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ME515 Life Cycle Assessment

MECHANICAL ENGINEERINGMECHANICAL ENGINEERING

ME515 Life Cycle AssessmentIntroduction

winter quarter 2020

Joyce Cooper

UW Professor of Mechanical Engineering

[email protected] website at

http://faculty.washington.edu/cooperjs/NEWDFE/Courses/Cooper_ME515.html

mailto:[email protected]



MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Solid Fuels Processing Technologies


ME515: LCA

• Instructor: Professor Joyce Cooper

– email: [email protected]

– office hours: Tues 9:30-10:20 in MEB304

• This class was first taught at the UW in 2003

• Textbook

– Heijungs, R. and S. Suh (2002) The Computational Structure of Life Cycle Assessment, Kluwar Academic Publishers: Dordrecht, The Netherlands

mailto:[email protected]





ME515 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a standardized research method to evaluate the impacts of a product, process, or service through all stages of its life cycle (i.e., from materials extraction through manufacturing, use, and retirement).

• Impacts deal with sustainability, as in impacts to the environment, economics/ business, and society

– During the last decade, LCA made its way to the forefront of public decision making….





US Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007

• No Federal agency shall enter into a contract for procurement of an alternative or synthetic fuel, including a fuel produced from nonconventional petroleum sources, for any mobility-related use, other than for research or testing, unless the contract

specifies that the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions

associated with the production and combustion of the fuel supplied under the contract must, on an ongoing basis, be less than or equal to such emissions from the equivalent conventional fuel produced from conventional petroleum sources.

• H.R.6: Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate), PROCUREMENT AND ACQUISITION OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS. see http://thomas.loc.gov

http://thomas.loc.gov/



Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), Product Category Rules (PCRs), and Eco-friendly Labels

"Ecolabelling" is a voluntary method of environmental performance certification and labelling that is practisedaround the world. An ecolabel identifies products or services proven environmentally preferable overall, within a specific product or service category (http://www.globalecolabelling.net/what-is-eco-labelling/).

See http://www.ecolabelindex.com/

http://www.globalecolabelling.net/what-is-eco-labelling/

http://www.ecolabelindex.com/





Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

• LCA is a research method standardized in ISO14040. – Scientific and engineering research

seeks to be repeatable and transparent.

– However, research can be implicitly driven by what the researcher views as critical to the results (i.e., the research scope).

– Thus, different researchers using the same research method with different research scopes and underlying data may obtain different results.

This can result in confusion for decision makers, especially when

select results are more widely disseminated.





ME515: LCA

• In this class, you will develop an LCA of a technology of your choice.– We only have 10-weeks, so we will take some short cuts to

ensure we go through the whole LCA process.

– Your project MUST span the life cycle and MUST NOT repeat an LCA that has already been done.

– What makes a good topic? Something related to:

• Your graduate research

• A job you have or want

• A personal interest



Course Websitehttp://faculty.washington.edu/cooperjs/NEWDFE/Courses/Cooper_ME515.html

Find lectures, resources, and weekly reading assignments on

the website.

The password is usually

…..and sometimes

….






Syllabus: just-in-time project knowledgeassignments to be submitted on canvas

Jan. 7-9: Course introduction

Jan. 14: Goal and scope definition

****Project proposal is due by 5pm on Jan. 17

Jan. 16: The basic model for inventory analysis

Jan. 21-23: Inventory data sources

****Goal and scope report is due by 5pm on Jan. 24

Jan. 28-30: The refined model for inventory analysis

Feb. 4-6: Inventory working sessions

Feb. 11-13: Impact Assessment

****Inventory analysis is due by 5pm on Feb. 14

Feb. 18-20: Interpretation

Feb 25-27: LCA tools, issues and status

Mar. 3-12: Student project presentations

****Final report is due by 5pm on Mar. 16

Weeks 1-2

Weeks 2-5

Week 6

Week 7+

See http://faculty.washington.edu/cooperjs/NEWDFE/Courses/Cooper_ME515.html






Grading

• Grading will be based on your proposal, interim, and final reports:

– Project proposal (0.5)

– Goal and scope report (0.5)

– Inventory analysis (1.5)

– Class presentation (0.5)

– Final sections of the final report (1.0)

• NO LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED!





Course Objectives

• Define the goal and scope for an LCA project.

• Analyze and apply methods for data development for LCA.

• Analyze and apply the computational structure of LCA.

• Understand the relationship between the product life cycle, impact, and improvement opportunities.





