Search results for "ASSESSMENT"
showing 10 items of 5125 documents
An overview of sustainability issues in manufacturing and building sector: a life cycle assessment approach
2014
In the latest decades, the industrial consumption of materials and energy has undergone a growth which may exceed the limits of earth resources. Therefore, a strong awareness of the need to use materials and energy in a more efficient way has arisen. A wide research interest on sustainability is present in the modern technical literature: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology and Design for Environment (DFE) procedures are nowadays widely investigated in many research labs all over the world. In this context, this paper focuses on LCA approaches in two main fields: manufacturing and building sector. As the former is regarded, sustainability issues are crucial topics and the reduction of e…
Life cycle assessment of a solar PV/T concentrator system
2011
The paper shows the energy and environmental analysis of a solar low Concentrating Photovoltaic-Thermal (CPVT) system, installed on the roof of the Energy Department building at University of Palermo (Italy). LCA methodology was applied to assess the whole life-cycle of the selected Functional Unit. Data survey from the producing company regarding the consumption of energy sources and of materials were developed. The assessment allowed to identify the steps and the system components addressing the highest energy and environmental impacts. Energy and environmental benefits and drawbacks related to the CPVT system. The research was developed within the National Relevant Research Programme (PR…
Life-Cycle Assessment of Buildings
2019
The chapter presents a complete overview of LCA applied to buildings. After a brief introduction on the origin and developments of the LCA, it describes four steps of the LCA methodology, according to the framework of the International standards of ISO 14040 series. Then, the authors focus on the LCA applied to the building sector and on the standard EN 15978. They identify the main issues related to the application of the methodology to buildings, such as the selection of the functional unit, the systems boundaries,the environmental indicators, etc. In the context of the sustainability, a brief overview on the economic and social aspects of buildings and on the available building life-cycl…
Resource depletion of a Lithium ion battery cell technology
2018
Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are the dominating storage technology for electric vehicles (EVs). Different types of LIBs, using diverse cathode materials are available in the market, such as LiMn2O4, Li(Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3)O2. The cathodes contain a wide range of raw materials (RMs), among which e.g. cobalt is in the 2017 list of CRMs for the Europe Union (EU). CRMs are both of high economic importance for the EU, and vulnerable to supply security. In the last years, the increasing demand of LIBs has triggered a growing interest in the need to ensure the security and the sustainability of the supply of the CRMs used in LIBs and in general in EVs. In this context, lithium rich layered oxides from…
Luminescent Solar Concentrator (LSC): principio di funzionamento e fasi preliminari dell’analisi LCA applicata alla Smart Window-LSC
2019
Una delle tecnologie più promettenti nel panorama dei sistemi fotovoltaici integrati negli edifici è quella dei concentratori solari luminescenti (LSC - Luminescent Solar Concentrator). La peculiarità di questi dispositivi risiede nel fatto che possono essere installati in zone dell’edificio difficilmente sfruttabili da altre tecnologie fotovoltaiche, in particolare in sostituzione di aperture quali lucernari o finestre, grazie alla loro caratteristica di essere semi-trasparenti e di funzionare sia con radiazione solare diretta che diffusa. L’obiettivo del presente lavoro è stato ricostruire i percorsi di produzione dei principali componenti del pannello LSC, in modo da ottenere un parziale…
Life cycle assessment of solid oxide fuel cells and polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells: A review
2017
Fuel cells (FCs) are among the key technologies that Europe will have to rely on in order to comply with the most recent environmental targets inspired by decarbonization and circular economy. The assessment of the real advantages of using FCs for producing energy must include a reliable analysis of the energy and environmental impacts during the life cycle of these systems, including the raw materials supply, production, use, and disposal. In this context, the life cycle assessment (LCA) is a well-established methodology for assessing the eco-profile of products and services and for identifying the components and the life cycle steps having the largest contribution to energy and environmen…
LCA of a solar heating and cooling system equipped with a small water–ammonia absorption chiller
2012
The development of renewable energy technologies is a critical tool for reducing climate change and the reliance on fossil fuels. However, renewable energy technologies cannot be considered totally clean because they require energy consumption and have environmental impacts that cannot be neglected during their life cycle. In this paper, the life cycle assessment methodology was applied to assess resource use and other environmental burdens related to the entire life-cycle steps of a solar cooling plant. The investigated system works with an absorption chiller assisted by a solar plant. Two back-up configurations (hot back-up and cold back-up) were examined in two localities: Palermo (south…
Energy and environmental benefits of circular economy strategies: The case study of reusing used batteries from electric vehicles
2019
Abstract According to recent literature and technical analyses, used batteries from electric vehicles can still be used, before the final treatment at the end-of-life, in stationary applications that are usually less stressing than the automotive ones. In this framework, a circular economy inspired pathway is emerging between the building and the transportation sector, generally called “second life” of batteries. Used batteries from electric vehicles can be re-used in residential buildings together with renewable electricity generation technologies to improve the matching between the highly variable electricity generation from renewables and the electricity demand in buildings. This study a…
A Review on Consequential Life Cycle Assessment in the Power Sector
2020
The existing policy for greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement aims at decarbonisation of the power sector. The interrelations between the power sector and other economic sectors raise a question of whether the GHG emission reduction policy in the power sector is as effective as it is claimed. Consequential life cycle assessment (CLCA) has been developed to assess the environmental impacts of any industrial/productive sector in relation with changes in the policy and its indirect impacts on other economic sectors. This review is conducted on CLCA studies in the power sector in terms of system boundaries expansion and socio-economic interactions and the ability to quantify indirect environmental imp…
La Life Cycle Assessment applicata alla valutazione della sostenibilità ambientale del riuso delle batterie da trazione
2019
In un’ottica di economia circolare, le batterie da trazione rimosse dalle auto elettriche possiedono una capacità residua sufficiente per essere riutilizzate in applicazioni stazionarie di seconda vita in edifici residenziali dotati di tecnologie per la produzione di energia elettrica da fonti rinnovabili, allo scopo di aumentare l’autoconsumo degli edifici e ridurre lo stress sulla rete elettrica. In questo contesto, lo studio propone un approccio metodologico che combina la modellizzazione energetica del sistema che fornisce l’energia elettrica richiesta in una specifica applicazione, l’analisi di load – match e la Life Cycle Assessment, da impiegare per identificare la configurazione del…