A condição para o ser humano continuar usufruindo dos recursos naturais de forma sustentável para o planeta passa, obrigatoriamente, por uma revisão do seu modo de vida atual. Além disso, ao se repensar este novo estilo de convivência com o resto do planeta, o homem deve avaliar os prováveis efeitos que tais mudanças poderão gerar.Assim, torna-se importante analisar quais externalidades (positivas ou negativas) acabam resultando neste processo de mudança. Entre as formas de análise existentes para os impactos gerados por um novo produto, processo ou serviço,encontra-se a Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV). Este método tem como objetivo compreender e lidar com tais impactos gerados tanto de forma qualitativa, como também de forma quantitativa. A ACV busca verificar tais impactos em todas as suas fases do ciclo de vida, ou seja, desde a extração das matérias-primas, passando pelo processo de fabricação e uso até o descarte ou descaracterização final de um determinado produto. Porém, tais impactos não se restringem apenas ao campo ambiental. Ao se questionar a sustentabilidade do modo de vida do ser humano, tal escopo acaba se ampliando, incluindo também as questões social e econômica. Desta forma, avaliações que atualmente analisam somente os impactos ambientais num processo de fabricação, por exemplo, terão que se auxiliar de mensurações econômicas e sociais a fim de poder compreender e lidar com a futura sustentabilidade deste processo. O mesmo acaba valendo para a metodologia adotada, pois a análise dos impactos ambientais terá que englobar os resultados econômicos e sociais. É neste caminhar que a Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida busca se adequar a esta visão de avaliação baseada nestas três dimensões (ambiental, econômica e social) tornando-seuma Avaliação da Sustentabilidade do Ciclo de Vida (ASCV). Este novo método buscou agregar os impactos sociais e econômicos com os ambientais já medidos durante o ciclo de vida de um determinado produto ou serviço. O Rio Grande do Sul (RS), assim como todo o Brasil vem enfrentando este mesmo desafio, a partir da homologação da Lei no 11.097, que determina a adição de biodiesel ao óleo Diesel. Desta forma, a matriz energética brasileira começou a se modificar incorporando fontes de energia alternativas através da biomassa, entre elas a soja. Portanto, torna-se prudente avaliar de que forma os impactos ambientais, sociais e econômicos se comportam ao se substituir o Diesel pelo biodiesel. Assim, este trabalho buscou verificar dentro do estado do Rio Grande do Sul o nível de sustentabilidade do biodiesel de sojabaseando-se no ciclo de vida deste. Para isso,foi utilizada uma forma de ASCV a fim de qualificar e quantificar estes impactos. Tais resultados têm o intuito de auxiliar nesta nova escolha para a matriz energética, para que os futuros tomadores de decisão possam lidar melhor com este processo de transição. Desta maneira trabalhou-se o ciclo de vida do biodiesel gaúcho em três fases: agrícola, industrial e uso e transporte. Foram mensuradas 6 categorias de impacto ambiental, 3 categorias de custo e 3 partes interessadas: acidificação, eutrofização, aquecimento global, recursos abióticos, uso do solo, uso da água, custos de insumos, custos de infraestrutura e manutenção, despesas financeiras, trabalhadores, comunidade local e sociedade, e atores da cadeia de valor. A coleta de dados ocorreu tanto por questionários como por coleta de dados secundários (específicos e genéricos). De uma forma geral verificou-se que enquanto a fase agrícola do biodiesel gaúcho destaca-se na dimensão ambiental, a fase industrial apresenta potencialidades na dimensão econômica. Verificou-se que os impactos mais críticos em cada dimensão do ciclo de vida do biodiesel acabaram sendo a acidificação (ambiental), custos de insumos (econômica) e a parte interessada comunidade local/sociedade (social). Por fim,verificou-se que o biodiesel gaúcho possui uma boa sustentabilidade onde se percebe a dimensão social com maior potencialidade de melhoria. / The condition of human being using natural resources in a way to become sustainable to the planet necessitates revision in our current way of life. Besides that, when human beings think about a new coexistence with the rest of the planet, they must evaluate the probable effects (that) their actions can generate. Hence, it is important to analyze which externalities (positive or negative) may result from this process. Among the methods which already exist to evaluate the impacts generated by a new product, process or service; there is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This method aims to understand and deal with the impacts generated, in both quantitative and qualitative ways. LCA seeks to verify the impacts in all phases, i.e., from the raw material extraction through the manufacturing process and use, until disposal as waste. However, these impacts are not restricted only to the environmental field. When the humans way of life is questioned, in terms of sustainability, it is necessary to widen the scope, aggregating also the social and economic dimensions. Therefore, current evaluations which analyze only environmental impacts in the manufacturing process, for instance, are being expanded for economical and social measurements in order to understand and deal with the sustainability of these processes. The same happens with methods, because the environmental impact analysis will have to encompass social and economic results. These include the LCA method which we should try to fit in this kind of evaluation based on three dimensions (environmental, social