LCA discussion forum Switzerland

ESU-services Ltd. has organized in the recent years several of the Swiss LCA Discussion forum. More information, program and registration forms are available here.

• DF 72 Normalization and weighting: The forgotten theme in LCA
• DF 56 Are Environmental Declarations of Products and Organisations the way to harmonise LCAs?
• DF 49 Sustainable Consumption Patterns
• DF 47 LCA of energetic biomass utilisation: actual projects and new developments
• DF 45 Environmentally extended input-output-analysis and LCA
• DF 44 LCA of food
• DF 43 Electric Mobility
• DF 41 Environmental Product Information
• DF 36 LCA of future biofuels
• DF 30 LCA of biofuels
• DF 15 Allokation

DF 72 Normalization and weighting: The forgotten theme in LCA

Monday, 9 September 2019, ETH Zürich, Alumni (GEP) Pavillon

To draw the right conclusions based on environmental indicators can be a challenging task due to the consideration of a broad variety of environmental impacts that show diverging results. Many LCA practitioners seek help in interpreting diverging results in different impact catego­ries by applying single score LCIA methods. But the ISO standards do not support weighting for publishing comparative LCA. Nevertheless, the increasing need for unequivocal results lead to the development of single score impact assessment method.

This DF focuses on the present state of normalization and weighting in LCA. The statements in ISO 14040 are taken as one of the baselines, e.g. concerning internal and external normaliza­tion and hints on interpretation. The ongoing developments for the technical specification on this theme (ISO/TS 14074) are covered. Approaches broadening this view in ISO will be pre­sented as well.

An overview on present schemes such as the ILCD recommendations for LCIA and further deve­lopments within the EU Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) initiative will be provided. An­other key question will be: How useful is the concept of the carrying capacity or the plane­tary boundaries for aggregating indicator scores?

A discussion of different weighting methods should shed more light on the uncertainties and differences of various approaches (e.g. transparency, complete­ness, applicability). The forum should launch further discussion about these issues to initiate also a revision of standards like ISO 14040/44/74 to better reflect the current state of the art.

In summary, the DF aims at a critical discussion and review of currently available methods for normalization and weighting to promote a better understanding of the complex topic and con­troversial debate in the scientific community. How ISO standards on weighting, normalization and grouping can be implemented in the future are identified. Research needs are formulated to foster progress in this field of LCA application.

This forum aims to provide a fertile ground for discussion between LCA researchers, practition­ers and other people interested in the interpretation and development of normalization and weighting methods.

DF 56 Are Environmental Declarations of Products and Organisations the way to harmonise LCAs?

September 9th, 2014, Zürich (in English), ETH Zurich, GEP

In the last years, several initiatives were taken in order to harmonise the LCA methodology for products and organisations. A recent example is the EU environmental footprint initiative “Single Market for Green Products”. It is a voluntary initiative with the goal of enabling comparison of environmental performances between similar products and companies active in a similar sector. In this context methodological guidelines are developed such as PEF, PEFCR, OEF, OEFCR and ENVIFOOD protocol. - Which other initiatives aiming at harmonisation of LCA are currently under development? Are the expectations of the stakeholders met? Is harmonisation of LCA on track? The discussion forum will give the floor to European and Swiss legislators, LCA researcher, LCA practitioners and industries participating in the 3-year pilot phase of the initiative, to discuss the harmonisation of measuring and communicating life cycle environmental performance of products and organisations.

Organization: ESU, BAFU, agroscope

Our presentations:

Jungbluth N. (2014) Dealing with different standards in practical work: examples on biofuels. In proceedings from: 56th LCA Discussion Forum (DF 56): Are Environmental Declarations of Products and Organisations the way to harmonise LCAs?, ETH Zürich, Switzerland, 09. September 2014.

Keller R. and Jungbluth N. (2014) THE SENSE-PROJECT: Application of the ENVIFOOD protocol to SMEs. In proceedings from: 56th LCA Discussion Forum (DF 56): Are Environmental Declarations of Products and Organisations the way to harmonise LCAs?, ETH Zürich, Switzerland, 09. September 2014.

DF 49 Sustainable Consumption Patterns

Date: 18.9.2012 in the GEP at the ETH Zürich

Several national and international initiatives aim for a considerable reduction of environmental impacts due to today’s consumption patterns. This LCA discussion forum intends to show and discuss life cycle approaches used for the analysis of consumption patterns. Concepts like the “2000 Watt Society” will be explained. The existing potentials for a substantial reduction of environmental impacts and the possible role LCA can play in the analysis and quantification of such potentials will be outlined. There will be room for presentations about Webtools such as personal footprint calculators or other means of communication for highlighting results of an overall analysis of consumption patterns.

Our presentations:

Flury K. and Jungbluth N. (2012) 49th Discussion forum on LCA—sustainable consumption patterns—September 18, 2012, Zurich, Switzerland. In: Int J Life Cycle Assess, pp. Online First, DOI 10.1007/s11367-012-0530-8.

