Os estudos de Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV) aplicados ao setor têxtil tiveram inicio na década de 1990, sendo realizados principalmente nos Estados Unidos e na Europa. No Brasil, os estudos de ACV aplicados a produtos têxteis utilizando dados nacionais iniciaram nos últimos dois anos. As normas ISO 14040 e 14044 fornecem a estrutura indispensável para a ACV, no entanto, ainda que balizadas por recomendações, certas escolhas metodológicas são realizadas pelo executor do estudo. Na maioria dos ciclos de vida do produto, há pelo menos um processo que tem mais de um produto como saída, e para o qual não é possível coletar dados em separado, sendo necessário aplicar um procedimento de alocação. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a influência da aplicação de diferentes procedimentos de alocação no resultado final de um estudo de ACV aplicado à produção de fibras têxteis, através da análise de estudos publicados e da realização de estudo de caso. A revisão dos estudos publicados na literatura baseou-se no método de revisão bibliográfica sistemática. Dentre as publicações que apresentaram o procedimento de alocação selecionado, o que representa apenas 34% dos estudos, a alocação econômica foi realizada em sete estudos, seguido da alocação baseada em critérios físicos (massa) em cinco estudos. No estudo de caso realizado para a produção de 1 tonelada de fibra de algodão no Brasil, a alocação de todo o impacto para a fibra de algodão resultou em 4120kg/CO2 equivalente, enquanto alocando por massa e critério econômico, respectivamente, obteve-se 1627kg/CO2 equivalente e 3419kg/CO2 equivalente. Para a fibra de politereftalato de etileno (PET), observou-se que o método de alocação selecionado altera a fronteira do estudo, que por sua vez impacta no resultado final. Os resultados encontrados no presente estudo reforçam a necessidade de reportar explicitamente as escolhas metodológicas e realizar análise de sensibilidade. / Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies applied to the textile sector started in the 1990s, being conducted primarily in the United States and Europe. In Brazil, the LCA studies applied to textiles using national data began in the last two years. The ISO standards 14040 and 14044 provide the necessary structure to the LCA, however, certain methodological choices even that oriented, are made by the analyst. In most product life cycles, there is at least one process that has more than one product as output, and for which it is not possible to collect separate data, being necessary to apply an allocation procedure. This study has aimed to evaluate the influence of applying different allocation procedures in the results of an LCA study applied to textile fibers, through the analysis of published studies and conducting a case study. The review of published studies was performed based on the systematic review method. Among the publications that have presented the allocation procedure selected, which represents only 34% of the studies, economic allocation was performed in seven studies, followed by allocation based on physical criteria (mass) in five studies. In the case study for the production of one ton of cotton fibers in Brazil, allocating the full impact for cotton fiber resulted in 4120kg/CO2 equivalent, while allocating according to mass and economic criteria, respectively, resulted in 1627kg/CO2 equivalent and 3419kg/CO2 equivalent. For the PET fiber, it was observed that the allocation procedure changes the system boundary, and hence the results. The results of this study emphasize the need to explicitly communicate the methodological choices and perform sensitivity analysis on LCA results.

