LCA Examples

© Colin Fitzpatrick

Ericsson LCA

Paper “Life Cycle Assessment of 3G Wireless Telecommunication Systems at Ericsson” available on the website.

Summary of the study “Life Cycle Assessment of a Third Generation (3G) System at Ericsson” available on the website.

Ericsson LCA

Goal– Develop a flexible LCA model with the capacity of

producing reliable environmental information for Ericsson’s present and future needs

– Develop a user-friendly database with all the LCA data collected during this and previous Ericsson LCA studies

– Determine and describe the environmental impact from Ericsson’s 3G wireless telecommunication systems

Ericsson LCA

Scope– System consists of 3G terminals, radio network,

control equipment & a core network with switches, routers, servers and workstations

– Transmission equipment like feeders and cables & site materials like antennas, climate control equipment and site housing

Ericsson LCA

Functional Unit– One year of operation of the 3G pilot system is

studied– For comparisons another functional unit, per

subscriber and information flow and year is needed.

Ericsson LCA

Following Indicators studied– Climate change– Resource depletion– Acidification– Photochemical ozone generation– Aquatic eutrophication– Terrestrial eutrophication– Ozone depletion– Land use– Human toxicity– Ecosystem toxicity

Ericsson LCA

Focuses on the climate change indicator as it is the most widely accepted environmental indicator.

Based on the global warming potential (GWP) and is measured in CO2 equivalents

Two external independent scientists reviewed the LCA to ensure carried out to ISO14040 series specification. Although data is not available to the public, the data used is valid and interpretations are accurate

Ericsson LCA

Ericsson LCA

Ericsson LCA

What impact does my 3G subscription have?

+0.06% raw material resources depletion +0.7% energy resources depletion & climate change +0.004% use of land resources

Ericsson LCA

Uncertainty & Sensitivity Analysis– Network planning (how many subscribers)– Energy efficient use of products– Product lifetime– Electricity source– Sensitivity of environment– Recycling share at end of life treatment– Dimensioning of site materials– Uncertainties in LCA data for virgin metal production, IC

manufacture, pcb manufacturing, hazardous waste treatment

LCA of an Integrated Circuit

Paper available on website EPROM IC chosen for study Gate to Gate study Functional Output is a complete EPROM

device Carried out according to relevant ISO

standards

LCA of an Integrated Circuit

Front End

Transport

Back End

Device

Raw Wafer

LCA of an Integrated Circuit

Oxidation Masking

EtchingDoping

Dielectric Deposition

Metallisation

PassivationElectrical Test

Raw Wafer

Processed Wafer

Front End Processed Wafer Production

LCA of an Integrated Circuit

Cut Welding Base

BondingPackaging

Electrolytic Tuning

Surface Clipping

Insert on Tube

Processed Wafer

Device

Back End Device Realisation

LCA of an Integrated Circuit

Transport– Packaging for transport– Truck to airport (40km)– Plane from Milan to Singapore (10,000km)– Truck to site (10km)

LCA of an Integrated Circuit

Material Quantity

DI Water 29 litres

Oxygen 140 mg

Nitrogen 122 g

Hydrogen 2.9 mg

Ceramic 7 g

PVC 0.4 g

HDPE 0.1 g

Lead 0.03 mg

Copper 1.2 mg

Tin 0.15 g

Boron 2.9 mg

Arsenic 6.9 mg

Selected total inventory data forone single EPROM device

LCA of an Integrated Circuit

De-Ionised Water– Plays a large part in semiconductor manufacture– Only ultra pure and DI water can be used– Special treatments involve energy and chemical

consumption– Introducing a water reclaim step can minimise the

environmental impact of the IC’s

LCA of an Integrated Circuit

Phase Quantity (MJ)

Front End 2.39

Transport 2 x 10 -6

Back End 10.11

Use 58.35

Total 70.85

Gross energy in different life cycle phases of one single device

LCA of an Integrated Circuit

Energy Use Phase– Specific device requires 0.36 Watts– Life estimated at 10 years– Equipment obsolescence estimated less than this (5

years)– Real operating time approx 33% of equipment life– 1MJ of electrical energy requires 3MJ of gross

energy– Use phase turns out to be 54 MJ

LCA of an Integrated Circuit

Chip production energy density

Material Energy Density [MJ/kg]Si (metallurgical) 33

Si (cz monocrystal) 560Si (IC) 35000

Cu (metallurgical) 20Al (metallurgical) 166

Paper 48

LCA of an Integrated Circuit

Conclusions– Large amount of material & process data required– Only few data available, used several different

databases and other LCA studies– Use of same steps in other IC’s will make other LCA

studies easier

Impacts of IC’s

• extremely low entropy, highlyorganised forms of matter made from materials of high entropy, and lowly organised forms ofmatter

Impacts of PC’s

“The total energy and fossil fuels used in producing a desktop computer with 17-in. CRT monitor are estimated at 6400 megajoules (MJ) and 260kg, respectively”

– Eric Williams, Environmental Science & Technology, 2004, 38, 6166-6174

Based on Irish figures this is equivalent to 1,109 kg CO2

Other studies give figures between 27,700 kg and 2,600,000 kg of water consumed

Emphasis must move to recycling this embodied energy by reuse and by refurbishment

Impacts of PC’s

75.83

10.73 14.56

371.70

52.6271.39

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Always On Switched Off Ouside OfficeHours

Power Saving Outside OfficeHours

RunningCost/€uro

CarbonEmissions/kg

Impacts of PC’s

Offset your PC’s Environmental Impacts by– Telecommuting– On-Line Banking– On-Line DVD Rental– On-Line Shopping– On-Line Newspapers

Offsetting These Impacts

Keep your PC for 4 years; – 277.25 kg/CO2 p.a.

User Profile “Power Saving Outside Office Hours” (1240 hours use);

– 71.39 kg/CO2 p.a.

Drive a VW Golf 1.4L Petrol; – 163 g CO2/km (source www.simi.ie)

Must save yourself 2,134 km (1,326 miles) driving p.a. (approx 25 miles per week)