Adolf Acquaye

Application of Hybrid Life Cycle Approaches to Emerging Energy Technologies – The Case of Wind Power in the UK

Future energy technologies will be key for a successful reduction of man-made greenhouse gas emissions. With demand for electricity projected to increase significantly in the future, climate policy goals of limiting the effects of global atmospheric warming can only be achieved if power generation processes are profoundly decarbonized. Energy models, however, have ignored the fact that upstream emissions are associated with any energy technology. In this work we explore methodological options for hybrid life cycle assessment (hybrid LCA) to account for the indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of energy technologies using wind power generation in the UK as a case study. We develop and compare two different approaches using a multiregion input-output modeling framework - Input-Output-based Hybrid LCA and Integrated Hybrid LCA. The latter utilizes the full-sized Ecoinvent process database. We discuss significance and reliability of the results and suggest ways to improve the accuracy of the calculations. The comparison of hybrid LCA methodologies provides valuable insight into the availability and robustness of approaches for informing energy and environmental policy.

Decarbonising product supply chains: design and development of an integrated evidence-based decision support system – the supply chain environmental analysis tool (SCEnAT)

Based upon an increasing academic and business interest in greening the industrial supply chains, this paper establishes the need for a state-of-the-art decision support system (DSS) for carbon emissions accounting and management, mainly across the product supply chains by identifying methodological shortcomings in existing tools, and proposing a supply chain (SC) framework which provide businesses with a holistic understanding of their supply chains and ensuring partners within supply chain collaborative networks have a shared understanding of their emissions. It describes the design and development of a DSS now known as supply chain environmental analysis tool (SCEnAT) in detail, putting its unique and innovative features into a comparative perspective vis-à-vis existing tools and software of different types. The methodological framework used to design and develop SCEnAT integrates different individual techniques/methods of supply chain (SC) mapping, SC carbon accounting, SC interventions and SC interventions evaluation on a range of key performance indicators (KPIs). These individual methods have been used and applied innovatively to the challenge of designing SCEnAT within the desired framework. Finally, we demonstrate the application of SCEnAT, especially the advantage of using a robust carbon accounting methodology, to a SC case study. The SCEnAT framework pushes the theoretical boundary by addressing the problems of intra-organisational approach in decision making for lowering carbon along the supply chain; with an open innovation, cutting edge, hybridised framework that considers the supply chain as a whole in co-decision making for lowering carbon along the supply chain with the most robust methodology of hybrid life cycle analysis (LCA) that considers direct and indirect emissions and interventional performance evaluation for low carbon technology investment and business case building in order to adapt and mitigate climate change problems. This research has implications for future sustainability research in SC, decisions science, management theory, practice and policy.

Benchmarking carbon emissions performance in supply chains

Purpose – The paper aims to develop a benchmarking framework to address issues such as supply chain complexity and visibility, geographical differences and non-standardized data, ensuring that the entire supply chain environmental impact (in terms of carbon) and resource use for all tiers, including domestic and import flows, are evaluated. Benchmarking has become an important issue in supply chain management practice. However, challenges such as supply chain complexity and visibility, geographical differences and non-standardized data have limited the development of approaches for evaluating performances of product supply chains. This industry-level benchmarking approach ensures that individual firms can compare their carbon emissions against other similarly structured firms. Design/methodology/approach – Benchmarking has become an important issue in supply chain management practice. However, challenges such as supply chain complexity and visibility, geographical differences and non-standardized data hav...

An application of hybrid life cycle assessment as a decision support framework for green supply chains

In an effort to achieve sustainable operations, green supply chain management has become an important area for firms to concentrate on due to its inherent involvement with all the processes that provide foundations to successful business. Modelling methodologies of product supply chain environmental assessment are usually guided by the principles of life cycle assessment (LCA). However, a review of the extant literature suggests that LCA techniques suffer from a wide range of limitations that prevent a wider application in real-world contexts; hence, they need to be incorporated within decision support frameworks to aid environmental sustainability strategies. Thus, this paper contributes in understanding and overcoming the dichotomy between LCA model development and the emerging practical implementation to inform carbon emissions mitigation strategies within supply chains. Therefore, the paper provides both theoretical insights and a practical application to inform the process of adopting a decision support framework based on a LCA methodology in a real-world scenario. The supply chain of a product from the steel industry is considered to evaluate its environmental impact and carbon ‘hotspots’. The study helps understanding how operational strategies geared towards environmental sustainability can be informed using knowledge and information generated from supply chain environmental assessments, and for highlighting inherent challenges in this process.

Green supply chain management: the development of supply chain carbon maps

In recent times, environmental thinking has become a prominent feature in the design of supply chain networks leading to the concepts of low carbon supply chains and green supply chain management. Understanding the sources and levels of emissions within the supply chain is the first step needed to fully design a low carbon supply chain. This paper helps to develop the concept of supply chain carbon map which provides a visual representation of the sources, levels of emissions and hotspots at a whole supply chain level. This is developed within an extended system framework using the hybrid lifecycle assessment methodology to generate carbon emissions for a mono crystalline silicon PV system and using a multi-regional input-output model to ensure system boundary completeness. The paper also discusses how the development of a whole supply chain perspective of carbon maps ensures that collaborative supply chain networks of firms can be mapped hence firms can gain a better understanding of their supply chain impacts and therefore help its sustainable management.

