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Introduction Cocoa is one of the main crops grown in Ecuador. The agricultural area dedicated to cocoa represents the largest area dedicated to a permanent crop the country. Dry bean production has grown at an average annual rate of 15% since 2014, mainly due to yield improvements and replacement of other crops. Several varieties of cocoa are grown, but production is dominated by two main varieties: “Cacao Fino y de Aroma” and clonal varieties (dominated by CCN-51). Cocoa, mainly in monocrop systems, is mainly produced on the Ecuadorian Coast (but also in the Highlands and Amazonia). This study presents a statistics-based LCA of the Ecuadorian cocoa value chain. Material and methods LCIs representing the various types of systems in each link of the value chain—i.e. the various types of farming systems, processing and distribution—were constructed in terms of representative production units. Sub-chains centred on different cocoa varieties and value-adding strategies were identified. Primary and secondary data were collected for the most representative system types, as defined in the actor typologies. Primary data were obtained via field visits and surveys, while secondary data were obtained mainly from statistical datasets of the National Institute of Statistics and Census. Impacts were computed following the European Commission's Product Environmental Footprint, while soil carbon turnover was modelled using RothC. Results and discussion Identified types of producers are subsistence and entrepreneurial small, medium, and large. Two post-harvest strategies were modelled: a volume-oriented one and a quality-oriented one. The main sub-chains identified are the volume/commodity-oriented one (which is dominantly based on cocoa which either does not undergo post-harvest, or which undergoes volume-oriented post-harvest activities) and the quality-oriented one. Across producer types, irrigation and negative direct field emissions are the most important factors, followed in importance by total energy consumption. Post-harvest and processing activities are dominated by energy expenditures. Sub-chains feature significantly different intensity of impacts, with the volume-oriented sub-chain (i.e. those privileging quantity over quality) featuring lower impacts than the quality-oriented ones. Conclusions The impacts of the value chain are comparatively lower, at least regarding climate change, than in other producing countries. Its agricultural phase generally exhibits low input pressure, contributes to climate change mitigation through high C sequestration in biomass that exceeds C losses due to land use change (e.g. deforestation), and does not seem to pose an immediate threat to biodiversity. Improvement initiatives do not necessarily imply intensification of production.

Oil mill sewage sludge (OMWS) is a major environmental problem for olive oil producing countries. Various OMWS elimination strategies have been proposed, in particular rapid pyrolysis which is considered a promising technique and whose main product is bio-oil which finds its application as green diesel in internal combustion engines.In rapid pyrolysis, bio-oil vapors are cooled using a compression refrigeration machine. The objective of the thesis is to integrate an absorption refrigeration machine by recovering the heat of the process, replacing the compression refrigeration machine and thus reducing electricity consumption.It turns out that the sorption refrigeration process allows for better energy efficiency. The ratio of bio-oil exergy to electrical exergy goes from 27 to 102 from the conventional system to the sorption system.An economic analysis is performed to determine the minimum selling price of bio-oil as fuel (MFSP). It is observed that the MFSP is reduced from 3.63 € / GGE to 2.99 € / GGE between the conventional system and the sorption system. The difference comes from the electricity consumption avoided. The economic sensitivity analysis shows that the production cost of bio oil decreases more rapidly than the increase in the investment cost induced by this increase in production., Les boues d'eaux usées des moulins à huile (OMWS) constituent un problème environnemental majeur pour les pays producteurs d'huile d'olive. Diverses stratégies d'élimination des OMWS ont été proposées, en particulier la pyrolyse rapide qui est considérée comme une technique prometteuse et dont le principal produit est la bio-huile qui trouve son application comme diesel vert dans les moteurs à combustion interne. Dans la pyrolyse rapide, les vapeurs de bio-huile sont refroidies en utilisant une machine de réfrigération à compression. L'objectif de la thèse est d'intégrer une machine de réfrigération par absorption en récupérant la chaleur du processus, en se substituant à la machine de réfrigération par compression et réduisant ainsi la consommation d'électricité. Il s'avère que le procédé de réfrigération par sorption permet une meilleure efficacité énergétique. Le ratio exergie de la bio-huile sur exergie électrique passe de 27 à 102 du système conventionnel au système à sorption. Une analyse économique est effectuée pour déterminer le prix de vente minimum de la bio-huile en tant que combustible (MFSP). Il est observé que le MFSP est réduit de 3,63 €/GGE à 2,99 €/GGE entre le système conventionnel au système à sorption. La différence provient de la consommation d’énergie électrique évitée. L’analyse de sensibilité économique met en évidence que le coût de production de la bio huile diminue plus rapidement que l’augmentation du coût d’investissement induit par cette augmentation de production.