and economical), offering a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA). This innovative method seeks to aggregate the social and economical impacts into the environmental impacts already measured during the LCA related to a specific product or service. Rio Grande do Sul State (RS), like the rest of Brazil, has this same challenge, since the approval of the Brazilian Law number 11.097 which has established biodiesel addition to Diesel. In this way, Brazilian energy matrix began to change; encompassing alternative energy sources from biomass, among them soybean. Therefore, with a cautious approach it becomes necessary to evaluate in which way environmental, social and economical impacts behave when Diesel is replaced by soybean biodiesel. Thus, this work seeks to verify, the level of sustainability of soybean biodiesel in produced in Rio Grande do Sul, based on their LCA. For this, it will be used an LCSA analysis with the aim to qualify and quantify these impacts. The results obtained will help in a better understanding of this energy matrix, assisting decision-makers to better deal with this transition process. In this way, the life cycle of Rio Grande do Sul biodiesel was assessed in three stages: agricultural, industrial, and use and transport. It was measured 12 impact categories and/or stakeholders: acidification, eutrophication, global warming, abiotic depletion, land use, water depletion, supply costs, infrastructure and maintenance costs, financial expenses, workers, local communities and society, and value chain actors. The data collection was made both, by questionnaires and by secondary data collect (specific and generics). In general, it was verified that while the agricultural stage of the biodiesel stand out in environmental dimension, the industrial stage presents potential in economical dimension. Besides that, the stage of use and transport presented like the weakest link in this biofuel chain. In relation to social dimension was perceived a lack of maturity in all stages of life cycle which brought problemsto a better data collection and homogeneity of these results in relation to environmental and economical dimension results. It was found that the most critical impacts in each dimension were acidification (environmental), supply costs (economical) and the stakeholder local communities/society (social). Lastly, it was checked that the Rio Grande do Sul biodiesel has a good level of sustainability which it is possible to perceive a social dimension with higher potential of improvement.

abstract: 'Attributional' Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) quantitatively tracks the potential environmental impacts of international value chains, in retrospective, while ensuring that burden shifting is avoided. Despite the growing popularity of LCA as a decision-support tool, there are numerous concerns relating to uncertainty and variability in LCA that affects its reliability and credibility. It is pertinent that some part of future research in LCA be guided towards increasing reliability and credibility for decision-making, while utilizing the LCA framework established by ISO 14040. In this dissertation, I have synthesized the present state of knowledge and application of uncertainty and variability in ‘attributional’ LCA, and contribute to its quantitative assessment. Firstly, the present state of addressment of uncertainty and variability in LCA is consolidated and reviewed. It is evident that sources of uncertainty and variability exist in the following areas: ISO standards, supplementary guides, software tools, life cycle inventory (LCI) databases, all four methodological phases of LCA, and use of LCA information. One source of uncertainty and variability, each, is identified, selected, quantified, and its implications discussed. The use of surrogate LCI data in lieu of missing dataset(s) or data-gaps is a source of uncertainty. Despite the widespread use of surrogate data, there has been no effort to (1) establish any form of guidance for the appropriate selection of surrogate data and, (2) estimate the uncertainty associated with the choice and use of surrogate data. A formal expert elicitation-based methodology to select the most appropriate surrogates and to quantify the associated uncertainty was proposed and implemented. Product-evolution in a non-uniform manner is a source of temporal variability that is presently not considered in LCA modeling. The resulting use of outdated LCA information will lead to misguided decisions affecting the issue at concern and eventually the environment. In order to demonstrate product-evolution within the scope of ISO 14044, and given that variability cannot be reduced, the sources of product-evolution were identified, generalized, analyzed and their implications (individual and coupled) on LCA results are quantified. Finally, recommendations were provided for the advancement of robustness of 'attributional' LCA, with respect to uncertainty and variability. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Sustainability 2016

