Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Francesco Pomponi, Mengyu Li, Ruth Saint, Manfred Lenzen, Bernardino D'Amico
Summary: Over a million plastic bottles are purchased globally every minute, highlighting the urgent need to address plastic pollution and reduce plastic consumption. This article focuses on redesigning a standard plastic milk bottle to improve material efficiency and evaluates the environmental benefits through hybrid life-cycle assessment. The findings demonstrate substantial potential for carbon emissions reduction and emphasize the importance of material efficiency in achieving sustainability goals.
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
A. R. Gamarra, Y. Lechon, S. Banacloche, B. Corona, J. M. de Andres
Summary: In this paper, a hybrid tiered approach called Identification and Subtraction Method (ISM) is proposed to assess the sustainability of Concentrated Solar Power technology. The results show that LCA and EMRIO methods provide the lowest and highest impact values, respectively. The ISM method expands the boundaries of the LCA by including indirect impacts and retains the technological detail, but requires detailed data analysis and cannot include partial contributions.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Review
Energy & Fuels
C. Oliveira Henriques, S. Sousa
Summary: This paper reviews the Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA), one of the underutilized but important approaches in assessing environmental implications of electricity generation. The EIO-LCA analysis, using economic input-output tables and sector-level environmental and energy data, enables comprehensive evaluation of the impacts of all sectors involved in electricity generation. The paper provides an overview of the methodology, its assumptions, and various applications in electricity generation, as well as addressing the issue of disaggregation in the electricity sector.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Patrick Lamers, Andre F. T. Avelino, Yimin Zhang, Eric C. D. Tan, Ben Young, Jorge Vendries, Helena Chum
Summary: This paper examines the suitability of an environmentally extended input-output framework for analyzing the benefits and trade-offs of expanding the bioeconomy, comparing the current U.S. bioeconomy to a hypothetical future model. The study finds that substituting gasoline with cellulosic ethanol can yield positive socio-economic benefits, but improvements are needed in some environmental impact categories.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Ronny Meglin, Susanne Kytzia, Guillaume Habert
Summary: The construction industry generates a significant amount of waste, putting pressure on the environment, and governments are implementing policies to support a circular economy. This study proposes an integrated assessment method combining Material Flow Analysis, Life Cycle Assessment, and Input-Output Analysis. Using the example of the Swiss canton of Aargovia, it demonstrates the benefits and limitations of the method, highlighting the importance of combining material and monetary flows to capture the transition toward a circular economy.
JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Kyuha Lee, Soomin Chun, Jeffrey M. Bielicki, Bhavik R. Bakshi
Summary: This study presents a computational framework for spatially-explicit environmental sustainability assessment based on a multi-regional hybrid modeling approach. The framework integrates regional activities at multiple scales and the supply of ecosystem services to perform spatially-explicit absolute environmental sustainability assessment. The framework is demonstrated using an illustrative example of corn production in two regions and compared to conventional approaches.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Andre F. T. Avelino, Patrick Lamers, Yimin Zhang, Helena Chum
Summary: Expanding the domestic bioeconomy can help diversify the use of national resources and reduce emissions. Evaluating the sustainability of a growing bioeconomy is complex and requires a comprehensive analysis framework. Analysis of the evolution of biofuel industry in the US shows increased impacts on energy, but decreased environmental impacts on an energy-unit basis over time due to industry maturation and scale-up.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2021)
Review
Agronomy
Giuliana Vinci, Roberto Ruggieri, Marco Ruggeri, Sabrina Antonia Prencipe
Summary: Rice is a crucial crop in terms of human consumption, and assessing the sustainability of its production process is of great importance. This research investigates the recent literature on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of rice primary production to determine the extent to which Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) and sustainability have been applied in the rice sector, as well as identify research gaps. The study reveals limited consideration of multiple functional units, methodological differences leading to result variability, and inadequate focus on socio-economic aspects.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Nathalie Barbosa Reis Monteiro, Jose Machado Moita Neto, Elaine Aparecida da Silva
Summary: This study used Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to measure the impact of concrete production and found that two methods of Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) were quite close in most impact categories. The results suggest that both methods are appropriate for LCA studies in Brazil. Additionally, supplier choice can become a strategy to reduce impacts on ozone depletion and global warming categories.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Susie Ruqun Wu, Lindo Wang
Summary: Transparency is crucial for supporting scientific claims in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies, but the disclosure of secondary datasets and analysis scripts of models is still relatively low. The use of open-source programming languages can enhance transparency and reproducibility. It is also important to disclose secondary datasets and provide justifications for their selection to ensure accurate interpretation of LCA results.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Arunima Malik, Michael Padget, Sarah Carter, Takako Wakiyama, Isis Maitland-Scott, Aditya Vyas, Sinead Boylan, Georgina Mulcahy, Mengyu Li, Manfred Lenzen, Kate Charlesworth, Arne Geschke
Summary: Climate change is causing various impacts on communities, while the health system in New South Wales is found to have significant environmental impacts, responsible for a considerable portion of greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and waste production in the state's economy. Targeted policies are needed to reduce not only the direct impacts of health systems, but also those from their supply chains connecting with other economic sectors.
