Sustainable Systems: LCA & Energy Efficiency Analysis Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of sustainable systems, focusing on life cycle assessment (LCA) and energy efficiency. The first part of the report conducts an LCA comparing plastic and steel plates, utilizing GaBi software to assess environmental impacts. The analysis identifies hotspots for each alternative, concluding that plastic plates are more sustainable due to their renewable sources and lower environmental impact. Remedial measures for steel plate production are also discussed. The second part of the report investigates the energy efficiency of a blender through a cost-benefit analysis, determining that the blender is both energy and cost-efficient over a three-year period. The report considers various energy sources and highlights the importance of evaluating device efficiency for sustainability.

A REPORT ON SUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS
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Executive summary
There is a need for the products, systems and services to be sustainable. A sustainable product,
system or services is a product, system or service that promotes the green environment and does
not cause any damage to the biodiversity. A sustainable system, product or service does not
release any harmful gases and substances into the atmosphere that may deplete the ozone layer
(Watts, et al., 2012).
A sustainable system, service or product can be known through the assessment of its life cycle.
The assessment of the life cycle of a product or process or service is commonly known as a life
cycle assessment (LCA). A life cycle assessment involves a raw materials-to-end product and
by-products analysis of production of systems. A life cycle assessment provides a comprehensive
evaluation of all the inputs and outputs as well as the various environmental emissions (Ansari,
et al., 2011).
The purpose of this report is to provide a life cycle assessment of two alternative products. The
two alternative products are the plastic plate and a plate made of steel. The life cycle analysis
revealed that the steel metallic plate has several hot spots. The first notable hotspot is that it is
relatively more expensive to manufacture compared to the plastic plate. A teal plate is non-
biodegradable. Therefore, excessive manufacture of steel plates may cause serious pollution in
the environment. The manufacturing process of a steel plate releases numerous harmful gases
into the environment. The most dangerous gas that is released during the manufacturing process
of a steal plate is the carbon dioxide. Excessive release of carbon into the atmosphere is toxic to
the health of human beings. Excessive release of carbon dioxide may also cause depletion of the
ozone layer (Sablin, 2012).

The life cycle analysis has proven that the best alternative is the plastic plate. A plastic plate is derived
from renewable sources like cellulose and starch. The plastic is renewable and the renewed materials
can be used to in the medical sector to manufacture 3 d prints. In comparison to the steel plate, a plastic
plate is relatively cheap to produce and it is non-toxic. Moreover, a plastic plate can withstand very high
temperatures of up to 110 degrees Celsius (Kate, 2011).
Introduction
A life cycle assessment is technique that evaluates the effects of a product or system throughout
its life cycle. A life cycle of a product or system is the period between the raw materials and the
end the end products. A life cycle assessment of two alternative products have been conducted in
this study. The two alternative products are the plastic plate and the plate made of steel (Paul, et
al., 2014).
The service wanted is a serving plate. The serving plate should be used anywhere; at home, in
offices and at the restaurants. The two alternatives are the plastic plate and the plate made of
steel. The problem has been chosen because it is a universal problem. Plates are used anywhere
on a daily basis. Furthermore, there is a huge manufacturing of plates and hence the whole
process should be sustainable (Kazeev, et al., 2013).
GaBi software will be used for the life cycle assessment. The procedure of conducting a life
cycle assessment in GaBi is recommended by the ISO. The purpose of conducting a life cycle
assessment in GaBi is to enhance product or project development and improvement, to enable
strategic planning, to enhance public policy making and to aid in marketing and eco-balance (P,
et al., 2009).
The recommended procedure for conducting a life cycle assessment has four major stages/steps.
The four steps are: Setting the goals and defining the scope of analysis, inventory analysis,

Impact analysis, and the interpretation of the outcome (Marcos & Gabrielle, 2010). The four
stages can be represented in the diagram below:
The ISO recommends that a life cycle analysis process comprises of four main phases as shown
in the chart below (Bcorporation.net, 2009).
Es
Estimated weight of each component of each alternative
A plastic plate Steel plate
 vegetable glycerin (available at the
pharmacy)
 corn, potato or other starch
 vinegar (5% acidity)
 water
 Cooking spoon
 Cooking pot
 Hot plate
 Aluminum foil
Carbon-Manganese steel
Iron
Limestone
Water
Burning Furnace
Source of Heat
Sulfur
Phosphorus
Silicon
LCA Process
 Goal
setting
and
Scoping
Consider
environmental,
economic and
social issues
 Life
Cycle
Inventory
Consider inputs
and outputs
 Life Cycle
Impact
Assessment
Assess the toxicity,
Ecotoxicity,
acidification levels, and
global climate change
 Interpretation
Involves analysis of
impact data. A
conclusion is made
based on the findings

A well-defined functional unit
For a plastic plate:
 1 tsp vegetable glycerin (available at the pharmacy)
 1tbsp corn, potato or other starch
 1 tsp vinegar (5% acidity)
 4 tbsp water
 Cooking spoon
 Cooking pot
 Hot plate
 Aluminum foil

For a steel plate:
 490N/mm^2 Carbon-Manganese steel
 490N/mm^2 Iron
 90% Limestone
 Water
 Burning Furnace
 Source of Heat
 Sulfur (0.04%)
 Phosphorus (below 0.04%)
 Silicon
A balanced material flow diagram for each alternative
The diagram below is shows the material flow for the two alternatives

An impact analysis for each alternative
An impact analysis was conducted in the GaBi software. The screen shots below are the
procedure that was used to conduct the impact analysis for the two alternatives.