Review of Emergy Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment: Coupling Development Perspective

Two methods of natural ecosystem assessment—emergy analysis (EMA) and life cycle assessment (LCA)—are reviewed in this paper. Their advantages, disadvantages, and application areas are summarized, and the similarities and differences between these two evaluation methods are analyzed respectively. Their research progress is also sorted out. The study finds that EMA and LCA share common attributes in evaluation processes and research fields, but they focus on different aspects of macrocosms and microcosms. The assessment of system sustainability is valued by both EMA and LCA, but the former has unique advantages in natural system input analysis, and the latter is more convincing in assessing environmental loading capacity. If the system boundaries of the two methods are expanded, in other words, factors such as ecosystem services, labor, and infrastructure construction are integrated into the upstream of the target system, and environmental impact is further analyzed using LCA in the downstream of the system, the two approaches would complete each other. The quantified results would be more objective. Therefore, these two theories have the necessity of coupling development. After reviewing recent coupling application cases, the results show that LCA and EMA have commonality in the upstream of the target system (mainly in inventory database construction), while the environmental impact assessment methods are different in the downstream. So the overall coupling analysis method is not formed. The current paper gives rational suggestions on the coupling development of the two systems in terms of the aggregate emergy flow table, the indicator system construction and indicator evaluation methods. In addition, it is necessary to introduce sensitivity analysis and uncertainty analysis in order to improve the reliability of assessment results. At present, the research on the coupling development of the two theories is in rapid development stage, but there are still many problems that need further exploration.

[1]  Laura Vanoli,et al.  Integrating life cycle assessment and emergy synthesis for the evaluation of a dry steam geothermal power plant in Italy , 2015 .

[2]  Biagio F. Giannetti,et al.  Emergy-based comparative analysis of urban metabolic efficiency and sustainability in the case of big and data scarce medium-sized cities: A case study for Jing-Jin-Ji region (China) , 2018, Journal of Cleaner Production.

[3]  Maria Laura Parisi,et al.  Life cycle assessment of atmospheric emission profiles of the Italian geothermal power plants , 2019, Journal of Cleaner Production.

[4]  Benedetto Rugani,et al.  Towards integrating the ecosystem services cascade framework within the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) cause-effect methodology. , 2019, The Science of the total environment.

[5]  Rusong Wang,et al.  Hybrid Emergy-LCA (HEML) based metabolic evaluation of urban residential areas: The case of Beijing, China , 2009 .

[6]  Benedetto Rugani,et al.  Integrating emergy into LCA: Potential added value and lingering obstacles , 2014 .

[7]  S. Min,et al.  New Emergy Evaluating Indices for Industrial Systems , 2008 .

[8]  Daeseok Kang.  Emergy Evaluation of Korean Agriculture , 2017 .

[9]  Shaoqing Chen,et al.  Evaluating the environmental impacts of an urban wetland park based on emergy accounting and life cycle assessment: A case study in Beijing , 2011 .

[10]  Benedetto Rugani,et al.  Emergy-based mid-point valuation of ecosystem goods and services for life cycle impact assessment , 2013 .

[11]  B. Månsson,et al.  Ecology, thermodynamics and H.T. Odum's conjectures , 1993, Oecologia.

[12]  A. Pizzigallo,et al.  The joint use of LCA and emergy evaluation for the analysis of two Italian wine farms. , 2008, Journal of environmental management.

[13]  Nelson Martins,et al.  A review of emergy theory, its application and latest developments , 2016 .

[14]  Yan Zhang,et al.  An emergy-LCA analysis of municipal solid waste management , 2017 .

[15]  Rehan Sadiq,et al.  Emergy-based life cycle assessment (Em-LCA) for sustainability appraisal of infrastructure systems: a case study on paved roads , 2014, Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy.

[16]  Cheng Zhan-ming,et al.  Ecological Economic Evaluation Based on Emergy as Embodied Cosmic Exergy: A Historical Study for the Beijing Urban Ecosystem 1978-2004 , 2010 .