International audience; This study presents a decision support tool that evaluates the environmental efficiency of reusing treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation, among other options. The developed tool is published as open source at https://doi.org/10.18167/DVN1/YLP1BA. The objective of this decision support tool is to facilitate the interpretation of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results by progressively reducing the non-discriminatory impacts to solve the difficulty of making a decision with a large number of criteria. This framework was applied to a representative case of reuse of reclaimed water for vine irrigation at the Murviel-Les-Montpellier experimental site (Hérault, France). It was then generalized through modeling assumptions to consider different reuse scenarios. To highlight situations in which the supply of recycled water for irrigation may or may not provide significant environmental benefits, four main parameters were varied: (i) tertiary treatment technologies, (ii) availability of conventional water sources, (iii) energy mix composition. The results show that the environmental impact of treated wastewater reuse depends directly on the type of tertiary treatment technology and the location of the treatment plant in relation to the field and other water sources. The decision support tool has identified where wastewater reuse is clearly an environmentally beneficial source of irrigation among surface and groundwater sources (e.g., WWTP closer to field than river, groundwater too deep, tertiary treatment environmentally beneficial). However, there are many situations where the decision support process cannot distinguish between reuse of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation and conventional water sources, especially when the nutrient content of treated municipal wastewater is insufficient to offset the negative effects of high energy requirements and chemicals of tertiary treatment.

Food supply chains (FSCs) not only need to be competitive, but increasingly face scarce resources and societal pressure for sustainable development. This paper assesses the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of five different FSCs that are all competing for the same primary product. We used the value chain methodology for the economic sustainability, life cycle assessment for the analysis of environmental sustainability, and a scoring approach for social sustainability. We applied these methodologies to five FSCs competing for mangoes in Burkina Faso: 1) the FSC of fresh mangoes exported (by boat or by plane) to the European Union, 2) the FSC of fresh mangoes exported to continental Africa, 3) the FSC of dried mangoes exported to Europe, 4) the FSC of mango juice and puree, and 5), the FSC of fresh mangoes consumed in Burkina Faso. For each FSC, we considered: 1) the added value per kilogramme; 2) male and female employment; 3) the contribution to the national economy; 4) working conditions; 5) the contribution to household food and nutritional security; 6) damage to human health per added value, 7) damage to ecosystems per added value, and 8) increased resource scarcity per added value. None of the FSCs obtained a perfect score. The domestic FSC had the best sustainability indicators and the African FSC distributed the highest share of added value to farmers. The number of middlemen, the operating costs, the trade value of the mangoes, and bargaining power, are the main factors affecting the distribution of the added value. The informal sector is a major factor that affects the social assessment through access to land and to most social rights. Distance and transport technology are the main factors that affect the environmental sustainability. Our results will help improve benchmarking of FSCs in a sustainability framework, targeting of private funding investment, and policy support for sustainable development.

