Publication

Funamentals of Life Cycle Assessment and Specificity of Biorefineries

Edgard Gnansounou
2017
Book chapter
Abstract

The use of methods to assess environmental performances of industrial products became popular in the sixties with the growing environment concerns. The life cycle assessment (LCA) emerged in the 1990s as a response to the need of a more structured methodology and inherited from the REPA – Resource and Environmental Profile Analysis. From the beginning LCA was supported by strong efforts of standardization led by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) and the International Organization for standardization (ISO). This chapter introduces LCA methodology based on the four-stage approach popularized by ISO. Its theoretical background is presented as well. The strengths and weaknesses of the methodology are discussed and a new allocation approach is proposed. Extension of environmental Life cycle assessment to social, economic and organizational LCA is outlined. Finally, the chapter concludes with a presentation of the perspectives of LCA development towards an integrated Life cycle sustainability.

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Life-cycle assessment
Life cycle assessment or LCA (also known as life cycle analysis) is a methodology for assessing environmental impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service. For instance, in the case of a manufactured product, environmental impacts are assessed from raw material extraction and processing (cradle), through the product's manufacture, distribution and use, to the recycling or final disposal of the materials composing it (grave).
Environmental issues
Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans (human impact on the environment) or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot recover in the present situation, and catastrophic if the ecosystem is projected to certainly collapse. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on the individual, organizational or governmental levels, for the benefit of both the environment and humans.
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