Search results for "Life-cycle"
showing 10 items of 166 documents
Mobility scenarios in the Valley of the Temples
2015
The valley of the Temples in Agrigento is one the most known wonders of the ancient Greek time to be still standing is South Italy. Chosen as an emblematic location in the center of the island, it is the exemplary site used to assess the potential for electric mobility in terms of energy and environmental benefits of electricity over standard fuels. Such an assessment is performed by means of a life-cycle approach, including the use of the Life Cycle Assessment methodology, the use of the standard ILCD-PEF indicators and the development of a parametric analysis investigating the impact of different electricity penetration levels in the local transports system. The results identify relevant …
Life Cycle Assessment of Solar Technologies
2015
This chapter analyses the most common solar technologies and assesses their energy and environmental performance, based on a life cycle perspective. After a preliminary description of the main technologies, the chapter presents a review of studies on solar plants, as published in scientific journals in the past decade. Successively, the chapter assesses solar plants in comparison to other renewable and non-renewable based technologies, including a discussion of uncertainties and criticalities in the assessment
Energy and environmental impacts of Energy related products (ErP): a case study of biomass-fuelled systems
2014
Abstract Energy-related Products (ErP) account for a large proportion of European energy and natural resource consumption. In 2007, ErP were responsible for the consumption of about 239 Mtoe of electricity and about 555 Mtoe of fuels. In order to reduce the energy and environmental impacts of these products, the European Commission published the Directive 2009/125/EC on the eco-design of ErP. This Directive represents a key component of European policy for improving the energy and environmental performances of products in the internal market. In this context, it is important to develop scientific research aimed at assessing the energy and environmental impacts of ErP, and at defining their …
Life cycle energy performances of a Net Zero Energy prefabricated building in Sicily
2017
The paper presents the energy performances in a life cycle perspective of a prefabricated building. The building was simulated in energy plus and validated on monitored data. To avoid the shifting of energy burdens from one life cycle stage to others, a Life Cycle Energy Assessment was performed. The primary energy use throughout the building's life cycle is 1,242 GJ. The materials production stage consumes the highest amount of primary energy (680 GJ) followed by the use stage (484 GJ), while the construction and end-of-life require respectively 1.7 % and the 4.6 % of total primary energy. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific c…
Energy performances and life cycle assessment of an Italian wind farm
2008
Abstract Renewable energy sources are often presented as “ clean ”. A more correct definition is that they are “cleaner” than ones based on fossil fuel conversion. When the energy consumption and the environmental impacts related to the plant's life-cycle are considered, a more comprehensive assessment of these technologies can be carried out. This paper aims to evaluate the energy and the environmental performances of the electricity production of a wind farm. The impacts related to all the phases of the wind farm construction and operation have been compared to the environmental benefits due to the “green” electricity generation during its useful life. In other terms, the goal is to trace…
Energy and CO2 life cycle inventory issues for aluminum based components: The case study of a high speed train window panel
2016
Abstract As materials production and transport are two relevant sectors in terms of global environmental impact, over the last years environmental impact analyses (mainly life cycle based analyses) of material replacing strategies in means of transportation were developed. Life cycle approach allows to consider the light-weighing benefit without neglecting the environmental impact of material production. In the present research energy and CO2 emissions life cycle analysis of a real case study is presented. Industrial data, experimental measurements and literature analysis were used to develop the life cycle analysis of an aluminum window panel to be assembled on an Italian high speed train.…
Energy life-cycle approach in net zero energy buildings balance: operation and embodied energy of an Italian case study
2014
Abstract The paper starts from the results of one of the six case-studies of the SubTask B in the International Energy Agency joint Solar Heating and Cooling Task40 and Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community Systems Annex 52, whose purpose is to document state of the art and needs for current thermo-physical simulation tools in application to Net Zero Energy Buildings. The authors extend the Net Zero Energy Buildings (Net ZEB) methodological framework, introducing the life-cycle perspective in the energy balance and thus including the embodied energy of building and its components. The case study is an Italian building, tailored to be a Net ZEB, in which the magnitude of the deficit…
Integration of Building Simulation and Life Cycle Assessment: A TRNSYS Application
2016
Abstract The study proposes a tool developed within the TRNSYS environment aimed at integrating its building simulation features during the use phase with a Life Cycle Assessment approach. The tool can be used to investigate the relevance of each life-cycle step of the building on the primary energy consumption and global warming potential. The Life Cycle stages can be modelled with different approaches: direct input of the embodied energy and global warming potential values for each life cycle step as defined in the EN 15978, use of an internal database of embodied energy and global warming potential of construction materials and energy systems, direct connections of building simulation ou…
Leveraging BIM and Big Data to deliver well maintained highways
2017
The Highway infrastructure is one of the most valuable assets for any state or national Government. Efficient operations of Highways lead to success of national and local economies as well as improve the quality of life of the general public dependent on it. In order to ensure aging road networks continues to move with its ever increasing number of users, requires maintenance and improvements to the road network at the highest standard. Increasing scrutiny over the cost of maintenance along with increasing pressure from Government and the public for transparency over road network spending, has made a strong case for more efficient management of the Highway road asset and traffic management…
Life Cycle Assessment of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells and Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells
2017
Abstract 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 e…