This thesis presents a detailed study of life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity during the uranium mining-milling phase of the nuclear fuel cycle for three paired uranium mine-mill operations in northern Saskatchewan (SK). The study period runs from 2006 – 2013 for two of the three pairs, and from 1995-2010 for the third. The life cycle analysis has been conducted based on the ISO 14040:2006 standard using a Process Chain Analysis methodology. This study differs from previous studies of GHG emissions intensity during the uranium mining-milling phase of the nuclear fuel cycle in two key respects. First, it has a very large system boundary which includes the uranium exploration and mine-mill decommissioning phases. Second, it utilizes a life cycle inventory database to include many processes which would normally fall outside of the system boundary due to their small individual contributions. These differences contribute to a more accurate result. The production-weighted average life cycle GHG emissions intensity is estimated as 45 kg CO2e/kg U3O8 at an average ore grade of 9.12% U3O8 based on relative U3O8 production volumes at Mine-Mill A, B, and C from 2006 to 2010. The 95% confidence interval for the production-weighted average result ranges from 42 to 49 kg CO2e/kg U3O8, indicating that overall uncertainty in the result is low. Life cycle GHG emission intensity for the three uranium mine-mill pairs are 84, 66, and 35 kg CO2e/kg U3O8 at average ore grades of 0.71%, 1.54%, and 11.5% U3O8 respectively. Nearly 90% of life cycle GHG emissions are associated with operation of the uranium mine-mills, primarily from energy consumption during operation (69% of total) transport of materials and personnel (7.0%), and use of reagents (5.6%). Remaining processes each individually account for less than 5% of the total. In calculating emissions from electricity consumption, the base-case emission intensities reported above use a province-wide electricity emission factor because the utility does not differentiate its emissions by region. However, the facilities included in this study are all located in Northern Saskatchewan, which is powered exclusively by hydropower. Application of a regional emission factor reduces the production-weighted average life cycle GHG emission intensity to 26 kg CO2e/kg U3O8 with a 95% confidence interval of 25 to 29 kg CO2e/kg U3O8. This represents a 42% reduction in life cycle GHG emission intensity from the base case. Due to the high uranium ore grades found in SK uranium deposits, life cycle GHG emissions intensity for uranium from SK is among the lowest in the world. Further, the life cycle GHG emission intensity estimate from uranium mining-milling in SK is a small (approximately 10%) contributor to the life cycle GHG emissions intensity from the nuclear fuel cycle for light water reactors overall, amounting to approximately 1.2 g CO2e/kWh electricity (0.6 g CO2e/kWh electricity calculated using the regional hydroelectric power source).

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In this research, a decision support model for coordinating sustainable product and supply chain design decisions is developed using a multi-stage hierarchical approach. The model evaluates alternate product designs and their corresponding supply chain configurations to identify the best product design and the corresponding supply chain configuration that maximizes the economic, environmental and societal benefits. The model considers a total life-cycle approach and incorporates closed-loop flow among multiple product lifecycles. In the first stage, a mixed integer linear programming model is developed to select for each product design an optimal supply chain configuration that maximizes the profit. In the subsequent stages, the economic, environmental and societal multiple life-cycle analysis models are developed which assess the economic, environment and the societal performance of each product design and its optimal supply chain configuration to identify the best product design with highest sustainability benefits. The decision support model is applied for an example problem to illustrate the procedure for identifying the best sustainable design. Later, the model is applied for a real-time refrigerator case to identify the best refrigerator design that maximizes economic, environmental and societal benefits. Further, sensitivity analysis is performed on the optimization model to study the closed-loop supply chain behavior under various situations. The results indicated that both product and supply chain design criteria significantly influence the performance of the supply chain. The results provided insights into closed-loop supply chain models and their behavior under various situations. Decision support models such as above can help a company identify the best designs that bring highest sustainability benefits, can provide a manager with holistic view and the impact of their design decisions on the supply chain performance and also provide areas for improvement.

