Page 230 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

228 11. A composite life cycle sustainability index for sustainability prioritization of industrial systems

FIG. 11.2 Classification of the environmental assessment indicators in E-LCA. Adapted from Van Hoof, G., Vieira, M.,
Gausman, M., Weisbrod, A., 2013. Indicator selection in life cycle assessment to enable decision making: issues and solutions. Int. J.
Life Cycle Assess. 18(8), 1568-1580.

As concluded in Table 11.1, the eleven indicators can be calculated by the E-LCA tools, i.e.,
CML2001, EDIP97, and Eco-indicator 99, while the basic definition of each indicator is also
offered in Table 11.1. Although the three E-LCA methods can be used for developing the
environmental indicators, differences can be found among them, i.e., CML2001 is an adapted
version of an integrated multimedia model (USES) that focuses on evaluating the risk sub-
stances, while EDIP97 employs a simple modular fate model for the evaluation, which focuses
on identifying the environmental key properties of chemicals; while between EDIP97 and
Eco-indicator 99, the manners to assign the weight as well as to aggregate the index are
different, which may cause different results in the assessment (Dreyer et al., 2003). Accord-
ingly, choosing a proper E-LCA tool according to a certain research focus is an important step
for creating a rational environmental index system.
Considering the E-LCA indicators are the most frequently adopted ones for evaluating the
environmental performance of industrial systems, an example regarding the hydrogen pro-
duction system is offered here for illustrating the procedures of E-LCA, as depicted in
Fig. 11.3, where the research boundary should be defined first. Subsequently, the raw mate-
rials and energy that are consumed in the system within the boundary, and the outputs of the