Review
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Ana Fonseca, Edgar Ramalho, Ana Gouveia, Filipa Figueiredo, Joao Nunes
Summary: The search for better materials to produce sustainable products is driven by rising concerns about environmental harm and pollution, leading to the appointment of Polylactic Acid (PLA) as a more sustainable alternative to commonly used fossil-based plastics. A systematic literature review of 81 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies on PLA products shows that while PLA can replace fossil plastics, it has higher environmental impacts on categories such as marine eutrophication, freshwater eutrophication, and human toxicity. The use of alternative biomass sources without competition with the feed and food sector could be a key option for biobased materials production with lower environmental and socioeconomic impacts.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Kranti Navare, Wouter Arts, Giorgia Faraca, Gil Van den Bossche, Bert Sels, Karel Van Acker
Summary: Cascading wood in products helps to store carbon and reduce emissions, allowing forests more time to sequester carbon. The Global Warming Potential (GWP) decreases as the number of cascade steps increases, with benefits increasing by extending product lifetimes.
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
(2022)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Fangjie Liu, Muhammad Shafique, Xiaowei Luo
Summary: This review examines the life cycle assessment of alternative fuels, comparing different assessment frameworks, identifying emission hotspots, and providing recommendations for future research. The analysis shows that all stages, except for hydrogen use, have an environmental impact, but the boundaries and inventories vary due to differences in raw materials, production processes, and products. Further refinement of the assessment is needed, and future research should consider the various impacts of alternative fuels in transportation on social, economic, and environmental aspects.
ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Thomas Buchholz, Tad Mason, Bruce Springsteen, John Gunn, David Saah
Summary: Carbon life cycle assessments (C LCA) are crucial for analyzing greenhouse gas emissions related to forest management for wood products. This study evaluated standard inputs and assumptions for wood product C LCAs in California, finding deviations in sawmill efficiencies and wood product outputs. Further analysis is recommended to improve C LCA metrics and advance forest-related climate policy discussions.
Review
Environmental Studies
Alejandro Padilla-Rivera, Marwa Hannouf, Getachew Assefa, Ian Gates
Summary: Previous literature reviews on life cycle sustainability assessment have mainly focused on methodology, case studies, indicators, and integration. However, there has been limited research on redefining the economic dimension of LCSA and addressing challenges at lower technological readiness levels for emerging technologies. This study fills this gap by concentrating on the economic dimension of LCSA and providing innovative suggestions for expanding the traditional Life Cycle Costing method and introducing tangible indicators suitable for diverse stakeholder groups.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REVIEW
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Poonam Khatri, Prakash Nepal, Kamalakanta Sahoo, Richard Bergman, David Nicholls, Andrew Gray
Summary: Using the life-cycle assessment methodology, this study estimated the embodied carbon of wood products from California in 2019, taking into account the emissions occurring at different stages of the products' life cycle. The findings suggest that dynamic assessment methods provide a more accurate estimation of the emission reduction benefits of substituting wood for non-wood products, compared to static assessment methods.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Review
Polymer Science
Arnaud Besserer, Sarah Troilo, Pierre Girods, Yann Rogaume, Nicolas Brosse
Summary: Wood is a sought-after renewable resource, with waste wood being used for new material production. However, improvements in legislation and recycling processes are necessary to maximize reuse and enhance recycled wood properties. Innovations in sorting techniques, cleaning processes, and bioremediation are being developed in Europe to address these challenges.
