Page 52 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

Life cycle assessment as decision support: a systemic critique

them, including the rebound effect. Reductions in environmental impact can then be contex- 39
tualised in terms of decreases in cost to the consumer. The basic premise is that until it can be
established how money savings are spent, the net effect on the environment of substituting a
more efficient product for a less efficient one cannot be determined.
The CSIRO has developed the Australian Stocks and Flows Framework, a computer model
of the Australian economy based on physical stocks (e.g. mineral resources, water, soils and
forests) and flows (e.g. food and waste) and their interaction with demographic and economic
factors. By tracking total material stocks and flows of materials, goods and people in Australia,
this model can be used to determine the limits to scaling-up a material – or the limits of
product substitution – and also the indirect physical effects of substitutions. Present situations
can be modelled, but the future can also be projected based on expected population growth
and demographic and geographic shifts. The limitation of this tool is that it models at a rela-
tively coarse level: while it considers macro-level factors, it does not consider specific products
or technologies. For instance, it includes an ‘appliances’ category, but not a comparison of dif-
ferent types of appliances within that category, such as different types of washing machines.

4.6 The non-result in LCA
The second way in which LCA helps to challenge consumption is by being clear about what it
does not do. LCA can be used to examine all alternative approaches to deliver given functions,
which may show that all options have similar impacts – or that no option offers the 50% to
90% reduction in impact which may be expected from a sustainable alternative. In particular,
in consequential LCA, where the effects of changes in supply and demand are modelled when
introducing a new function or service into the economy, LCA can identify that consumption of
even low-grade waste products may have flow-on effects and impacts elsewhere in the economy.
This result in LCA is often seen as a non-result with no option that makes a discernable differ-
ence on environmental impacts compared to existing practice. This is essentially a proof that
the level of consumption is unsustainable and that product substitution and cleaner, more
efficient technology, of themselves, will not make any significant difference. The European
biopolymers study and the first Yalumba cask study show how useful this non-result can be.

4.7 Revealing the world behind the product
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has referred to LCA as a tool for reveal-
ing ‘the world behind the product’ (Fava 2002). This encapsulates arguably one of the most
significant potential contributions LCA can make to our understanding and management of
sustainability. Beyond simply expanding the knowledge base, LCA can also reveal blind spots
in the knowledge base, and areas of ignorance about environmental impact. Damage incurred
wilfully or through negligence is at least subject to checks imposed by law and public pressure.
However, damage incurred through ignorance continues unabated until the ignorance is
exposed or the system collapses. Accordingly, revealing areas of ignorance opens up opportu-
nities for great advances in sustainability.
LCA can illuminate the ‘depth’ of supply chains, and their integrated and connected nature.
It can also help break down arbitrary distinctions between natural and unnatural systems
because it calculates environmental impacts on the merits of standard impact metrics. Hence,
while agriculture is a ‘natural’ system, LCA studies generally indicate that agricultural systems
have higher impacts than other obviously ‘unnatural’ systems, such as refineries. Of course,
the scope to reveal these understandings is limited, particularly for consumers, where what is
emphasised or publicly revealed in the results of an LCA is merely a final score. In participative

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