ABSTRACT
Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a method to evaluate the environmental impacts produced during the entire life cycle of a product, from the extraction of raw materials up to the waste treatment at the end of life. This chapter gives an overview of the historical development of LCA up to the standardization of the method in ISO 14040 and 14044. The LCA Goal and Scope definition and the Inventory Analysis are described in detail, considering attributional and consequential approaches, system boundaries, and allocation procedures. It is demonstrated how the inventory can be established with the use of eco-vectors. The Goal and Scope and the Life-Cycle Inventory of two case studies are presented. The LCA study of a Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator in Tarragona, Spain – which has been introduced in Chapter 1 – assesses the impacts attributed to the recovered electricity in different scenarios. The second case study analyses energy production using 3rd-generation Organic Photovoltaic (OPV) solar panels. The comprehensive inventory of the different components of the solar panel, as well as the assembly phase, are provided. The chapter concludes with exercises that test the acquired knowledge of the reader.