Article
Environmental Studies
Hafiz Usman Ghani, Awais Mahmood, Matthias Finkbeiner, Martin Kaltschmitt, Shabbir H. Gheewala
Summary: This study aims to develop a new approach for eco-efficiency assessment based on absolute sustainability, in order to address environmental challenges. Through a case study in the food sector, it was found that the environmental impacts of rice production in Pakistan exceeded sustainable limits. Recommendations were made to reduce the environmental impacts of rice and analyze other food products and management practices to promote sustainability and avoid unnecessary exploitation of resources.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REVIEW
(2023)
Review
Engineering, Environmental
Adeline Jerome, Harald Helander, Maria Ljunggren, Matty Janssen
Summary: This review fills the gap in understanding the specificities captured by circular economy (CE) indicators and their application in real cases, by describing and comparing the resource-related effects captured by existing resource-based product-level indicators. The study maps the flows and processes quantified by these indicators, tests them on seven real cases, and compares the results with life cycle assessment (LCA) findings. The review reveals significant divergence in the scope of the indicators, with limited consideration for important aspects of the CE such as resource use in the use phase and lifetime extension strategies. The study highlights the need for a set of single-focus indicators to outline trade-offs and suggests that CE indicators cannot easily replace LCA.
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Christina Kockel, Lars Nolting, Rafael Goldbeck, Christina Wulf, Rik W. De Doncker, Aaron Praktiknjo
Summary: This study aims to quantify the environmental impacts of DC and AC microgrids in building-level power distribution, demonstrating that operating a microgrid based on DC power distribution infrastructure can significantly reduce the environmental impacts of power electronic components used and lead to savings in climate change impact emissions. Additionally, the study suggests that current scaling rules of power electronics used in LCAs may lead to inaccurate results, and proposes a more technical approach for a detailed analysis of the environmental impacts of power electronic components at a system level.
Review
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Phumlani Masilela, Anup Pradhan
Summary: This study provides a systematic literature review on the environmental and sustainability assessment of dark fermentative biohydrogen production. The majority of studies focus on life cycle inventory analysis, with a particular interest in the storage and application of biohydrogen. However, there are issues regarding the formulation of clear study goals and scopes, resulting in misrepresented environmental outcomes. Thus, further research and data support are needed for an accurate sustainability assessment of biohydrogen production.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
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.
Review
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Sandro Sacchelli, Costanza Borghi, Roberto Fratini, Iacopo Bernetti
Summary: This article provides a quantitative review of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) in Europe, analyzing research distribution in different countries, with a focus on the Mediterranean and Scandinavian regions. Common NWFPs included mushrooms, resin, cork, and other forest fruits, with a major emphasis on aspects such as local socioeconomic improvement.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Mengwan Zhang, Ning Ma, Youneng Yang
Summary: This paper combines a life cycle assessment and a dynamic network slacks-based model to measure the carbon emission efficiency of the wood processing industry in China. The results show that the overall carbon emission efficiency is 0.6161, with higher efficiency in coastal and northwest regions. The efficiency levels of some provinces are increasing, while others have significant differences. The most serious efficiency loss is at the processing stage. These findings provide important references for promoting low-carbon development and policy formulation in the wood processing industry.
Review
Construction & Building Technology
A. Silva, J. de Brito
Summary: This study identifies and synthesizes relevant research on service life prediction of building envelope elements using a systematic review of 107 publications. A database is created to highlight empirical evidence and improve awareness of the variance between predictions and real service life. The database can aid researchers, end-users, and practitioners in applying past research for future projections and managing building life cycles.
JOURNAL OF BUILDING ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Nils Thonemann, Sebastian Stiessel, Daniel Maga, Boris Dresen, Markus Hiebel, Bjoern Hunstock, Goerge Deerberg, Eckhard Weidner
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
(2020)
Review
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Nils Thonemann, Anna Schulte, Daniel Maga
Review
Energy & Fuels
Nils Thonemann
Review
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Alexis Laurent, Bo P. Weidema, Jane Bare, Xun Liao, Danielle Maia de Souza, Massimo Pizzol, Serenella Sala, Hanna Schreiber, Nils Thonemann, Francesca Verones
JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Nils Thonemann, Daniel Maga
CHEMIE INGENIEUR TECHNIK
(2020)
Editorial Material
Engineering, Environmental
Daniel Maga, Nils Thonemann, Philip Strothmann, Guido Sonnemann
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Anna Schulte, Daniel Maga, Nils Thonemann
Summary: The remanufacturing of medical products, such as electrophysiology catheters, is seen as having great potential for sustainability. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is commonly used to evaluate the environmental impact of remanufactured products, but a system perspective is needed for decision-making. This study found that using remanufactured catheters can significantly reduce global warming impact and abiotic resource use compared to newly-manufactured catheters.