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Daniele Costa, Paula Quinteiro, Valdecy Pereira, Ana Claudia Dias
Summary: This study presents the first social life cycle assessment of the Portuguese pulp and paper sector. Two different approaches were used to compile the social life cycle inventory and assess the social risks and positive social impacts. The results showed that Portugal and Spain have the highest social risks, with "worker" identified as the most critical stakeholder category. Approach 2 was encouraged for a more detailed evaluation, providing better guidance for corrective measures and decision-making.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Ziyue Cheng, Tianzuo Zhang, Xinying Zhou, Ziheng Li, Yuke Jia, Ke Ren, Tianshu Xu, Changting Li, Jinglan Hong
Summary: This study analyzed the environmental impact and optimization potential of prefabricated components through a life cycle assessment method. It found that a prefabrication rate of 50% and 30% could reduce potential global warming impact by 31.78% and 13.94% respectively. However, the production of prefabricated components in China incurred a social cost of up to $4.35 billion, with Shandong and Hubei provinces being the key areas for optimization.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Sarah Nicholson, V. Ismet Ugursal
Summary: This study analyzes the lifecycle environmental impacts of single-family dwellings, providing quantitative justification for building traditional homes compared to energy efficient homes. The results show that operational energy upgrades have the largest environmental impact reductions, with the Net Zero Energy home having the lowest environmental impacts among all impact groups studied. The study provides guidance for codemakers and homebuilders to make decisions based on holistic considerations of all lifecycle stages.
JOURNAL OF BUILDING ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Victor Tulus, Javier Perez-Ramirez, Gonzalo Guillen-Gosalbez
Summary: Most chemical products exceed environmental boundaries, especially in relation to greenhouse gas emissions. However, the level of transgression does not correlate with carbon footprints, suggesting that chemicals with higher emissions may not be less environmentally sustainable in absolute terms.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Qingshi Tu, Edgar G. Hertwich
Summary: Closed-loop recycling of scrap from end-of-life vehicles could reduce demand for virgin materials and associated greenhouse gas emissions, but current modeling frameworks lack a mechanistic representation of the link between changes in scrap quality and end-of-life treatment practices, posing challenges for a comprehensive assessment of the benefits of closed-loop recycling.
JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Michelle Cain, Stuart Jenkins, Myles R. Allen, John Lynch, David J. Frame, Adrian H. Macey, Glen P. Peters
Summary: Achieving the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement requires limiting the warming caused by methane and achieving net-zero or net-negative carbon dioxide emissions. Reducing methane emissions can reverse methane-induced warming within a few decades, while carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase global mean temperature until net-zero emissions are reached.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY A-MATHEMATICAL PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Myles R. Allen, Glen P. Peters, Keith P. Shine, Christian Azar, Paul Balcombe, Olivier Boucher, Michelle Cain, Philippe Ciais, William Collins, Piers M. Forster, Dave J. Frame, Pierre Friedlingstein, Claire Fyson, Thomas Gasser, Bill Hare, Stuart Jenkins, Steven P. Hamburg, Daniel J. A. Johansson, John Lynch, Adrian Macey, Johannes Morfeldt, Alexander Nauels, Ilissa Ocko, Michael Oppenheimer, Stephen W. Pacala, Raymond Pierrehumbert, Joeri Rogelj, Michiel Schaeffer, Carl F. Schleussner, Drew Shindell, Ragnhild B. Skeie, Stephen M. Smith, Katsumasa Tanaka
NPJ CLIMATE AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
R. B. Jackson, P. Friedlingstein, C. Le Quere, S. Abernethy, R. M. Andrew, J. G. Canadell, P. Ciais, S. J. Davis, Zhu Deng, Zhu Liu, J. Korsbakken, G. P. Peters
Summary: Fossil CO2 emissions in 2021 increased by an estimated 4.2% (3.5%-4.8%) to 36.2 billion metric tons compared with 2020, bringing global emissions close to the levels seen in 2019 (36.7 Gt CO2).
