Mr. Jens GEISEL

Material Life Cycles
@ Sustainability Module, UAS Lucerne, 4 Feb 2012
Jens Geisel
MSc Geoecology
DAS Environmental Engineering
+41 78 797 67 11
jens.geisel@gmx.ch
Materials and Sustainability
Material / Resource Life Cycles: Nature
Solar Energy
Producers
Consumers
Decomposers
Short Term Cycle: Water
Source: ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycleprint.html
Short Term Cycle: Carbon
Source: genomics.energy.gov > Image Gallery
Renewable Materials / Resources
Long Term Cycles: Rocks, Ores, Sediments
Source: geolsoc.org.uk/rockcycle
Long Term Cycle: Fossilized Carbon
Source: genomics.energy.gov > Image Gallery
Nonrenewable Materials / Resources
Material (Resource) Life Cycles: Economy
Energy
Production
Distribution
Raw Materials
Landfill
Waste Treatment
Consumption /
Use
Video – The Story of Stuff, Part 1
http://youtu.be/gLBE5QAYXp8
Source: www.StoryOfStuff.org
Infinite Cycles and Growth on a Finite Planet ?
Only economists
and fools
believe in
infinite growth.
Jared M. Diamond,
Evolution Biologist
Liebig’s Law of the Minimum
Source: de.wikipedia.org > Minimum-Tonne.svg
Minimum Factors
Agriculture / Plants
Industry / Economy
Minimum Factors
Innovation --> Replacement of ressources + more efficiency, i.e. less use
Fossil energies
Materials based on fossil
fossil oil, gas, carbon
Mercury
 Renewable energies
 Regrowing resources
 Diaphragma process (NaOH),
Ceramic (Dentistry)
Nitrate from deposits
 Leguminosae
Phosphorus, Kalium
X
Tantal, Neodym, Lithium
X
Rare earths
X
Surface area (m2)
X
Infinite Cycles and Growth on a Finite Planet ?
Source: impossiblehamster.org / YouTube
Continuous growth –
Do we have a feeling, how fast things grow or go?
Amount of used resources
Steady
0%
linear 
Growth
exponential X
+ x or x %
Exponential Growth - Riddles
x 2 / min
Start
11.00 h
Full
12.00 h
Half full
?h
11.55 h
11.58 h
full
+
?h
After an idea of Al Bartlett
Continuous Growth and Depletion of Resources
100
Resource units
Stable Consumtion, 0% growth / a
75
50
25
+ 100a
0
2013 2023 2033 2043 2053 2063 2073 2083 2093 2103 2113
Year
Continuous Growth and Depletion of Resources
100
Stable Consumtion, 0% growth / a
Resource units
Growing Consumption, 1.5 % growth / a
75
50
25
+ 100a
0
2013 2023 2033 2043 2053 2063 2073 2083 2093 2103 2113
Year
Continuous Growth and Depletion of Resources
100
Stable Consumtion, 0% growth / a
Resource units
Growing Consumption, 1.5 % growth / a
75
50
25
+ 61a
+ 100 a
0
2013 2023 2033 2043 2053 2063 2073 2083 2093 2103 2113
Year
Development of Raw Material Prices over Time
Source: Federal Environment Agency, Environmental Data for Germany, p17, 2007
“Peak Oil” – Development of the Oil Price over Time
Source: wtrg.com/prices.htm
? !
Life Cycle Assessment
Assessment of the environmental impact of a product
during it’s life cycle, “from cradle to grave”
Mining /
Extraction
Production
Distribution
Consumption /
Use
Waste
Treatment
Legal Framework - ISO 14000 Family
Environmental
Management –
Life Cycle Assessments
• EN ISO 14040:2009-11
• EN ISO 14044:2009-10
Legal Framework - ISO 14000 Family
•
LCA
Environmentally
friendly product
design
Legal Framework - ISO 14000 Family
ISO 14062: Environmentally Friendly Product Design
e.g. Planned Obsolescence:
Design of a Product in a way that it breaks after a certain period of time,
times of use, etc. and/or it cannot be repaired.