A sustentabilidade do planeta é responsabilidade coletiva e ações para melhorar o ambiente global são necessárias e implicam na adoção de práticas de produção e consumo sustentáveis. O desenvolvimento da Indústria Têxtil e Confecção incorpora tecnologias nos campos das ciências físicas, químicas e biológicas necessárias às atividades do setor, desde a obtenção da matéria-prima, produção de fios e tecidos e, seus respectivos acabamentos, consumindo grandes quantidades de recursos e energia. O Desenvolvimento Sustentável ao expandir o foco econômico para as dimensões ambiental e social dos processos de produção e serviços originou uma visão sistêmica dos inputs e outputs do processo produtivo e suas consequências ambientais, estruturando o conceito de ciclo de vida do produto (ACV). O objetivo desse estudo é avaliar o ciclo de vida de uma calça feminina confeccionada em malha de poliamida, utilizada como uniforme do ensino médio estadual no Paraná, do berço ao túmulo, com 3 possibilidades de descarte. Foi realizado um estudo de caso para verificar a viabilidade de aplicação da ferramenta ACV para avaliação do impacto ambiental do produto final por meio do software LCA SimaPro8.1.16Faculty. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio de questionário, baseado nas diretrizes da NBR ISO 14040 que determinam as fases e procedimentos gerais da execução de um estudo de ACV, para identificar a estrutura produtiva da empresa de confecção permitindo o levantamento quantitativo de dados referentes ao processo produtivo, a identificação das entradas e saídas de materiais e energia elétrica e, a quantificação dos resíduos gerados. Algumas informações foram retiradas do banco de dados de inventários de processos disponíveis no software utilizado para este estudo. A avaliação do ciclo de vida da calça de poliamida foi baseada no Manual do Sistema Internacional de Referência de Dados sobre o ciclo de vida de produtos e processos (ILCD). A tabulação dos dados do produto foi realizada no software SimaPro8.1.16Faculty. A base de dados de inventário selecionada foi a Ecoinvent v.2 e, para realização da análise de impacto foi adotado o método de impacto gerado Eco-indicator 99. O software LCA SimaPro 8.1.16 Faculty mostrou-se ferramenta eficiente para a realização da avaliação do ciclo de vida da calça de poliamida com os três cenários de descarte, permitindo a análise dos impactos ao nível da categoria de danos para a saúde humana, qualidade do ecossistema e recursos e, possibilitando a análise da carga ambiental por categoria de impacto, de acordo com o que propõe a ISO 14042 sobre os elementos de seleção de definição de categorias para a fase de Avaliação / The sustainability of the planet is collective responsibility and actions to improve the global environment are necessary and imply the adoption of sustainable production and consumption practices. Development of Textile and Confection incorporates technologies in the fields of physical, chemical and biological sciences necessary to the sector\'s activities, from obtaining the raw material, production of yarn and fabric and their finishes, consuming large amounts of resources and energy . Sustainable Development to expand economic focus to environmental and social dimensions of production processes and services led to a systemic view of the inputs and outputs of the production process and its environmental consequences, structuring the concept of product life cycle (LCA). The aim of this study is to evaluate the life cycle of a woman\'s pants made of polyamide fabric, used as a uniform average state school in Parana, from cradle to grave, with 3 possibilities for disposal. A case study was performed to verify the application feasibility of LCA tool for assessing the environmental impact of the final product through ACL SimaPro 8.1.16 Faculty software. Data collection was conducted through a questionnaire, based on the guidelines of ISO 14040 which determine the general phases and procedures of the execution of an LCA study, to identify the productive structure of the clothing firm allowing the quantitative survey data for the production process, the identification of the inputs and outputs of materials and energy, and the quantification of waste generated. Some information was taken from the inventory database processes available in the software used for this study. The evaluation of the polyamide trousers life cycle was based on the International System Manual Data Reference on the lifecycle of products and processes (ILCD). Tabulation of the product data was performed in SimaPro8.1.16Faculty software. The selected inventory database was Ecoinvent v.2 and to perform impact analysis was adopted impact generated method Eco-indicator 99. The LCA SimaPro 8.1.16 Faculty software was efficient tool for the realization of assessment of the life cycle of the polyamide pants with three disposal scenarios, allowing the analysis of impacts on the category of damage to human health, ecosystem quality and resources, enabling the analysis of environmental load by impact category, according to which it proposed to ISO 14042 on the selection of elements to define categories for the phase evaluation

