Since June 2003 Deutsche Solar AG is operating a recycling plant for modules with crystalline cells. The aim of the process is to recover the silicon wafers so that they can be reprocessed and integrated in modules again. The aims of the Life Cycle Analysis of the mentioned process are (i) the verification if the process is beneficial regarding environmental aspects, (ii) the comparison to other end-of-life scenarios, (iii) the ability to include the end-of-life phase of modules in future LCA of photovoltaic modules. The results show that the recycling process makes good ecological sense, because the environmental burden during the production phase of reusable components is higher than the burden due to the recycling process. Moreover the Energy Pay Back Time of modules with recycled cells was determined.

Together with 11 European and US photovoltaic companies an extensive effort has been made to collect Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data that represents the status of production technology for crystalline silicon modules for the year 2004. These data can be used to evaluate the environmental impacts of photovoltaic solar energy systems.

The new data covers all processes from silicon feedstock production via wafer- and cell- to module manufacturing. All commercial wafer technologies are covered, i.e multi- and mono-crystalline wafers as well as ribbon technologies. For monocrystalline silicon wafer production further improvement of the data quality is recommended.

The majority of the world energy consumption is derived from fossil fuels. Furthermore, the United States (US) consumption of petroleum vastly exceeds its production, with the majority of petroleum being consumed in the transportation sector. The increasing dependency on foreign fuel resources in conjunction with the severe environmental impacts of a petroleum-based society dictates that alternative renewable energy resources be developed. The US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Office of Basic Energy Sciences are currently promoting a vehicular hydrogen-based energy economy. However, none of the current on-board storage technologies are suitable for practical and safe deployment. Significant scientific advancement is therefore still required if a viable on-board storage technology is to be developed. A detailed discussion of the benefits of transitioning to a hydrogen-powered automotive fleet as well as the tremendous technical hurdles faced for the development of an on-board hydrogen storage system are provided here. A novel class of theoretically predicted nanostructured materials that could revolutionize hydrogen storage materials is also presented.

Over the years considerable research has been conducted on masonry mortars regarding their compatibility with under restoration structures. The environmental dimension of these materials may sometimes be a prohibitive factor in the selection of these materials. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool that can be used to assess the environmental impact of the materials. LCA can be a very useful tool in the decision making for the selection of appropriate restoration structural material. In this work, a comparison between traditional type of mortars and modern ones (cement-based) is attempted. Two mortars of traditional type are investigated: with aerial lime binder, with aerial lime and artificial pozzolanic additive and one with cement binder. The LCA results indicate that the traditional types of mortars are more sustainable compared to cementbased mortars. For the impact assessment, the method used is Eco-indicator 95

The front covers of Motorola cellular phone housings, which were composed of 62.2 wt% of polycarbonate (PC) /acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), were ground and separated from the undesired materials using sink-float methods. The sink-float methods in water and salt were used to remove the floating materials such as the adhesive strips and the foams, and to separate the metal parts where the recovery ratios were 92.8 and 40.5 %, respectively. The separation of residual wires and button rubbers, which could not be done by the sink-float process in water, was preformed using V-Stat Triboelectric Separator (Outokumpu Technology) of a roll separator that also provided the effective methods to separate the ground metals that had existed in the printed circuit boards where the recovery weight ratio of metal parts was 19 wt%. The separated PC/ABS’s could be compounded with the ground circuit boards or the thermoplastic elastomer called Engage®, or the reactive species of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA).

Aspects of the hydrogen economy are addressed by quantifying impacts and costs associated with a hydrogen-based energy infrastructure. It is recommended that hydrogen (H2) is produced from Solar Thermochemical (STC) Cycles and Wind Electrolysis, with the possible use of Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) to aid in the creation of a hydrogen infrastructure. Despite high impact assessment results from SimaPro, the external costs associated with Biomass gasification are shown to be comparable with those for Wind Electrolysis. Thus, biomass-produced hydrogen could also be a viable alternative, especially in areas ideally suited to the growth of energy crops. Finally, the most influential life cycle stages are the Construction of the FCV and Hydrogen Production (except for the environmentally benign wind electrolysis). For the Wind/Electrolysis case, the majority of impacts come from plant construction.

