for reduction of $CO_2$ emissions. The design approach was implemented considering the system boundary for each processing presented in the ISO 13315-2. As for life-cycle inventory(LCI) for $CO_2$ assessment of concrete structures, data provided from domestic LCI DB was used. Based on the process presented in this study, case studies on the life-cycle $CO_2$ assessment of shear wall concrete structure was conducted. As substitution level of GGBS is 25%, the amount of $CO_2$ emissions and $CO_2$ uptake by concrete carbonation was decreased in the material, demolition and crushing, and transport phase. The amount of $CO_2$ emissions of column and total member was decreased by 26% and 22% respectively, compared to that of OPC.

The Effect of Microcurrent Stimulation on Pain and Quality of Life in Women with Primary Dysmenorrhea

  • Minkyoung Kwon;Wonjae Choi
    • Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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    • v.12 no.3
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    • pp.293-299
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    • 2023
  • Objective: This study aimed to investigate the potential benefits of microcurrent stimulation as a non-invasive therapeutic approach for managing pain and improving the quality of life in women suffering from primary dysmenorrhea. Design: A case study. Methods: This study was conducted, involving a cohort of 6 women diagnosed with primary dysmenorrhea, aged between 20 to 30 years. Participants were received microcurrent stimulation using low-intensity microcurrents for 30 minutes every day for 4 weeks. The intensity of microcurrent stimulation was 25 μA and the frequency was 8 Hz. The intervention was administered between the menstruations, with pain intensity and quality of life being assessed at baseline, and then at the end of menstrual cycle. Pain intensity was evaluated using a visual analog scale (VAS) and menstrual symptom questionnaire (MSQ), while the quality of life was assessed through the stress response inventory (SRI), state trait anxiety inventory (STAI), center for epidemiologic studies depression (CES-D), and menstrual distress questionnaire (MEDI-Q). Results: After the intervention, participants demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in pain intensity, as evidenced by improved VAS scores (p<0.05). However, the changes in MSQ scores did not reach statistical significance. Regarding quality of life measures, no statistically significant differences were found in the SRI, STAI, CES-D, and MEDI-Q scores after the intervention (p>0.05). Conclusions: This study suggest that microcurrent stimulation holds promise as a potential treatment option for alleviating pain associated with primary dysmenorrhea.

Estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from an underground wastewater treatment plant

  • Kyung, Daeseung;Jung, Da-Yoon;Lim, Seong-Rin
    • Membrane and Water Treatment
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    • v.11 no.3
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    • pp.173-177
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    • 2020
  • Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been recognized as one of the significant greenhouse gas (GHG) generators, due to the complex biochemical reaction and huge consumption of energy and materials. Recently, WWTPs have been built underground and they will be confronted with the challenges of mitigating GHG emissions and improving the quality of treated wastewater. Here, we focus on estimating GHG emissions to set up effective management plans for a WWTP built underground. First, we apply the process-based life cycle assessment (LCA) with an inventory database of the underground WWTP for a case study. Then, we identify significant factors affecting GHG emissions during service life using sensitivity analysis and suggest the proper tactics that could properly reduce GHG emissions from the WWTP.

On Rule-Based Inventory Planning Over New Product Launching Period (신제품 출시 시점의 규칙기반 재고계획에 관한 고찰)

  • Kim, Hyoungtae
    • Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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    • v.39 no.3
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    • pp.170-179
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    • 2016
  • In this paper we have tackled the outstanding inventory planning problems over new product launching period in a more holistic manner by addressing first the definition of efficient business rules to effectively control and reduce the inventory risks followed by the rigorous explanations on the implementation guide on suggested inventory planning rules. It is not unusual for many companies in the consumer electronics market to make a great effort to reduce the time to launch a new product because the ability to bring out higher performing products in such a short time period greatly increases the probability for them to remain competitive in the high tech market. Among so many newly developed products, those products with new features and technologies appeal to many potential customers while products which fail to win customers by design and prices rapidly disappear in the market. To adapt to this business environment, those companies have been trying to find the answer to minimize the inventory of old products so they can move to next generation products quickly with less obsolete material. In the experimental implementation of our rule-based inventory planning, Company 'S' reduced the inventory cost for the outgoing products as low as 49% of its peak level of its preceding product version in just 5 month after the adoption of rule-based inventory planning process and system. This paper concluded the subject with a suggestion that the best performance of rule-based inventory planning is guaranteed not from one-time campaign of process improvement along with system development but the decision maker's continuing support and attention even without seeing any upcoming business crisis.

A Study on the Inventory Cost Estimation Criteria Considering Supply Chain Characteristics of a Electronic Product Manufacturer (전자제품 제조사 관점에서의 공급사슬 특성을 고려한 재고비용 산정 기준의 제시)

  • Nam, Jung-Hoon;Hwang, Seung-June
    • Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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    • v.39 no.4
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    • pp.15-25
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    • 2016
  • SCM activities in a company are considered as total innovation through synchronizing supply and demand while maintaining appropriate inventory level and reducing the business operating costs. Until now, even several researches are carried out on the SCM performance of the companies which have introduced and been operating SCM, the research on the cost analysis for the inventory which occurs frequently on supply chain is still insufficient. Especially, for the electronics industry in which the product depreciation is sharp caused by the short product life cycle and the complexity of distribution channels, even the inventory related costs are a major factor in business management, since the current estimated criteria of inventory costs are limited to the interest and maintenance management costs, the criteria do not reflect the total influence of the product depreciation and lost opportunity cost which are related to the business management. Furthermore, even though the rapid price drops of the distributor inventory caused by the frequent new model launch can be covered by the product manufacturers, the scale of total costs related to the inventory has not been conceived because the price compensation is traditionally considered as a market costs. In this research, we analyzed the inventory characteristics of electronics industry in which the price depreciation happens frequently, newly defining the estimated criteria of the product total inventory cost which includes price depreciation from the product manufacturers' view. Finally we focus on the case study of a representative electronics company and verify the scale of the influence on management performance.