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Sustainability of Energy Technologies and Life Cycle Assessment
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Sustainability of Energy Technologies and Life Cycle Assessment

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2019) | Viewed by 7500

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Raghava R. Kommalapati

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Guest Editor
Center for Energy and Environmental Sustainability & Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA
Interests: membrane processes for treatment of produced water from fracking operations and poultry wastewater; life cycle analysis; air quality modeling; environmental impacts of energy technologies, and co-digestion of waste materials produced water
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Venkata Botlaguduru

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Guest Editor
Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA
Dr. Hongbo Du

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center for Energy and Environmental Sustainability, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA
Interests: the treatment of shale oil and gas produced water; poultry processing wastewater; industrial wastewater with various membrane technologies (e.g., ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, forward osmosis, and reverse osmosis); carbon capture, energy and environmental sustainability, and biomass processing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the ever-increasing global energy demand, and the consequent impacts on atmosphere and water, such as global warming and climate change, more and more attempts are being made to make all forms of energy (renewable and fossil fuel) more sustainable. To assess if a particular technology enhancement or modification is more sustainable, one must perform a life cycle assessment (LCA) of not only the resource inputs (energy, and natural resources) but also the impact assessment at midpoint categories and damage categories that are typically used in life cycle studies. There is a significant amount of literature published in the last couple of decades on the LCA and there are several LCA databases developed using this data. This allows researchers and policy makers to study the impact of proposed changes on the overall sustainability of a given new technology or proposed changes to an existing technology. LCA is one of the most effective and credible ways to evaluate the comprehensive environmental impact of renewable energy technologies, and allows for a detailed investigation of possible processes that cause higher impacts. LCA of renewable energy technologies also facilitates comparative studies of multiple energy technologies and redesign the high impact process. Analyzing sustainability through an LCA approach of energy technologies can include three dimensions: environmental, economic and social. Although most engineering research covers environmental LCA, comprehensive studies that include economic and social impacts are more suited for real-world applications.

This Special Issue will be focused on environmental life cycle assessment of either renewable energy technologies or any modification of conventional technologies and how they would improve the overall sustainability. The aim of this Special Issue is to provide a source of LCA studies that deal with renewable energy sources and recent developments in conventional energy sources.

Dr. Raghava R. Kommalapati
Dr. Venkata Botlaguduru
Dr. Hongbo Du
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Energy Sustainability
  • Life Cycle Assessment
  • Environmental Impacts
  • Sima Pro

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1111 KiB  
Article
Local Energy Use of Biomass from Apple Orchards—An LCA Study
by Arkadiusz Dyjakon, Jan den Boer, Antoni Szumny and Emilia den Boer
Sustainability 2019, 11(6), 1604; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11061604 - 16 Mar 2019
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2849
Abstract
Generation of heat in small and medium-size energy systems using local sources of energy is one of the best solutions for sustainable regional development, from an economic, environmental, and social point of view. Depending on the local circumstances and preferences of the agricultural [...] Read more.
Generation of heat in small and medium-size energy systems using local sources of energy is one of the best solutions for sustainable regional development, from an economic, environmental, and social point of view. Depending on the local circumstances and preferences of the agricultural activity, different types and potentials of biomass are available for energy recovery. Poland is the third-largest producer of apples in the world. The large cumulative area of apple orchards in Poland and necessity of regular tree pruning creates a significant potential for agricultural biomass residues. In this paper, the LCA analysis of a new and integrated process chain focused on the conversion of cut branches coming from apple orchards into heat is conducted. Furthermore, the obtained results of the environmental indices have been compared to traditional mulching of pruned biomass in the orchard. It was shown that in terms of the LCA analysis, the biomass harvesting, baling, and transportation to the local heat producer leads to an overall environmental gain. The cumulative Climate Change Potential for pruning to energy scenario was 92.0 kg CO2 equivalent·ha−1. At the same time, the mulching and leaving of the pruned biomass in the orchard (pruning to soil scenario) was associated with a CO2 equivalent of 1690 kg·ha−1, although the soil effect itself amounted to −5.9 kg CO2 eq.·ha−1. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis of the LCA showed that in the case of the PtE chain, the transportation distance of the pruned bales should be limited to a local range to maintain the positive environmental and energy effects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Energy Technologies and Life Cycle Assessment)
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19 pages, 1311 KiB  
Article
Financial Modelling Strategies for Social Life Cycle Assessment: A Project Appraisal of Biodiesel Production and Sustainability in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
by Zaman Sajid and Nicholas Lynch
Sustainability 2018, 10(9), 3289; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093289 - 14 Sep 2018
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4330
Abstract
Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) is a rapidly evolving social impact assessment tool that allows users to identify the social impacts of products along with their life cycles. In recent years, S-LCA methodologies have been increasingly applied to energy systems and resources with [...] Read more.
Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) is a rapidly evolving social impact assessment tool that allows users to identify the social impacts of products along with their life cycles. In recent years, S-LCA methodologies have been increasingly applied to energy systems and resources with notable success yet with limited reliability and even less flexibility or geographic specificity. In response, this study develops a novel assessment tool, named the GreenZee model, to reflect the social impacts of products and their sustainability using local currency units. The model is developed through evaluating both qualitative and quantitative inputs that capture the perceived monetary value of social impacts. To demonstrate the operationalization of the model, we explore a hypothetical case study of the biodiesel industry in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), Canada. Results indicate that biodiesel production in NL would have positive socio-cultural impacts, high cultural values, and would create employment opportunities for locals. Overall, the GreenZee model provides users with a relatively simple approach to translate a variety of qualitative and quantitative social impact inputs (as importance levels) into meaningful and understandable financial outputs (as strength levels). We argue that building and testing models such as the GreenZee are crucial to supporting more flexible approaches to life cycle assessments that need to address increasingly complex social categories, cultural values, and geographic specificity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Energy Technologies and Life Cycle Assessment)
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