Together with a number of PV companies an extensive effort has been made to collect Life Cycle Inventory data that represents the current status of production technology for crystalline silicon modules. The new data covers all processes from silicon feedstock production to cell and module manufacturing. All commercial wafer technologies are covered, that is multi- and monocrystalline wafers as well as ribbon technology. The presented data should be representative for the technology status in 2004, although for monocrystalline Si crystallisation further improvement of the data quality is recommended. On the basis of the new data it is shown that PV systems on the basis of c-Si technology are in a good position to compete with other energy technologies. Energy Pay-Back Times of 1.7-2.7 yr are found for South-European locations, while life-cycle CO2 emission is in the 30-46 g/kWh range. Clear perspectives exist for further improvements with roughly 40-50%.

This paper presents information regarding a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA), including scenario and data uncertainty, based on a hypothetical drink product for which we evaluate three main container material alternatives: (1) a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle; (2) an aluminum can; and (3) a polylactide (PLA) bottle. The scope of results included energy, water use and two characterized impacts are included: global warming potential (GWP) and ozone depletion potential (ODP).

The results presented in this study demonstrate that LCI parameter uncertainty seems to have a dominant effect in the outcome of the LCA results considered. Indeed, in most cases there is overlap in the uncertainty intervals (at 95% confidence level), indicating that the three systems under study have similar indicator values, at least with regard to the environmental indicators included here.

Nanotechnology is a rapidly expanding and advancing field of research that has already yielded a variety of commercially available products including cosmetics, suntan lotions, paints, self cleaning windows and stain resistant clothing. The Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering in their recent report ‘Nanotechnology and nanoscience: opportunities and uncertainties’ (http://www.nanotec.org.uk/finalReport.htm) concluded that nanotechnology is likely to have ‘huge potential’. While this report indicated that ‘many applications of nanotechnology pose no new health or safety risks’, it also recognised that the health, safety and environmental hazards of nanoparticles (diameter less than 100nm) and nanotubes requires investigation. A significant body of data exists regarding the toxicological effects of nanoparticles (also termed ultrafine particles) in mammalian systems, particularly with respect to the lungs and cardiovascular system. Such studies suggest that smaller particles, with a larger surface area per unit mass, are more potent at inducing oxidative stress and inflammation leading to adverse health effects. However, very few papers have been published regarding the effects of nanoparticles on other phyla such as micro-organisms, invertebrates and vertebrates from terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Since nanoparticles from both domestic and industrial products will be released into the environment, eg. wastewater, it is essential to investigate the impact on such species and the ecosystem. This presentation will aim to discuss how existing knowledge regarding the mammalian toxicology of nanoparticles could be used to generate an effective, efficient and focused strategy for testing the ecotoxicolgy of nanoparticles.

The concept of life cycle assessment (LCA) is build upon the object of assessment, namely the functional unit, i.e. all impacts etc. are related to a specific service or function in the society. In a LCA context, the assessment of emerging technologies like Nanotechnology is challenging due to a number of knowledge gaps. It may not be known exactly what is the function (or functional unit) or what the technology may substitute and production may still be at an experimental level, raising questions about technology or materials choice.

For prospective LCA studies methodologies like “consequential LCA” may be useful because future changes are taken into account. However, it still does not suffice for emerging technologies. In a recent “Green Technology Foresight” project a methodology was developed based on five elements: Life-cycle thinking, systems approach, a broad dialogue based understanding of the environment, precaution as a principle and finally, prevention as preferred strategy. When assessing emerging technologies three levels should be considered. First order effects are connected directly to production, use and disposal. Second order are effects from interaction with other parts of the economy from more intelligent design and management of processes, products, services, product chains etc. and the effect on the stocks of products. An example could be dematerialisation. Rebound effects may be considered as third order effects, like when efficiency gains stimulate new demands, which balances or overcompensates the savings.

In the Micro/Nano Production area a range of new possibilities arise both within applications, production technology and materials. The Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Management at The Technical University of Denmark has staked on a joint effort in manufacturing engineering and environmental assessment for eco efficiency improvement. A review of knowledge and studies on environmental assessments in the micro/nano technology area is performed and will be used to further detail the general framework for assessment outlined above to be more specific for micro/nano production.