A noção de que o consumo de produtos manufaturados atinge adversamente o suprimento de recursos e a qualidade do meio ambiente fez com que o mercado consumidor exigisse das corporações e dos organismos reguladores medidas mais eficientes quanto a preservação da Natureza. Através de iniciativas como essa renasceu um instrumento de gestão ambiental conhecido por Análise de Ciclo de Vida - ACV. A ACV é uma metodologia criada para identificar aspectos ambientais e quantificar seus impactos associados, ao longo de todo seu ciclo de vida, ou seja, desde a extração de matérias-primas, até a disposição final do produto, novamente no meio natural. Seu uso auxilia na priorização de ações de melhoria visando a prevenção da poluição,permitindo uma alocação mais adequada de recursos materiais, humanos e econômicos. Além disso, estimulariam o aumento da competência e favoreceriam a inovação tecnológica, considerando sempre a relação custo-benefício envolvida. O objetivo desse trabalho é propor um modelo de ACV que seja adaptado às condições brasileiras. Para a comprovação do modelo, foi estudado o caso de produção de um fertilizante fosfatado - superfosfato simples. Verificou-se que por ser a ACV uma metodologia amplamente dependente de dados precisos e confiáveis, a indisponibilidade de bancos de dados genuinamente nacionais limita em muito seu raio de aplicação no país. Entretanto, foi possível constatar também, que mesmo diante dessa limitação,o uso da ACV amplamente aplicável na prática, principalmente no que se refere a hierarquização de ações de melhoria de desempenho ambiental de um produto. Verificou-se ainda que o ciclo de vida de manufatura do superfosfato simples não traz impactos significativos sobre o meio ambiente. Suas maiores contribuições em termos de impactos ambientes são relativas ao Aquecimento Global - dada a predominância de transporte rodoviário np país - a Eutrofização - em função das constantes ) perdas de processo - e a redução do espaço físico, motivada pela elevada geração de resíduos sólidos por ocasião da etapa de beneficiamento da rocha fosfática. / The society is actually convinced that the manufactured products bring problems to the Nature mainly, in terms of resource depletion and environment quality. This posture make the government and the corporations change their ways to deal with environmental management. In this picture, appeared again the life cycle assessment. LCA is a tool used to identify environmental damage, and evaluate it\'s proportion. From the cradle to grave of a product. Besides, LCA can support improvement actions, in the way of the pollution prevention, permitting tha allocation of material, human and economic resources. The goal of this scientific work is to propose a model of life cycle assessment specific to the brasilian condition. To test the model it was studied the manufacturing life cycle from the single superphosphate. The main conclusion\'s were that, even with deep limitation in term of databases extricate from Brazil, limited the use of the methodology to qualitative conclusions. On the other side, the model, even needing some sets, proved being useful in practical studies. In term of superphosphate, the most significative environmental impacts are Global Warming, because of the material transportation in Brazil is basically by road do the Nitrification, because the losses of the process. In general, the single superphosphate has, in reality low environmental profile.

A presente se tese desenvolve uma metodologia para comparar as substâncias emitidas na construção e operação de sistema frigorífico por absorção e por compressão de vapor de amônia usando a metodologia denominada Análise do Ciclo de Vida (ACV). Pesquisas bibliográficas feitas pelo autor desse trabalho permitem a conclusão de haver poucas informações que permitam a elaboração de um inventário de ciclo de vida para ciclo frigorífico por absorção e por compressão de vapor tendo como fluido de trabalho a amônia. Realizado todo o dimensionamento termodinâmico e mecânico dos ciclos e aplicada a metodologia ACV, os resultados demonstram que a operação do ciclo frigorífico por compressão produz 626,91% mais de hidrocarbonetos quando comparada com a quantidade emitida devido a construção. Demonstram ainda que as substâncias emitidas são diferentes para o ciclo por absorção e para o por compressão de vapor de amônia. / This thesis proposes to develop a way to compare the substances emitted in the construction and operation of a refrigeration cycle by absorption and compression of vapor ammonia using the methodology called Life Cycle Analysis (ACV). Bibliographic researches made by the author of this study suggest there is little information to allow the construction of an inventory of the life cycle to a refrigeration systems. Carried out all the thermodynamic and mechanical design cycles and applied the ACV methodology, the results demonstrate that the operation of the compression cycle produce 626,91% more hydrocarbon in comparison with the construction. The results shows that the substances emitted by absorption or compression cycle are different.