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Tong Wang, Peter Berrill, Julie Beth Zimmerman, Narasimha D. Rao, Jihoon Min, Edgar G. Hertwich
Summary: This study comprehensively assesses the circularity of copper use in U.S. housing services and highlights the impact of material efficiency strategies. It finds that while material efficiency strategies can reduce copper demand, the influence of the use phase on overall requirements should not be neglected. Additionally, the energy consumption during the use phase can offset the benefits of material efficiency strategies. Therefore, a greater focus on the use phase and a comprehensive consideration of the entire lifecycle of products are needed when evaluating circularity and pursuing circular economy goals.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Heran Zheng, Yin Long, Richard Wood, Daniel Moran, Zhengkai Zhang, Jing Meng, Kuishuang Feng, Edgar Hertwich, Dabo Guan
Summary: The consumption of senior citizens in developed countries has a significant impact on global carbon mitigation, but this impact is not well understood. Research shows that seniors have been increasing their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions over the past decade and are expected to become the largest contributors. In particular, seniors in the United States and Australia have a carbon footprint double the Western average. Changes in expenditure patterns of seniors are the main cause of this trend. While the increasing carbon footprint of seniors may drive domestic production, its effects on international carbon leakage are limited. This demographic change presents more challenges in local mitigation and calls for deeper public mitigation efforts.
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE
(2022)
Correction
Environmental Sciences
Heran Zheng, Yin Long, Richard Wood, Daniel Moran, Zengkai Zhang, Jing Meng, Kuishuang Feng, Edgar Hertwich, Dabo Guan
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Xiaoxiong Wang, Tong Wang, Tianyuan Zhang, Lea R. Winter, Jinghan Di, Qingshi Tu, Hongying Hu, Edgar Hertwich, Julie B. Zimmerman, Menachem Elimelech
Summary: Conventional phototrophic cultivation for micro-algae production lacks efficiency due to limited light transmission. In contrast, the use of cellulosic hydrolysate offers a cost-effective and sustainable method for heterotrophic cultivation, resulting in high algal growth rate. Techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment show that cellulosic hydrolysate-mediated heterotrophic cultivation is competitive with phototrophic cultivation, with the added benefit of reducing environmental impacts and producing high-value co-products. This study demonstrates the economic and environmental feasibility of heterotrophic microalgae production based on renewable bio-feedstocks.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Edgar Hertwich
Summary: False narratives hinder our comprehension of Europe's energy crisis and its connection to climate change and climate policy. An unbiased understanding, grounded in factual knowledge and scientific research, can resolve the perceived conflict between supply security, affordability, and environmental sustainability.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
T. Reed Miller, Marian Chertow, Edgar Hertwich
Summary: The potential climate benefit of liquid hydrogen jet fuel depends on the hydrogen fuel pathway and contrail cirrus impacts. The aviation industry faces challenges to reduce its climate impact while accommodating growth. Liquid hydrogen is considered as an alternative jet fuel due to its carbon dioxide-free combustion. A life cycle assessment was conducted to evaluate CO2 emissions and non-CO2 climate impacts for different hydrogen production routes. The study found that contrail cirrus contributes more to the climate impacts of LH2 compared to conventional jet fuel, indicating the need for further research to reduce uncertainties.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Kajwan Rasul, Edgar G. Hertwich
Summary: This study examines the impact of technological and socioeconomic drivers on the carbon footprint of primary metals. By analyzing historical data from 1995 to 2018, the study uses a multiregional input-output model to understand the changes in emissions from metal production. The results show that while high-income countries have managed to decrease emissions through reduced metal consumption and improved energy efficiency, emerging economies have seen an increase in emissions due to higher metal consumption intensity and affluency.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Correction
Engineering, Environmental
Tong Wang, Peter Berrill, Julie B. Zimmerman, Edgar G. Hertwich
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Engineering, Environmental
Aishwarya V. Iyer, Narasimha D. Rao, Edgar G. Hertwich
Summary: Urbanization, slum redevelopment, and population growth will drive a surge in residential building construction in low-and middle-income countries. However, previous studies on residential building life-cycle assessment (LCA) have largely ignored these countries, particularly informal settlements where over 800 million people live. This study addresses the data deficiency and lack of transparency in LCA studies and identifies three building types - formal, semiformal, and informal - that comprehensively represent residential buildings in low-and middle-income countries. The study also highlights the need to study current traditional buildings to establish benchmarks for future energy and material efficiency strategies.