There are numerous potential environmental risks of engineered nanoparticles that are not yet well-characterized or understood. Nanoparticles may be introduced into aquatic environments during production processes and also as a result of release following their use in electronic and biological applications. The objectives of these studies were to characterize the behavior of quantum dots (QD) in water, and the accumulation of and toxicity to potential biological receptors in aquatic ecosystems. There are natural differences in environmental factors that may affect the degradation rates of QD’s as well as their toxicity, including temperature, salinity, and pH conditions. To assess the responses under different pH conditions, nonfunctionalized QD’s composed of a Cd/Se core surrounded by a ZnS shell (Evident Technologies) were added to distilled water, at pHs of 4, 6, and 8, and the changes in fluorescent emission spectra over time were determined. Likewise, to determine the effects of salinity on degradation rates, QD’s were added to 0.22 filtered seawater samples of different salinities (10, 20, and 30‰). The accumulation and potential toxicity of QD’s were evaluated using hepatopancreas cells of oysters, Crassostrea virginica.

Fluorescent spectroscopy studies with water and cell samples indicated some degradation in low pH and high salinity waters, but did not indicate that there was increased degradation of QD’s accumulated in cells. Fluorescent confocal microscopy verified that QD’s were accumulated into the hepatopancreas cells. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies verified cellular accumulation, and also indicated some limited degradation of the QD’s by the cells over the short time periods (e.g. hours) used in these preliminary studies. Using a lysosomal destabilization assay, there was some evidence of toxicity to hepatopancreatic cells. These kinds of basic studies are essential for characterizing potential cellular toxicity and addressing the potential impacts of nanoengineered particles on aquatic organisms and basic cellular responses.

Fuel cells have the potential to offer an alternative propulsion system to convential internal combustion engines used in transportation at the present time. As a result fuel cells may provide consumers a cleaner and more efficient technology. Fuel cells are powered with hydrogen fuel which can be produced from various energy sources, which include renewable sources of energy or conventional fossil fuel. Thus, the emerging hydrogen infrastructure needs to be addressed carefully.

A consortium of industries, research institutes and several European cities launched the EU-project CUTE (Clean Urban Transport in Europe), whose aim is not only to develop and demonstrate 30 fuel cell busses and the accompanying infrastructure in 10 European cities, but also assess the environmental impacts. Within the project scope the potential of fuel cell powered transport systems for reducing environmental influences such as greenhouse effect, improving the quality of the atmosphere and conserving fossil resources is assessed. This first large scale test run of fuel cell transportation systems is the best possible information base to give real life numbers about environmental impacts of a fuel cell system including hydrogen used as fuel.

Meanwhile the use of hydrogen fuel is mostly considered as environmental friendly. However a statement about the actual environmental impacts is only possible by regarding the entire Life Cycle of the hydrogen, which include its production and use. Within CUTE different routes of the hydrogen production have been assessed: hydrogen production via electrolysis and steam reforming, considering different boundary conditions, e.g. country specific energy production/ supply, different ways for electricity production (e.g. wind power, geothermal energy etc.) etc.

This presentation will show the environmental footprint of these routes (Life Cycle Assessment results), which enable the comparison of the environmental impacts of the different hydrogen production routes and the transportation system considering the total life cycle (production of FC bus, operation and end of life) along with diesel and natural gas as “conventional” fuels for bus operation.

This paper presents a framework for guiding the design of new materials to enhance the sustainability of systems that utilize these materials throughout their production, use and retirement. Traditionally, materials engineering has focused on the interplay between material microstructure, physical properties, processing, and performance. Environmental impacts related to the system’s life cycle are not well integrated into the materials engineering process. To address this shortcoming, a new methodology has been developed that incorporates social, economic, and environmental indicators – the three dimensions of sustainability. The proposed framework accomplishes this task and provides a critical tool for use across a broad class of materials and applications. Material properties strongly shape and control sustainability performance throughout each life cycle stage including materials production, manufacturing, use and end-of-life management. Key material parameters that influence life cycle energy, emissions, and costs are highlighted. The proposed framework is demonstrated in the design of engineered cementitious composites, which are materials being developed for civil infrastructure applications including bridges, roads, pipe and buildings. This research is part of an NSF MUSES (Materials Use: Science, Engineering and Society) Biocomplexity project on sustainable concrete infrastructure materials and systems (http://sci.umich.edu).

