Review of life-cycle approaches coupled with data envelopment analysis: launching the CFP + DEA method for energy policy making.

Life-cycle (LC) approaches play a significant role in energy policy making to determine the environmental impacts associated with the choice of energy source. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) can be combined with LC approaches to provide quantitative benchmarks that orientate the performance of energy systems towards environmental sustainability, with different implications depending on the selected LC + DEA method. The present paper examines currently available LC + DEA methods and develops a novel method combining carbon footprinting (CFP) and DEA.

Combining agent-based modeling and life cycle assessment for the evaluation of mobility policies.

This article presents agent-based modeling (ABM) as a novel approach for consequential life cycle assessment (C-LCA) of large scale policies, more specifically mobility-related policies. The approach is validated at the Luxembourgish level (as a first case study). The agent-based model simulates the car market (sales, use, and dismantling) of the population of users in the period 2013-2020, following the implementation of different mobility policies and available electric vehicles.

Implications of a consumer-based perspective for the estimation of GHG emissions. The illustrative case of Luxembourg.

The Kyoto protocol has established an accounting system for national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions according to a geographic criterion (producer perspective), such as that proposed by the IPCC guidelines for national GHG inventories. However, the representativeness of this approach is still being debated, because the role of final consumers (consumer perspective) is not considered in the emission allocation system. This paper explores the usefulness of a hybrid analysis, including input-output (IO) and process inventory data, as a complementary tool for estimating and allocating national GHG emissions according to both consumer- and producer-based perspectives.

Patient safety in external beam radiotherapy - guidelines on risk assessment and analysis of adverse error-events and near misses: introducing the ACCIRAD project.

In 2011 the European Commission launched a tender to develop guidelines for risk analysis of accidental and unintended exposures in external beam radiotherapy. This tender was awarded to a consortium of 6 institutions, including the ESTRO, in late 2011. The project, denominated "ACCIRAD", recently finished the data collection phase.

The influence of similarity between concepts in evolving biomedical ontologies for mapping adaptation.

Biomedical ontologies continuously evolve which demands maintain associated mappings up-to-date. This article studies whether similarity calculated between values of concept attributes issued from successive ontology versions plays a role in deciding mapping adaptation actions. We empirically analyse the evolution of official mappings established between large biomedical ontologies.

A perspective of adaptation in healthcare.

Emerging new technologies in healthcare has proven great promises for managing patient care. In recent years, the evolution of Information and Communication Technologies pushes many research studies to think about treatment plan adaptation in this area. The main goal is to accelerate the decision making by dynamically generating new treatment due to unexpected situations.

Exploration of cardanol-based phenolated and epoxidized resins by size exclusion chromatography and MALDI mass spectrometry.

Cardanol and cardanol derivatives are among the most important biobased materials currently investigated in green chemistry, as renewable and promising building blocks in lieu of traditional raw materials from non renewable resources, in particular owing to the olefinic linkages on the C15 alkyl side-chain. Despite the increasing interest they arouse, analytical chemistry dedicated to cardanol and associated resins has been rarely reported in the literature, found even poorer when dealing with chromatography and mass spectrometry. In this work, a thorough molecular characterization was conducted using matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry, size exclusion chromatography (SEC), and SEC-MALDI coupling to gain insights into the composition of phenolated, epoxidized, and epoxidized phenolated cardanol.

On the sustainability of an activity.

This paper develops a framework to determine the sustainability of a general activity. We define an activity as an action or process that uses one or more resources and that responds either wholly or partially to a demand. A definition for sustainability is developed and is contingent on whether or not an activity can be sustained according to the available resources, the duration of an activity, the cost of its execution, or whether substitution is possible.

Characterizing semantic mappings adaptation via biomedical KOS evolution: a case study investigating SNOMED CT and ICD.

Mappings established between Knowledge Organization Systems (KOS) increase semantic interoperability between biomedical information systems. However, biomedical knowledge is highly dynamic and changes affecting KOS entities can potentially invalidate part or the totality of existing mappings. Understanding how mappings evolve and what the impacts of KOS evolution on mappings are is therefore crucial for the definition of an automatic approach to maintain mappings valid and up-to-date over time.

Life cycle assessment of European pilchard (Sardina pilchardus) consumption. A case study for Galicia (NW Spain).

European pilchard or sardines (Sardina pilchardus) are an attractive raw material to extract from Iberian waters, since they constitute a cheap source of protein and they are a popular product among consumers. This has led to a wide range of final products available for consumers to purchase based on this single raw material. Therefore, this study presents a cross-product environmental assessment using life cycle assessment of three different final products based on sardine landings: canned sardines, fresh sardines and European hake caught by using sardine as bait.

Development of USEtox characterisation factors for dishwasher detergents using data made available under REACH.

Because of the more and more stringent regulations and customer demand, dishwasher detergent manufacturers are constantly improving the composition of the products towards better environmental performances. In order to quantify the pros and cons of these changes on the lifecycle of detergents, as compared to conventional products, the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a meaningful opportunity. However, the application of the methodology is hampered by the lack of Characterisation Factors (CFs) relative to the specific chemical substances included in the detergents composition, which cannot be included in the impact assessment of the effluent discharge.

