The goal of this working paper is to provide the methodological background for several upcoming reports and peer-reviewed journal publications. This manuscript only provides background methodology and does not show or interpret any of the results that are being generated by the research team. The methodology is consistent with the transportation LCA approach developed by the author in previous research. The discussion in this working paper provides the detailed background data and steps used by the research team for their assessment of Los Angeles Metro transit lines and a competing automobile trip.

Vehicle trips presently account for approximately 50% of San Francisco’s greenhouse gas emissions (San Francisco County Transportation Authority, 2008). City and county officials have developed aggressive strategies for the future of passenger transportation in the metropolitan area, and are determined to move away from a “business as usual” future. This project starts with current-state source data from a life-cycle comparison of urban transportation systems (Chester, Horvath, & Madanat, 2010), and carries the inventoried emissions and energy usage through by way of published future scenarios for San Francisco.

From the extrapolated calculations of future emissions/energy, the implied mix of transportation modes can be backed out of the numbers. Five scenarios are evaluated, from “business as usual” through very ambitious “healthy environment” goals. The results show that when planners and policymakers craft specific goals or strategies for a location or government, those targets, even if met, are unlikely to result in the intended physical outcomes. City and state governments would be wise to support broad strategy goals (like 20% GHG reduction) with prioritized specifics that can inform real projects leading to the goals (for instance, add 5 miles of bike path per year through 2020, or remove 5 parking garages and replace them with transit depots). While these results should not be used as predictions or forecasts, they can inform the crafters of future transportation policy as an opportunity for improvement or a cautionary tale.

Anticipatory LCA seeks to overcome the paucity of data through scenario development and thermodynamic bounding analyses. Critical components of anticipatory LCA include:
       1) Laboratory-scale inventory data collection for nano-manufacturing processes and
           preliminary performance evaluation.
       2) Thermodynamic modeling of manufacturing processes and developing scenarios of     
           efficiency gains informed by analogous material processing industries.
       3) Use-phase bounding to report inventory data in a functional unit descriptive of
           performance.

Together, these analyses may call attention to environmentally problematic processes or nanotechnologies before significant investments in R&D and infrastructure contribute to technology lock in. The following case study applies these components of anticipatory LCA to single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) manufacturing processes, compares the rapid improvements in SWCNT manufacturing to historic reductions in the embodied energy of aluminum, and discusses the use of SWCNTs as free-standing anodes in advanced lithium ion batteries.

Sonoma County, CA is on an ambitious pathway to meeting stringent carbon emissions goals that are part of California Assembly Bill 32. At the county-level, climate planners are currently evaluating options to assist residents of the county in reducing their carbon footprint and also for saving money. The Sonoma County Energy Independence Program (SCEIP) is one such county-level measure that is currently underway. SCEIP is a revolving loan fund that eligible residents may utilize to install distributed solar energy on their property. The fund operates like a property tax assessment, except that it only remains for a period of 20 years rather than in perpetuity.

This analysis intends to estimate the potential countywide effect that the $100M SCEIP fund might achieve on the C02 and cost footprint for the residential building energy sector. A functional unit of one typical home in the county is selected for a 25 year analysis period. Outside source data for the lifecycle emissions generated by the production, installation and operations of a PV system are utilized. Recent home energy survey data for the region is also utilized to predict a “typical” system size and profile that might be funded by the SCEIP program. A marginal cost-benefit calculation is employed to determine what size solar system a typical resident might purchase, which drives the life cycle assessment of the functional unit. Next, the total number of homes that might be financed by the SCEIP bond is determined in order to forecast the potential totalized effect on the County’s lifecycle emissions and cost profile.

The final results are evaluated and it is determined that the analysis is likely conservative in its estimation of the effects of the SCEIP program. This is due to the fact that currently offered subsidies are not utilized in the marginal benefit calculation for the solar system but do exist, the efficiency of solar technology is increasing, and the cost of a system over its lifecycle is currently decreasing. The final results show that financing distributed solar energy systems using Sonoma County money is a viable option for helping to meet state mandated goals and should be further pursued.