Orientadores: Joaquim Eugênio Abel Seabra, Ester van der Voet / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T13:50:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silva_CinthiaRubioUrbanoda_D.pdf: 4119724 bytes, checksum: 9e376a7eb523184696bec1d76fb133ec (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: O interesse na redução das emissões de gases de efeito estufa e a busca por segurança energética têm promovido o aumento da produção de biocombustíveis e investimentos em tecnologias de produção avançada. Partindo-se da hipótese de que estas tecnologias trariam benefícios para o perfil ambiental dos bicombustíveis, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar, sob o ponto de vida ambiental, cenários prospectivos de produção de etanol no Brasil levando em conta a introdução das melhorias tecnológicas propostas para o setor sucro-energético (e.g., plantio direto e produção do etanol de segunda geração). Adicionalmente, uma comparação prospectiva do etanol de segunda geração produzido a partir de diferentes biomassas foi realizada para avaliar a competitividade do etanol produzido a partir dos resíduos da cana-de-açúcar. A técnica de avaliação do ciclo de vida (ACV) foi adotada, utilizando o método CML para a avaliação de impacto do ciclo de vida (AICV) e o método Monte Carlo para a análise de incertezas. As seguintes categorias de impacto ambiental foram consideradas: depleção de recursos abióticos (consumo de combustível fóssil), aquecimento global, toxicidade humana, ecotoxicidade (terrestre e aquática), oxidação fotoquímica, acidificação e eutrofização. Emissões associadas aos impactos diretos e indiretos da mudança do uso do solo não estão no escopo deste trabalho. Os resultados indicam que as melhorias propostas conferem benefícios ambientais ao etanol de cana no cenário prospectivo frente ao etanol de produção convencional. A prática de plantio direto da cana-de-açúcar contribuiria para a redução dos impactos ambientais ao longo do ciclo de vida do etanol. Considerando todas as melhorias, o uso do etanol de primeira geração traria benefício ambiental maior do que o de produção conjunta (primeira e segunda geração), com exceção das categorias de acidificação e eutrofização. Quando comparado à gasolina, o etanol tem menor impacto em depleção abiótica e aquecimento global, mas não nas outras categorias de impacto. A comparação com o etanol de outras biomassas indica que o etanol derivado da palha da cana tem menor impacto ambiental em todas as categorias de impacto analisadas. A partir desses resultados, conclui-se que a evolução tecnológica projetada para a produção de cana-de-açúcar conduziria à melhoria do perfil ambiental do etanol. A produção de etanol de segunda geração, no entanto, não apresentaria vantagem ambiental frente ao etanol de primeira geração (considerando xii os parâmetros utilizados). Mas esta conclusão é sensível principalmente ao nível da coprodução de eletricidade excedente e ao respectivo combustível deslocado / Abstract: The interest in greenhouse gas emission mitigation and enhancement of energy security has fostered the production of biofuels and investments in technologies for the production of advantaged biofuels. Assuming that such technologies could improve the environmental performance of biofuels, the goal of this work was to analyze, from an environmental perspective, the ethanol production in Brazil in prospective scenarios. Additionally, a prospective environmental comparison of the ethanol produced from sugarcane residues and from other feedstocks was also performed. The life cycle assessment (LCA) technique was employed using the CML method for the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) and the Monte Carlo method for the uncertainty analysis. Abiotic depletion (fossil fuels), global warming, human toxicity, ecotoxicity (terrestrial and fresh water), photochemical oxidation, acidification and eutrophication were the environmental impacts categories analyzed. Results indicated that proposed improvements would lead to environmental benefits in the prospective scenarios compared to the current ethanol production. No tillage practice for sugarcane production has potential to contribute for the mitigation of environmental impacts. The projected first generation ethanol would lead to greater environmental benefits than the combined first and second generation ethanol, except for the impacts related to acidification and eutrophication. Compared to gasoline life cycle, sugarcane ethanol has less impact regarding abiotic depletion and global warming. The comparison among different feedstocks showed that ethanol from sugarcane bagasse would lead to less environment impacts. The results suggest that the projected technological evolution for sugarcane production can contribute for improving ethanol environmental performance. Second generation ethanol, on the other hand, would not lead to greater environmental benefits when compared to the projected first generation ethanol. This conclusion, however, is sensitive to the coproduction of electricity and the respective displaced fuel / Doutorado / Planejamento de Sistemas Energeticos / Doutora em Planejamento de Sistemas Energéticos