Problem – Companies are increasingly focusing on sustainability issues in response to internal and external pressure. Research on sustainable performance of focal companies is vast; however there is a lack of guidelines for managing sustainability in extended supply chains. Scholars claim a need for additional research on intra- and inter-organizational diffusion of best sustainable practices. Besides, the outcomes of sustainable sourcing practices are still uncertain. The gap between potential benefits of sustainable sourcing and actual performance is attributed to lack of capabilities, instruments, and efficient processes. Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore existing sustainable sourcing practices which are used by leading multinational companies. Based on the obtained knowledge we aim to develop a framework that will suite as a guideline for enforcing sustainable sourcing practices. Method – The research has been conducted through the method of grounded theory, enabling the researchers to constructively interpret data from documentary primary data and semi-structured interviews. This approach was utilized in order to explore what are the most common practices of managing sustainable sourcing applied by the companies awarded as Industry leaders by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Conclusion We found that a commonly accepted approach towards managing and enforcing sustainable sourcing is absent both in theoretical discourse and practice. However, the most frequently mentioned tools and approaches were defined. They include the adoption of suppliers’ code of conduct, establishment of dedicated sustainability departments, procurement personnel training, suppliers’ capability building, risk assessment and categorization of suppliers, IT platforms for information sharing, supplier self-assessment, audit, joint projects with suppliers, meetings and conferences, and suppliers’ scorecards. Finally, we developed a Sustainable Sourcing Enforcement framework which could serve as a guideline to enforce supplier’s commitment to act sustainably. The framework consists of five chronologically connected pillars: Objectives alignment, Commitment creation, Supplier selection, Ongoing development and Work with stakeholders.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The wastewater treatment system by constructed wetland takes into account the basic principles of natural wetlands for modification of water quality, however, it has controlled hydraulic flow and is constructed according to the desired treatment efficiency. At the Federal University of Santa Maria a vertical flow constructed wetland was designed to treat 1500 liters of wastewater per day, equivalent to that generated by 10 inhabitants of the House of College Student II, in the city of Santa Maria - RS. As every environment-modifying activity, the construction and operation of the constructed wetland result in environmental impacts, which may be positive or negative. To assess these impacts a Life Cycle Analysis - LCA was held on the wastewater treatment system. Considered one of the most complete tools for assessing environmental impacts, the LCA aims a detailed study of possible emissions from a process or product. The LCA of UFSM s constructed wetland was performed using the survey data of all building materials used in the work and the wastewater treatment parameters, and followed the steps defined by the ISO 14040 and 14044 (ABNT, 2009). For impact assessment, Ecoinvent data library and SimaPro 8® software were used. The interpretation of the results of the constructive phase was performed by ReCiPe method and the operation phase by CML method. Besides, analysis of the energy consumed in the manufacture of all construction materials was performed by Cumulative Energy Demand. The results showed that the bricks, steel and concrete were the most striking materials in all categories examined, with PVC, lime and sand the less striking materials. The bricks and cement represent 42.7% and 29.5%, respectively, of the impact of climate change category. Methane and nitrous oxide generated during the wastewater treatment are responsible for the occurrence of the environmental impact of climate change, cause by the 95% and 5% methane by nitrous oxide. COD, TKN and TP cause eutrophication representing 8.8%, 26.53% and 64.63% of impacts, respectively. Methane is related to the formation of photochemical oxidants. The energy consumed in operation during the life cycle of the system has an impact in all environmental categories analyzed by the software, with minimum impacts, taking into account the system s low power consumption. / O sistema de tratamento de esgoto por wetland construído leva em consideração os princípios básicos dos wetlands naturais para a modificação da qualidade da água, porém, contam com o fluxo hidráulico controlado e são construídos de acordo com a eficiência desejada de tratamento. Na Universidade Federal de Santa Maria foi instalado um wetland construído de fluxo vertical, projetado para tratar 1.500 litros por dia de esgoto doméstico, equivalente ao gerado por 10 habitantes da Casa do Estudante Universitário II, na cidade de Santa Maria RS. Como toda atividade modificadora do meio ambiente, a construção e a operação do wetland construído resultam em impactos ambientais, que podem ser