Review
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Nils Thonemann, Leon Zacharopoulos, Felix Fromme, Jochen Nuhlen
Summary: Mineral carbonation technologies rely on mineralization reactions to sequester carbon dioxide into mineral products, aiming at carbon capture, utilization, and storage. Studies show that various pathways and methodologies can significantly impact the results of life cycle assessments, and by conducting qualitative and meta analyses, the most environmentally friendly ex-situ carbonation routes can be identified.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Daniel Maga, Christina Galafton, Jan Bloemer, Nils Thonemann, Aybueke Oezdamar, Juergen Bertling
Summary: This study proposes a method for assessing the risks of plastic emissions by quantifying plastic pollution equivalents using characterization factors based on the persistence of plastics in the environment. The results include degradation measurements, redistribution patterns, and an uncertainty analysis of the suggested characterization factors.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
(2022)
Correction
Engineering, Environmental
Daniel Maga, Christina Galafton, Jan Bloemer, Nils Thonemann, Aybueke Oezdamar, Juergen Bertling
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Karen Saavedra-Rubio, Nils Thonemann, Eleonora Crenna, Bruno Lemoine, Priscillia Caliandro, Alexis Laurent
Summary: The article discusses the importance of life cycle inventory (LCI) data gathering in life cycle assessment (LCA) studies and presents a stepwise data collection guidance to address the issues of inefficiency, lack of transparency, and inconsistency caused by existing guidelines limitations.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Leon Zacharopoulos, Nils Thonemann, Marcel Dumeier, Jutta Geldermann
Summary: This study develops a model that combines variable environmental impacts of electricity generation with user behavior, and quantifies and optimizes the environmental impacts at different time points. The study finds that focusing solely on minimizing overall environmental impacts could lead to conflicting objectives. Optimizing demand timing can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but increases material resource depletion.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Christina Galafton, Daniel Maga, Guido Sonnemann, Nils Thonemann
Summary: This study assesses the environmental impacts of different plasticulture methods for strawberry cultivation, including the possible impacts caused by plastic emissions. The results show that using a combination of conventional mulch film and row cover or biodegradable mulch film has the lowest environmental impacts, while a macro tunnel or greenhouse has the highest impacts. Plastic pollution contributes significantly to the overall environmental impact of strawberry cultivation, and efforts are being made to include plastic emissions in life cycle assessment.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Lea Rupcic, Eleonore Pierrat, Karen Saavedra-Rubio, Nils Thonemann, Chizoba Ogugua, Alexis Laurent
Summary: The aviation sector contributes to environmental problems, and a systematic literature review of life cycle assessment studies is performed to map the environmental impacts in the sector and provide methodological recommendations. The sector is divided into cross-cutting systems, and the review confirms a focus on climate change impacts. Mitigation strategies involve reducing CO2 emissions during aircraft operations and improving fuel efficiency. Knowledge gaps, such as noise impacts and non-CO2 flight emissions, are identified and discussed, and recommendations are provided to LCA practitioners and aviation stakeholders.
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH PART D-TRANSPORT AND ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Aerospace
Markus Meindl, Cor de Ruiter, Valerio Marciello, Mario Di Stasio, Florian Hilpert, Manuela Ruocco, Fabrizio Nicolosi, Nils Thonemann, Karen Saavedra-Rubio, Louis Locqueville, Alexis Laurent, Martin Maerz
Summary: The article discusses the challenges of sustainability and emission reductions faced by airports. It focuses on the GENESIS project and its aim to develop a technology roadmap for the transition to sustainable and competitive electric aircraft systems. The article proposes various options for ground power supply at a regional airport and estimates the future energy demand per day, month, and year.
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)