Aquaculture, the farming of aquatic animals and plants, is an important component of global food production, which supplies a nutritious protein source for millions of people. Interest in improving the sustainability of aquaculture has led to the development of aquaponics in which fish production is combined with plant production to create zero-discharge systems. A need for more fundamental science and engineering research on marine aquaculture and growing interest in production of halophytes motivated this novel research on marine aquaponics. One objective was to evaluate the growth and nutrient removal capacity of halophytes in marine aquaponics. Bench-scale studies were conducted to determine the best methodology to grow the halophytes sea purslane (Sesuvium portulacastrum) and saltwort (Batis maritima). The results indicated these species were important for nitrogen removal and function well under varying conditions of flow rate, species, or plant density. A prototype commercial-scale marine aquaponic system was evaluated through regular collection of water quality and plant growth data over a 9 month period. The system had a total volume of 50 m3 and contained: a swirl separator, uplfow media filter, a moving bed bioreactor, 61.4 m2 of hydroponic growing area, and a sand filter. Water quality parameters measured included: total ammonia nitrogen (TAN), nitrite (NO2-), nitrate (NO3-), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), and volatile suspended solids (VSS). TAN and nitrite concentrations in the fish tank effluent ranged from 0.04 to 2.42 mg/L TAN and 0.07 to 14.7 mg/L NO2--N, respectively. Nitrate concentrations increased to a maximum of 120 ± 5.7 mg/L NO3--N during the first 119 days of operation. To provide greater control over nitrate concentrations, the sand filter was converted into a downflow submerged packed bed biofilter. This reduced concentrations to a mean of 27.5 ± 13.7 mg/L NO3--N during the last 3 months. Dried plant samples were analyzed for nitrogen and phosphorus content. Nutrient uptake by plants ranged from 0.06 to 0.87 g N/m2/d and 0.01 to 0.14 g P/m2/d. It was estimated 0.55 kg/m2 of plant biomass could be harvested every 28 days. Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) were initially stocked at an average weight of 0.047 kg and grew to a harvestable size of 0.91 kg in approximately 12 months. A mass balance indicated that plants contributed to less than 10% of nitrogen and phosphorus removal and passive denitrification was the dominant nitrogen removal process. The second objective was to evaluate the environmental impact of aquaponics through life cycle assessment (LCA). LCAs were completed on freshwater aquaponic systems at commercial- and residential-scales. The system expansion method was used address co-production of 1 ton live-weight fish, recovered solids, plants, and water treatment. The results indicated that aquaponics contributed to significant water savings; however, aquaponics is subject to trade-offs from high energy use and the addition of industrial fish feeds. The methodology developed for freshwater aquaponics was applied to the prototype commercial-scale marine aquaponic system and was compared with two alternative scenarios of maximized plant production and a denitrification reactor with no plant production. The results indicated that a system with a denitrification reactor had the lowest environmental impact. Alternatively in the system with maximized plant production, the use of renewable energy sources would reduce the environmental impact and would contribute to greater water savings, while realizing the economic benefits of dual products. This is the first study to complete an in-depth evaluation of a commercial-scale marine aquaponic system and to evaluate aquaponics using LCA while accounting for the potential environmental offsets of multiple co-products.

The improvement of environmental impacts from production and consumption is an important sustainability target for Belgium, defined in federal and regional strategies for sustainable development. In order to monitor the implementation of sustainability targets a framework that can consistently link production and consumption and assess multiple environmental impacts such as climate change or resource use is needed. The most recognised method for the quantification of environmental impacts of product systems is life cycle assessment (LCA). Most LCAs focusing on production and consumption activities are carried out at national level. However, when regional differences in production and/or consumption structure exist, which is the case for Belgium, the use of more regionalised datasets and assessments seems more appropriate. This PhD thesis develops a multi-regional environmentally extended input-output model (EE-MRIOM) that can account for regional variation in production and consumption patterns and analyse environmental impacts of products from life cycle perspective. The model analysis three Belgian regions (Brussels, Flanders, Wallonia with a special focus on the latter) and their connections via trade flows with the rest of the world. The regional input-output tables (IOTs) of Belgium were linked to a global input-output database (EXIOBASE) and integrated into the LCA framework. The initial regional environmental data on major air emissions were extended by resource use and other emission data, so that a wide spectrum of potential environmental impacts can be analysed. The model represents all economic activities in 2003, 2007 and 2010 with a higher resolution in environmentally important sectors (e.g. energy, construction products, waste).The analysis of environmental impacts from production and consumption perspective confirms the relevance of the life cycle thinking approach, as, for example only 10 % of Walloon household environmental impacts are direct impacts and only 20 % of the Walloon production-related impacts occur on the regional territory. The results show that certain environmental impacts of production have decreased due to the economic crises and structural changes, while environmental impacts from household consumption have increased during the same period. Therefore, we conclude that only the joint improvement from production and consumption perspective will effectively reduce environmental impacts and particular efforts from the consumer side are needed. The regional comparison of impact intensities indicates significant regional variation for production, at economy scale, but also at product level. However, the