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Pierre Friedlingstein, Matthew W. Jones, Michael O'Sullivan, Robbie M. Andrew, Dorothee C. E. Bakker, Judith Hauck, Corinne Le Quere, Glen P. Peters, Wouter Peters, Julia Pongratz, Stephen Sitch, Josep G. Canadell, Philippe Ciais, Rob B. Jackson, Simone R. Alin, Peter Anthoni, Nicholas R. Bates, Meike Becker, Nicolas Bellouin, Laurent Bopp, Thi Tuyet Trang Chau, Frederic Chevallier, Louise P. Chini, Margot Cronin, Kim I. Currie, Bertrand Decharme, Laique M. Djeutchouang, Xinyu Dou, Wiley Evans, Richard A. Feely, Liang Feng, Thomas Gasser, Dennis Gilfillan, Thanos Gkritzalis, Giacomo Grassi, Luke Gregor, Nicolas Gruber, Ozgur Gurses, Ian Harris, Richard A. Houghton, George C. Hurtt, Yosuke Iida, Tatiana Ilyina, Ingrid T. Luijkx, Atul Jain, Steve D. Jones, Etsushi Kato, Daniel Kennedy, Kees Klein Goldewijk, Jurgen Knauer, Jan Ivar Korsbakken, Arne Kortzinger, Peter Landschutzer, Siv K. Lauvset, Nathalie Lefevre, Sebastian Lienert, Junjie Liu, Gregg Marland, Patrick C. McGuire, Joe R. Melton, David R. Munro, Julia E. M. S. Nabel, Shin-Ichiro Nakaoka, Yosuke Niwa, Tsuneo Ono, Denis Pierrot, Benjamin Poulter, Gregor Rehder, Laure Resplandy, Eddy Robertson, Christian Rodenbeck, Thais M. Rosan, Jorg Schwinger, Clemens Schwingshackl, Roland Seferian, Adrienne J. Sutton, Colm Sweeney, Toste Tanhua, Pieter P. Tans, Hanqin Tian, Bronte Tilbrook, Francesco Tubiello, Guido R. van der Werf, Nicolas Vuichard, Chisato Wada, Rik Wanninkhof, Andrew J. Watson, David Willis, Andrew J. Wiltshire, Wenping Yuan, Chao Yue, Xu Yue, Sonke Zaehle, Jiye Zeng
Summary: Accurate assessment of anthropogenic CO2 emissions and their redistribution among different components is critical for understanding the global carbon cycle. This study presents datasets and methodologies to quantify the major components of the global carbon budget. The results show changes in fossil fuel and land-use change emissions, as well as atmospheric CO2 concentration, ocean CO2 sink, and terrestrial CO2 sink.
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE DATA
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Lorenzo Usai, Jacob J. Lamb, Edgar Hertwich, Odne Stokke Burheim, Anders Hammer Stromman
Summary: The expansion of electric vehicles requires rapid growth in global battery production and sufficient supply of raw materials. Strengthening the battery value chain is crucial to avoid supply chain bottlenecks. Significant investment in production facilities and a skilled workforce is necessary, but the exact employment and investment required are uncertain due to the early development stage of the sector and technological advancements. Furthermore, the deployment of novel battery technologies may reduce the demand for critical raw materials, but could also require the redesign of production facilities.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH: INFRASTRUCTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Lars odegaard Bentsen, Narada Dilp Warakagoda, Roy Stenbro, Paal Engelstad
Summary: This study investigates uncertainty modeling in wind power forecasting using different parametric and non-parametric methods. Johnson's SU distribution is found to outperform Gaussian distributions in predicting wind power. This research contributes to the literature by introducing Johnson's SU distribution as a candidate for probabilistic wind forecasting.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2024)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Xing Liu, Qiuchen Wang, Yunhao Wen, Long Li, Xinfang Zhang, Yi Wang
Summary: This study analyzes the characteristics of process parameters in three lean gas ethane recovery processes and establishes a prediction and multiobjective optimization model for ethane recovery and system energy consumption. A new method for comparing ethane recovery processes for lean gas is proposed, and the addition of extra coolers improves the ethane recovery. The support vector regression model based on grey wolf optimization demonstrates the highest prediction accuracy, and the multiobjective multiverse optimization algorithm shows the best optimization performance and diversity in the solutions.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2024)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Cairong Song, Haidong Yang, Xian-Bing Meng, Pan Yang, Jianyang Cai, Hao Bao, Kangkang Xu
Summary: The paper proposes a novel deep learning-based prediction framework, aTCN-LSTM, for accurate cooling load predictions. The framework utilizes a gate-controlled multi-head temporal convolutional network and a sparse probabilistic self-attention mechanism with a bidirectional long short-term memory network to capture both temporal and long-term dependencies in the cooling load sequences. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method, which can serve as an effective guide for HVAC chiller scheduling and demand management initiatives.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2024)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Zhe Chen, Xiaojing Li, Xianli Xia, Jizhou Zhang
Summary: This study uses survey data from the Loess Plateau in China to evaluate the impact of social interaction on the adoption of soil and water conservation (SWC) technology by farmers. The study finds that social interaction increases the likelihood of farmers adopting SWC, and internet use moderates this effect. The positive impact of social interaction on SWC adoption is more pronounced for farmers in larger villages and those who join cooperative societies.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2024)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Chenghua Zhang, Yunfei Yan, Kaiming Shen, Zongguo Xue, Jingxiang You, Yonghong Wu, Ziqiang He
Summary: This paper reports a novel method that significantly improves combustion performance, including heat transfer enhancement under steady-state conditions and adaptive stable flame regulation under velocity sudden increase.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2024)