A condição para o ser humano continuar usufruindo dos recursos naturais de forma sustentável para o planeta passa, obrigatoriamente, por uma revisão do seu modo de vida atual. Além disso, ao se repensar este novo estilo de convivência com o resto do planeta, o homem deve avaliar os prováveis efeitos que tais mudanças poderão gerar.Assim, torna-se importante analisar quais externalidades (positivas ou negativas) acabam resultando neste processo de mudança. Entre as formas de análise existentes para os impactos gerados por um novo produto, processo ou serviço,encontra-se a Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV). Este método tem como objetivo compreender e lidar com tais impactos gerados tanto de forma qualitativa, como também de forma quantitativa. A ACV busca verificar tais impactos em todas as suas fases do ciclo de vida, ou seja, desde a extração das matérias-primas, passando pelo processo de fabricação e uso até o descarte ou descaracterização final de um determinado produto. Porém, tais impactos não se restringem apenas ao campo ambiental. Ao se questionar a sustentabilidade do modo de vida do ser humano, tal escopo acaba se ampliando, incluindo também as questões social e econômica. Desta forma, avaliações que atualmente analisam somente os impactos ambientais num processo de fabricação, por exemplo, terão que se auxiliar de mensurações econômicas e sociais a fim de poder compreender e lidar com a futura sustentabilidade deste processo. O mesmo acaba valendo para a metodologia adotada, pois a análise dos impactos ambientais terá que englobar os resultados econômicos e sociais. É neste caminhar que a Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida busca se adequar a esta visão de avaliação baseada nestas três dimensões (ambiental, econômica e social) tornando-seuma Avaliação da Sustentabilidade do Ciclo de Vida (ASCV). Este novo método buscou agregar os impactos sociais e econômicos com os ambientais já medidos durante o ciclo de vida de um determinado produto ou serviço. O Rio Grande do Sul (RS), assim como todo o Brasil vem enfrentando este mesmo desafio, a partir da homologação da Lei no 11.097, que determina a adição de biodiesel ao óleo Diesel. Desta forma, a matriz energética brasileira começou a se modificar incorporando fontes de energia alternativas através da biomassa, entre elas a soja. Portanto, torna-se prudente avaliar de que forma os impactos ambientais, sociais e econômicos se comportam ao se substituir o Diesel pelo biodiesel. Assim, este trabalho buscou verificar dentro do estado do Rio Grande do Sul o nível de sustentabilidade do biodiesel de sojabaseando-se no ciclo de vida deste. Para isso,foi utilizada uma forma de ASCV a fim de qualificar e quantificar estes impactos. Tais resultados têm o intuito de auxiliar nesta nova escolha para a matriz energética, para que os futuros tomadores de decisão possam lidar melhor com este processo de transição. Desta maneira trabalhou-se o ciclo de vida do biodiesel gaúcho em três fases: agrícola, industrial e uso e transporte. Foram mensuradas 6 categorias de impacto ambiental, 3 categorias de custo e 3 partes interessadas: acidificação, eutrofização, aquecimento global, recursos abióticos, uso do solo, uso da água, custos de insumos, custos de infraestrutura e manutenção, despesas financeiras, trabalhadores, comunidade local e sociedade, e atores da cadeia de valor. A coleta de dados ocorreu tanto por questionários como por coleta de dados secundários (específicos e genéricos). De uma forma geral verificou-se que enquanto a fase agrícola do biodiesel gaúcho destaca-se na dimensão ambiental, a fase industrial apresenta potencialidades na dimensão econômica. Verificou-se que os impactos mais críticos em cada dimensão do ciclo de vida do biodiesel acabaram sendo a acidificação (ambiental), custos de insumos (econômica) e a parte interessada comunidade local/sociedade (social). Por fim,verificou-se que o biodiesel gaúcho possui uma boa sustentabilidade onde se percebe a dimensão social com maior potencialidade de melhoria. / The condition of human being using natural resources in a way to become sustainable to the planet necessitates revision in our current way of life. Besides that, when human beings think about a new coexistence with the rest of the planet, they must evaluate the probable effects (that) their actions can generate. Hence, it is important to analyze which externalities (positive or negative) may result from this process. Among the methods which already exist to evaluate the impacts generated by a new product, process or service; there is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This method aims to understand and deal with the impacts generated, in both quantitative and qualitative ways. LCA seeks to verify the impacts in all phases, i.e., from the raw material extraction through the manufacturing process and use, until disposal as waste. However, these impacts are not restricted only to the environmental field. When the humans way of life is questioned, in terms of sustainability, it is necessary to widen the scope, aggregating also the social and economic dimensions. Therefore, current evaluations which analyze only environmental impacts in the manufacturing process, for instance, are being expanded for economical and social measurements in order to understand and deal with the sustainability of these processes. The same happens with methods, because the environmental impact analysis will have to encompass social and economic results. These include the LCA method which we should try to fit in this kind of evaluation based on three dimensions (environmental, social and economical), offering a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA). This innovative method seeks to aggregate the social and economical impacts into the environmental impacts already measured during the LCA related to a specific product or service. Rio Grande do Sul State (RS), like the rest of Brazil, has this same challenge, since the approval of the Brazilian Law number 11.097 which has established biodiesel addition to Diesel. In this way, Brazilian energy matrix began to change; encompassing alternative energy sources from biomass, among them