positivos ou negativos. Para avaliação destes impactos realizou-se a Análise do Ciclo de Vida ACV do sistema de tratamento de esgoto. Considerada uma das ferramentas mais completas de avaliação de impactos ambientais, a ACV objetiva o estudo detalhado das possíveis emissões geradas por um processo ou produto. A ACV do wetland construído da UFSM foi realizada através do levantamento de dados de todos os materiais de construção utilizados na obra e dos parâmetros do tratamento do esgoto, e seguiu as etapas definidas pelas NBR ISO 14.040 e 14.044. Para avaliação dos impactos fezse uso da biblioteca de dados Ecoinvent, do software SimaPro 8®. A interpretação dos resultados da fase construtiva foi realizada por meio do método ReCiPe, e da fase de operação através do método CML. Ainda foi realizada a análise da energia consumida na fabricação de todos os materiais de construção, através do método Demanda Acumulada de Energia. Os resultados mostraram que os tijolos de cerâmica, o aço e o cimento foram os materiais mais impactantes em todas as categorias analisadas, sendo o PVC, a cal e a areia os materiais menos impactantes. Os tijolos e o cimento representam 42,7% e 29,5%, respectivamente, dos impactos na categoria mudanças climáticas. O metano e o óxido nitroso gerados durante o tratamento de esgoto são os responsáveis pela ocorrência do impacto ambiental mudanças climáticas, causado 95% pelo metano e 5% pelo óxido nitroso. A DQO, o NTK e o PT causam a categoria de impacto eutrofização, representando 8,8%, 26,53% e 64,63% dos impactos, respectivamente. O metano está relacionado à formação de oxidantes fotoquímicos. A energia consumida na operação durante a vida útil do sistema causa impactos em todas as categorias ambientais analisadas através do software, sendo mínimos estes impactos, levando em conta o baixo consumo de energia do sistema.

Eutrophication is a consequence of excess nutrients in the water which leads to increased algaegrowth, reduced water transparency and hypoxic bottoms. This is the biggest environmental problemfor the Baltic Sea which recently has resulted in stricter legislations and other initiatives to help theBaltic Sea to recover. However, the actions to reduce the nutrient input to the Baltic Sea have so farmainly been land-based. These actions seem to not be enough since the eutrophication continues tobe a problem for the Baltic Sea. Farming blue mussels has shown to have a mitigating effect on theeutrophication and could thus be a complementary action. Blue mussels are filter-feeding specieswhich means that they filter water for food and thus eat phytoplankton and accumulate nutrients atthe same time. When the blue mussels are removed from the sea, so is the nutrients accumulated inthe mussels, resulting in a mitigation of nutrients and thereby the eutrophication. Due to the brackishwater with the low salinity in the Baltic Sea, the blue mussels farmed there do not grow bigger thanaround 3 cm. This means that the mussels are not suitable for human food production and theharvested mussels need to be used for something else, even though the farming itself is anenvironmental action. Three possible mussel products from valorisation of the Baltic Sea blue musselshave been identified; producing mussel meal, biogas or compost.Region Östergötland is involved in a project, Baltic Blue Growth, with the main objective to study howto use mussel farming as an environmental measure and which of the three valorisation options is themost beneficial from an environmental perspective. This study is a part of their investigation to reachtheir goal and will study their mussel farm in St. Anna and the three valorisation options from anenvironmental perspective. The aim of this study is thus to investigate the net nutrient reduction froma mussel farm in the Baltic Sea in combination with the contribution to climate change. This is donefrom a life cycle perspective to include the valorisation of the mussels into the different productsmussel meal, biogas or compost. For this, an existing farm in the archipelago of St. Anna, Östergötland,Sweden is studied. The main results show that there is a nutrient reduction from the mussel farm andthis is not majorly affected regardless of which valorisation option that is chosen. However, the musselfarm does have an impact on climate change and the magnitude of the impact varies for the threevalorisation options. The results of the sensitivity analysis show that the result from the life cycle canbe improved with future improvements of the mussel farm and transportation. The nutrient reductioncan become larger and the impact on the climate change can be reduced. Outside the result from thelife cycle analysis it is discussed that there are other future improvement possibilities in the productionof the mussel products, which would impact the result. The mussel farm and the mussel products alsohave other positive impacts that is not included in the life cycle analysis but discussed in the study,such as increased water transparency, recycling of nutrients and reduction of over fishing. However,the mussel farm could also have negative impacts, such as emissions of microplastics and locallyincreased sedimentation which affect the hypoxia. Those are discussed in this study but the probabilityand possible impact of them are not fully investigated and need further research.

