We conducted a top-level assessment of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, water, and land use associated to production of the following protein sources:
This was achieved by means of a review of LCA literature, complemented with modelling done specifically for this study.
The management of ladle refractory material waste in European Steelworks currently has no consistent Best Available Technology (BAT), with most of it being dumped in landfills. At the same time all steelmakers are worried about ladle refractory costs and risks but the improvements are achieved based on partial assumptions or trial and error. This Circular Economy Project answers to this situation based on a "4R" model, combining waste reduction by means of monitoring and optimizing the ladle refractory consumption (via remaining brick thickness) with processes for Reusing/Remanufacturing and Recycling the ladle refractory brick waste. The final optimized application will come from an expert decision tree and accompanied by the corresponding LCA studies. This innovative approach and knowledge aims to be totally transferable to other steel companies with both significant environmental and economic benefits.
This report presents the executive summary of the first detailed life cycle assessment (LCA) study of palm oil production comparing the environmental impact of RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) certified sustainable palm oil with non- certified palm oil, as a cradle-to-gate LCA study. See project: LCA of Certified Palm Oil
The integration of an off-grid solar-assisted heat pump (SHP) and a sequencing batch biofilter granular reactor (SBBGR) for thermal energy recovery from wastewater was assessed by means of a prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC), by theoretically scaling up a pilot installation in Bari, Italy, to a full-scale unit designed for 5000 person-equivalents. The LCA and LCC included all activities in the life cycle of the SHP and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), namely construction, operation and end-of-life. The thermal energy produced by the SHP was assessed as supplying heating and cooling for an air-conditioning system, displacing a conventional air-source heat pump powered by electricity from the grid. This integrated system was compared to a reference situation where wastewater is treated in a conventional WWTP applying activated sludge with no thermal energy recovery system, showing clear environmental benefits in all impact indicators, such as a 42% reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions and a cost reduction of 53%. Several sensitivity analyses confirmed these findings, with the exception of the price rebound effect, which showed that the lower cost of the integrated system could lead to overturning the environmental benefits. As a limitation of the study, the distribution of the supplied air-conditioning to meet a demand off-site the WWTP premises, such as in residential buildings or hotels, was not included. Therefore, our results constitute only a preliminary positive outcome that should be validated in a real-life application.
Refractories are ceramic materials used to protect equipment in industries working at high temperatures. They contain compounds like aluminium silicates, magnesium, dolomite, chromite, zirconium, carbides, nitrides and oxides. Steel production is the main user of these materials, consuming around 70% of their total production. About 4 million tonnes of refractories are produced in Europe, representing 11% of world production. Most of the raw materials involved are considered as Critical Raw Materials by the EU but, surprisingly, only 7% of the raw material volume arises from recycled sources globally. In the European steel sector, recycling and valorisation of refractory materials is most often sporadic. LIFE 5REFRACT aims at applying a "5R" (reduce, reuse, remanufacture, recycle, re-educate) approach within the steel sector to reach an integral valorisation of refractory materials. The project will constitute the first industrial and systematic demonstration experience dealing with refractory waste in the European steel sector, studying different waste management alternatives for refractory waste produced at the SIDENOR steel mill in Bizkaia, Spain. Specific aims of the project include, among others, recovering up to 80% of refractory waste, developing recycled refractory products and establishing guidelines for the European steel sector to adopt these strategies.
Read more on the official LIFE Programme website: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/life/publicWebsite/project/details/4926
Read the paper: Life cycle assessment of refractory waste management in a Spanish steel works
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