What does LCA estimate?

• Typically, environmental impacts for the life cycle

– Energy consumption, contribution to climate change, acidification, toxic impacts, water use….

• If only climate change, you get a carbon footprint

• If only water, you get a water footprint

• But also impacts in other categories of sustainability– Business impacts such as change in profit, materials management

needs, business disruption (e.g., trade impacts), training & personnel protection, brand equity, R&D expenditures…

– Socio-economic impacts such as job creation/ economic development, child labor, health and safety, regional through international resources, …





The more “legendary” examples

• Grocery bags, diapers, coffee cups, bottled water, hydrogen, and of course corn ethanol

• Which is best?

– It depends on where you live, the time of year, what is considered most important• Climate change• Resource renewability• Water use• Biodiversity• Ecosystem preservation/ restoration• The health of your family or of

others

http://www.tullys.com/company/cp_ir.asp

http://www3.bookstore.washington.edu/_husky/HSItemView.taf?View=DispItem&Cat=Accessories&ItemCatID=Acc_1011

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://rcrawford79.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/ethanol.jpg&imgrefurl=http://rcrawford79.wordpress.com/2007/08/14/enthanol-boondoggle-or-savior/&h=501&w=432&sz=12&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=_SEBFC3PVVeFrM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=112&prev=/images?q=ethanol&um=1&hl=en&rlz=1T4FUJB_enUS258US258&sa=G

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://bigmarketing.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/starbucks_cup.jpg&imgrefurl=http://aruljohn.wordpress.com/&h=337&w=278&sz=13&hl=en&start=5&um=1&tbnid=ds-t-wlJKqL53M:&tbnh=119&tbnw=98&prev=/images?q=starbucks&um=1&hl=en&rlz=1T4FUJB_enUS258US258

http://www.imprintitems.com/drinkware/watersportsbottle/nalgene-hdpe-bottle

http://www.imprintitems.com/drinkware/watersportsbottle/stainless-steel-bottle-sm23

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://seanmunoz.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/image-80-tap-water.gif&imgrefurl=http://seanmunoz.wordpress.com/2007/09/09/top-5-best-and-worst-waters/&h=341&w=341&sz=69&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=ttJL_mQigpkalM:&tbnh=120&tbnw=120&prev=/images?q=tap+water+&um=1&hl=en&rlz=1T4FUJB_enUS258US258&sa=N

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://inventorspot.com/files/images/hydrogen%20car.JPG&imgrefurl=http://inventorspot.com/13_enzymes&h=347&w=349&sz=19&hl=en&start=6&um=1&tbnid=Yjf1rISTEtkA0M:&tbnh=119&tbnw=120&prev=/images?q=image+hydrogen&um=1&hl=en&rlz=1T4FUJB_enUS258US258



A recent example

See http://css.umich.edu/publication/beyond-meats-beyond-burger-life-cycle-assessment-detailed-comparison-between-plant-based

http://css.umich.edu/publication/beyond-meats-beyond-burger-life-cycle-assessment-detailed-comparison-between-plant-based

From Pré Consultants, "The Eco-indicator99: A damage-oriented method for Life Cycle Impact Assessment, Manual for Designers,“ http://www.pre.nl/eco-indicator99/index.html

A coffee maker’s life cycle

http://www.pre.nl/eco-indicator99/index.html

e.g., the product is 6 cups of coffee per day for 5 years

e.g., the co-products are compost from 6 cups of coffee per day for 5 years and recyclable equipment and packaging

Much of the current research and controversy in LCA is about co-products (aka byproducts)



Foreground processes represent construction and operation of the technology at the core of your LCA.Data for foreground processes are typically prepared by the practitioner.

Foreground processes

Background processes represent the life cycle implications of things in the foreground.Data for background processes are often available in LCA databases.





There are 3 types of LCAs

1. Process-Based Attributional LCA– Attributional methodology for life cycle inventory analysis (LCI)

aims at describing environmentally relevant physical flows to and from a life cycle and its subsystems.

– Ideally, it should include average data on each unit process within the life cycle.

– The attributional LCI model does not include unit processes other than those of the life cycle investigated.• Impacts are allocated to co-products by mass, energy, or economic value

– Most pre-2010 process-based LCAs are attributional.

See Ekvall, T., S.G. (2006) Attributional and Consequential Environmental Assessment of the Shift to Lead-Free Solders, International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 11(5) 344-353






2. Process-Based Consequential LCA– In contrast, consequential LCI methodology aims at describing

how things will change in response to possible changes made within the life cycle.