Niels Jungbluth, Rene Itten, Matthias Stucki: Environmental impacts of consumption patterns in Switzerland and reduction potentials. 49th LCA Discussion Forum "Sustainable Consumption Patterns" 18. September 2012, ETH Zurich

René Itten, Niels Jungbluth: A questionnaire for calculating ecological footprint. 49th LCA Discussion Forum "Sustainable Consumption Patterns" 18. September 2012, ETH Zurich

Download of all presentations

DF 47 LCA of energetic biomass utilisation: actual projects and new developments

April 23, 2012, Berne-Ittigen (in English)

In the last years, the use of biomass for energy purposes, such as electricity, heat, and transport services, has been seen as a promising option to reduce the use of non-renewable energy sources and the emissions of fossil carbon. However, LCA studies have shown that the energetic use of biomass also causes impacts on climate change, and, furthermore that different environmental issues arise, such as land use and agricultural emissions. While biomass is renewable, it is not an unlimited resource. Its use, to whatever purpose, must therefore be well studied to promote the most efficient option with the least environmental impacts. Consequently, there is a need for up-to-date inventories of biomass and its energetic use to provide such studies with best available data. This is the focus of projects financed by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, which are presented in this discussion forum. In the forum current developments of LCA studies in the field of biogas, biomass combustion, biofuels, and energy crops are discussed.

Our presentations:

René Itten and Niels Jungbluth: LCA of burning different Solid Biomass Substrates. 47th Discussion Forum 12th April 2012, Bern

Matthias Stucki and Niels Jungbluth: LCA of biogas from different purchased substrates and energy crops. 47th Discussion Forum 12th April 2012, Bern

DF 45 Environmentally extended input-output-analysis and LCA

DF 45, 15. September 2011, Berne-Ittigen (in English)

So far environmental extended input-output-analysis was rarely used in Switzerland. A Swiss study has recently investigated the total environmental impacts of consumption and production of Switzerland. Within this project a hybrid-methodology was developed for assessing the imports by combining trade statistics and LCA data. The study shows that environmental impacts due to imports are more important than domestic impacts. The inventory data will be available in EcoSpold format and can thus be used by LCA practitioners. They cover all emissions and resources that are assessed with the ecological scarcity method. The forum will also discuss the economic background, uncertainties and possible improvement options of such an analysis. International speakers are invited and will provide a broader view on this approach.

Download of presentations

Our presentation:

Romina Schuerch, Josef Kaenzig, Niels Jungbluth, Carsten Nathani (2012): "Conference Report: 45th Discussion Forum on LCA: Environmentally Extended Input-Output-Analysis and LCA" DOI 10.1007/s11367-012-0428-5, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. Accepted for publication 2.4.2012

DF 44 LCA of food

Our presentation:

Niels Jungbluth: Environmentally friendly food consumption: What does this mean for consumers? in Lausanne, June 21st 2011

DF 43 Electric Mobility

Our presentation:

Rolf Frischknecht, Karin Flury (2011) Life cycle assessment of electric mobility: answers and challenges—Zurich, April 6, 2011. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, August 2011, Volume 16, Issue 7, pp 691-695

DF 41 Environmental Product Information

DF 41 Environmental product information and LCA, June 22nd 2010, Ittigen near Berne, Verwaltungszentrum des UVEK (in English) organized by ESU-services Ltd.

In the recent past, several initiatives were launched to show the carbon footprint or other life cycle based environmental information for consumer products. While the provision of environmental product information (EPI) may contribute to more informed purchase decisions and would help to increase the attention of companies towards environmentally more efficient products and production processes, several key aspects still need clarification. During this forum we discuss the strengths and weaknesses, the opportunities and the limits of environmental information for products in detail.

In a first part expectations of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment are outlined. Results of a Swiss feasibility study investigating a possible concept for EPI are presented in a second presentation. This shows the main challenges for meaningful information that should direct consumer decisions. A special issue of EPI is the consideration of the use and end-of-life phase. These phases may be very important, depending on the type of product. However, the use phase often shows a high variability and different end-of-life options exist. Furthermore, the use and the waste management of a product can only partly be influenced by the producer. One has to decide also about the level of decision making addressed by the approach and thus about the functional unit for which information can be shown. The presentations evaluates also which environmental indicators are sufficiently comprehensive and accepted internationally. The reaction of consumers on such information and the best ways of providing complicated interrelations in a simplified way will be presented in the next presentation.

Than different approaches developed in neighbouring countries are presented for providing environmental information on products based on life cycle thinking. These presentations should highlight the differences as well as similarities in the development of concepts for EPI.

Within the third part we present practical examples of EPI or environmental product declarations for single products or product groups. From these problems we can learn more about the challenges while providing such information. It is evaluated how far such examples can be generalized in order to establish one type of environmental information for all types of products.

