Articles in peer-reviewed journals by Anders S.G. Andrae
International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2010
Background, aim, and scope
During the last decades, the electronics industry has undergone tre... more Background, aim, and scope
During the last decades, the electronics industry has undergone tremendous changes due to intense research leading to advanced technology development. Multiple life cycle assessment (LCA) studies have been performed on the environmental implications of consumer electronics. The aim of this review is to assess the consistency between different LCA studies for desktop computers, laptop computers, mobile phones and televisions (TVs).
Materials and methods
A literature study was conducted covering some key LCA contributions to the consumer electronics field. The focus is primarily on global warming potential during 100 years (GWP100) efficiency in different life cycle phases and secondarily on primary energy usage/electricity usages which are normalised per year to find inconsistencies.
Results
The life cycle impact assessment GWP100 results for consumer electronics over the years suggest that most studies are of comparable quality; however, some studies are neither coherent nor transparent. Published LCAs for mobile phone and TV sets are consistent, whereas for laptop and desktop computers, the studies occasionally give conflicting messages.
Discussion
The inconsistencies appear to be rooted in subjective choices and different system boundaries and lifetime, rather than lack of standardisation. If included, the amounts of emissions of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) are crucial to the GWP100 in the various life cycle phases for a desktop using liquid crystal display (LCD) screen. Another important observation is that the MEEuP methodology report/tool underestimates the GWP100 of electronic component manufacturing processes.
Conclusions
Between 1997 and 2010, the ISO 14040/44 standards have ensured a rather consistent set of GWP100 results for the studied products. However, the lack of transparency for consumer electronics LCAs sometimes makes benchmarking difficult. It is nevertheless possible to compare new LCA calculations to existing studies. It is also possible to reveal which product studies are consistent with studies of submaterials and subcomponents. In most cases, the GWP100 results for consumer electronics are consistent. Based on the survey of published work, recycling and other end-of-life processes have a tiny share of the total GWP100 score for consumer electronics.
Recommendations and perspectives
LCA researchers should as a rule, if possible, make a historical survey of their technical system to establish trends, proportions and relations. Policy makers ought to ask for these surveys when using LCAs for decision support. This charter is necessary as to understand the reasonableness of the results. Additions to the ISO14040/44 LCA standardisation for mass–volume products would be worthwhile as a means of increasing the consistency.
Keywords Consistency - Consumer electronics - GWP100 results - Life cycle assessment - Life cycle inventory
Papers by Anders S.G. Andrae
A new dry chemical process for etching photovoltaic silicon crystalline solar cells (DCEP) is dev... more A new dry chemical process for etching photovoltaic silicon crystalline solar cells (DCEP) is developed. It is an alternative to the current state-of-the-art wet chemical etching process (WCEP), associated with relatively large environmental loadings in the form of high water consumption and emission of greenhouse gases with high Global Warming Potential (GWP). In order to compare the environmental impacts of DCEP to the corresponding impacts from WCEP, a comparative attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted. From the LCA it can be concluded that the DCEP will lead to an 86% reduction in water consumption compared to WCEP (acidic), and an 89% reduction in compared to WCEP (alkaline). The emissions of greenhouse gases, as indicated by the GWP100 indicator of the etching step, are also reduced with 63% and 20% respectively, when compared with current state-of-the-art WCEP (acidic) and WCEP (alkaline). The toxicity impacts are also assessed to be lower for the DCEP compared to WCEP technologies, although the uncertainty is relatively high for toxicity mid-point category indicators. All in all, DCEP can reduce the CO2eq emissions of solar photovoltaic systems production by 5-10%. Keywords: Dry etching, global warming potential, life cycle assessment, photovoltaic solar cells, toxicity, water consumption
Contribution analysis reveals which processes are playing a significant role in the results. It i... more Contribution analysis reveals which processes are playing a significant role in the results. It is intended that with this information one can focus attention on these processes, and analyse if these processes are sufficiently representative, complete and if there are important assumptions within these processes. Here, contribution analysis is presented by a graphical representation of the process tree or network. In the process tree, a small thermometer indicates the relative contribution of the process. The advantage of this approach is that one can exactly see what the role of the process in the life-cycle is, adapted from Goedkoop et al. (2010).
Intelec 2012, 2012
The aim of a new site solution concept (i-Site) has been to optimize energy costs, speed of deplo... more The aim of a new site solution concept (i-Site) has been to optimize energy costs, speed of deployment, and site equipment such as number of PV modules. The present study provides the first example of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) quantifying the future environmental benefit of i-Site for support of a radio base station in South African Vodafone network. This study will moreover show the business value of LCA by comparing the total cost of operation (TCO) with and without the knowledge from the LCA study. After carrying out the LCA it could be confirmed that the environmental loadings and potential environmental impacts should decrease when changing from traditional Site (t-Site) to i-Site. Especially avoidance of diesel combustion and the electricity efficient air cooling solution for i-Site (loop thermosyphone and DC Fan) and are behind these positives. The payback times for energy and CO 2 are reasonable. Error analyses were performed and the robustness of the results was confirmed. The effect on the financial payback time results of added CO 2 costs beyond increased diesel/electricity costs is a 2% reduction. For current means of transportation and mains electricity it will not be enough to focus on cost reductions in order to reduce CO 2 emissions. Still overall the life cycle ecoefficiency is around 4 times higher for the i-Site.