Transport sector is an essential driver of economic development and growth, and at the same time, one of the biggest contributors to climate change, responsible for almost a quarter of the global carbon dioxide emissions. The sector is 95 percent dependent on fossil fuels. International Energy Agency (IEA) scenarios present different mixes of fuels to decrease both dependence on fossil fuels and emissions, leading to a more sustainable future. The main alternative fuels proposed in the Blue map scenario, presented in the Energy Technologies Perspective 2008, were hydrogen and second-generation ethanol. An assessment of these fuels was made using the tools SLCA (Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment) and SWOT Analysis. A Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) is the background used to guide the assessment and to help structure the results and conclusions. The results aim to alert the transport sector stakeholders about the sustainability gaps of the scenario, so decisions can be made to lead society towards a sustainable future. / <p>Phone number 0708293568</p>

L'Analyse de Cycle de Vie (ACV) a été explicitement employée, dans le cadre législatif en Europe et aux Etats-Unis afin de quantifier les bénéfices de filières biocarburants vis-à-vis des objectifs de réduction d'émissions des gaz à effet de serre (GES) et d'indépendance énergétique. Nous investiguons, au cours de cette thèse, la concordance du développement des biocarburants avancés (éthanol lignocellulosique, Biomass to Liquids - BTL, EMHV/HVO à partir de microalgues) avec ces objectifs par le biais de deux travaux indépendants. Le premier est une méta-analyse (synthèse de littérature) des études ACV appliquées aux filières de biocarburants avancés. Dans cette partie de la thèse, en utilisant des méthodes économétriques, nous identifions et quantifions les facteurs qui impactent le plus les résultats d'émissions de GES au long du cycle de vie des produits étudiés et calculons l'intervalle de confiance pour ces résultats. Le deuxième travail est une ACV conséquentielle et prospective illustrée par une étude de cas concernant l'introduction du BTL en France. Nous avons adapté un modèle prospectif de type TIMES pour la réalisation d'évaluations environnementales. De cette façon, nous prenons en compte des mécanismes économiques à l'origine d'impacts sur d'autres systèmes de la production de biocarburants. Ainsi, nous contribuons aux développements méthodologiques autour de l'ACV conséquentielle et prospective avec des discussions sur la définition de l'unité fonctionnelle, la définition des frontières du système, l'inclusion d'aspects dynamiques dans la caractérisation d'impacts, l'utilisation de scénarios (différents contextes politiques et économiques) et la réalisation des analyses de sensibilité sur les frontières du système pour mettre en évidence les limites du modèle utilisé. / Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been used in legislative texts in Europe and in the United States to quantify the benefits of biofuel production in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions and energy security. In this thesis, we propose two independent approaches to investigate the compliance of advanced biofuels (cellulosic ethanol, Biomass to liquids - BTL, microalgae FAME/HVO) production with these objectives. The first one is a meta- analysis (literature synthesis) of LCA studies concerning advanced biofuels. Using econometric methods, we are able to identify and quantify the main factors impacting GHG emission LCA results. Also, we estimate a confidence interval for these results for each type of advanced biofuel in question. The second part of this work is a consequential and prospective LCA illustrated by a case study about the introduction of BTL technology in France. A long-term TIMES-type energy model was adapted for environmental evaluations in order to capture impacts occurring in affected systems through economic mechanisms. We contribute, with this work, for a proper systematization of consequential and prospective LCA. We discuss the functional unit and system boundaries definitions, the use of dynamic impact characterization factors, the use of scenarios (different political and economical contexts) and the exploration of the system's boundaries to bring attention to the limits of the model employed.

