Global Warming Impacts Study of Tofu Products in Mampang Prapatan Small and Medium Enterprises with Life Cycle Assessment Methods

Firstly global warming issue caused by greenhouse gas emissions (CO2) which comes from human activities. Along with increasing of daily need, that humans of activities food produce is also increase, include of tofu. Tofu is a traditional Indonesian specialty made from soybeans and used as a side dish. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of global warming from tofu products on Mampang Prapatan's Small Tofu and Medium Enterprises. The method used in this study is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method with the help of Simapro 8.4 software with a 1 kg tofu functional unit. The data collected in this study is the average data of tofu production for 3 months, namely January - March 2018. The LCA data in this study include the process of soybean cultivation, transportation processes for shipping soybeans, water, fuel wood, and electricity use. The limitations of this study are from cradle (soybean cultivation) to gate (tofu products).The results showed that UKM Mampang Prapatan has the potential impact of global warming with a value of 3.84 kg CO2-eq, while the value of global warming in the production process knows the scenario of wastewater treatment and the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) as fuel for boiling pulp 4.49 kg CO2-eq soybeans. Based on the results of this study, greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions are issued; the intervention that can be done is to optimize the use of raw materials for production to reduce the impact of CO2-eq kg global warming.

LCA database creation

LCA studies require a high volume of data and their quality has a direct influence on the quality of the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study overall. The use of LCA databases enables users to (i) reduce time, efforts, and resources for data collection and (ii) reflect supply chains they have no direct control over. On the other side, it creates the need to align own modeling of the foreground LCA study with the modeling in the database. In recent years, countries worldwide have been more and more motivated in supporting LCA studies by providing national databases that reflect their economy, energy mix, and disposal technologies. This article aims to give insights on the main needs, requirements, and challenges for the creation of an LCA database, with a special focus on national, reference databases. First, the article defines the main characteristics of LCA datasets and discusses data collection approaches. Secondly, LCA databases are defined, and the creation of LCA databases from developed datasets is addressed, including the case of national LCA databases. Finally, the existence of tools that could ease the LCA dataset and database creation process is investigated, namely the LCA Collaboration Server and the LCA Data-Machine. It is important that countries willing to create a national database are supported, for example with capacity-building workshops, by actors with a long tradition in the field, which is of mutual benefit: Countries with a long tradition in LCA will benefit from interactions with newcomers, for instance by discussing together unsolved methodological and interoperability issues; newcomers do not need to start from scratch but can benefit from gained experiences. Creating databases that provide specific data for various parts of the world supports LCA methodology and application in general, and it is not the least a chance for local LCA communities to bring in innovation into LCA, and benefit from existing experiences at the same time.

Bioenergy Power Generation Improved Through Biomass Co-Firing

Generally, power plants have an environmental negative impact, due to emissions released from the power plant process. The Coal-fired power plant is the most dominant in the world. This is due to the relatively cheap price of coal and high calories produced. But on the other hand emissions generated by coal-fired power plants are quite large compared to other types of power plants, while all countries are working to reduce global warming, one of which is by reducing CO2 emissions. Utilization Renewable Energy is one of the solutions in efforts to reduce the use of fossil energy so that there is a decrease in CO2. Biomass is renewable energy which is currently widely used as fuel for electricity generation, Biomass fuel can be used 100% for a plant called PLTBm and can also be a coal-fired power plant with a certain percentage mix. Therefore, an analysis using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method is used to determine differences in emissions produced between coal-fired power plants compared to the Biomass co-firing system. The result is a PLTU with a Biomass co-firing system produces lower emissions than a 100% coal-fired power plant.

LCA and Ecodesign Framework and Applications in the Electronics Sector

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an indispensable tool in estimating the environmental impact of products and services. Generating estimates according to international standards is a crucial precondition towards optimizing the environmental performance of products and services. In Europe, the Ecodesign Directive (2009/125/EC) provides a method on how to determine impacts associated with energy-using and energy-related products, including electric and electronic equipment (EEE). One the one hand, efforts are being made to further harmonize LCA methods to allow for comparative assertions between different products and to eventually integrate LCA results into further parts of the European environmental legislation. On the other hand, LCA studies of electronics components, products, and product-service-systems can be very complex, reflecting the global supply chains, advanced production methods, and fast technological developments in the field of EEE. This paper provides and overview of both the LCA and Ecodesign framework, current developments in the field, and illustrates the intricacies of LCA studies in the field of EEE with a focus on consumer ICT and IT devices.

