Purpose
To estimate life cycle impacts from introducing the yield-enhancing inoculant containing the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Bradyrhizobium japonicum and the signal molecule lipochitooligosaccharide (LCO) in Argentinian soybean production. The study focuses on soybeans grown in rotation with corn in the Buenos Aires province. We also provide the life cycle impact assessment for the inoculant production. The study represents a novel scope in terms of the studied crop, inoculant type, and location.
Methods
Consequential LCA is used to assess the cradle-to-gate soybean production systems with and without inoculant use. Stepwise is used for quantification of 16 impacts at mid-point level. Also, the LCA-based guidance of Kløverpris et al. (2020) is followed, and we divide the change in impacts caused by the inoculant’s use into four effects. The field effect accounts for changes in field emissions. The yield effect accounts for additional soybean production in the inoculant system that displaces soybean production elsewhere (system expansion). The upstream effect covers the inoculant production and the downstream effect covers post-harvest changes such as soybean transport and drying. Small plot field-trials data is applied in the biogeochemical model DayCent to estimate field emissions, among others.
Results and discussion
The use of this inoculant reduces environmental impacts from soybean production in all studied impact categories. The main contributing factor is the yield effect, i.e., reduced impacts via avoided soybean production elsewhere including reduced pressure on land and thereby avoided impacts in the form of indirect land-use-change (iLUC). The field effect is the second-largest contributor to the overall impact reduction. Upstream and downstream effects only had minor influence on results. The yield and field effects are closely tied to the yield change from the inoculant use, which was not fully captured in the DayCent modeling. Thereby, a potential underestimation of the environmental benefits of roughly 10% can be expected, corresponding to the difference of empiric yield data and the modeled yield data in DayCent.
Conclusion and recommendations
The use of this inoculant shows environmental benefits and no trade-offs for the 16 impacts assessed. Results depend primarily on avoided soybean production (the yield effect) which entails iLUC impacts in Brazil and USA, and to a lesser degree on field emissions modelled with DayCent. Better data and parametrization of DayCent, to better capture the change in yields and estimate field emissions, economic modelling for the system expansion assumptions, and accounting for uncertainty in iLUC modelling could improve the assessment.
The study compared the life cycle environmental impact of alternative options for a control panel incorporated in a coffee maker, designed with:
In the study, the control panels were tracked from ‘cradle to grave’, including the following life cycle stages: Supply of components and packaging, manufacturing of the control panel, distribution, use and disposal of control panel and packaging.
The Impact Assessment aggregates the information from the Inventory Analysis into a set of 14 indicators addressing the use of natural resources and impacts on human health and ecosystems, for example, health effects from particulate pollution or nature occupation.
The IMSE and IMSE SiP control panels involve a lower life cycle environmental impact than the reference control panel. The reduction in impact varies depending on the indicator. For example, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (the carbon footprint) are reduced by 56% and 62% by IMSE and IMSE SiP, respectively, compared to the reference.
In all indicators, the IMSE SiP option leads to a lower life cycle impact than the IMSE option. As an example, GHG emissions are 14% lower in the IMSE SiP option as compared to the IMSE option.
Most of the environmental damage induced by the control panel life cycle is associated with the indicator for respiratory inorganics (emissions of particulate pollution), closely followed by global warming (emissions of GHG).
For all three control panels, the supply of components dominates the life cycle impact, with all other stages representing a relatively low fraction of the total impact. For IMSE and IMSE SiP, the supply of components represents 85% and 84%, respectively, of the life cycle GHG emissions. Among components, the supply chain of electronics (touch film, FPC, PCB, controller, transistor, connector, LED) constitutes the main contribution to life cycle impacts.
More information can be found in the presentation given by Ivan Muñoz in the webinar hosted by TactoTek on 23rd February 2022: “Environmental Performance of IMSE”. A critical review is mentioned in a further insights blog post.
This report presents a detailed cradle-to-consumer life cycle assessment (LCA) screening of fish products sold by Kangamiut Seafood products. Kangamiut Seafood is a trading company and is not directly involved in fishing operations, however the activities of their suppliers and other affected systems are included in the product life cycles. In addition, carbon offsetting potential for Kangamiut Seafood is included as part of the assessment. The study covers a wide range of environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (i.e. carbon footprint), nature occupation, respiratory effects, eutrophication etc. The LCA addresses both direct land use changes (dLUC), indirect land use changes (iLUC), and in connection makes use of recent developments in land use changes (LUC) modelling to include GHG emissions. The primary focus is on GHG emissions. The LCA model has a flexible design, which allows future updates, such as calculating results every year in the future, to be carried out with a minimum of extra work.