soybean. Therefore, with a cautious approach it becomes necessary to evaluate in which way environmental, social and economical impacts behave when Diesel is replaced by soybean biodiesel. Thus, this work seeks to verify, the level of sustainability of soybean biodiesel in produced in Rio Grande do Sul, based on their LCA. For this, it will be used an LCSA analysis with the aim to qualify and quantify these impacts. The results obtained will help in a better understanding of this energy matrix, assisting decision-makers to better deal with this transition process. In this way, the life cycle of Rio Grande do Sul biodiesel was assessed in three stages: agricultural, industrial, and use and transport. It was measured 12 impact categories and/or stakeholders: acidification, eutrophication, global warming, abiotic depletion, land use, water depletion, supply costs, infrastructure and maintenance costs, financial expenses, workers, local communities and society, and value chain actors. The data collection was made both, by questionnaires and by secondary data collect (specific and generics). In general, it was verified that while the agricultural stage of the biodiesel stand out in environmental dimension, the industrial stage presents potential in economical dimension. Besides that, the stage of use and transport presented like the weakest link in this biofuel chain. In relation to social dimension was perceived a lack of maturity in all stages of life cycle which brought problemsto a better data collection and homogeneity of these results in relation to environmental and economical dimension results. It was found that the most critical impacts in each dimension were acidification (environmental), supply costs (economical) and the stakeholder local communities/society (social). Lastly, it was checked that the Rio Grande do Sul biodiesel has a good level of sustainability which it is possible to perceive a social dimension with higher potential of improvement.

abstract: Healthcare infection control has led to increased utilization of disposable medical devices, which has subsequently led to increased adverse environmental effects attributed to healthcare and its supply chain. In dental practice, the dental bur is a commonly used instrument that can either be reused or used once and then disposed. To evaluate the disparities in environmental impacts of disposable and reusable dental burs, a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed. The comparative LCA evaluated a reusable dental bur (specifically, a 2.00mm Internal Irrigation Pilot Drill) reused 30 instances versus 30 identical burs used as disposables. The LCA methodology was performed using framework described by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14040 series. Sensitivity analyses were performed with respect to ultrasonic and autoclave loading. Findings from this research showed that when the ultrasonic and autoclave are loaded optimally, reusable burs had 40% less of an environmental impact than burs used on a disposable basis. When the ultrasonic and autoclave were loaded to 66% capacity, there was an environmental breakeven point between disposable and reusable burs. Eutrophication, carcinogenic impacts, non-carcinogenic impacts, and acidification were limited when cleaning equipment (i.e., ultrasonic and autoclave) were optimally loaded. Additionally, the bur's packaging materials contributed more negative environmental impacts than the production and use of the bur itself. Therefore, less materially-intensive packaging should be used. Specifically, the glass fiber reinforced plastic casing should be substituted for a material with a reduced environmental footprint. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering 2013

abstract: Natural resource depletion and environmental degradation are the stark realities of the times we live in. As awareness about these issues increases globally, industries and businesses are becoming interested in understanding and minimizing the ecological footprints of their activities. Evaluating the environmental impacts of products and processes has become a key issue, and the first step towards addressing and eventually curbing climate change. Additionally, companies are finding it beneficial and are interested in going beyond compliance using pollution prevention strategies and environmental management systems to improve their environmental performance. Life-cycle Assessment (LCA) is an evaluative method to assess the environmental impacts associated with a products' life-cycle from cradle-to-grave (i.e. from raw material extraction through to material processing, manufacturing, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and finally, disposal or recycling). This study focuses on evaluating building envelopes on the basis of their life-cycle analysis. In order to facilitate this analysis, a small-scale office building, the University Services Building (USB), with a built-up area of 148,101 ft2 situated on ASU campus in Tempe, Arizona was studied. The building's exterior envelope is the highlight of this study. The current exterior envelope is made of tilt-up concrete construction, a type of construction in which the concrete elements are constructed horizontally and tilted up, after they are cured, using cranes and are braced until other structural elements are secured. This building envelope is compared to five other building envelope systems (i.e. concrete block, insulated concrete form, cast-in-place concrete, steel studs and curtain wall constructions) evaluating them on the basis of least environmental impact. The research methodology involved developing energy models, simulating them and generating changes in energy consumption due to the above mentioned envelope types. Energy consumption data, along with various other details, such as building floor area, areas of walls, columns, beams etc. and their material types were imported into Life-Cycle Assessment software called ATHENA impact estimator for buildings. Using this four-stepped LCA methodology, the results showed that the Steel Stud envelope performed the best and less environmental impact compared to other envelope types. This research methodology can be applied to other building typologies. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Architecture 2013