Pyrometallurgical nickel industry in New Caledonia produces several tons of slag per year, which is stocked on site. There is no valorization today, except for a small transformation into sand. Pyrometallurgy highly consumes fossil-fuel energy and electricity for ore pre-treatment and nickel extraction inside electrical furnaces, which produces significant CO2 emissions. A new valorization approach is suggested to use these two local productions (slag and CO2) to mineralize slag and produce silico-magnesian cement for the construction sector. In order to ensure suitable environmental performances, many questions arise about the target valorized product: where and how to capture CO2 and produce cement, what constraints should be targeted for the mineralization process, can products be exported and where? Moreover, New Caledonia aims to develop renewable energies for electricity grid, which would mitigate local industries impacts in the future. A prospective Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used to define constraints on future product development. Two hundred scenarios are defined and compared as well as electricity grid evolution, using Brightway software. Thirteen scenarios can compete with traditional Portland cement for 12 of the 16 impacts of the ILCD midpoint method. The evolution of electricity grid slightly affects the performance of the scenarios by a mean of less than+/−25%, bringing a small difference on the number of acceptable scenarios. The main constraint requires improving the mineralization process by considerably reducing electricity consumption of the attrition-leaching operation. To be in line with scenarios concerning carbon neutrality of the cement industry by 2050, a sensitivity analysis provides the maximum energy consumption target for the mineralization process that is 0.9100 kWh/kg of carbonated slag, representing a 70% reduction of the current energy measured at lab scale. Valorization of nickel slag and CO2 should turn to carbon capture and utilization technology, which allows for the production of supplementary cementitious materials, another product for the construction sector. It will be the topic of a next prospective study.

The Gambian and Malian fisheries and fish processing value chains are predominantly artisanal and represent a key source of protein and livelihoods, yet their eco-efficiency has not been studied to date. A Life Cycle Assessment was used to estimate the associated environmental impacts of those value chains and provide information on the eco-efficiency indicators, which relate technical efficiencies to environmental impacts. The results showed that industrial Gambian fleets' fuel use efficiency is rather low as compared with the global mean fuel use intensity (landed fish/consumed fuel) for both small pelagics and demersal fish. In Mali, the fuel use intensity of motorised artisanal fisheries is lower than the mean values for artisanal inland fisheries in developing countries, but the important increase of frozen imported fish from fish farming multiplies the estimated impacts by four. The least energy-intensive fisheries (cast nets and stow nets in Gambia and opportunistic fishers in Mali) feature better eco-efficiency scores. Based on the identified sources of inefficiencies, we suggest improvements in the landing/processing infrastructure and fishing units' engines, coupled with technical and business training and improved processing methods, to ameliorate seafood eco-efficiency and a stronger recognition of the importance of the artisanal fisheries subsector to overcome challenges and improving resource management.

Based on the RILEM Technical Committee 274-TCE work, this paper is a discussion of the remaining engineering challenges faced by earthen architecture. The assessment of earth material performances requires the development of appropriate procedures and standards. This is discussed in particular for the characterisation, hygrothermal behaviour, mechanical behaviour, and durability of earth materials. One other important challenge, since one of the main advantages classically put forward, is its ecological performance, is a proper assessment of life cycle assessment of earth materials, elements and buildings. Moreover, the paper develops why the approach to earthen construction must be different compared to the dominant construction materials, to preserve its ability to contribute to the ecological transition in the construction sector. In particular, the needs of using local soils, with an architectural approach coping with the limits of the materials, and developing an architectural optimisation to preserve the earthen materials multifunctionality rather than selecting a sole property to be maximised. Lastly, the findings of the paper can be used to develop a holistic approach to earthen construction to foster the development of new earthen architecture projects.