The life cycle of the thin film CdTe PV modules in the U.S. have been investigated based on materials and energy inventories for a commercial 25 MW/yr production plant. The energy payback times (EPBT) of these modules are 0.75 years and the GHG emissions are 18 gCO2-eq/kWh for average U.S. solar irradiation conditions. Adding the impact of an optimized ground-level balance of system (BOS), result in a total EPBT of 1.2 years and total life-cycle GHG emissions of 24 gCO2-eq/kWh.

The integration of environmental, social, and economic (ESE) objectives into business decisions and future planning is the path towards sustainable development. The goal of this paper is to address the environmental component of sustainable development within the automotive industry based on the Life Cycle Analysis and Well-to-Wheels approach.

Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is very relevant for making the concept of environmental sustainability operational because environmental impacts have to be examined from a 'cradle-to-grave' perspective. Life cycle analysis is an analytical tool that quantifies energy consumption and emissions associated with the raw material extraction, processing of materials, manufacturing, use phase, and end-of-life (reuse, recycling, and disposal) of products. The potential impact of current production and consumption patterns, on the future availability of non-renewable resources, can also be evaluated within the LCA framework. Thus, LCA provides an effective way for industry to support better management of natural resources, in order to maximize economic benefits and minimize environmental burdens.

Well-to-Wheel (WtW) analysis is a subset of a complete LCA because it quantifies the environmental burdens associated only with the fuel production and its consumption during the driving time of a vehicle. Well-to-Wheel studies mainly provide energy use and air emissions inventories.

This paper provides the results obtained from two major studies conducted at General Motors R&D Center. The first is a LCA study that assesses the environmental emissions associated with four alternative automotive paint processes and seven different paint formulations. The second is a WtW study that addresses 18 different combinations of alternative fuels and vehicle engines.

Considering that the use phase of the vehicle contributes more than 80% of its life cycle energy consumption, and that the automotive paint process is the most energy intensive component of the manufacturing phase in any given vehicle, the results presented in this paper are noteworthy for environmental sustainability considerations relevant to the automotive industry.

The development of a hydrogen infrastructure has been identified as a key barrier to implementing hydrogen as for a future transportation fuel. Several recent studies of hydrogen infrastructure have assessed near-term and long-term alternatives for hydrogen supply [1-2]. In this paper, we discuss how advances in material science related to hydrogen storage could change how a future hydrogen infrastructure is designed. Using a simplified engineering/economic model for hydrogen infrastructure design and cost, we explore some potential impacts of advances in storage materials, in terms of system design, cost, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions. We find that the characteristics of hydrogen storage play a major role in the design, cost, energy use, and CO2 emissions of hydrogen supply infrastructure.

This presentation will illustrate how to expand the view by considering the total life cycle in an efficient way into the decision making process and why it is important to do so. The business case will show, how the ecological and economic aspects considering the total life cycle of different design options have been considered when determining the preferable design options out of an holistic point of view. Life Cycle Engineering (LCE)/ Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) integrated in the design Process LCE methodology is evaluating ecological, technical and economic aspects considering the total life cycle of processes/products. LCA studies are the basis for the ecological evaluation within LCE. LCE studies are based on material and energy flow information needed while running the facilities or for producing products. LCE is a simulation tool show optimization potentials as well as supporting the decision making process within the design phase. As various databases hold information on ecological impacts of material- and energy production and information on the economic values is available within the involved companies, time consuming research on basic materials and energies is not necessary. Therefore first estimations on scenarios can be made within days to support the decision process not causing any time delay. LCE studies can be conducted within the design process and on existing facilities/products. If LCE is used within the design process optimization potentials can be shown in early stages of the design phase of facilities/products. Integration of LCE within early stages of the design ensures an efficient way of improving the ecological profile of processes and products and reducing the overall costs considering the total life cycle. Realization within a software tool The software tool GaBi4 is developed and designed to support LCE efficiently and in a transparent way. The design of the facilities can be modeled according to the material and energy flow. This enables the user to run scenario analysis for different design options based on the process flow model. Business case The methodology of LCE has been integrated into the design process of the new rear axle paint shop focusing on the handling of the overspray. Different design options have been analyzed and arguments were made explicit to support the decision making process. As LCE was part of the whole design process from the beginning, the effort for all participants could have been minimized. Conclusions The case study has shown that the integration of LCE into the design process provides additional information and is not causing any delay of the decision making process. LCE enables a transparent presentation of the economics and ecological impacts on a process bases. Optimization potentials, ecological and economic, can be shown at all stages of the design phase and result in reducing the overall costs and environmental burdens caused by the paint process.