Drivers of U.S. toxicological footprints trajectory 1998–2013

By exploiting data from the Toxic Release Inventory of the United States, we have established that the toxicological footprint (TF) increased by 3.3% (88.4 Mt) between 1998 and 1999 and decreased by 39% (1088.5 Mt) between 1999 and 2013. From 1999 to 2006, the decreasing TF was driven by improvements in emissions intensity (i.e. gains in production efficiency) through toxic chemical management options: cleaner production; end of pipe treatment; transfer for further waste management; and production scale. In particular, the mining sector reduced its TF through outsourcing processes. Between 2006 and 2009, decreasing TF was due to decrease in consumption volume triggered by economic recession. Since 2009, the economic recovery increased TF, overwhelming the influence of improved emissions intensity through population growth, consumption and production structures. Accordingly, attaining a less-toxic economy and environment will be influenced by a combination of gains in production efficiency through improvement in emissions mitigation technologies and changes in consumption patterns. Overall, the current analysis highlights the structural dynamics of toxic chemical release and would inform future formulation of effective mitigation standards and management protocols towards the detoxification of the environment.

A quantitative model for environmentally sustainable supply chain performance measurement

Abstract The development of robust mechanisms for supply chain performance measurement have been identified as an integral step needed for the transition towards sustainable supply chain systems and a greener global economy. However, measuring the environmental performance of supply chains is a challenging task, due to several factors, such as the lack of standardised methodologies and the inherent multi-criteria nature of the problem. By leveraging the capability of a Multi-Regional Input–Output framework to handle the complex and global nature of supply chains, the current work presents a robust environmental sustainable performance measurement model underpinned by industrial lifecycle thinking. As a result, some theoretical insights are provided and an empirical application of the model to the Metal Products industry of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) nations undertaken in an attempt to address some of the methodological and applied measurement challenges. In particular, this allowed the modelling of carbon emissions trends within, and between the BRICS nations and with the Rest-of-the-World over a 20-year period (1992–2011) as well as providing an opportunity to hypothesis on their future carbon emissions performances. Specific analyses of the Metal Product industry showed that demand represents the main driver for the increasing carbon footprint. However, the overall decline in reported carbon footprint was due to improvements in emissions intensity and efficiency gains induced by technology. The study further assesses the effects of imports and economic growth on carbon footprint and discusses the implications of the study to sustainability transition processes in the BRICS nations.

A Decision Support Framework for Evaluation of Environmentally and Economically Optimal Retrofit of Non-domestic Buildings

Currently, the building sector has an oversized carbon footprint as it represent the single largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), with approximately one third of global energy end use taking place within buildings. The challenge to successfully reduce the energy consumption in the building sector is to find effective strategies for retrofitting existing buildings. Significant emissions reductions are possible from applying low carbon retrofit intervention options to existing buildings. The choice of low carbon retrofit intervention options involves evaluation of applicability, energy end uses, environmental impact and cost of application versus energy savings. To develop energy efficiency strategies for building stock, there is the need for optimised methodologies and decision aid tools to evaluate whole-life economic and net environmental gain of the options. This paper describes the development of an integrated framework for a Decision Support System (DSS) based on the optimal ranking and sequencing of retrofit options for emissions reduction in non-domestic buildings. The DSS framework integrates economic (cost) and net environmental (embodied and operational emissions) cost or benefit parameters and an optimization scheme to produce an output based on ranking principles such as marginal abatement cost curve (MACC). The methodology developed can be used to identify and communicate trade-offs between various refurbishment options to aid decisions that are informed both by environmental and financial considerations.

A Robust Model to Enhance Organisation Boardrooms’ Decision-Making Process Towards a Low Carbon Economy

The role of organisations in efforts to address negative externalities on the natural environment has become urgent. As such, an organisation-focused perspective would be a limited view point of addressing global environmental impacts on the natural environment. We argue that by drawing on resource-based view theory, development of decision support systems (DSS) is an example of how organisational competences which are rooted in technology can be directed and used to not just create value but also enhance environmental sustainability. To this end, we present a decision support model which seeks to provide stakeholders with a better understanding of how to effectively conduct energy savings investment to promote energy conservation and sustainability within organisation. Bridging knowledge domains, the model presented integrates the key variables of economic and net environmental benefits to produce optimal decisions. These variables are used within an optimisation scheme that consists of integrated modules for data input, sensitivity analysis and takes into account the use of a set of energy saving options that satisfies a range of criteria (environmental, demand, cost and resource constraints); hierarchical course of action; and the evaluations of ‘best’ case scenario based on marginal abatement cost methods and Pareto optimisation. The steps involved in the system development are presented and its usefulness is evaluated using a case study application. The results of the application are analysed and presented, verifying the feasibility of the model whilst encouraging further improvements and extensions. The methodology developed provides stakeholders with an efficient and reliable decision process that is informed by both environmental and financial considerations.

Using Policy Instruments to Drive Optimal Living and Sustainable Consumption in the Built and Natural Environment

In order to drive optimal living and sustainable consumption in the built and natural environment, there is the need to develop more sustainable, less energy-intensive systems and approaches that offer economic advantages, better operational performance, environmental merits and social acceptability. Measures to achieve these objectives including low-carbon technologies such as renewable energy generation technologies and energy efficiency measures are widely available today. Current focus on these technologies to reduce operational energy requirements has led to the neglect of embodied energy. This may result in obscuring the actual or net environmental gain for a given technology. Understanding the actual life cycle environmental gains is therefore necessary if a holistic effort in achieving sustainable built environment is to be attained. Furthermore, these environmental measures (operational and embodied) must be considered within an economic context. Against this backdrop, this chapter illustrates how policy instrument such as Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) can be used as a mechanism for evaluating low-carbon technologies taking into account both operational and embodied emissions and financial cost. The implication of emissions embodied in international trade flows within a MACC framework is also discussed.