abstract: Natural rubber and rubber products can be produced from the guayule plant (Parthenium argentatum Gray), which is a low input perennial shrub native to Mexico and the American Southwest. Guayule rubber has the potential to replace Hevea (Hevea brasiliensis) rubber, the most common natural rubber, and synthetic rubber, which is derived from petroleum, in a wide variety of products, including automobile tires. Rubbers make up approximately 47% of the analyzed conventional passenger tire's weight, with 31% from synthetic rubber and 16% from natural Hevea rubber. Replacing the current rubber sources used for the tire industry with guayule rubber could help reduce dependency on imported rubber in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, residues from guayule rubber are being researched as a bioenergy feedstock to further improve the environmental footprint of guayule rubber products. This study used life cycle assessment (LCA), a useful tool to determine environmental impacts from a product or process, to quantify and compare environmental impacts of the raw material extraction, transportation and manufacturing of a conventional and a guayule rubber based passenger tire. The impact results of this comparative LCA identified the major environmental impacts and contributing process and informed how the impacts from the tire production can be reduced through utilization of natural rubber co-products as electricity off-sets and reducing guayule rubber's environmental impacts through agricultural and transportation modifications. Results showed that tire raw material extraction contributed the majority of impacts in all categories, where the production of guayule rubber for guayule tires, and the production of synthetic rubber for conventional tires, were the main contributors. Guayule rubber impacts occurred mainly from electricity consumption for agricultural irrigation, while synthetic rubber is a petroleum-based material resulting in high impacts. Transportation impacts had little significance compared to other stages in the life cycle, except for smog impacts, which occurred mainly from truck transport for guayule tires, and transoceanic transport for conventional tires. Tire manufacturing impacts occurred mainly from electricity use in the facilities and were reduced with the use of guayule rubber in guayule tires. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering 2014

A condição para o ser humano continuar usufruindo dos recursos naturais de forma sustentável para o planeta passa, obrigatoriamente, por uma revisão do seu modo de vida atual. Além disso, ao se repensar este novo estilo de convivência com o resto do planeta, o homem deve avaliar os prováveis efeitos que tais mudanças poderão gerar.Assim, torna-se importante analisar quais externalidades (positivas ou negativas) acabam resultando neste processo de mudança. Entre as formas de análise existentes para os impactos gerados por um novo produto, processo ou serviço,encontra-se a Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV). Este método tem como objetivo compreender e lidar com tais impactos gerados tanto de forma qualitativa, como também de forma quantitativa. A ACV busca verificar tais impactos em todas as suas fases do ciclo de vida, ou seja, desde a extração das matérias-primas, passando pelo processo de fabricação e uso até o descarte ou descaracterização final de um determinado produto. Porém, tais impactos não se restringem apenas ao campo ambiental. Ao se questionar a sustentabilidade do modo de vida do ser humano, tal escopo acaba se ampliando, incluindo também as questões social e econômica. Desta forma, avaliações que atualmente analisam somente os impactos ambientais num processo de fabricação, por exemplo, terão que se auxiliar de mensurações econômicas e sociais a fim de poder compreender e lidar com a futura sustentabilidade deste processo. O mesmo acaba valendo para a metodologia adotada, pois a análise dos impactos ambientais terá que englobar os resultados econômicos e sociais. É neste caminhar que a Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida busca se adequar a esta visão de avaliação baseada nestas três dimensões (ambiental, econômica e social) tornando-seuma Avaliação da Sustentabilidade do Ciclo de Vida (ASCV). Este novo método buscou agregar os impactos sociais e econômicos com os ambientais já medidos durante o ciclo de vida de um determinado produto ou serviço. O Rio Grande do Sul (RS), assim como todo o Brasil vem enfrentando este mesmo desafio, a partir da homologação da Lei no 11.097, que determina a adição de biodiesel ao óleo Diesel. Desta forma, a matriz energética brasileira começou a se modificar incorporando fontes de energia alternativas através da biomassa, entre elas a soja. Portanto, torna-se prudente avaliar de que forma os impactos ambientais, sociais e econômicos se comportam ao se substituir o Diesel pelo biodiesel. Assim, este trabalho buscou verificar dentro