[17]  Bhavik R. Bakshi,et al.  Synergies between industry and nature – An emergy evaluation of a biodiesel production system integrated with ecological systems , 2018 .

[18]  Chunhong Zhao,et al.  Emergy analysis on urban metabolism by counties in Beijing , 2017 .

[19]  Robert Ries,et al.  Complementary life cycle assessment of wastewater treatment plants: An integrated approach to comprehensive upstream and downstream impact assessments and its extension to building-level wastewater generation , 2016 .

[20]  Emma Ringström,et al.  Environmental Evaluation of Industry Cluster Strategies with a Life Cycle Perspective: Replacing Fossil Feedstock with Forest‐Based Feedstock and Increasing Thermal Energy Integration , 2018 .

[21]  Sergio Ulgiati,et al.  On boundaries and ‘investments’ in Emergy Synthesis and LCA: A case study on thermal vs. photovoltaic electricity , 2012 .

[22]  Bhavik R. Bakshi,et al.  Industrial and ecological cumulative exergy consumption of the United States via the 1997 input–output benchmark model , 2007 .

[23]  David Pennington,et al.  Recent developments in Life Cycle Assessment. , 2009, Journal of environmental management.

[24]  Irene M.C. Lo,et al.  Life cycle assessment of waste treatment strategy for sewage sludge and food waste in Macau: perspectives on environmental and energy production performance , 2016, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[25]  Enrico Sciubba,et al.  On the Second-Law inconsistency of Emergy Analysis , 2010 .

[26]  Jinwei Huo,et al.  Evaluation of Oasis Sustainability Based on Emergy and Decomposition Analysis , 2018, Sustainability.

[27]  Biagio F. Giannetti,et al.  Donor-side evaluation of coastal and marine ecosystem services. , 2019, Water research.

[28]  Qingbin Song,et al.  Sustainability evaluation of an e-waste treatment enterprise based on emergy analysis in China , 2012 .

[29]  Caizhi Sun,et al.  The marine ecosystem services values for China based on the emergy analysis method , 2018, Ocean & Coastal Management.

[30]  Patricia Thornley,et al.  Generating low-carbon heat from biomass: Life cycle assessment of bioenergy scenarios , 2017 .

[31]  Wei Liu,et al.  Environmental impact analysis and process optimization of batteries based on life cycle assessment , 2018 .

[32]  Hanwei Liang,et al.  Design for sustainability of industrial symbiosis based on emergy and multi-objective particle swarm optimization. , 2016, The Science of the total environment.

[33]  Chao Liu,et al.  Emergy analysis of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) for waste heat power generation , 2018 .

[34]  Benedetto Rugani,et al.  Improvements to Emergy evaluations by using Life Cycle Assessment. , 2012, Environmental science & technology.

[35]  Wesley W. Ingwersen,et al.  Uncertainty characterization for emergy values , 2010 .

[36]  Ping Zuo,et al.  A comparison of the sustainability of original and constructed wetlands in Yancheng Biosphere Reserve, China: implications from emergy evaluation , 2004 .

[37]  Guido Sonnemann,et al.  Uncertainty assessment by a Monte Carlo simulation in a life cycle inventory of electricity produced by a waste incinerator , 2003 .

[38]  Jinglan Hong,et al.  Life cycle assessment of corn- and cassava-based ethylene production , 2014 .

[39]  Silvia Bargigli,et al.  Overcoming the inadequacy of single-criterion approaches to Life Cycle Assessment , 2006 .

[40]  Maria Laura Parisi,et al.  Environmental Profile of the Manufacturing Process of Perovskite Photovoltaics: Harmonization of Life Cycle Assessment Studies , 2019, Energies.

[41]  Luis M. Gandía,et al.  Application of Eco-Design and Life Cycle Assessment Standards for Environmental Impact Reduction of an Industrial Product , 2017 .