The purpose of the study was to carry out a high-level cradle-to-consumer screening LCA of the Kangamiut Seafood’s product portfolio, with focus on greenhouse gas emissions. Further, the purpose was to identify and investigate improvement options and to provide recommendations on how Kangamiut Seafood can reduce the environmental impact per unit of product. The LCA results will be provided according to the following main life cycle stages: fishery, transport/wholesale, processing and distribution to end-user markets.
The LCA was carried out according to the standards ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006, using the same methodology as applied for the consequential model of the ecoinvent database. The LCA had a main focus on GHG emissions, but 13 other impact categories were also be included. The modelling approach linked the foreground data provided by Kangamiut Seafood to EXIOBASE hybrid as the background database.
The results were presented in the form of a detailed hotspot analysis and improvement options mapped according to the influence potential of Kangamiut Seafood. Further, a number of GHG reductions by use of offsetting were investigated.
Summary of themes addressed and presented in the report:
This study was commissioned by Kopenhagen Fur and performed by 2-0 LCA and resulted in a proprietary report.
This report is carried out by Michele De Rosa and Jannick Schmidt (2-0 LCA, Denmark) for United Plantations Berhad (Teluk Intan, Malaysia). The study includes data collection and calculation of LCA results for United Plantations Berhad’s palm oil production 2004-2021. The study was undertaken during the period January to February 2022.
The current report updates the results of a series of previous studies, to include also the most recent 2021 results, and it summarises the main findings of a detailed life cycle assessment report of palm oil production at United Plantations in the period 2004-2021.
Concrete hybrid manufacturing is an emerging technology for the construction industry sector. Herein, an innovative construction machine based on a cable robot, which is able to carry additive and material removal modules is presented and the challenges for its assembly are given. The robots’ motion along with the finished part quality are discussed. The information management system including BIM, path planning and control is explored and presented. In addition, material challenges and corresponding approaches are given. Finally, building parts are illustrated and the overall performance in terms of parts quality and machine lifecycle is discussed.
The study has been commissioned by DuPont Transportation & Industrial Business and conducted by 2-0 LCA. An external third-party critical review according to ISO/TS 14071:2014 was conducted by a three-member independent review panel.
This project used the multi-regional hybrid input-output database EXIOBASE as a background database with foreground data provided by Vitrolife A/S. The assessment was performed according to ISO standards on LCA: ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006.
A life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted on an innovative concrete 3D printing system, offering the following main advantages: (1) additive and subtractive capabilities, allowing for the automated post-processing of printed parts, including operations such as surface polishing, grooving and drilling and (2) the use of a cable robot, which is less expensive, lighter, more transportable, more energy-efficient and more easily reconfigurable than alternatives such as gantry-type systems. The production of a 4-m height structural pillar was assessed, comparing it to production with traditional methods, namely, using a mould. The study included the entire supply chain of the 3D printing equipment, operation and end-of-life, based on real data from the design and operation of a demonstration plant installed in Spain. Data for traditional construction was based on literature and expert judgement. The 3D production process included printing the pillar perimeter in four pieces with 3D printing concrete, transporting to the construction site and reinforcing and casting with conventional concrete. Traditional production involved reinforcing and casting with the mould on-site. The results show that when only one pillar needs to be produced, 3D printing has a lower environmental impact in all the environmental indicators assessed when compared to using a mould that is discarded after a single use. As an example, GHG emissions are lower by 38%. It was also found that the contribution of 3D printing to the environmental impact of producing a pillar is almost negligible, representing less than 1% of the pillar’s total GHG emissions. However, when the same pillar needs to be produced in higher numbers, the results show that 3D printing and conventional production have a similar environmental impact, given that the mould used in conventional production can be reused, becoming a comparatively efficient option.
ShareIt link: https://rdcu.be/cdbFy
Pre-print for download: Preprint_HINDCON (pdf-file)