Potential synergy effects and conflicts, so-called interactions, between a climate action that aims to mitigate the climate impact and five targets of the Sustainable Development Goals are identified in this study. The climate action is Conscious material choices for the frame, and the materials assessed are climate improved concrete and domestic wood. Standard concrete is used as the business as usual scenario. A pre-school building is used as an example building to demonstrate the difference in the climate impact of a frame made from the two materials assessed in the study. Life cycle assessments (LCA) of the frames shows that the domestic wood frame has a lower climate impact than the climate improved concrete frame.Two methods are used in this study. The first method is making an LCA for transportation of the materials assessed to see the environmental impact, and there is one scenario for each material where the transportation method is by a truck and one that is by train. The second method used for the study is a goal interaction scoring-method from “A draft framework for understanding SDG interactions” by Nilsson et al. (2016) that gives the interactions a score based on specific criteria. The scores are visualised in a colour coordinated matrix. The interactions generate synergies if the sums of the scores in the matrix are positive and will likely help accomplish the target. If the sums of the scores in the matrix are negative, it indicates that there are conflicts that could endanger the possibilities to reach the target.LCA of the transport scenarios shows that when the transportation distance is long, the climate impact is lowest when transporting as much as possible of the materials by train. Transporting the domestic wood for the frame by train (for longer distances) has a lower climate impact than transporting the climate improved concrete. For shorter distances, there is not a significant difference between transportation by truck or by train. The climate improved concrete gets score 0, meaning that there are neither positive nor negative interactions for the chosen material for the frame. The domestic wood gets the score +8, which indicates that there are synergies. Both the climate improved concrete and the domestic wood should not interfere with the accomplishment of the Sustainable Development Goal’s targets. However, the domestic wood for the frame generates more synergies and by choosing the domestic wooden frame for a building using a train as a transportation of the material when possible has the lowest environmental impact of the assessed materials for the frame. / <p>2020-06-08</p>

La construction et la réhabilitation des bâtiments et des quartiers induisent des dommages environnementaux de nature diverse (consommation de ressources, émissions de substances toxiques, atteintes aux écosystèmes). De plus, ces impacts peuvent être générés de manière indirecte (déchets radioactifs produits par la consommation d’électricité par exemple). D’où l’importance d’une approche d’évaluation environnementale holistique et multicritère. L’analyse de cycle de vie (ACV) correspond à ce cahier des charges. Cette méthode a été appliquée pour évaluer la contribution d’un bâtiment ou d’un quartier à un ensemble de thématiques environnementales (au contraire d’un outil monocritère comme le bilan carbone) et ce sur l’intégralité du cycle de vie : fabrication des matériaux, construction, utilisation, rénovation, démolition et traitement des déchets. Cette méthode peut être utilisée à différente étapes d’un projet : définition d’objectifs de programme, aide à la conception, aide à la gestion, aide à la rénovation, aide à la stratégie de déconstruction.Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le cadre de l’application de l’ACV à l’éco-conception des ensembles bâtis, de la maison individuelle jusqu’au quartier multifonctionnel. L’objectif est d’améliorer la qualité de l’aide à la décision fournie par les outils d’éco-conception en matière de réalisme et de précision des études.Trois axes de travail en interaction ont été explorés :- Conséquentiel : Quels apports conceptuels et pratiques peut-on mettre en œuvre sur la base des recherches sur l’ACV conséquentielle ?- Dynamique : Comment intégrer les interactions dynamiques entre le parc bâti et son système d’arrière plan, en particulier le système électrique?