do estado do Rio Grande do Sul o nível de sustentabilidade do biodiesel de sojabaseando-se no ciclo de vida deste. Para isso,foi utilizada uma forma de ASCV a fim de qualificar e quantificar estes impactos. Tais resultados têm o intuito de auxiliar nesta nova escolha para a matriz energética, para que os futuros tomadores de decisão possam lidar melhor com este processo de transição. Desta maneira trabalhou-se o ciclo de vida do biodiesel gaúcho em três fases: agrícola, industrial e uso e transporte. Foram mensuradas 6 categorias de impacto ambiental, 3 categorias de custo e 3 partes interessadas: acidificação, eutrofização, aquecimento global, recursos abióticos, uso do solo, uso da água, custos de insumos, custos de infraestrutura e manutenção, despesas financeiras, trabalhadores, comunidade local e sociedade, e atores da cadeia de valor. A coleta de dados ocorreu tanto por questionários como por coleta de dados secundários (específicos e genéricos). De uma forma geral verificou-se que enquanto a fase agrícola do biodiesel gaúcho destaca-se na dimensão ambiental, a fase industrial apresenta potencialidades na dimensão econômica. Verificou-se que os impactos mais críticos em cada dimensão do ciclo de vida do biodiesel acabaram sendo a acidificação (ambiental), custos de insumos (econômica) e a parte interessada comunidade local/sociedade (social). Por fim,verificou-se que o biodiesel gaúcho possui uma boa sustentabilidade onde se percebe a dimensão social com maior potencialidade de melhoria. / The condition of human being using natural resources in a way to become sustainable to the planet necessitates revision in our current way of life. Besides that, when human beings think about a new coexistence with the rest of the planet, they must evaluate the probable effects (that) their actions can generate. Hence, it is important to analyze which externalities (positive or negative) may result from this process. Among the methods which already exist to evaluate the impacts generated by a new product, process or service; there is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This method aims to understand and deal with the impacts generated, in both quantitative and qualitative ways. LCA seeks to verify the impacts in all phases, i.e., from the raw material extraction through the manufacturing process and use, until disposal as waste. However, these impacts are not restricted only to the environmental field. When the humans way of life is questioned, in terms of sustainability, it is necessary to widen the scope, aggregating also the social and economic dimensions. Therefore, current evaluations which analyze only environmental impacts in the manufacturing process, for instance, are being expanded for economical and social measurements in order to understand and deal with the sustainability of these processes. The same happens with methods, because the environmental impact analysis will have to encompass social and economic results. These include the LCA method which we should try to fit in this kind of evaluation based on three dimensions (environmental, social and economical), offering a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA). This innovative method seeks to aggregate the social and economical impacts into the environmental impacts already measured during the LCA related to a specific product or service. Rio Grande do Sul State (RS), like the rest of Brazil, has this same challenge, since the approval of the Brazilian Law number 11.097 which has established biodiesel addition to Diesel. In this way, Brazilian energy matrix began to change; encompassing alternative energy sources from biomass, among them soybean. Therefore, with a cautious approach it becomes necessary to evaluate in which way environmental, social and economical impacts behave when Diesel is replaced by soybean biodiesel. Thus, this work seeks to verify, the level of sustainability of soybean biodiesel in produced in Rio Grande do Sul, based on their LCA. For this, it will be used an LCSA analysis with the aim to qualify and quantify these impacts. The results obtained will help in a better understanding of this energy matrix, assisting decision-makers to better deal with this transition process. In this way, the life cycle of Rio Grande do Sul biodiesel was assessed in three stages: agricultural, industrial, and use and transport. It was measured 12 impact categories and/or stakeholders: acidification, eutrophication, global warming, abiotic depletion, land use, water depletion, supply costs, infrastructure and maintenance costs, financial expenses, workers, local communities and society, and value chain actors. The data collection was made both, by questionnaires and by secondary data collect (specific and generics). In general, it was verified that while the agricultural stage of the biodiesel stand out in environmental dimension, the industrial stage presents potential in economical dimension. Besides that, the stage of use and transport presented like the weakest link in this biofuel chain. In relation to social dimension was perceived a lack of maturity in all stages of life cycle which brought problemsto a better data collection and homogeneity of these results in relation to environmental and economical dimension results. It was found that the most critical impacts in each dimension were acidification (environmental), supply costs (economical) and the stakeholder local communities/society (social). Lastly, it was checked that the Rio Grande do Sul biodiesel has a good level of sustainability which it is possible to perceive a social dimension with higher potential of improvement.