The ongoing development of 3D Concrete Printing technology is broadly associated with the boons of mass-customization industry, with the potential of productivity, time and cost optimization, as well as with the sustainable potential of the practice, leaning on a largely discussed capacity of the smart and rational material deposition offered by additive manufacturing. This latter is investigated in the present work by the means of the Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) method applied to an extrusion-based printing technology built upon the 6-axis robotic arm.The manuscript begins with a critical review of environmental performance in construction, putting it into life-cycle perspective and introducing the theoretical framework of the LCA discipline. Then, the environmental analysis of 3D Concrete Printing technology is accomplished with a particular focus on its process-related impact. Finally, a series of case-studies is evaluated on different constructive scales: from the elementary brick of a construction procedure to the full-bodied architectural system. In closing, some aspects of the industry-wide deployment of the practice are outlooked in light of the rebound effect phenomenon. A general discussion on the sustainable development of the practice concludes this work.Mainly, the study puts forward the environmental characterization of material and process-related impacts allowing to calculate the environmental impact of any printed object. Furtherly, those environmental data can be integrated into the design and optimization studies of building elements. The outcomes of the case studies point out a fair significance of the process-related impact, that despite the material savings, prompts some important impact transfers and pollution shifts into the life-cycle balance of a concrete element.Precisely, on the basic scale of the construction procedure, the impact of the 1m3 of printed concrete is almost twice bigger than the impact of 1m3 of casted concrete. The process-related impact represents around 13% in Climate Change category and can vary significantly in function of the process and material settings.The environmental gains on the scale of a structure were shown to be insignificant in the masonry framework but go up to 50% in the reinforced concrete perspective. The process-related impact remains significant but can be compensated by the material savings if properly taken into account during the design phase. Worth noting, the material quantity was shown to be an inappropriate metrics for environmental question in structural design.The integration of the optimized 3D Concrete Printed structure into the full-bodied architectural system of building envelope has demonstrated the impact reduction potential of around 20% in Climate Change category. Finally, regarding the global deployment of the practice, the further studies quantifying the magnitude of the rebound effect are necessary in order to understand the industry-wide environmental profile of 3D Concrete Printing technology.In larger outline, the 3D Concrete Printing technology in particular and the construction automation in general has shown a real capacity for the overall environmental improvement of structural and architectural systems., Le développement actuel de la technologie d'impression 3D béton est principalement motivé par l’avènement de l’industrie de personnalisation de masses, ses promesses de productivité et de performance environnementale.Ce potentiel de la construction durable, basée sur la capacité du dépôt de matière rationnel via la fabrication additive, est étudiée dans le présent travail avec une méthode d'analyse du cycle de vie (ACV) appliquée à une technologie d'impression par extrusion.Le manuscrit commence par un panorama critique de la performance environnementale dans la construction, en la mettant dans la perspective du cycle de vie et en introduisant le cadre théorique de la méthode ACV. Ensuite, l'analyse environnementale de la technologie d'impression 3D béton est réalisée avec un accent particulier sur l’impact lié au procédé. Enfin, une série de cas d'études est évaluée à différentes échelles constructives : de la brique élémentaire du procédé de construction jusqu’au système architectural complet. En conclusion, certains aspects de déploiement de la pratique à l'échelle de l'industrie sont examinés à la lumière du phénomène de l'effet de rebond ; une discussion générale sur le développement durable de la pratique achève ce travail. Principalement, l'étude propose une caractérisation des impacts du matériau et du procédé permettant de calculer le bilan environnemental de tout objet imprimé. De plus, ces données environnementales peuvent être intégrées dans les études de conception et d'optimisation des éléments de construction. Les résultats des cas d’études soulignent une importance de l'impact lié au procédé, qui, malgré les économies de matériaux, entraîne d'importants transferts d'impact et de pollutions dans l'équilibre du cycle de vie d'un élément. Précisément, à l'échelle de base du procédé constructif, l'impact de 1m3 de béton imprimé est presque deux fois plus grand que celui de 1m3 de béton coulé. L'impact lié au procédé représente environ 13% dans la catégorie du Changement Climatique et peut varier considérablement en fonction de la configuration d’impression et du matériau. Les gains environnementaux à l'échelle d'une structure se sont avérés insignifiants dans le cadre des structures maçonnées, pour autant ils peuvent représenter presque 50% dans le cadre du béton armé. L'impact lié au procédé reste important mais peut être compensé par les économies de matière. Néanmoins, la quantité de matériau s'est montré d’être une métrique inappropriée pour la question environnementale dans la conception des structures. Enfin, l'intégration de la structure imprimée dans le système architectural complet de l'enveloppe a démontré un potentiel de réduction d'impact d'environ 20% dans la catégorie du Changement Climatique. Concernant le déploiement global de la pratique, des études complémentaires quantifiant l'ampleur de l'effet rebond sont nécessaires afin de comprendre le profil environnemental de la technologie d'impression 3D béton à l'échelle de l'industrie. Globalement, la technologie d'impression 3D béton en particulier et l'automatisation de la construction en général montrent une réelle capacité d’amélioration environnementale des systèmes structurels et architecturaux.