This study analyzes the feasibility of using algae cultivated from wastewater effluent to produce a biodiesel feedstock. The goal was to determine if the energy produced was greater than the operational energy consumed without consideration to constructing the system as well as the emissions and economic value associated with the process.

Four scenarios were created:
       1) high-lipid, dry extraction.
       2) high-lipid, wet extraction.
       3) low-lipid, dry extraction.
       4) low-lipid, wet extraction.
In all cases, the system required more energy than it produced. In high lipid scenarios, the energy produced is close to the energy consumed, and a positive net energy balance may be achieved with minor improvements in technology or accounting for coproducts. In the low lipid scenarios, the energy balance is too negative to be considered feasible. Therefore the lipid content affects the decision to implement algae cultivation.

The dry extraction and the wet extraction both require some level of mechanical drying and this makes the two methods yield similar results in terms of the energy analysis. Therefore, the extraction method does not dramatically affect the decision for implementing algae-based oil production from an energetic standpoint. The economic value of the oil in both high lipid scenarios results in a net profit despite the negative net energy. Emission calculations resulted in avoiding a significant amount of CO2 for high lipid scenarios but not for the low lipid scenarios. The CO2 avoided does not account for non-lipid biomass, so this number is an underestimation of the final CO2 avoided from the end products.

While the term "CO2 avoided" has been used for this study, it should be noted that this CO2 would be emitted upon use as a fuel source. These emissions, however, are not “new” CO2 because it has already been emitted and is being captured and recycled. Currently, literature is very divisive on the lipid content present in algae and this study shows that lipid content has a tremendous affect on energy and emissions impacts. The type of algae that can grow in wastewater effluent also should be investigated as well as the conditions that promote high lipid accumulation. The dewatering phase must be improved as it is extremely energy intensive and dominates the operational energy balance.

In order to compete, wet extraction must have a much more significant effect on the drying phase and must avoid the use of the human toxicants methanol and chloroform. Additionally, while the construction phase was beyond the scope of this project it may be a critical aspect in determining the feasibility these systems. Future research in this field should focus on lipid production, optimizing the belt dryer or finding a different method of dewatering, and allocating the coproducts.

The research topic for this assignment is shrimp farming in Thailand located throughout the coastal areas of the southern, eastern, and central regions of the country. Thailand’s huge shrimp export driven industry represents one of the largest in the world accounting for over twenty-five percent of food exports out of the country (Sriboonchitta & Wiboonpongse, n.d.).

Specific research questions include:
       1. What are the current unsustainable practices in shrimp farm production?
       2. In what part of the life cycle should intervention take place?
       3. What does a sustainable shrimp farming practice look like in the future?

Our objectives are to:
       1. Review the LCA literature to determine the dominant environmental impact categories in
           wild-caught fisheries in order to evaluate which phases are causing the greatest impacts.
       2. Determine how these impacts can best be mitigated and develop a framework that seeks
           to incorporates LCA into sustainable seafood guides so that consumers can make better-
           informed decisions.

This framework will include developing meaningful LCA impact categories for sustainable seafood guides. Despite their importance, we considered social factors beyond the scope of this paper.

While the scientific study of religion is not new, the topic has yet to be approached by Lifecycle Assessment (LCA). This work demonstrates a method for assessing the personal “cost” of “manufacturing” a mature religious adherent, or, a believer committed to a particular faith. By measuring such inputs as personal importance of faith, prayer, religious service attendance, religious experiences, and scripture reading, an assessment can be made of the quantity of such inputs required to engender enduring religious devotion. Ultimately, this study has demonstrated that the data typically collected in longitudinal surveys are insufficient to adequately support any firm quantitative conclusions, but the method proposed is sound and can be exploited when data becomes available.