Ten Golden Rules for Applying Life Cycle Information

We have seen rivers burning, marine litter growing, climate change impacts increasing, limited resources to name a few. Often our resources are directed towards actions which we create unexpected impacts elsewhere, because we have not considered the full range of impacts along a product life cycle. Life cycle assessment has increasing become a tool of choice to understand the environmental and social trade-offs associated with product and packaging systems. What have we learned that can accelerate the generation and use of life cycle information to inform decision making? As we are approaching nearly 30 years of experiences, there is much still to do to develop the capacity and capabilities to generate and use life cycle information to ensure we are working on the right issue, at the right place in the value chain, and by the right groups. We see a future where products will be designed, manufactured, used and managed at the end of life in ways to create reduced environmental and social impacts than the previous generation. These innovative products will create business value, e.g., growing revenue, enhancing brand, reducing costs, and mitigating risk). All actors over a product’s life cycle have a role. New business models will surface. These outcomes are happening now, but not at the scale needed. Based upon nearly 30 years of experiences, we have identified Ten Golden Rules for applying life cycle information. These will be described with examples and guidance on how they can be applied within your own organization.

A participatory, territory-rooted and change-oriented approach to assess the multi-criteria contribution of an agrifood value chain to sustainable development

Agrifood Value chains (AVCs) can be powerful driving forces for sustainable development. Multi-criteria analysis is particularly useful for supporting decision making on improvement measures in AVCs. Methodological guidelines are still needed to effectively integrate environmental and socio-economical assessment tools and indicators at this level.In this paper, we propose a participatory, territory-rooted and change-oriented framework. The framework is applied to analyse the contribution of the main local poultry AVC in Reunion Island to the sustainable development of the territory. The main stakeholders of the AVC participated in (i) identifying key territory challenges, (ii) selecting corresponding appropriate assessment methods and indicators, (iii) defining the perimeter of the AVC and (iv) the improvement scenarios to be explored, v) providing data inventory, and vi) interpreting the results of the assessment.Both the environmental life cycle assessment and the effect method fit the proposed framework particularly well. They were applied to the same AVC data inventory, improvement scenarios were explored and indicators were spatialized to distinguish the local impacts in the root territory and externalized impacts at the global scale.In the ecological dimension of our case study, most of the effects linked to the AVC activities which threaten resources conservation and ecosystem health are externalized. This is due to strong dependency on foreign resources: in the case of fossil energy and raw materials used for livestock feed, 82% of environmental impacts occur outside Reunion Island. In the socio-economic dimension, the employment created by the AVC is mainly local due to the use of local services, 89% of jobs are provided in Reunion Island. Improvement of on-farm eco-efficiency was shown to be a mitigation option that would significantly affect the impacts of the AVC. Human and ecosystem health, and resources conservation would be improved by respectively +2.2, +9.8 and +4.8,% at global scale. But the AVC industrial network and the community would also be negatively affected, by respectively -2.2 and -3.0%, at local scale. This study underlines trade-offs between the environmental and the socio-economic dimensions and methodological challenges associated with the effective integration of assessment methods originating from diverse disciplines.

Critical parameters for integrating co-composting of POME and EFB into life cycle assessment models of palm oil production.

Palm oil mill’s co-products (empty fruit bunch – EFB and palm oil mill effluent – POME) management is a matter of concern in Indonesia. Co-composting is a promising waste management practice that would allow a reduction of environmental impact and a restitution of organic matter to the soil. This study is a part of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) project and aims to pinpoint the most environmentally impacting compartments of the palm oil production chain. It deals more specifically with the Life Cycle Inventory of data on the composting process based on site specific data. Data on the recycled biomass, energy demand and yielded compost properties were recorded in an industrial palm oil mill over one year. Due to the local conditions, high nutrient leaching from the compost were recorded and the compost remained very wet and hot (thermophilic phase). The composting process only led to 40% of methane avoidance compared to anaerobic digestion of POME, and the global nutrient recovery efficiency was below 50%. We identified the following critical parameters to increase environmental benefits from composting: i) the POME/FFB ratio from the mill ii) the roofing of the composting platform, iii) the POME/EFB ratio, iv) the turning frequency, v) the recycling of leachates and vi) the process duration and drying period. The nutrient recovery and the doses of compost applied in the field depend on all of those inter-connected parameters. The data presented will be used within LCA models to assess net environmental benefits from various POME and EFB co-composting systems.