– A consequential LCI model includes unit processes that are significantly affected irrespective of whether they are within or outside the life cycle. • The system is expanded to GIVE CREDIT for co-production

– Ideally, it should include marginal data on bulk production processes in the background system.

See Ekvall, T., S.G. (2006) Attributional and Consequential Environmental Assessment of the Shift to Lead-Free Solders, International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 11(5) 344-353






3. Economic Input-Output LCA (EIOLCA)• e.g., Carnegie Melon has an on-line LCA tool at http://www.eiolca.net/

– IT IS BASED ON ECONOMIC ACTIVITY– NOT ON MODELS OF SPECIFIC INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES

– YOU WILL NOT USE EIOLCA IN THIS CLASS

The strengths of this tool are:Its ability to account for implications of a product at the national level.Its availability and ease of use

So the building construction industry buys things from the agricultural, metals, chemicals, …sectors who in turn consume energy and materials and produce waste from the agricultural, metals, chemicals, …sectors who in turn….

http://www.eiolca.net/





Class projects here

• Your project will be an LCA that recommends improvement opportunities for a life cycle of a system of your choosing. HOWEVER:– You MUST NOT recreate an existing LCA (this means you must start

with a literature review and work from there!).

– You MUST NOT use an on-line LCA tool or LCA software to prepare your inventory analysis, impact assessment, and/or interpretation. • You MUST follow and correctly execute the computational structure presented in

the textbook and the data collection protocols described in class.

– Although you are to include existing EIO LCAs in your literature review, you MUST NOT use EIO LCA background data in your project.

• During the quarter, you will submit a proposal, interim reports, and a final report.



2019 class projects

Bioproducts

• Hops co-products

• Flax fiber reinforced polypropylene composites

• Vegan cheese

Other

• Solar powered air conditioners

• Bullet proof vest materials

• Iron oxide nanoparticles

Vehicles and vehicle materials

• Automated electric vehicles

• SCL conventional vs. electric food trucks

• Conventional and composite cylindrical tanker trucks

• WSU CFRP recycling

• Drone delivery

Drone LC GHG contribution and results



2018 class projects

• Civil engineering

– Recycled pavements

• Forest resources

– Roadside poplar ethanol

– Poplar vs. willow ethanol

• Mechanical engineering

– Transport technologies

• Autoinjectors

• Electric vehicle batteries

• 3-way catalytic converters

• PEMFCs

• ReachNow carsharing

• Seattle buses

• More in mechanical engineering

– Residential technologies

• Home PV/battery systems

• LED vs. fluorescent bulbs

• Chilled beam HVAC system

• Closed looped evaporative chilling

– Other

• 3D printers

• Seattle City Light generation mix

• Nucor steel

• Industrial automation

• Snowboards

• TourniTek



Other previous class projects

• Energy related– JikoPower Spark

– Thermal energy storage (TES)

– Zinc-Bromide flow battery storage systems on a utility scale wind farm

– Micro cogeneration systems

– Puget Sound LNG infrastructure

– Offshore wind turbine power generation and land-based wind power generation

• Other– Amazon Drones vs. Now

– Indian Bangle Industry

– Space Elevator

– Tiny houses– Chlorpyrifos in Washington State apple

orchards

– Passive house insulation requirements vs that of a house containing the standard building code minimum

– Bisphenol A epoxy resin reinforced carbon fiber composites

– Coir-based mattress

– Ceramic matrix composites vs. Inconel



Example class project

.pdf available athttp://faculty.washington.edu/cooperjs/NEWDFE/Courses/Cooper_ME515.html






4 phases of an LCA

1. Goal and scope definition

2. Inventory analysis

3. Impact assessment

4. Interpretation

Weeks 1-2

Weeks 2-5

Week 6

Week 7+





The goal of an LCA

• In ISO14040

– the goal of an LCA includes

• the reasons for carrying out the study

• the intended audience (to whom the results of the study are intended to be communicated)

• the intended application (how the results will be used)

From ISO14040-1997, Environmental management-- Life cycle assessment-- Principles and framework





The scope of an LCA

(1) The functional unit:– A measure of technology performance intended to provide a

reference to which the inventory data are related and to ensure alternative LCAs are compared on a common basis.