Summary of the discussion forum:

Geneviève Doublet and Niels Jungbluth 2010: Environmental product information (EPI) and LCA, Ittingen-berne, Switzerland, June 22, 2010. Int J LCA, online first, DOI 10.1007/s11367-010-0244-8

Presentations of ESU-services:

N. Jungbluth: Feasibility and Challenges for providing Environmental Product Information based on LCA

G. Doublet: Environmental Production Information and LCA: An Example of the Swiss Ecological Time Unit

Feasibility study

Niels Jungbluth, Sybille Büsser, Rolf Frischknecht, Marianne Leuenberger, Matthias Stucki (2011) Feasibility study for environmental product information based on life cycle approaches. ESU-services Ltd. im Auftrag des Bundesamtes für Umwelt (BAFU) (Zusammenfassung und Mediengespräch des BAFU).

Jungbluth N., Büsser S., Frischknecht R., Flury K. and Stucki M. (2011) Feasibility of environmental product information based on life cycle thinking and recommendations for Switzerland. In: Journal of Cleaner Production,doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.07.016, (download file accepted for publication).

DF 36 LCA of future biofuels

ESU-services organized together with the EMPA the discussion forum No. 36. This took place on November 17, 2008 in Dübendorf. Download of all presentations.

Nowadays the discussion about biofuels is dominated by food security issues and ecological concerns. Indeed, various studies on currently used biofuels have shown that environmental impacts over the whole production chain are often higher than for the fossil reference. New hope is set on coming technology developments and improved feedstocks. They promise higher efficiencies and lower environmental impacts.

The conference provides an overview on recent LCA approaches and results of several case studies about future bioenergy, including BtL-fuels and synthetic natural gas (SNG), as well as emerging feedstocks like jatropha and algae. Crucial questions from an LCA viewpoint are:

• Is the overall environmental performance of future biofuels better than that of current biofuels?
• Which feedstocks should be preferred? What are the most promising technologies?

However, LCA deals with only one aspect of sustainability. To obtain a complete picture of the future potential of biofuels, environmental impacts should be weighted against impacts on the socio-economic level. At this conference a holistic approach for the technology assessment of future biofuels will be presented. Furthermore opportunities and threats of biofuels from the perspective of the rural poor will be discussed.

Our presentation:

N. Jungbluth: Life Cycle Assessment of Different Pathways of BtL-Fuels from Wood, Straw and Miscanthus. Presentation during the DF 36.

DF 30 LCA of biofuels

The results of a project on bioenergy are presented and discussed during a one day discussion forum. The following presentations are available for download.

Introduction

Kraftstoff-Strategien und Entwicklung aus Sicht eines Automobilherstellers (Martin Lohrmann, VW)

Wie steht es um das "bio" von alternativen Treibstoffen? (Patrick Hofstetter, WWF)

Methodik der Ökobilanz und Datengrundlagen für die Beurteilung der Biotreibstoffe (Niels Jungbluth, ESU-services)

Short presentations

Bioenergiekulturen im Südbadischen Raum: energetische Nutzung und Nitratsanierung des Grundwassers, Ruth Freiermuth-Knuchel, ART

Life Cycle of Energy Wood Chips Supply in Switzerland, Michael Spielmann et al., PSI

Ökobilanz von Alternativen Treibstoffen für Verkehrsmittel in Spanien, Cristina de la Rúa, CIEMAT, Madrid (Paper)

Un nouveau biocarburant le Betaalcool, Peter Fahrni, ADER Sevelin, Lausanne

Flächeneffiziente Energieproduktion - Der Massstab der Zukunft, M. Sattler, Ökozentrum Langebruck

Update 2006 der Bewertungsmethode ökologische Knappheit - Umweltbelastungspunkte 2006, Rolf Frischknecht, ESU-services GmbH

Biofuels & Oils. Jan Czerwinski, Univ. of Appl. Sces Biel-Bienne, CH

Swiss LCA project

Ökobilanz von Energieprodukten: Bewertung der landwirtschaftlichen Biomasse-Produktion (Thomas Kägi & Gérard Gaillard, ART)

Präsentation erster Ergebnisse aus der Studie „Ökobilanz von Energieprodukten“ (Rainer Zah, EMPA) (Diese Folien werden nicht veröffentlicht)

Biotreibstoffe: Energiepolitische Überlegungen für die Nutzung in der Schweiz; aktuelle und zukünftige Förderinstrumente (Michael Kaufmann, BFE)

Workshops for single energy products

Discussion:

Gasförmige Treibstoffe, Ltg. Werner Edelmann, arbi

Ethanol. Ltg. N. Macabrey, alcosuisse

Öle und Ölmethylester, Ltg. Prof. Martin Meyer, Schweiz. Hochschule für Landwirtschaft

Synthetische Kraftstoffe, Ltg.  Samuel Stucki, PSI

Ökologische Gesamtbilanz für steuerfreie Biotreibstoffe, Ltg. D. Zürcher (BAFU), M. Bracher (Oberzolldirektion), Inputreferat: M. Diemer (WWF)

DF 15 Allokation

Our presentation:

Rolf Frischknecht (2001) ISO 14041: Glashaus oder Nebel? Inputpapier für das 15. Diskussionsforum Ökobilanzen, 19. Dezember 2001, ETH Zürich