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Life Cycle Assessment: A Product-Oriented Method For Sustainability Analysis

This document discusses the mathematical representation and balancing of processes in life cycle assessment (LCA). It explains how LCA processes can be represented using matrices and vectors to describe inputs, outputs, and environmental interventions. The key steps are: (1) representing individual processes mathematically; (2) balancing the system to match supply and demand; and (3) applying the same scaling to environmental flows. This allows the overall LCA to be represented as an intensity matrix multiplying the final demand vector. The mathematical treatment makes the analysis more transparent and provides a basis for software tools and further theoretical concepts in LCA.

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victor
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62 views13 pages

Life Cycle Assessment: A Product-Oriented Method For Sustainability Analysis

This document discusses the mathematical representation and balancing of processes in life cycle assessment (LCA). It explains how LCA processes can be represented using matrices and vectors to describe inputs, outputs, and environmental interventions. The key steps are: (1) representing individual processes mathematically; (2) balancing the system to match supply and demand; and (3) applying the same scaling to environmental flows. This allows the overall LCA to be represented as an intensity matrix multiplying the final demand vector. The mathematical treatment makes the analysis more transparent and provides a basis for software tools and further theoretical concepts in LCA.

Uploaded by

victor
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Life Cycle Assessment

A product-oriented method
for sustainability analysis

UNEP LCA Training Kit


Module h – The mathematics of LCI
1
Contents • Representation of processes
• Representation of goal
definition
• Balancing
• Environmental interventions
• Overall LCI structure
• Advantages
• New concepts
Representation of processes (1)

• Production of electricity:
– in flow diagram terms:
2 liter of fuel 10 kWh of electricity
1 kg of CO2

0.1 kg of SO2
– in mathematical terms:
  2
 
 10 
 1 
 
 0 .1 
 0 
 
Representation of processes (2)

• Production of fuel:
– in flow diagram terms:
100 liter of fuel
10 kg of CO2
50 liter of crude oil
2 kg of SO2
– in mathematical terms:
 100 
 
 0 
 10 
 
 2 
  50 
 
Representation of goal definition

• Functional unit/reference flow:


– in flow diagram terms:
1000 kWh of electricity
? kg of CO2
? liter of crude oil
? kg of SO2
– in mathematical terms:
 0 
  (? liter of fuel)
1000 
 ? 
 
 ? 
 ? 
 
Balancing (1)

• Need to match supply and demand:

100 liter 200


200 liter
2 liter 1000 kWh 1000 kWh
10 kWh

2  100

10 kg CO2
20 100
1 kgkg
COCO
2 2

?
120
100
kg kg
COCO
2 2

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6
Balancing (1)

• Need to scale processes:


– production of electricity by a factor of 100
– production of fuel by a factor of 2
• More formally: balance equations:
  2  s1  100  s2  0

10  s1  0  s2  1000
• Or in matrix terms:

  2 100  s1   0 
     
 10 0  s2  1000 

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7
Balancing (2)

• From concrete equations with matrix coefficients


  2 100  s1   0 
     
 10 0  s2  1000 
• … to abstract equations with symbols

•
As f
… that can be solved by standard techniques

• A becoming
s…and 1f
concrete again

 s1  100 
    
 s2   2 

8
8
Environmental interventions (1)

• Apply same scaling factors to environmental flows:


 1 s1  10  s2  ?

 0.1 s1  2  s2  ?
0  s  50  s  ?
 1 2
• In matrix terms

 1 10   ?
  s1   
 0.1 2     ? 
 0  50  s2   ? 
   

9
9
Environmental interventions (2)

• From concrete equations with matrix coefficients


 1 10   ?
  s1   
 0.1 2     ? 
 0  50  s2   ? 
   
• … to abstract equations with symbols

Bs  g
• … in which we can insert the previous result

g BA 1
f concrete again
• … and becoming

 g1   120 
   
 g 2    14 
 g    100 
 3  

10
10
Overall LCI structure

• Combining balancing and interventions:

g  BA1f  Λf
• with the intensity matrix

Λ  BA 1

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11
Advantages of mathematical treatment

• Explicit treatment, transparent


• Guidance for software implementation
• New insight in LCA
– e.g., allocation
• Advanced theoretical concepts:
– perturbation theory
– covariance structure
– stochastic theory

12
12
New concepts

• Terms:
– technology matrix, scaling vector, intervention matrix, final
demand vector, intensity matrix, …
• Techniques:
– matrix conditioning, principal components analysis, …

13
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