The nuclear power sector has a history of challenges with its relative competitiveness against other forms of electricity generation. The availability of low cost low natural gas, the Fukushima accident, and the cancellation of the AP1000 V.C. Summer project has caused a considerable role in ending the short lived “Nuclear Renaissance.” Historically, the nuclear industry has focused on direct cost reduction through construction, increasing installed capacity, and improving efficiencies to capacity factors in the 1990s and 2000s as ways to maintain competitiveness against other forms of energy generation. With renewables serving as an emerging low-carbon competitor, an added focus needs to be placed on indirect methods to increase the competitiveness of nuclear power. This thesis focuses on establishing pathways where nuclear power can be competitive with other forms of electricity generation given its advantages environmentally with Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), socioeconomically with legacy nuclear power plants, and through passive safety with SMRs. In Chapter 2, I estimate the life cycle GHG emissions and examine the cost of carbon abatement when nuclear is used to replace fossil fuels for the Westinghouse SMR (W-SMR) and AP1000. I created LCA models using past literature and Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the mean (and 90% confidence interval) life cycle GHG emissions of the W-SMR to be 7.4 g of CO2-eq/kwh (4.5 to 11.3 g of CO2-eq/kwh) and the AP1000 to be 7.6 g of CO2-eq/kwh (5.0 to 11.3 g of CO2-eq/kwh). Within the analysis I find that the estimated cost of carbon abatement with an AP1000 against coal and natural gas is $2/tonne of CO2-eq (-$13 to $26/tonne of CO2-eq) and $35/tonne of CO2-eq ($3 to $86/tonne of CO2-eq), respectively. In comparison, a W-SMR the cost of carbon abatement against coal and natural gas is $3/tonne of CO2- eq (-$15 to $28/tonne of CO2-eq) and $37/tonne of CO2-eq (-$1 to $90/tonne of CO2-eq), respectively. I conclude, with the exception of hydropower, the Westinghouse SMR design and the AP1000 have a smaller footprint than all other generation technologies including renewables. Assigning a cost to carbon for natural gas plant or implementing zero-emission incentives can improve the economic competitiveness of nuclear power through environmental competitiveness. The retirement of small and medium-scale coal power plants due the availability of natural gas can provide an opportunity for SMRs to replace that missing capacity. This trade-off between higher costs but lower GHG emissions demonstrates that depending on the value placed on carbon, SMR technology could be economically competitive with fossil fuel technologies Following my environmental competitiveness analysis, I shift towards investigating socioeconomic competitiveness of legacy large scale nuclear power plants compared to baseload coal and natural gas plants. In Chapter 3, I utilize ANOVA models, Tukey’s, and t-tests to explore the socioeconomic characteristics and disparities that exist within counties and communities that contain baseload power plants. My results indicate, relative to the home counties of nuclear plants, communities closer to nuclear plants have higher home values and incomes than those further away. Conversely, communities near coal and natural gas have incomes and home values that increase with distance from the plant. Communities near coal plants are typically either in less wealthy parts of the county or have a similar socioeconomic makeup as county. It can be suggested that equity issues regarding the community characteristics could be included in the discussion of converting existing power plants to use other fuel sources. Communities near power plants are not created equally and have different needs. While communities near nuclear power plants may benefit from the added tax base and absence of emissions, this is not the case for communities near coal and natural gas. With the impending retirement of large scale coal plants, the conversion of these plants to natural gas or small modular reactors presents an opportunity where negative environmental externalities can be reduced while also retaining some of the economic benefits. In Chapter 4, I present a model for estimating environmental dose exposure in a post-accident scenario to support scalable emergency planning zones (EPZs). The model includes calculating radionuclide inventory; estimating the impact decontamination factors from the AP1000, NUREG-6189, and EPRI’s Experimental Verification of Post-Accident iPWR Aerosol Behavior test will have on radioactivity within containment; and estimate dose exposure using atmospheric dispersion models. This work aims to compare historical decontamination factors with updated decontamination factors to outline the impact on containment radioactivity and dose exposure relative to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Protective Action Guide (PAG) limits. On average, I have found the AP1000, Surry, and iPWR produces 139, 153, and 104 curies/ft3 75 minutes after a LOCA. The iPWR produces less radioactivity per volume in containment than the AP1000 and Surry 84% and 96% of the time, respectively. The AP1000 produces less radioactivity per volume than Surry 68% of the time. On average, the AP1000, Surry, and iPWR produces 84,000, 106,000, and 7,000 curies/MWth 75 minutes after a LOCA. The lower bound 5 rem PAG limit is never exceeded for and does not exceeds the 1 rem lower PAG limit for whole body exposure at the 5-mile EPZ using the mean value. Considering this analysis uses a simple worst case Gaussian Plume model for atmospheric dispersion, the findings can be used to in conjunction with the State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses (SOARCA) to provide accurate and realistic estimates for exposure. I believe this analysis can help to develop a regulatory basis for technology-neutral, risk-based approach to EPZs for iPWRs. Finally, in Chapter 5 I discuss historical challenges facing the nuclear industry, policy implications, and recommendations. These policy implications and recommendations serve as pathways to frame an new nuclear renaissance. I also recommend future work where I details opportunities for improvements to nuclear competitiveness. Ultimately, this thesis can help policy and decision makers that can improve competitiveness and minimize risk as it relates to the expansion of nuclear power sector.