2014 IEEE Conference on Technologies for Sustainability (SusTech), 2014
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a methodology for assessing the environmental aspects and potentia... more Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a methodology for assessing the environmental aspects and potential impacts throughout a product´s life cycle from raw materials and energy extraction, components manufacture, assembly, distribution and sale, use and final end-of-life treatment such as disposal, recycling and energy recovery (i.e. cradle-to-grave). The environmental and resource impacts include climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, toxicological stress on human health and ecosystems, the depletion of resources, water use and many others. This paper presents and discusses cases where LCA is used for assessing the environmental impact of electronics products and processes. Included are consumer electronics products, interconnect technology in electronics micro-integration, photovoltaic (PV) solar cells, and electric vehicles.
2011 IEEE 33rd International Telecommunications Energy Conference (INTELEC), 2011
Uploads
Articles in peer-reviewed journals by Anders S.G. Andrae
During the last decades, the electronics industry has undergone tremendous changes due to intense research leading to advanced technology development. Multiple life cycle assessment (LCA) studies have been performed on the environmental implications of consumer electronics. The aim of this review is to assess the consistency between different LCA studies for desktop computers, laptop computers, mobile phones and televisions (TVs).
Materials and methods
A literature study was conducted covering some key LCA contributions to the consumer electronics field. The focus is primarily on global warming potential during 100 years (GWP100) efficiency in different life cycle phases and secondarily on primary energy usage/electricity usages which are normalised per year to find inconsistencies.
Results
The life cycle impact assessment GWP100 results for consumer electronics over the years suggest that most studies are of comparable quality; however, some studies are neither coherent nor transparent. Published LCAs for mobile phone and TV sets are consistent, whereas for laptop and desktop computers, the studies occasionally give conflicting messages.
Discussion
The inconsistencies appear to be rooted in subjective choices and different system boundaries and lifetime, rather than lack of standardisation. If included, the amounts of emissions of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) are crucial to the GWP100 in the various life cycle phases for a desktop using liquid crystal display (LCD) screen. Another important observation is that the MEEuP methodology report/tool underestimates the GWP100 of electronic component manufacturing processes.
Conclusions
Between 1997 and 2010, the ISO 14040/44 standards have ensured a rather consistent set of GWP100 results for the studied products. However, the lack of transparency for consumer electronics LCAs sometimes makes benchmarking difficult. It is nevertheless possible to compare new LCA calculations to existing studies. It is also possible to reveal which product studies are consistent with studies of submaterials and subcomponents. In most cases, the GWP100 results for consumer electronics are consistent. Based on the survey of published work, recycling and other end-of-life processes have a tiny share of the total GWP100 score for consumer electronics.
Recommendations and perspectives
LCA researchers should as a rule, if possible, make a historical survey of their technical system to establish trends, proportions and relations. Policy makers ought to ask for these surveys when using LCAs for decision support. This charter is necessary as to understand the reasonableness of the results. Additions to the ISO14040/44 LCA standardisation for mass–volume products would be worthwhile as a means of increasing the consistency.
Keywords Consistency - Consumer electronics - GWP100 results - Life cycle assessment - Life cycle inventory
Papers by Anders S.G. Andrae
During the last decades, the electronics industry has undergone tremendous changes due to intense research leading to advanced technology development. Multiple life cycle assessment (LCA) studies have been performed on the environmental implications of consumer electronics. The aim of this review is to assess the consistency between different LCA studies for desktop computers, laptop computers, mobile phones and televisions (TVs).
Materials and methods
A literature study was conducted covering some key LCA contributions to the consumer electronics field. The focus is primarily on global warming potential during 100 years (GWP100) efficiency in different life cycle phases and secondarily on primary energy usage/electricity usages which are normalised per year to find inconsistencies.
Results
The life cycle impact assessment GWP100 results for consumer electronics over the years suggest that most studies are of comparable quality; however, some studies are neither coherent nor transparent. Published LCAs for mobile phone and TV sets are consistent, whereas for laptop and desktop computers, the studies occasionally give conflicting messages.
Discussion
The inconsistencies appear to be rooted in subjective choices and different system boundaries and lifetime, rather than lack of standardisation. If included, the amounts of emissions of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) are crucial to the GWP100 in the various life cycle phases for a desktop using liquid crystal display (LCD) screen. Another important observation is that the MEEuP methodology report/tool underestimates the GWP100 of electronic component manufacturing processes.
Conclusions
Between 1997 and 2010, the ISO 14040/44 standards have ensured a rather consistent set of GWP100 results for the studied products. However, the lack of transparency for consumer electronics LCAs sometimes makes benchmarking difficult. It is nevertheless possible to compare new LCA calculations to existing studies. It is also possible to reveal which product studies are consistent with studies of submaterials and subcomponents. In most cases, the GWP100 results for consumer electronics are consistent. Based on the survey of published work, recycling and other end-of-life processes have a tiny share of the total GWP100 score for consumer electronics.
Recommendations and perspectives
LCA researchers should as a rule, if possible, make a historical survey of their technical system to establish trends, proportions and relations. Policy makers ought to ask for these surveys when using LCAs for decision support. This charter is necessary as to understand the reasonableness of the results. Additions to the ISO14040/44 LCA standardisation for mass–volume products would be worthwhile as a means of increasing the consistency.
Keywords Consistency - Consumer electronics - GWP100 results - Life cycle assessment - Life cycle inventory