The activities required to provide healthcare services bring challenges to environmental sustainability. The sector relies on diverse products, services and facilities, including disposable products, complex equipment and transportation. This domain has not been well explored from a sustainability lens and the level of awareness around healthcare sustainability is low. Life-cycle based methods have the potential to characterize systems related to the healthcare sector and many others; however, these methods are mostly – if not exclusively – related to an inside-out pathway to assess impacts. From an outside-in perspective, there is potential for raw material criticality to assess resource availability in the healthcare sector, especially after the proposal to integrate it into the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) framework.A pending task around this proposed methodological pathway is to explore the applicability and readiness of supply risk methods, specifically the geopolitical supply risk (GeoPolRisk) method has been proposed to assess resource related impacts. This research provides and integrates methods to assess environmental sustainability from a life cycle perspective with focus on enhancing criticality indicators as an outside-in impact pathway associated with the Area of Protection “Natural Resources” in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA); moreover, their applicability is validated with multiple case studies, being one of those a part of the healthcare sector.The thesis is divided in 9 chapters along two branches: “Healthcare Sustainability” and “Raw Material Criticality in Life Cycle Assessment”. The first chapter provides an introduction to the manuscript and presents the research question and objectives of the thesis; it is followed by the state of the art in chapter 2. Chapter 3 presents the development of a novel framework to help address sustainability challenges in the healthcare sector through life cycle thinking. Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 propose and test methodological enhancements to the geopolitical supply risk method required to better address resource related impacts in life cycle assessment. Chapter 6 presents an integrated assessment taking into account the enhanced method and its relation to more traditionally used environmental impact categories in LCA. In chapter 7, the GeoPolRisk method is used to better understand the relevance of assessing outside-in impacts associated to an element used in the healthcare sector. Chapter 8 integrates the methodological enhancements previously presented to study inside-out and outside-in impacts for a case study associated with medical imaging. Finally, accomplishments and future opportunities for development on the field are discussed as part of the last chapter of the manuscript.Along the branch of “Healthcare Sustainability” this work contributes to the development of an integrated framework to support research in this domain and the first application to a case study in the healthcare sector of an integrated life cycle assessment incorporating environmental indicators and the GeoPolRisk method. Along the branch of “Raw Material Criticality in LCA”, the PhD develops new approaches and proposes methodological enhancements to advance the assessment of resource use in LCA., Les activités nécessaires pour fournir des services de santé posent plusieurs défis en termes de durabilité. Le secteur de la santé repose sur divers produits, services et installations, notamment des produits jetables, équipements complexes et moyens de transport. Ce domaine a été peu exploré sous l'angle de la durabilité et le niveau de sensibilisation à ce sujet est faible. Les méthodologies basées sur le cycle de vie ont le potentiel de caractériser la durabilité liée au secteur de la santé et à bien d'autres; toutefois, ces méthodes sont principalement - sinon exclusivement - liées à une voie inside-out pour évaluer les impacts. D'un point de vue outside-in, la criticité des ressources a le potentiel de répondre aux préoccupations relatives à la disponibilité des ressources pour le secteur de la santé, en particulier après son intégration dans le cadre de l'évaluation de la durabilité du cycle de vie (LCSA).Une tâche en suspens autour de cette voie méthodologique proposée est d'explorer l'applicabilité et l'état de préparation des approches de risque d'approvisionnement, en particulier la méthode de risque géopolitique d'approvisionnement (GeoPolRisk), proposée pour évaluer les impacts liés aux ressources. Cette recherche fournit et intègre des techniques d'évaluation de la durabilité environnementale dans une perspective de cycle de vie, en particulier sur l'amélioration des indicateurs de criticité en tant que voie d'impact outside-in associée au domaine de protection "Ressources naturelles" dans l'analyse du cycle de vie (ACV); en outre, leur applicabilité est validée par de multiples études de cas, dont l'une fait partie du secteur de la santé.La thèse est divisée en 9 chapitres et suit deux branches: "Durabilité des soins de santé" et "Criticité des ressources dans l'ACV". Le premier chapitre fournit une introduction au manuscrit et présente la