Page 21 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

6 A. Singh et al.

system, system boundaries and appropriate inventory establishment and allocation
of emissions in products and by-products (Singh and Olsen 2012). Larson (2006)
describes four input parameters to cause the greatest variation and uncertainties in
LCA results of energy production, namely climate-active plant species (species
with ability or otherwise to adapt to climate change); assumptions about N 2 O
emissions; the allocation method for co-product credits; and soil carbon dynamics.
In general, LCA is in fact developed for impacts with an input–output character,
and extractions from the environment and emissions to the environment can both
be well linked to a functional unit (Udo de Haes and Heijungs 2007). LCA regards
all processes as linear, both in the economy and in the environment. The LCA
model focuses on physical characteristics of the industrial activities and other
economic processes; the attributional LCA does not include market mechanisms or
secondary effects on technological development (Guinée 2004).
The results of LCA study are as much science based as possible and aim to
enlighten stakeholders in a production–consumption chain, thus contributing to
rational decision-making. LCA study can also be of use inside a company; by
implementing an LCA study on a product, the processes of the product system can
be identified, which largely appear to contribute to its total environmental burden.
This may help to direct environmental management of the company, for instance to
support its investment decisions or to influence its supply management (Udo de
Haes and Heijungs 2007). The main applications of LCA are analyses of the origins
of problems related to a particular product; comparing improvement variants of a
given product; designing new products; choosing between a number of comparable
products. Similar applications can be distinguished at a strategic level, dealing with
government policies and business strategies for renewable and sustainable energy
source. The way an LCA project is implemented depends on the intended use of the
LCA results (Guinée 2004). This reasoning can be predominantly true for decisions
in the energy sector. In year 2010, EPA applied the consequential LCA approach in
its regulation for US renewable fuel standards under the 2007 US Energy Inde-
pendence and Security Act (RFS2, as opposed to renewable fuel standards under the
2005 U.S. Energy Policy Act, RFS1) (EPA 2010; Wang et al. 2011).

5 LCA and Sustainability of Renewable Energy Sources

The general principles of sustainable biofuel production are relatively easy to
define (as shown in Fig. 2). However, it is quite challenging to derive a sound
framework that is able to characterize environmental, economical, and social
impacts in an adequate way. World Commission on Environment and Develop-
ment defined the term ‘‘sustainability’’ as ‘‘the development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs’’ (UNCED 1992). The methodologies to address LCA and sustain-
ability are advancing although the availability of practical data remains an issue
(Black et al. 2011). Sustainable development can be defined as the fulfillment