An LCA of French beans from Kenya for decision-makers

Although challenging, private and public decision-makers increasingly demand for quantitative assessments of the environmental performance of value chains in South contexts. This paper presents and critically analyzes a complete LCA study performed with Endpoint indicators for a public decision-maker for the fresh French bean (FB) value chain of Kenya. A cradle-to-market-gate LCA study was done including five main stages: agricultural production, transport by road before pack-house, pack-house, transport by road after pack-house, intercontinental transport by air-freight and using 1 kg of raw French bean processed as functional unit. Supported by local experts, primary data were collected for all inputs and outputs for 33 farms over 5 counties and 2 pack-houses. An expert-based typology defined four farm types: large-farm, medium-farm, small-holder farm (SHF) contracted and small-holder farm scattered. Best available methods for field emissions were used and adapted when possible to local conditions (e.g. P losses). At market-gate, air-freight was identified as main hot-spot pleading for the design of stabilized FB products that could be sea-freighted. At farm-gate, large differences were observed between farm types and fertilizer, water and land use were the key-drivers of their eco-efficiency. Impacts due to pesticides applications were small at Endpoint level but were incomplete. These results should be validated with a greater sample of stakeholders and the scope of the LCA should be extended to the consumption stage. Research is also needed to provide LCA practitionners with operational and reliable tools for a better inclusion of pesticides’ impacts and uncertainty.

Using the LANCA® Model to Account for Soil Quality Within LCA: First Application and Approach Comparison in Two Contrasted Tropical Case Studies

Assessing the effect of land management on soil quality is nowadays a key environmental concern, as the soil system is linked to major ecosystem services. There is a strong methodological shortage to integrate the impact of anthropogenic pressure on the soil system within large scale environmental frameworks, such as the Life Cycle Assessment. The LANCA® method was proposed to meet this need, integrating five impact categories of soil functions and directly applicable within the Life Cycle Assessment framework. Although the most recent 2016-LANCA® version shows readiness to be integrated in this large scale environmental framework to meet the demand, it has not yet been applied and validated on case studies. This study proposes a first application of the LANCA® model on two contrasted agricultural-based case studies to share experience in implementing the model through both background and foreground approaches, to analyze the first model outputs and to provide tracks for further model improvements. The results proved that both LANCA® approaches were poorly sensitive to the agricultural land managements tested. The foreground approach was difficult to implement due to the lack of transparency of the targeted characterization factors calculation procedure. Further global sensitivity and redundancy analysis should also be proposed in order to validate the consistency of the global model.

Life Cycle Assessment of electricity generation from Jatropha oil in a short chain in Mali

Jatropha curcas is an inedible oil crop which can grow under semiarid climatic conditions. Its oil can be used straight as fuel to provide energy in remote areas to improve living conditions. The aim of this study is to assess the environmental impacts of the electricity generation from Jatropha oil under West African conditions, by means of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). These potential impacts are calculated for four crop managements and compared to the ones of a reference electricity generation from conventional diesel. Data used in this work are from Jatropha plantations set up in Mali since 2006.LCA results show that the potential benefits of the Jatropha systems are highly dependent on the crop management, especially for the fertilization strategy and the promotion of the oilcake. However, in all cases, the Jatropha systems have lower impacts than the reference diesel system by 75% to 96% for abiotic depletion, and by 80% to 97% for ozone layer depletion, and higher impacts by 260% to 1000% for eutrophication, and by 26% to 160% for acidification. In the best case, the Jatropha system can also have lower impacts than the reference system by 76% for climate change, and by 88% for photochemical oxidation.A methodological originality of this work is the inclusion of animal and human labour into the LCA framework. A first model is proposed for the accounting of energy consumption and GreenHouse Gases (GHG) emissions due to labour. Concerning energy consumption, labour is not negligible with a share from 14% to 50% of the total impact of the Jatropha systems; however the highest share of 50% corresponds to the scenarios with the lowest energy demand. CH4 emissions from livestock are also not negligible but second-order in this study since they account for 2% to 13% of total GHG emissions.