This thesis is focused on the method of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in Waste Management in the Czech Republic. The aim of this work is creation of landfill model and evaluate the main material, energy and elementary streams with influence on the environment. The output is an overview of each impact indicator, assessment most affected environmental categories by landfilling. and where is appropriate the optimization. The thesis consists of two parts, theoretical and experimental. The theoretical part deals generally about LCA, landfilling and municipal waste, their production and the possibilities of further handling them. In the experimental part is evaluated and compare the impact of 1 tonne lanfilling waste per 1 calendar year on several Czech landfills. The next was created average landfill model and its comparison with database models. Key words Landfill, Life Cycle Assessment, Waste Management, Municipal solid waste

Treating water in order to reduce human and environmental risks requires the use of electricity and chemicals, the generation of which creates emissions of air pollutants such as NOx, SO2, PM2.5, and CO2. Emissions of air pollutants establishes a health and environmental risk tradeoff between air and water pollution. Addressing air-water tradeoffs by adopting a one environment framework requires new methods for quantifying these tradeoffs, new technologies to minimize air-water tradeoffs, and new tools for decision makers to incorporate these tradeoffs into compliance decisions. In my thesis, I develop methods for quantifying damages from air emissions associated with water treatment; assess the feasibility of forward osmosis (FO), a technology which holds the promise to avoid air-water tradeoffs; and create a tool to holistically assess compliance with air and water emission standards for coal-fired power plants (CFPPs). I start my thesis by creating a method to quantify the damages caused by the air emissions that resulting from the treatment of drinking water (Chapter 2), municipal wastewater (Chapter 3), and flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater (Chapter 4). These studies use life-cycle models of energy and chemical consumption for individual water treatment unit processes in order to estimate embedded emissions of criteria air pollutants and greenhouse gasses per cubic meter of treated water. Damages from these additional air emissions are assessed and incorporated into benefit-cost analyses. I find that for drinking water rules, the net benefit of currently implemented rules remains positive but the promises of net benefits for some proposed rules are conditional on the compliance technology that is selected. For municipal wastewater, I find that while there are ~$240 million (in 2012 USD) benefits in air emission reduction from installing biogas-fueled electricity generation nationwide, there are several states where biogas-fueled electricity creates more air emissions than it displaces. For FGD wastewater treatment, I find that complying with the effluent limitation guidelines has an expected ratio of benefits to cost of1.7-1.8, with damages concentrated in regions with large chemical manufacturing industries or electricity grids that are heavily reliant on coal. In the next part of the thesis, I assess the techno-economic feasibility of power plant waste heat driven FO to reduce the air emissions associated with FGD wastewater treatment. In Chapter 5, I assess the quantity, quality and the spatial and temporal availability of waste heat from US coal, nuclear, and natural gas power plants. I find that while 18.9 billion GJ of potentially recoverable waste heat is discharged into the environment, only 900 million GJ of that heat is from the flue gas and is at a temperature high enough to drive water purification using forward osmosis (FO). In Chapter 6, I build a model of FO to assess its thermal energy consumption and find that the 900 million GJ of waste heat produced at coal and natural gas power plants is sufficient to meet their boiler feedwater and FGD wastewater treatment needs. In Chapter 7, I incorporate cost into the energy consumption model of FO, and conclude that treatment of FGD and gasification wastewater using waste heat driven FO is economically competitive with mechanical vapor recompression. In Chapter 8, I create an energy-balance model of a CFPP and nine environmental control technologies for compliance with FGD wastewater and carbon capture regulations. I use this model to maximize plant revenue at the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s 550 MW model CFPP without carbon capture. I find that revenue is maximized by using residual heat for water treatment or carbon capture. If both carbon capture and zero liquid discharge water treatment regulatory standards are in place, I conclude that the plant maximizes revenue by allocating residual heat and steam to amine-based carbon capture and electricity to mechanical vapor recompression for FGD wastewater treatment.