[42]  Mark T. Brown,et al.  Emergy-based indices and ratios to evaluate sustainability: monitoring economies and technology toward environmentally sound innovation , 1997 .

[43]  W. Ingwersen,et al.  Emergy as a Life Cycle Impact Assessment Indicator , 2011 .

[44]  M. Hocking,et al.  Paper Versus Polystyrene: A Complex Choice , 1991, Science.

[45]  Kang He,et al.  Developing the ecological compensation criterion of industrial solid waste based on emergy for sustainable development , 2018, Energy.

[46]  Chuangzhi Wu,et al.  Life cycle assessment of biofuels in China: Status and challenges , 2018, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.

[47]  Sergio Ulgiati,et al.  Emergy-based indicators of regional environmental sustainability: A case study in Shanwei, Guangdong, China , 2015 .

[48]  Jinyan Zhan,et al.  Ecosystem services assessment based on emergy accounting in Chongming Island, Eastern China , 2019, Ecological Indicators.

[49]  Robert Ries,et al.  Comparison of energy-based indicators used in life cycle assessment tools for buildings , 2014 .

[50]  D. Vukelic,et al.  Multi-criteria decision-making and life cycle assessment model for optimal product selection: case study of knee support , 2017, International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology.

[51]  Paolo Vassallo,et al.  Emergy required for the complete treatment of municipal wastewater , 2009 .

[52]  Murat Kucukvar,et al.  Emergy and end-point impact assessment of agricultural and food production in the United States: A supply chain-linked Ecologically-based Life Cycle Assessment , 2016 .

[53]  H. Scott Matthews,et al.  Representing and visualizing data uncertainty in input-output life cycle assessment models , 2018, Resources, Conservation and Recycling.

[54]  B. Bakshi,et al.  Promise and problems of emergy analysis , 2004 .

[55]  Simone Bastianoni,et al.  Emergy analysis of building manufacturing, maintenance and use: Em-building indices to evaluate housing sustainability , 2007 .

[56]  Yan Hao,et al.  Integrated emergy and economic evaluation of a case tidal power plant in China , 2018 .

[57]  Hai Ren,et al.  Emergy synthesis of an agro-forest restoration system in lower subtropical China , 2006 .

[58]  Cheol-Joo Cho,et al.  An exploration of reliable methods of estimating emergy requirements at the regional scale: Traditional emergy analysis, regional thermodynamic input–output analysis, or the conservation rule-implicit method , 2013 .

[59]  Jay F. Martin,et al.  Life cycle and emergy based design of energy systems in developing countries: Centralized and localized options , 2015 .

[60]  M. T Brown,et al.  Embodied energy analysis and EMERGY analysis: a comparative view , 1996 .

[61]  Sergio Ulgiati,et al.  Dealing with waste products and flows in life cycle assessment and emergy accounting: Methodological overview and synergies , 2015 .

[62]  Rehan Sadiq,et al.  A fuzzy-based approach for characterization of uncertainties in emergy synthesis: an example of paved road system , 2013 .

[63]  Xiaohong Zhang,et al.  Investigating impact of waste reuse on the sustainability of municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration industry using emergy approach: A case study from Sichuan province, China. , 2018, Waste management.

[64]  Aldo Roberto Ometto,et al.  Ecosystem Services in Life Cycle Assessment: A novel conceptual framework for soil. , 2018, The Science of the total environment.

[65]  Benedetto Rugani,et al.  SCALE: Software for CALculating Emergy based on life cycle inventories , 2013 .

[66]  Qingsong Wang,et al.  Environmental and economic impacts assessment of concrete pavement brick and permeable brick production process - A case study in China , 2018 .

[67]  Werner Oberhauser,et al.  Sustainable synthesis of quaternary sulphides: The problem of the uptake of zinc in CZTS , 2019, Journal of Alloys and Compounds.

[68]  D. Stern,et al.  Aggregation and the role of energy in the economy , 2000 .