• It should include a magnitude of service, a duration of service, and a level of quality

– Safely support a 1 kg load in the structure of an aircraft over 30 years

– Consistently generate 1 kWh over 30 years

– Contain 50L of fuel over 17 years without leaking.

quality magnitudeduration

From Cooper, J.S. “Specifying Functional Units and Reference Flows for Comparable Alternatives,” International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 8, 337-349 (2003)





The scope of an LCA

• Example functional units– Tiny house: a comfortable individual residential dwelling of 170 ft2 with a

lifespan of 50 years

– Electricity generation: consistent generation of 1 kWh at a wall outlet over 30 years

• ALTERNATIVES: combustion of coal, NG, or biomass; using a wind turbine or PV

– Transport a person to work: 700 kg-km of safe transport over 17 years

• ALTERNATIVES: 0.5 electric cars, 0.05 diesel buses, 4 bicycles





The scope of an LCA

(2) Identification of the impacts of interest





The scope of an LCA

(3) Specification of the system boundaries

– Cradle-to-cradle, well-to-wheel, farm-to-table

– Presented as a list or diagram of industrial processes and materials and energy flows for the life cycle

– Starts with the specification of reference flows (construction and materials and energy use in the foreground) • An LCA of a diesel bus (needs a bus, diesel fuel, and infrastructure (gas stations and roads),

etc.)

• An LCA of an electric car (needs a car, electricity, and infrastructure (charging stations and roads), etc.)

• An LCA of a bicycle (needs a bicycle, and infrastructure (roads/ bike trails), etc.)

– Finishes with the identification of background LCA data needs





A Life Cycle Inventory

• Your technology (in the foreground): quantify inputs (construction, on-going materials and energy use) and outputs (products, co-products, and wastes).

• Plus the rest of its life cycle (in the background): prepare or collect data representing the life cycles of the inputs and outputs of your technology.

Process

MaterialsMaterialsEnergyEnergy

ProductsProducts

ByproductsByproductsWastesWastes

In LCA, byproducts are called co-

products





Computational Structure of a Life Cycle Inventory

• The inventory model used in this class is based on a REALLY SIMPLE mathematical model of demand, production, and consumption:

f=As

s=A-1 f

g=Bs

• Given this, THIS CLASS IS REALLY ABOUT preparing, managing, and analyzing data.



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Unit process data are combined to create the life cycle inventory

The foreground



Inventory data for the tiny house LCA

Foreground processes

Background processes

(largely from LCA

databases)

Background processes

(largely from LCA

databases)

Background data to be collected



….

Foreground inventory data for the tiny house LCA

(aka the reference flows)

On-going materials and energy use

Construction materials





Background data sources

• LCA databases – Come with commercial LCA software – Are the result of national database

(ecoinvent, etc.) and LCA research projects

• Archival and gray literature– LCA reports– Engineering References: Encyclopedia of

Chemical Technology, Kirk-Othmer, Ulman, etc.

– Journal and conference papers – National laboratory research reports– Emission factors (AP-42, etc.)– EPA sector notebooks

Background data to be collected

At https://www.lcacommons.gov/

https://www.lcacommons.gov/



At https://greet.es.anl.gov/index.php

https://greet.es.anl.gov/index.php



At https://nexus.openlca.org/

https://nexus.openlca.org/





Impact Assessment

• Impact assessment looks at how inventory flows (cause) contribute to impacts (effect)

• Impact assessment can include– Classification

• inventory flows are placed in impact categories

– Characterization• the contribution of each inventory flow is estimated for each impact of

interest

– Normalization• the contribution of the product to each impact at the global, national,

regional, or local level is assessed

– Valuation/ Weighting• subjective preferences are used to prioritize impact categories and

