Engineering sustainability the need for eco efficiency and eco - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Engineering sustainability – the need for eco ‐ efficiency and eco ‐ effectiveness Michael Hauschild ( mzha@dtu.dk ) Technical University of Denmark M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 1

Outline • Sustainability challenge • Eco ‐ efficiency and Life cycle assessment • Eco ‐ efficiency and eco ‐ effectiveness M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 2

The sustainability challenge GDP I       I P A T Pop person GDP (Graedel and Allenby, 1995) • I is the environmental impact • Pop is the global population GDP • is the Affluence , the material standard of living person I • is the Technology factor – environmental impact per GDP created value M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 3

The sustainability challenge GDP I    I Pop person GDP • The global population may level off around 10 billion • Material standard of living will grow strongly in newly industrialised countries (Asia, South America) • The environmental impact already exceeds sustainable levels in many areas • So what is the challenge? M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 4

Factor 4, 10 or 20 I GDP I    I Pop The technology factor, , person GDP GDP – the impact caused by our creation of wealth and economic value must decrease 4 ‐ 20 times in order to • counterbalance the expected growth in population and material standard of living • achieve the needed reduction in the environmental impact …i.e. be environmentally sustainable M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 5

Eco ‐ efficiency Eco ‐ efficiency reflects the “environmental price” of obtaining a service, meeting a need, creating a value Delivered service Eco-efficiency = = 1/T Environmental impact Eco ‐ efficiency is the reciprocal of the technology factor in the IPAT equation Improved eco ‐ efficiency means creating more with less Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the tool to assess eco ‐ efficiency M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 6

The life cycle of a product M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 7

Life cycle assessment Inventory of elementary flows Product life cycle Emission Emission CAS.no. to air to w ater Substance g g 2-hydroxy-ethanacrylate 816-61-0 0,0348 4,4-methylenebis cyclohexylamine 1761-71-2 5,9E-02 Ammonia 7664-81-7 3,7E-05 4,2E-05 Arsenic ( As ) 7440-38-2 2,0E-06 Benzene 71-43-2 (cur 5,0E-02 Lead ( Pb ) 7439-92-1 8,5E-06 Butoxyethanol 111-76-2 6,6E-01 Carbondioxide 124-38-9 2,6E+02 Carbonmonoxide ( CO ) 630-08-0 1,9E-01 Cadmium (Cd) 7440-46-9 2,2E-07 Chlorine ( Cl2 ) 7782-50-5 4,6E-04 Chromium ( Cr VI ) 7440-47-3 5,3E-06 Dicyclohexane methane 86-73-6 5,1E-02 Nitrous oxide( N2O ) 10024-97-2 1,7E-02 2,4-Dinitrotoluene 121-14-2 9,5E-02 HMDI 5124-30-1 7,5E-02 Hydro carbons (electricity, stationary combustio - 1,7E+00 Hydrogen ions (H+) - 1,0E-03 i-butanol 78-83-1 3,5E-02 Category indicator results for product i-propanol 67-63-0 9,2E-01 copper ( Cu ) 7740-50-8 1,8E-05 Mercury( Hg ) 7439-97-6 2,7E-06 Methane 74-82-8 5,0E-03 Global warming 174.000 kg CO 2 -eq Methyl i-butyl ketone 108-10-1 5,7E-02 Monoethyl amine 75-04-7 7,9E-06 Ozone depletion 0 kg CFC11-eq Nickel ( Ni ) 7440-02-0 1,1E-05 Nitrogen oxide ( NOx ) 10102-44-0 1,1E+00 Acidification 868 kg SO 2 -eq NMVOC, diesel engine (exhaust) - 3,9E-02 NMVOC, pow er plants (stationary combustion) - 3,9E-03 Photochemical ozone formation 200 kg C 2 H 4 -eq Ozone ( O3 ) 10028-15-6 1,8E-03 PAH ikke specifik 2,4E-08 - -eq Phenol 108-95-2 1,3E-05 Nutrient enrichment 3.576 kg NO 3 Phosgene 75-44-5 1,4E-01 m 3 air 3,40  10 11 Polyeter polyol ikke specifik 1,6E-01 Human toxicity 1,2-propylenoxide 75-56-9 8,2E-02 Nitric acid 7782-77-6 (c 8,5E-02 2,16  10 7 m 3 water Ecotoxicity Hydrochloric acid 7647-01-0 (c 1,9E-02 Selenium ( Se ) 7782-49-2 2,6E-05 ha  yr Land use 170 Sulphur dioxide( SO2 ) 7446-09-5 1,3E+00 Toluene 108-88-3 4,8E-02 Toluene-2,4-diamine 95-80-7 7,9E-02 Toluene diisocyanat ( TDI ) 26471-62-5 1,6E-01 Total-N - 2,6E-05 Triethylamine 121-44-8 1,6E-01 Unspecified aldehydes - 7,5E-04 Uspecified organic compounds - 1,5E-03 Vanadium 7440-62-2 1,8E-04 VOC, diesel engine (exhaust) - 6,4E-05 VOC, stationary combustion (coal fired) - 4,0E-05 VOC, stationary combustion (natural gas fired) - 2,2E-03 VOC, stationary combustion (oil fired) - 1,4E-04 Xylene 1330-20-7 1,4E-01 Zinc ( Zn ) 7440-66-6 8,9E-05 M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 8