results do not suggest a systematically lower or higher environmental impact intensity for a certain region. From the household consumption perspective, the results indicate low regional variation when comparing environmental impacts on a per habitant basis. Based on the results from the regional comparison of impact intensities, we conclude that there is no universal concept that could be transferred from one region to the other to improve environmental impacts. Instead, product-specific best cases at a regional scale must be identified in order to propose improvement options. For the Walloon region ‘priority products’, i.e. products or services that contribute significantly to a certain impact category in terms of total impact and impact intensities, are identified with the developed EE-MRIOM. Further model applications are demonstrated in this work such as comparative assessment within a priority sector, detailed sector analysis and scenario analysis to support the policy-making process. The developed model helps to identify most efficient measures to reduce environmental impacts from production and consumption perspective and suggests further methodological developments. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This research investigated life cycle environmental impacts and benefits of an integrated microalgae system with wastewater treatment system using an integrated process modeling approach combined with experimentation. The overall goal of this research is to understand energy, carbon and nutrient balances in the integrated system and to evaluate the environmental impacts and benefits of the integrated system from a carbon, nutrient, and energy perspective. In this study, four major research tasks were designed to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the environmental and economic sustainability of the integrated system, which included development of an integrated co-limitation kinetic model for microalgae growth (Chapter 2), kinetic parameter estimation models for anaerobic co-digestion (Chapter 3), development of an integrated process model (Chapter 4), and life cycle environmental and economic assessments of the integrated system (Chapter 5). The integrated co-limitation kinetic model was developed to understand microalgae growth in the centrate from dewatering of anaerobically digested sludge. This growth kinetic model considered four major growth factors, including Nitrogen (N), dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, light intensity, and temperature. The model framework was constructed by combining threshold and multiplicative structures to explain co-limitation among these factors. The model was calibrated and validated using batch studies with anaerobically digested municipal sludge centrate as wastewater source, and the model was shown to have a reasonable growth rate predictor for Chlorella sp. under different nutrient levels of the centrate. Anaerobic co-digestion was used for energy conversion process in the integrated system. To estimate methane production of anaerobic co-digestion, kinetic models commonly applied. To apply the kinetic model, determining kinetic parameters for anaerobic co-digestion of microalgae and waste activated sludge (WAS) is essential, and this research introduced two potential regression-based parameter estimation models to estimate the kinetic parameters. Using the estimation models presented, the kinetic parameters for co-digestion was able to be determined for different ratios of co-substrates with limited experiments. In this research, the integrated process model was developed to simulate the dynamic behavior of the integrated system. The model included the microalgae cultivation, harvesting, and anaerobic co-digestion processes in the integrated system to provide a comprehensive understanding of the integrated system. For cultivation, the integrated co-limitation kinetic model was applied to estimate microalgae productivity, while the regression-based parameter estimation model was used to determine the first order kinetic parameter to estimate methane production rates for anaerobic co-digestion. The simulated microalgae productivity results were comparable to typical microalgae productivity in open pond systems. For the integrated system, removal of NH4-N by microalgae was not efficient. In particular, the NH4-N removal was minimal during the winter season due to low microalgae growth. As the microalgae productivity increased, the CH4 and biosolids production increased as a result of the increased amount of the substrates from the harvested microalgae biomass. The increase of CH4 and biosolids productions, however, was minor because of the small amount of microalgae biomass for the co-digestion. Based on simulated data for integrated process modeling, the life cycle environmental and economic impacts of the integrated system (with different CO2 supply areas) were evaluated and compared to the conventional wastewater treatment system. The integrated systems had a lower carbon footprint, cumulative energy demand, and life cycle cost than the conventional system. The integrated system with 10% CO2 sparging area was able to achieve the lowest carbon footprint. Without CO2 addition during microalgae cultivation, the integrated system had the lowest energy balance and life cycle cost. However, there is no significant difference between the integrated and conventional systems for eutrophication potential because these systems had the same effluent quality. In terms of an energy saving with the integrated systems, the benefit of energy reduction for the wastewater treatment was greater than the energy production from the anaerobic co-digestion, compared to the conventional system. Overall, the integrated system can improve the carbon balance by reducing the life cycle energy required in the conventional system.