impacts



Classification: Global Warming

• -(CF2)4CH(OH)-

• (CF3)2CFOCH3

• (CF3)2CHOCH3

• (CF3)2CHOCHF2

• (CF3)2CHOH

• (CF3)CH2OH

• C2F6

• CARBON DIOXIDE

• CARBON TETRAFLUORIDE

• C-C3F6

• C-C4F8

• CF3 CF2CH2OH

• CH3OCH3

• FIC-1311

• HCFE-235DA2

• HFC-125

• HFC-134

• HFC-134A

• HFC-143

• HFC-143A

• HFC-152

• HFC-152A

• HFE-338MCF2

• HFE-347MCC3

• HFE-347-MCF2

• HFE-356MCF3

• HFE-356MEC3

• HFE-356PCC3

• HFE-356PCF2

• HFE-356PCF3

• HFE-374PCF2

• HFE-7100

• HFE-7200

• HG-01

• HG-10

• H-GALDEN 1040X

• METHANE

• NF3

• NITROUS OXIDE

• PERFLUOROBUTANE

• PERFLUOROHEXANE

• PERFLUOROPENTANE

• PERFLUOROPROPANE

• SF5CF3

• SF6

• HFC-161

• HFC-227EA

• HFC-23

• HFC-236CB

• HFC-236EA

• HFC-236FA

• HFC-245CA

• HFC-245FA

• HFC-32

• HFC-365MFC

• HFC-41

• HFC-4310MEE

• HFE-125

• HFE-134

• HFE-143A

• HFE-227EA

• HFE-236EA2

• HFE-236FA

• HFE-245CB2

• HFE-245FA1

• HFE-245FA2

• HFE-254CB2

• HFE-263FB2

• HFE-329MCC2





Impact Characterization

• Characterization is the quantification of the contribution of each inventory flow to each impact of interest using:– Fate and transport models– Exposure assessment– Dose-response analysis, etc.

• Most often, characterization models are summarized as characterization factors for use in LCA and other research.

The Global Warming Potential (GWP) and the Global Temperature change Potential (GTP) characterize the contribution to climate change.

AR5/ GWP 100, long term climate forcersCO2 1 kg CO2e/ kg CO2 emittedCH4 30 kg CO2e/ kg CO2 emittedN2O 265 kg CO2e/ kg CO2 emitted



Beyond climate change in 2002?

From Rounds and Cooper (2002) Development of product design requirements using taxonomies of environmental issues.Research in Engineering Design 13 (2), 94-108, see https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00163-001-0009-2

What becomes important is the availability of data to measure impact….

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00163-001-0009-2





Interpretation

• Data quality is judged on:

– Consistency, time related coverage, geographical coverage, technology coverage, completeness, representativeness, reproducibility and sources of the data, and precision and uncertainty of the information

• Contribution, sensitivity, and uncertainty analyses are used to draw conclusions…

• Can you REALLY make conclusions based on your project or is there more work to be done?



and Sonne, H. (2006) Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Forestry Operations, Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 35 No. 4, p. 1439-1450 at https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/jeq/abstracts/35/4/1439

https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/jeq/abstracts/35/4/1439



Your ME515 proposalDue on canvas by 5pm on Jan. 17

Your proposal must include:– A project title

– Selection motivation (your graduate research, a job you have or want, a personal interest, etc.)

– A list of 3 or more related LCAs

– Proposed source(s) of foreground inventory data

– Proposed geographic specificity

– Proposed comparative system(s)

• Your proposal should be less than 1 page and must not be greater than 2 pages.

• All citations must be in a standard format (e.g., APA)

.doc available athttp://faculty.washington.edu/cooperjs/NEWDFE/Courses/Cooper_ME515.html






Your ME515 proposal A list of 3 or more related LCAs

• This is the start of a literature review that will be in your goal and scope document.

• In 2015, no tiny house LCAs were found….For the tiny house

But there was areview article!





Reviews are awesome!

• The most recent article/ report SHOULDreview the studies that came before it.

• Sometimes you can find an article or report that REVIEWS existing work (sometimes the word review or harmonization or meta analysis are actually in the title or abstract).

– The best example of harmonizationcomes from the USDOE NREL, for electricity generation via wind, solar photovoltaics, concentrating solar power, nuclear, coal, natural gas, biopower, geothermal, hydropower, and ocean energy.

See https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/life-cycle-assessment.html

https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/life-cycle-assessment.html




In 2020, a google search for tiny house LCA

provided ~755,000 results






• MORE ON USE OF THE WORD RELATED!!!!!• If you are interested in doing

– an LCA apple production in Washington, you would review apple production LCAs

– an LCA on organic PV, you would review PV LCAS

– an LCA on ebicycles or limebikes, you would review bicycle LCAs

– an LCA on battery storage systems for wind farms, you would review LCAs of batteries AND wind power

– LCA journals: The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, The Journal of

Industrial Ecology, The Journal of Cleaner Production and more

– Try searching the technology name and

• LCA, “Life Cycle Assessment,” “Life Cycle Analysis”





Preparing for your literature review

• Consider summarizing your LCA review in a table– Then in your goal and scope document you can easily write a

summary based on the columns. e.g., • Of the 6 existing LCAs, 5 represent production and operation in the US and 1

represents Switzerland. All 6 use the same functional unit (kWh generated) and use foreground data from RETScreen and life cycle background data from GREET. Further, all existing LCAs find that this new technology contributes far less to climate change than the current option iff it is operated on natural gas recovered from cow manure.