Relative and absolute sustainability Eco ‐ efficiency supports relative sustainability ( “more sustainable than…” )? ‐ Same or higher functionality with less environmental impact Higher impact Lower impact Absolute sustainability ( “sustain ‐ able” )? ‐ Where is the boundary beyond which the activity becomes unsustainable? ‐ What is sustainable in absolute terms? Sustainable Unsustainable M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 9

Efficiency and effectiveness • Doing the things right or doing the right things ? • (eco)efficiency: reaching the goal causing minimal environmental impact • … but is it the right goal? • … what about rebound effects where increased efficiency may lead to increased consumption? • … where are the boundaries for sustainability? M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 10

A sustainable level of impact • Sustainability: Fulfilment of needs – Today and in the future – Which needs? – How to fulfil them? – For how many? • Carrying capacity: The maximum impact that an ecosystem can sustain without experiencing permanent changes in its structure or central functionalities – ”No” effect – For all categories of environmental impact M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 11

Absolute sustainability boundaries Safe operating space 1950 ‐ now Pre ‐ industrial level Rockström et al., 2009 M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 12

Sustainability person equivalents Sustainable impact Carrying capacity approach Impact category (person.year) (indicator based on) Climate change 0.98 ton CO 2 ‐ eq Resilience (2° target) Climate change, alternative 0.52 ton CO 2 ‐ eq Resilience (350 ppm CO 2 ) Resilience (7.5% decrease in average ozone 7.8*10 ‐ 2 kg CFC ‐ 11 ‐ eq Ozone depletion conc.) Protection of sensitive species Photochemical ozone formation 47 kg NMVOC ‐ eq (3 ppm h AOT40) 1.4*10 3 mole H+ eq Buffer flow (1080 mole H + eq/ha/year) Terrestrial acidification 1.8*10 3 mole N eq Terrestrial eutrophication Buffer flow (1270 mole N eq/ha/year) Freshwater eutrophication 0.46 kg P eq Resilience (0.3 mg/L P) Marine eutrophication 31 kg N eq Resilience (1.75 mg/L N) 1.0*10 3 [PAF]*m 3 *day Protection of sensitive species (HC5(NOEC)) Freshwater ecotoxicity Land use, soil quality 1.2 tons eroded soil Buffer flow (0.85 tons/(ha*year)) 9.5*10 3 m 2 *year Land use, biodiversity loss Resilience (31% un ‐ conserved land are) 490 m 3 Buffer flow (2100 km 3 /year) Water depletion Bjørn & Hauschild, 2014 M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 13

Case study: LCA of 4 windows Function: allow daylight into a building equivalent to light being transmitted through an area of 1.23x1.48 m 2 with visible light transmittance of at least 0.7 for 20 years Owsianiak et al. (2014) M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 14

Results normalised against current levels of impact 1,4 Current impact Person Equivalents 1,2 1 Person years 0,8 0,6 0,4 0,2 0 Wood Wood/aluminum PVC Wood/composite M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 15

Results normalised against sustainable levels of impact 1,4 Sustainable impact Person Equivalents 1,2 1 Person years 0,8 0,6 0,4 0,2 0 Wood Wood/aluminum PVC Wood/composite M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 16

Interpretation of sustainability normalised scores • Consumer perspective: – How large a part of my space is occupied by this product or activity? – Is it worth that much to me if my consumption must stay within the sustainability boundaries? M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 17

Engineering sustainability We need to combine eco ‐ efficiency and eco ‐ effectiveness • Target solutions that are sustainable also in absolute terms • All technologies and products have a life cycle – analyse it to avoid problem shifting, and include all relevant environmental impacts • Benchmark the solutions on their eco ‐ efficiency • Relate improvement to absolute boundaries, considering rebound effects • Do the right things right – Employ the highest eco ‐ efficiency towards achieving a sustainable solution – Remember that sustainability also has a social and an economic dimension M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 18

Sustainability calls for many skills • Sciences : Define sustainability and create the basis for making it operational • Engineering : Make sustainability operational by creating sustainable technologies • Business : Develop sustainability management, business models, communication • … addressing all three dimensions of sustainability • Together : Educate and train professionals that will support sustainable transitions at all levels in society M. Hauschild COSI launch 28 November 2014 19