The exploitation of natural resources lays the foundation for the economic and social development, but also is the root cause of various environmental issues. The study aims to analyze the process of natural resource exploitation, to optimize the extraction and utilization processes, maximizing their economic and social values while reducing the accompanied negative environmental impacts. This dissertation focuses on the impacts of exploitation of mineral and hydrocarbon resources in emerging countries on global warming effect, economy and society. Chapter 2 of the dissertation analyzes the life cycle GHG emissions associated with iron ore mining and processing in China. With rapid economic development and nationwide urbanization, the iron ore demand grows while the ore grade declines significantly, leading to the increasing GHG emissions from iron ore production. Results of the research show that the mean life-cycle GHG emissions for Chinese iron ore production are 270 kg CO2e/tonne, with a 90% confidence interval of 210 to 380 kg CO2e/tonne. The two largest contributors to overall GHG emissions are agglomeration (60%) and ore processing (23%). Iron content (ore grade) varies from 15% to 60% and is the largest contributor (40%) to the uncertainty of the results. Chapter 3 explores the impact of China’s outsourcing of iron resources on the global warming effect. This chapter applies the same life cycle assessment framework of Chinese iron ore in Chapter 2 to Australian and Brazilian ore production, and compares the LCA results of Australian and Brazilian ore to Chinese iron ore. Results show that among the three iron ore sources, Australian iron ore is the optimal choice for reducing GHG emissions. The mean life cycle GHG emissions of Australian iron ore fines is 60% less than that of Chinese iron ore fines (42 kg CO2e/tonne versus 110 kg CO2e/tonne). There is no significant difference between the imported iron ores sourced from Brazil versus the China’s domestic supplied iron ores, but if Chinese ore grade falls below 20% in the future, Brazilian iron ores would be preferred. The largest source of GHG emissions for Australian and Brazilian iron ores comes from ocean shipping (accounts for 58% and 75% of the overall GHG emissions respectively). Chapter 4 studies the impacts of the exploitation of pre-salt natural gas in Brazil. Natural gas production and its associated downstream industries are currently underdeveloped in Brazil, while the on-going exploitation of deep-sea pre-salt reservoir would potentially change the current situation. This study analyzes the impacts of the increasing pre-salt gas production and potential natural gas use pathways in downstream industries. Results reveal that GHG emissions associated with pre-salt gas production vary according to the stage of reservoir exploitation. At the early stage, the estimate of GHG emissions is 5.4 (90%CI: 4.5~6.4) gCO2e/MJ, and the value becomes 7.1 (90% CI: 6.3~8.0) gCO2e/MJ for the intermediate stage. All six natural gas use pathways analyzed in the study emit less GHG on average than their current corresponding incumbent pathways. The mean GHG emissions reduction from natural gas use for power generation, nitrogen fertilizer production, methanol production, as the reducing agent for steel making, ethylene-based polymer production, heavy-duty vehicle fueling are estimated to be 0.83, 2.3, 0.38, 35, 2.6 and 0.078 million tonnes CO2 equivalent per year, respectively. The specific economic profits of the six pathways are affected by the prices of natural gas and traditional fuel. Under current fuel prices, the net annual profits for the six pathways are -270, 87, 92, 1700, 190 and -1500 million dollars, respectively. The job creation potential from the pathways of power generation, nitrogen fertilizer production, methanol production and as reducing agent for steel production are estimated to be 28, 17, 5 and 36 thousand, respectively.

This research investigated using a life cycle environmental and economic approach to evaluate IX technology for small potable water systems, allowing for the identification and development of process and design improvements that reduce environmental impacts and costs. The main goals were to evaluate conventional IX in terms of life cycle environmental and economic sustainability, develop a method for improving designs of IX systems from a environmental and economic sustainability standpoint, evaluate potential design improvements, and make the research findings accessible to water professionals through user-friendly tools and frameworks that take into account their feedback. This research provides an understanding, from the perspective of life cycle environmental impacts and costs, of the tradeoffs between various reactor designs of IX, the effects of scale, key contributors to impact and cost, design trends that improve sustainability, and how combined cation anion exchange compares to conventional IX. Furthermore, tools were developed that can be used to identify design choices that improve sustainability of IX systems. These tools were made into a user-friendly format to better bridge the gap between research and practice.