Emergy evaluation using the calculation software SCALE: case study, added value and potential improvements.

This paper reports the emergy-based evaluation (EME) of the ecological performance of four water treatment plants (WTPs) using three different approaches. The results obtained using the emergy calculation software SCALE (EMESCALE) are compared with those achieved through a conventional emergy evaluation procedure (EMECONV), as well as through the application of the Solar Energy Demand (SED) method. SCALE's results are based on a detailed representation of the chain of technological processes provided by the lifecycle inventory database ecoinvent®.

Key advances in the chemical modification of nanocelluloses.

Nanocelluloses, including nanocrystalline cellulose, nanofibrillated cellulose and bacterial cellulose nanofibers, have become fascinating building blocks for the design of new biomaterials. Derived from the must abundant and renewable biopolymer, they are drawing a tremendous level of attention, which certainly will continue to grow in the future driven by the sustainability trend. This growing interest is related to their unsurpassed quintessential physical and chemical properties.

Integrated earth system dynamic modeling for life cycle impact assessment of ecosystem services.

Despite the increasing awareness of our dependence on Ecosystem Services (ES), Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) does not explicitly and fully assess the damages caused by human activities on ES generation. Recent improvements in LCIA focus on specific cause-effect chains, mainly related to land use changes, leading to Characterization Factors (CFs) at the midpoint assessment level. However, despite the complexity and temporal dynamics of ES, current LCIA approaches consider the environmental mechanisms underneath ES to be independent from each other and devoid of dynamic character, leading to constant CFs whose representativeness is debatable.

Applying consequential LCA to support energy policy: land use change effects of bioenergy production.

Luxembourg aims at complying with the EU objective of attaining a 14% use of bioenergy in the national grid by 2020. The increase of biomethane production from energy crops could be a valuable option in achieving this objective. However, the overall environmental benefit of such option is yet to be proven.

Understanding semantic mapping evolution by observing changes in biomedical ontologies.

Knowledge Organization Systems (KOSs) are extensively used in the biomedical domain to support information sharing between software applications. KOSs are proposed covering different, but overlapping subjects, and mappings indicate the semantic relation between concepts from two KOSs. Over time, KOSs change as do the mappings between them.

Ecological deficit and use of natural capital in Luxembourg from 1995 to 2009.

Scarcity of natural resources and productive land is a global issue affecting the provision of goods and services at the country scale. This is particularly true for small regions with highly developed economies such as Luxembourg, which usually balance the chronic unavailability of resources (in particular with regard to fossil fuels) with an increasing demand of imported raw materials, energy and manufactured commodities. Based on historical time-series analysis (from 1995 to 2009), this paper determines the state of natural capital (NC) utilization in Luxembourg and estimates its ecological deficit (ED).

Collision-induced dissociation of synthetic polymers containing hydride groups: the case of poly(methylhydrosiloxane) homopolymers and poly(methylhydrosiloxane)-co-(dimethylsiloxane) copolymers.

Rationale: When substituting one methyl moiety by a hydrogen atom in each end-group of a trimethylsilyl-terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), dissociation reactions of oligomers adducted with ammonium were observed to proceed at a much higher rate, evidencing the high reactivity of hydride groups. Polymeric molecules containing methylhydrosiloxane (MHS) units could thus be expected to exhibit a different tandem mass spectrometric (MS/MS) behavior from PDMS.

Methods: Trimethylsilyl-terminated PMHS and trimethylsilyl-terminated poly(MHS)-co-(DMS) were electrosprayed in the gas phase either as ammonium adducts or lithium adducts.

Cost-performance indicator for comparative environmental assessment of water treatment plants.

To compare potable water production plants on the basis of the environmental impacts generated by the treatment, including water resource depletion, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology is often used as referential. A comparison based only on the environmental impacts can however be misleading. Criteria for drinkability are usually defined as thresholds and the actual water quality gain achieved by different treatment chains shall be considered in the assessment for a fair comparison.

Comparative and integrative environmental assessment of advanced wastewater treatment processes based on an average removal of pharmaceuticals.

Pharmaceuticals are normally barely removed by conventional wastewater treatments. Advanced technologies as a post-treatment, could prevent these pollutants reaching the environment and could be included in a centralized treatment plant or, alternatively, at the primary point source, e.g.

Is it better to remove pharmaceuticals in decentralized or conventional wastewater treatment plants? A life cycle assessment comparison.

After ingestion, pharmaceuticals are excreted unchanged or metabolized. They subsequently arrive in conventional wastewater treatment plants and are then released into the environment, often without undergoing any degradation. Conventional treatment plants can be upgraded with post treatment, alternatively the removal of pharmaceuticals could be achieved directly at point sources.

Elimination of pharmaceutical residues in biologically pre-treated hospital wastewater using advanced UV irradiation technology: a comparative assessment.

UV irradiation technology as a membrane bioreactor (MBR) post-treatment was investigated and assessed. Both UV low pressure (LP) and medium pressure (MP) lamps were examined. The technology was installed in a pilot plant treating hospital wastewater to provide the study with adequate field data.