A systematic study of current European electricity and heat systems performed in the frame of the Swiss LCA project ecoinvent was extended to a few new technologies and used as a basis for comparison and ranking using External Costs Assessment and one selected Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) method. The energy systems include full process chains from extraction of resources through waste disposal. The external costs from airborne emissions were estimated using the most recent findings of the ExternE series on the average damage factors for Europe.

Current fossil electricity systems exhibit the highest LCIA scores as well as the highest external costs, unless greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) are valued very low (sensitivity) and advanced technologies are applied. Alpine hydropower always exhibits the lowest score. Environmental performance of current renewables is generally better than fossil but LCIA ranking for wind and PV may worsen when increased importance is attributed to abiotic resource depletion. Wood cogeneration has a relatively poor score compared to other renewables. Nuclear shows generally good environmental performance, unless the high radioactive wastes are given subjectively high negative value. For heating systems, oil has higher external costs than natural gas, with conventional wood in between. External costs of heat pumps strongly depend on the origin of the electricity supplied.

Sensitivity analyses were performed for external costs to reflect uncertainties of impacts and variations in monetary valuation. Fossils remain worst performers. External costs of nuclear remain low. Using allocation by exergy, electricity by diesel and natural gas cogeneration ranks worse than oil and natural gas combined cycle, respectively, and never better than renewables or nuclear.

With the passage of the National Nanoscale Initiative in 2001 there has been increasing attention and funding given to nanomaterial research. This has led to a number of new materials developed at the nanoscale (< 100 nm) level, which often possess chemical and physical properties distinct from those of their bulk materials. These unique qualities are proving to be quite useful in a number of new applications. For example, biological applications in imaging, treatment, and drug delivery are particularly promising as well as the increasing engineering potential of nanocircuitry and materials science. As the number of applications increases however, so too does the potential for human exposure to nanomaterials through a number of routes: dermal, ingestion, inhalation, and even injection. Interestingly some of the properties of these nanomaterials that make them useful in these emerging technologies are the same properties that can increase their toxic potential. This is leading to an emerging discipline – nanotoxicology, which can be defined as safety evaluation of engineered nanostructures and nanodevices. Nanotoxicology research will not only provide information for risk assessment of nanomaterials based on data for hazard identification, dose response relationships and biokinetics, but will also help to further advance the field of nanoresearch by providing information to alter undesirable nanomaterials properties. Although nanotoxicology is in its infancy, there are some preliminary studies with newly developed materials that provide some insight into potential effects, which when coupled with older studies provides some insight on how these nanomaterials impact the biological system. This presentation summarizes results of studies with nanosized particles with a focus on the respiratory system and skin as portals of entry. The ability of particles to translocate from their site of entry, their ability to elicit biological responses, and their presumed mechanisms of action will be highlighted. This will be an attempt to illustrate how pervasive these materials can be, which may or may not be detrimental. With proper toxicological assessment this potential may be harnessed leading to breakthroughs at the nanotechnology – biology interface.

The front cover of Motorola cellular phone housings were ground to the same size as original particles prior to use by a knife mill. The mixtures contained 15.2 wt% metals, 1.9 wt% foams, 1.4 wt% rubbers and 81.4 wt% thermoplastics where the major component was a polycarbonate (PC)/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) blend. The separation of the thermoplastic scraps was performed using the sink-float process in water and salt solution. The impact modification of all housing containing six thermoplastic parts was carried out by the addition of a polyolefin elastomer called as the functionalized polyethylene (PE). Unprinted glass fiber reinforced epoxy circuit boards were size reduced and pulverized using the knife mill and hammer mill. The ground epoxy circuit boards were then classified with a set of testing sieves using Gyro sifter, and their mean diameters were calculated by means of particle size distribution analysis. Izod impact strengths at two temperatures, tensile tests, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) on the fracture surfaces, and dynamic mechanical spectroscopy were performed to characterize the alloys and mixtures compounded by a batch mixer and a twin screw extruder.