question de recherche et les objectifs de la thèse ; il est suivi par l'état de l'art dans le chapitre 2. Le chapitre 3 présente le développement d'un nouveau cadre pour relever les défis de la durabilité dans le secteur de la santé par le biais de la pensée cycle de vie. Les chapitres 4 et 5 proposent et testent des développements méthodologiques pour évaluer le risque d'approvisionnement géopolitique. Ces aspects sont nécessaires pour mieux aborder les impacts liés aux ressources en ACV. Le chapitre 6 présente une évaluation intégrée de la criticité des ressources avec les catégories d'impact environnemental traditionnellement utilisées en ACV. Dans le chapitre 7, la méthode GeoPolRisk est utilisée pour mieux comprendre la pertinence de l'évaluation des impacts outside-in associés à un élément utilisé dans le secteur de la santé. Le chapitre 8 intègre les développements méthodologiques présentées précédemment pour étudier les impacts inside-out et outside-in dans le cadre d'une étude de cas associée à l'imagerie médicale. Enfin, les perspectives de développement sur le terrain sont examinées dans le dernier chapitre du manuscrit.Dans la branche " Durabilité des soins de santé", ce travail contribue à l'élaboration d'un cadre intégré pour soutenir la recherche dans ce domaine et à la première application à une étude de cas dans le secteur de la santé d'une analyse intégrée du cycle de vie intégrant des indicateurs environnementaux et la méthode GeoPolRisk. Dans la branche "Criticité des ressources dans l'ACV", la thése développe de nouvelles approches et propose des améliorations méthodologiques pour faire progresser l'évaluation de l'utilisation des ressources dans l'ACV.

Purpose: The goal of this work is to analyse the environmental impacts across the productive continuum of market gardening in southern Benin, to determine whether significant differences exist amongst the types of production, and to highlight their hotpots suitable to improvement. Moreover, the relative nutritional quality of products from different production system types were compared to determine whether there were differences and to assess them in relation to the associated environmental impacts. Methods: LCA and laboratory analyses were performed on a representative sample of systems and products (carrot, cucumber, tomato, lettuce, watermelon). The resulting scores (single scores for LCA and Nutrient Rich Food scores for nutritional quality) were statistically treated to identify the representativeness of their differences across production sites and production types (featuring distinctive production strategies: Conventional — synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, Organic — organic fertilisers and pesticides and “Lean” — limited inputs). Results and discussion: Statistically significant differences across environmental scores were found amongst production sites (for carrot, lettuce and all crops) and types (for carrot and all crops). For tomato, produced on all sites, under all production types, the natural and management-driven variability is large enough that no significant differences were found. Impacts are dominated by direct emissions from (over-)fertilisation and by fuel consumption for water pumping. Despite the absence of significant differences amongst production system types regarding the contents of both β-carotene and polyphenols, the nutritional indices suggest at least marginal differences across types regarding the overall nutritional value of carrot and tomato across types. Based on the limited data available, it cannot be stated that such differences are statistically significant. For carrot, there seems to be a correlation between nutritional quality and environmental impacts, with higher nutritional scores associated with lower environmental impacts. For tomato, it does not seem to exist a correlation. Conclusions: Significant differences in environmental scores exist amongst the types of production, with the larger impact associated with organic production, whilst that no statistically significant differences on nutritional quality can be demonstrated across types. Overall improvement of these systems would be achieved by less energy-intensive irrigation, organic waste processing platforms to reduce volatilisation losses, knowledge on the fertilising value of organic waste, and agricultural extension services or technical guides on good agricultural practices to reduce over-fertilisation and other negative environmental impacts.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the internationally recognized method to assess the environmental impacts of products and services. Its application to agri-food systems in developing or emerging contexts is recent and represents many challenges of scientific, partnerial and operational nature. With more than 10 years of scientific and field experience, the CIRAD LCA team has synthesized, with other internationally recognized experts, the best knowledge and approaches available to apply LCA under these conditions. This operational guide is a useful tool for LCA practitioners; it provides best practice recommendations to carry out LCA studies on agri-food products in developing and emerging contexts.