iPods
Printers
Keygenerators
Appliances
Movie en,de,fr: The Light Bulb Conspiracy / Pyramids of Waste
Prêt à jeter – Kaufen für die Müllhalde
Legal Framework - ISO 14000 Family
•
Environmental
information
Environmental
communication
Legal Framework - ISO 14000 Family
•
Assessment
Env. Performace
Auditing of Quality
and Env. Management Systems
Greenhouse gases
Validation/Verification
Stages of a Life Cycle Assessment
Goal and Scope
Definition
System Boundaries
Inventory Analysis
e.g. Emissions,
Energy consumption
Impact Assessment
e.g. Greenhouse effect,
Biotoxicity
Interpretation
e. g. Conclusions,
Limitations and
Recommendations
LCA – Goal and Scope Definition
Goal and Scope
Definition
System Boundaries
Product LCA
• Optimisation of a product
• Comparison with competitor products
Process LCA
Decrease the amount of needed ressources and the environmental
impact of a production process
Company LCA
Inventory of all processes and their respective environmental impact
within your compay and/or e.g. transports to and from your company
Video – The Story of Stuff, Part 2
http://youtu.be/gLBE5QAYXp8
Source: www.StoryOfStuff.org
LCA – Inventory Analysis
Inventory Analysis
e.g. Emissions,
Energy consumption
Survey and document Material and energy flows of all processes of
the life cycle as in- / output values
! Data quality
• Survey method
• Independence of the data sources
• Completeness and representativeness
• Age of data
LCA – Inventory Analysis
Source: GEMIS 4.8, Öko-Institut D-Darmstadt / Umweltbundesamt D-Berlin
Grey Energy
“Invisible” energy that is contained in a product
(Carburants, Electricity, Materials, Transportation etc.)
Mining /
Extraction
Production
Distribution
Consumption /
Use
Waste
Treatment
Grey Energy
Material
Energy for Production (MJ/kg)
• Aluminium
• Asphalt-concrete
• Brick
• Concrete
• Copper
• Glas
• Plastic (LDPE)
• Steel
220
2.4
2.88
0.95
70
16
80
35
(1 kWh = 3,6 MJ)
Source: Proceedings of the ICE - Energy, Volume 161, Issue 2, May 2008 , p 87 –98
Grey Energy
Item
Energy for Production (kWh)
• Lightbulb incandescent
1
• Lightbulb CFL
4
• A4 page of paper
0.06 (= 1h 60W lightbulb)
Grey Energy – Energy Return On Investment
Obtained energy
from a energy source
EROI =
Spent energy
for the extraction of the energy source
• Energy production
• Energy savings
- Insulation of buildings
- Replacement of household appliances
- Replacement of lighting devices
Grey Energy - EROI Energy Production
Quelle: Murphy & Hall, Ann NY Acad Sci 1185, p102-118, 2010
Grey Energy – EROI Insulation of Buildings
Polystyrene Insulation:
Calculated EROI from literature data normalized to a 50 years lifetime
Quelle: Y. Dutil and D.Rousse, Energy costs of energy savings in buildings: A Review. p9,
wsforum.org, 2011
LCA – Impact Assessment
Impact Assessment
e.g. Greenhouse effect,
Biotoxicity
Impact categories
• Use of ressources
• Greenhouse effect
• Human toxicity
• Eco toxicity
• Acidification of soils and water bodies
• Amount of Waste
• …
LCA - Impact Assessment
e.g. Eco-indicator 99
Source: Ernst et. al (2000): Energetic and Environmental Assessment of Eurometro (NFP41-F6)
LCA - Interpretation
Weighting
• « Compare apples and pears »
• Depends also on the goals of politics and the
society
Interpretation
e. g. Conclusions,
Limitations and
Recommendations
Conclusions
• Risk potential
• Changes in processes
• Changes in Products
Recommendations
• Actions
Higher Efficiency and Rebound Effect
Higher Efficiency through Technology or other measures
 Less cost per unit of use
 Less spent mony
 More consumption of
- units of use or (direct rebound)
- other goods or services (indirect rebound)
 Savings are “eaten up” partly or totally,
higher efficiency or less consumption
does not necessarily lead to
a lower consumption of resources.
Higher Efficiency and Rebound Effect
Examples
•
Internet, Mobile Communication
•
Television sets
•
Cars, Airplanes
•
Illumination
Countermeasures to avoid the Rebound Effect
• Ecological tax reform
• Rationing
Ecological Footprint
Source: footprintnetwork.org
Ecological Footprint
Today’s Ecological Footprint in hectares
•
Average World
1,4 ha
•
Average Switzerland
5,1 ha
•
Capacity of the Earth
2,1 ha
Earth overshoot day 2012 ?
22. August
Ecological Footprint
Jens Geisel
Berechnet mit: footprintnetwork.org
Ecological Footprint
# of Persons
Our Ecological Footprint
10
Average World: 1,4 ha
Capacity World: 2,1 ha
Average CH:
5,1 ha
5
0
< 1,4
1,4-2,1 2,2-2,8 2,9-3,5 3,6-4,2 4,3-4,9 5,0-5,6 5,7-6,3
> 6,3
ha
? !
Sufficiency – Ecological Footprint and
Human Development Index
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_footprint
Sufficiency – Income & Happyness
Myers, D.G., & Diener, E. (1995). Who is happy? Psychological Science, 6, 10-19. pg 13
Sufficiency – Maslow’s Hirarchy of Needs
+
Source: en.wikipedia.org: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, adapted by jg
Sufficiency
? !