- Prospectif : Comment tenir compte de la longue durée de vie des ensembles bâtis ?La thèse propose premièrement un nouveau cadre conceptuel pour l’évaluation des projets de conception et de réhabilitation s’inspirant des récents travaux méthodologiques sur l’ACV conséquentielle. L’application pratique de cette nouvelle approche « conséquentielle-projet » nécessite la production de connaissances mobilisant l’ACV dynamique et l’ACV prospective.Concrètement, la thèse propose une modélisation dynamique du fonctionnement du système électrique dans un cadre « type » affranchi des aléas climatiques et économiques. Le modèle sert de base au développement de méthodes d’évaluation originales des impacts de l’électricité : une méthode dynamique moyenne et une méthode marginale. Ces méthodes améliorent la précision d’une étude d’analyse de cycle de vie, quel que soit l’objectif (certification ou écoconception) et l’approche méthodologique associée (attributionnelle ou conséquentielle-projet).La thèse propose ensuite l’intégration de scénarios prospectifs adaptés à l’étude des bâtiments et des quartiers. Celle-ci associe les recherches en prospective énergétique menées à l’échelle nationale et les recherches concernant l’impact du changement climatique sur le comportement thermique des bâtiments. Les effets conjoints de ces deux déterminants sont évalués au sein d’une approche originale et intégrée.La thèse explore également la question du changement d’échelle du bâtiment vers le quartier. Les cas du transport des occupants et du traitement des déchets sont analysés au prisme de l’approche « conséquentielle-projet ». Une méthodologie de couplage des outils de simulation transport au niveau local et de l’ACV est notamment proposée. Elle constitue un premier pas vers un couplage interdisciplinaire des outils d’analyse des projets urbains.Les différents développements méthodologiques sont finalement appliqués à une étude de cas afin d’analyser et d’interpréter l’effet des nouvelles approches sur l’aide à la décision fournie par les outils d’écoconception. / Environmental impacts induced by urban projects concern various topics (resources, health, biodiversity). Some are indirect impacts (for instance radioactive waste generated by electricity consumption). This calls for a holistic and multicriteria approach such as Life-Cycle-Analysis (LCA) in order to evaluate environmental performance of construction or retrofitting projects. Considering cradle to grave impacts this method is used at different project phases: program objectives, design aid, management strategies evaluation, retrofitting project, dismantling, and waste management.The thesis lies in the framework of life-cycle analysis applied to urban project design, from individual houses up to multifunctional neighborhoods. The underlying objective is to improve relevance and accuracy of the decision aid provided by LCA-based design tools.Three interacting topics have been investigated:- Consequential assessment: How can the results of current research on consequential LCA be implemented in Building LCA?- Dynamic: How to integrate dynamic interaction between buildings and the background system, mainly the electricity grid?- Prospective: How to take into account the long life span of buildings and urban districts?The dissertation firstly suggests a new framework for evaluating construction or retrofitting project, grounded in consequential LCA. The practical application of this consequential-project approach requires knowledge generation on dynamic and prospective LCA.A dynamic model of the electricity system has been developed. From this model, a reference operation year of the electricity system has been determined, mitigating climatic and economical hazards of real years. Based on this model, a dynamic average approach and a marginal approach are defined to assess life-cycle impacts of electricity consumption. These developments improve the accuracy of LCA independently of the chosen modeling approach, consequential or attributional.The prospective dimension is explored, through scenarios development. The suggested scenarios bring together national energy prospective research and global warming effects on buildings thermal behavior. The combined effects are evaluated using a novel and integrated approach.The thesis then addresses the scale issue when moving from building to district projects. Following the consequential-project approach principles, the focus is made on integrating daily transport and domestic waste models in LCA of urban projects. A method to combine local transport simulation models and building LCA is suggested. It establishes a first step towards integrated multidisciplinary assessment of urban projects.The developed approaches and methodologies are finally tested on a case study.