[69]  Jingzheng Ren,et al.  Is the hydrogen production from biomass technology really sustainable? Answer by life cycle emergy analysis , 2016 .

[70]  Xiaohong Zhang,et al.  The comparison of performances of a sewage treatment system before and after implementing the cleaner production measure , 2015 .

[71]  Olivier Jolliet,et al.  Analytical uncertainty propagation in life cycle inventory and impact assessment: application to an automobile front panel , 2010 .

[72]  I. Boustead,et al.  RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO ENERGY REQUIREMENTS FOR GLASS AND PLASTICS MILK BOTTLES , 1974 .

[73]  Reinout Heijungs,et al.  Methods for uncertainty propagation in life cycle assessment , 2014, Environ. Model. Softw..

[74]  C. Mutel,et al.  Effects of Distribution Choice on the Modeling of Life Cycle Inventory Uncertainty: An Assessment on the Ecoinvent v2.2 Database , 2018 .

[75]  Xie Wang,et al.  A Robust Eco-Design Approach Based on New Sensitivity Coefficients by Considering the Uncertainty of LCI , 2017 .

[76]  N. Pelletier,et al.  Comparative life cycle environmental impacts of three beef production strategies in the Upper Midwestern United States , 2010 .

[77]  Jinglan Hong,et al.  Uncertainty propagation in life cycle assessment of biodiesel versus diesel: global warming and non-renewable energy. , 2012, Bioresource technology.

[78]  Mark T. Brown,et al.  Updated evaluation of exergy and emergy driving the geobiosphere: A review and refinement of the emergy baseline , 2010 .

[79]  B. Soto,et al.  Evaluation of environmental impact of two ready-to-eat canned meat products using Life Cycle Assessment , 2018, Journal of Food Engineering.

[80]  Jinglan Hong,et al.  Life cycle assessment and water footprint evaluation of crude steel production: A case study in China. , 2018, Journal of environmental management.

[81]  Lei Zhang,et al.  Emergy-based analysis of grain production and trade in China during 2000–2015 , 2018, Journal of Cleaner Production.

[82]  Taehoon Hong,et al.  Development of the life-cycle economic and environmental assessment model for establishing the optimal implementation strategy of the rooftop photovoltaic system , 2015 .

[83]  Peng Sui,et al.  Integrated assessment of economic and environmental consequences of shifting cropping system from wheat-maize to monocropped maize in the North China Plain , 2018, Journal of Cleaner Production.

[84]  Ting Yi,et al.  Emergy analysis of paddy farming in Hunan Province, China: A new perspective on sustainable development of agriculture , 2016 .

[85]  Vorasun Buranakarn,et al.  Emergy indices and ratios for sustainable material cycles and recycle options , 2003 .

[86]  Sergio Ulgiati,et al.  Emergy evaluations and environmental loading of electricity production systems , 2002 .

[87]  Marco Raugei,et al.  Clark’s Crow: A design plugin to support emergy analysis decision making towards sustainable urban ecologies , 2018 .

[88]  Chun-Hsien Chen,et al.  Review of life cycle assessment towards sustainable product development , 2014 .

[89]  Baoguo Chen,et al.  Embodied energy and emergy evaluation of a typical biodiesel production chain in China. , 2011 .

[90]  Jingzheng Ren,et al.  Eco-Benefits Assessment on Urban Industrial Symbiosis based on Material Flows Analysis and Emergy Evaluation Approach: A Case of Liuzhou City, China , 2017 .

[91]  Sergiy Smetana,et al.  Meat alternatives: life cycle assessment of most known meat substitutes , 2015, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[92]  Charlotte Scheutz,et al.  Life cycle assessment comparing the treatment of surplus activated sludge in a sludge treatment reed bed system with mechanical treatment on centrifuge , 2018, Journal of Cleaner Production.

[93]  Arnaud Hélias,et al.  Life-cycle assessment of biodiesel production from microalgae. , 2009, Environmental science & technology.