Further Information
• Literature
• Video
• Audio
• Institutions and Organisations
 in the PDF
Make it happen
It is good to know that
utopia
never was anything but
tomorrow’s reality and that
today’s reality
Le Corbusier
Architect
was yesterday’s utopia.
Thank you
Jens Geisel
MSc Geoecology
DAS Environmental Engineering
+41 78 797 67 11
jens.geisel@gmx.ch
Info - Literature
• Factor Five: Transforming the Global Economy
through 80% Improvements in Resource Productivity /
Faktor Fünf – Die Formel für nachhaltiges Wachstum
[Ernst-Ulrich v. Weizsäcker et al., 2010]
• The Limits to Growth / Die Grenzen des Wachstums
[Dennis Meadows et al., 1972]
• The Limits to Growth – The 30 year update
Die Grenzen d. Wachst. – Das 30 Jahre Update
[Dennis Meadows et al., 2004]
• Economics of Good and Evil: The Quest for Economic
Meaning from Gilgamesh to Wall Street /
Die Ökonomie von Gut und Böse
[Thomas Sedlacek, 2011]
Info - Video
Material Cylcles
• The Story of Stuff
The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of
our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the
connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and
calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world.
@ www.storyofstuff.org
you can download this and other movies, scripts and more
• Story of Bottled Water
• Story of Cap and Trade
• Story of Cosmetics
• Story of Electronics
Info - Video
Consumerism
• Shop Till You Drop – The Crisis of Consumerism
Are we too materialistic? Are we willfully trashing the planet in our pursuit of
things? And what's the source of all this frenetic consumer energy and desire
anyway? Shop 'Til You Drop challenges us to confront these questions head-on.
arte.tv and youtube.com
• Prêt à jeter / Kaufen für die Müllhalde
Glühbirnen, Nylonstrümpfe, Drucker, Mobiltelefone --bei den meisten dieser
Produkte ist das Abnutzungsdatum bereits geplant. Die Verbraucher sollen
veranlasst werden, lieber einen neuen Artikel zu kaufen, als den defekten
reparieren zu lassen. Die bewusste Verkürzung der Lebensdauer eines
Industrieerzeugnisses nennt man "geplante Obsoleszenz". Bereits 1928 schrieb
eine Werbezeitschrift unumwunden: "Ein Artikel, der sich nicht abnutzt, ist eine
Tragödie fürs Geschäft". Die Dokumentation erzählt die Geschichte der
geplanten Obsoleszenz.
arte.tv und youtube.com
Info - Video
Peak Oil
• A Crude Awakening – The Oil Crash (DVD)
The film tells the story of how our civilization’s addiction to oil puts it on a
collision course with geology. It visits with the world’s top experts and comes to
a startling, but logical conclusion – our industrial society, built on cheap and
readily available oil, must be completely re-imagined and overhauled.
Economics
• Tomáš Sedláček – Ökonomie: nichts als Moral
Warum die Ökonomie ein kulturelles Phänomen ist
Der 34-jährige Tscheche Sedláček packt die Ökonomie an ihren Wurzeln: in den
Mythen und der Religion, in Theologie und Philosophie, in Psychologie, Literatur
und Film.
Katja Gentinetta unternimmt mit ihm einen Streifzug durch die Höhenflüge und
Abgründe der Ökonomie und fragt, was wir denn ändern müssten, um dem
Krisenmodus zu entkommen.
Podcast: sternstunden.sf.ch, Sternstunde Philosophie vom 05.02.2012
Info - Audio
Goldgrube Abfall
Wir produzieren immer mehr Abfall. Das ist nicht für alle schlecht. Für die
Energieproduzenten sind die wachsenden Müllberge ein gutes Geschäft. Hinzu
kommt die Idee des «Urban Mining»: aus dem Abfall können Rohstoffe wieder
gewonnen werden.
Input reist dem Abfall nach, beleuchtet, wer wie vom Abfall profitiert und will
wissen, wie wertvoll Müll wirklich ist.
Podcast: drs3.ch, Input vom 30.10.2011
Landfrass / Zersiedelung
Wird weiter gebaut wie bisher, so sieht die Schweiz in 200 Jahren aus wie
Tokio. Ein Bild, von dem niemand träumt. Dennoch geht die Zersiedlung
ungebremst weiter. Zu viele profitieren davon.
Was dabei herauskommt, zeigt uns der Architekturkritiker Benedikt Loderer. Wir
erfahren von einem Geografen, wie es überhaupt so weit kommen konnte, und
wir beleuchten mit einem Stadtforscher, wie die Zukunft des verdichteten
Wohnens ausschauen könnte.
Podcast: drs3.ch, Input vom 13.02.2011
Info – Institutions and Organisations
empa.ch (d,e,f)
Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science & Technology
- building materials, concepts, technologies
energie-cluster.ch (d+f)
- Energieapéros
- Newsletter
sia.ch (d,e,f)
Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects
- standards, regulations, guidelines, recommendations and documentation