RETScreen is at https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/software-tools/7465

https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/software-tools/7465



Your ME515 proposalDue on canvas by 5pm on Jan. 17

Your proposal must include:– A project title

– Selection motivation (your graduate research, a job you have or want, a personal interest, etc.)

– A list of 3 or more related LCAs

– Proposed source(s) of foreground inventory data

– Proposed geographic specificity

– Proposed comparative system(s)

• Your proposal should be less than 1 page and must not be greater than 2 pages.

• All citations must be in a standard format (e.g., APA)

• Foreground data can come from existing LCAs, non-LCA articles/ reports/ model results.• e.g., cost assessments tend

to work quite well.• Note that the use of foreground

data from existing LCAs REQUIRES that you improve upon it!• You cannot simply recreate

an existing LCA!





Your ME515 proposal

• Email me if you need help! – Put ME515 in the subject line.

– Don’t expect a response within 48 hours of the submission deadline.

• I will be providing guidance on scope…. and you ARE expected to follow it.

• Time series LCAs is an option (2020to 2050)



And there are more class projects listed as follows….



2014 LCA class projects• Energy related LCAs

• Bioethanol from pulping paper process and refining

• Sugar from wood biomass

• Biofuel from slash piles in the forest

• Transportation logistics of forest harvest residues

• Transport related LCAs

• FSAE racecar (an LCA software tool)

• Boeing 787 composite and 767 aluminum fuselages

• 737 engine, made by GE or Rolls Royce

• Other LCAs

• Bicycle Chainrings

• Shape memory alloys

• LED lighting

• Urea fertilizer production



2013 LCA class projects• Energy related LCAs

• Sputtering and sintering of nanocrystalsfor deposition on kesterite-based solar cells

• Hydrazine based CZTS Nanocrystal Solar Cell Production

• Solution Processed Thin-film Solar Cell Absorber Layer

• Composite wind turbine blades

• Solar and geothermal powered HVAC systems

• CCHP by Trigeneration

• Other LCAs

– Japonica rice production

– Comparison of theatrical lighting systems

– Husky football LCA (scope is still being worked out)

– Comparison of concrete shear cores and steel plate shear walls

– Motorcycles

– Beef for Hawaii

– Panama Canal widening project

– Methylene blue for photodisinfection.

– US coins

– Krafla Geothermal Power Plant

– The use of Steel shipping containers to construct residential houses

– Electric guitar effects pedals

Other years are at the end of this presentation





2012 student projects• Highly chemicals focused LCAs

– Film developing processes

– Electro-chromatic window fabrication

– Solar cell fabrication

• Other energy focused LCAs– Alternative biogas feedstocks

– Logging residuals for biofuel production

– Softwoods to ethanol production

– Hydrogen production methods

• Other LCAs– Solar lamp technologies vs. kerosene lanterns in East Africa

– Bullet Center timber vs. concrete frame structures

– Coast Guard icebreaker powertrain comparison

– Brooms fabrication





2011 student projects

• Curtain wall designs

• Concrete varieties

• Tropicana hydro-pulping process

• ME department machine shop

• Genie Industries scissor lifts

• Aircraft missile casings

• Ethanol from woody biomass

• Competition ski boat swim platforms (teak vs. fiberglass)

• Textbooks vs. ebooks

• Snowboard designs

• Water filtration systems (BioSand vs. ceramic water filters)



Example Previous Student Projects: Fall 2009



More Example Previous Student Projects

• Fall 2008– Induction vs. electric cook tops

– Coast Guard Cutter maintenance/ repair options

– Biomass supercritical water gasification

– Algae fuel production

– Biosolids management options

• Winter 2008– Distributed Energy Technologies

– Waste to Ethanol

– I-5 Pavement Replacement

– Portland Cement

• Prior to 2008– Hot Mix Asphalt and Porous Pavement

Parking Lots

– Carbon Capture and Sequestration Process at the UW Power Plant

– Conventional and Organic Apples Grown in Yakima, WA

– Flooring Materials: Oak vs. Bamboo

– Magnetic Semiconductor Materials in Microprocessor Chips

– Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

– The U.S. Coast Guard Search & Rescue Helicopters

– Coal and Natural Gas Power Plants in Alaska

– The Ford Escape Hybrid

me515 life cycle assessment - university of...

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