Political Ecology

Battery-powered electric cars (BEVs) play a key role in future mobility scenarios. However, little is known about the environmental impacts of the production, use and disposal of the lithium ion (Li-ion) battery. This makes it difficult to compare the environmental impacts of BEVs with those of internal combustion engine cars (ICEVs). Consequently, a detailed lifecycle [...]

We used life cycle assessment to evaluate a subset of the cradle-to-destination-port environmental impacts associated with the production, processing, and transportation of frozen, packaged Indonesian tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fillets to ports in Chicago and Rotterdam. Specifically, we evaluated the cumulative energy use; biotic resource use; and global warming, acidifying, and eutrophying emissions at each life [...]

Consumer choices affect sustainability of societal systems, and state governments increasingly are interested in environmental impacts of consumption. This article describes a Consumer Environmental Index (CEI) to track the impacts of product purchase, use, and disposal and applies this initial CEI to Washington State in the United States. CEI has modules for product and service [...]

Hollow fiber sorbents in rapid thermal swing mode, packed bed solid sorbents in thermal swing mode, hollow fiber membranes, monoethanolamine-based liquid amines, and chilled ammonia CO2 sorption systems are compared on an energetic basis for CO2 capture from coal-fired power plants. The systems are compared on an intrinsic heat and auxiliary basis both with and [...]

Waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles collected by source-segregation recycling schemes can be treated by mechanical and chemical means to remove any contaminants. The cleaned PET can then be melted and formed into pellets with the same physical properties as virgin PET. Full-scale trials have shown that this reprocessed material can be used with virgin PET [...]

A Tool for Sustainability Impact Assessment (ToSIA) has been developed for assessing sustainability impacts of forest-wood-chains (FWCs). Sustainability is determined by analysing environmental, economic, and social sustainability indicators for all the production processes along the FWC. Results of the tool can be analysed at an aggregated level for complete FWCs, but for some applications it [...]

The increasing demand for environmental information on the global warming impact of products requires a solid methodological framework which guarantees comparability and communicability. The publicly available specification PAS 2050 combines approaches to a variety of greenhouse gas specific assessment issues to deliver a globally applicable product Carbon Footprinting (CF) method, which is expected to be [...]