International audience; Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data are the backbone of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). They reflectmodelling choices made by the LCA practitioner that can strongly influence the results ofenvironmental impact calculations. The high sensitivity of these data are the reason why theymust be accurately documented and tend to the highest possible quality. High quality, welldocumented LCI data can also be shared between LCA practitioners, allowing productivitygains and better research reproducibility, in particular between practitioners who do not workon the same life cycle inventory database. Unfortunately, SimaPro (PRé Sustainability B.V.,2020), one of the most used LCA software solutions, has only limited features to document,review and exchange LCI data.ELDAMhas been developed to fill this gap

This work focuses on the assessment of the potential environmental benefits associated with the diversity of organic fertilisers available in the AGRIBALYSE database. Under the eco-design perspective, the shift from mineral to organic fertilisation regimes must not be over simplified, as fertilisation of each crop has an effect on the whole crop rotation. This work contrasts the environmental impacts of conventional crop rotations with equivalent eco-designed ones, featuring partial substitution of mineral by organic fertilisers at a level that the current yield is maintained. Two eco-design strategies involving AGRIBALYSE were devised. The first consists of retrofitting existing single crop processes by replacing conventional fertiliser inputs with newly available residual organic fertiliser processes. The second consists of eco-designing agricultural systems (i.e. technical itineraries representing crop rotations or crop sequences) by partially substituting mineral with newly available residues-based organic fertilisers. In both cases, it is necessary to adjust the fertiliser-related direct field emissions accordingly. In the second strategy, large amounts of organic fertilisers are input to replace mineral ones (tonnes vs. kg), and therefore overall impacts (i.e. impacts across impact categories) increase considerably, yet this effect is minimised when considering the alternative waste disposal pathways associated with the mineral fertilisation strategy (i.e. mineral fertilisation + disposal of the amount of organic residues necessary to deliver an equivalent level of fertilisation). The expanded functionality of a cropping system consuming organic waste-derived fertilisers (i.e. fertilisation + organic waste disposal) should be considered in comparative LCAs.

The objective of this thesis is to develop a method for quantitative assessments of the economic and environmental performance of regional development strategies, applied to the forestry sector in the region Grand Est. To this end, we adopt an approach based on the coupling of modelling tools from economics and environmental sciences. In chapter 1, we analyse couplings between 5 economic models and 3 environmental assessment tools from the existing literature. A dedicated criteria grid allows to compare their relevance to provide integrative assessments at the meso scale. Couplings between equilibrium models on the one hand, and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) on the other hand, best meet the defined objectives. Chapter 2 details the methodological framework of the coupling between a partial equilibrium model of the French forest sector and LCA. The homogenisation of material flows between the two models makes it possible to produce economic and environmental indicators with a coherent perimeter, the ratio of which provides two eco-efficiency indicators. The first combines the economic surplus of the forest-based sector with its potential environmental impacts (Partial Eco-Efficiency, PEE); the second adds the environmental impacts avoided by substitution between wood-energy and fossil fuels, compared to a reference scenario (Full Eco-Efficiency, FEE). In Chapter 3, we use this framework to analyse different wood energy oriented bio-economy development strategies at the national level and at the regional level in the region Grand Est. For this purpose, we compare the FEE of scenarios constructed by combinations of different policies: subsidising wood energy demand, local supply, forest protection, energy crisis. Strategies integrating a stimulation of wood energy demand are the most eco-efficient, at regional and national level. This is based in particular on the benefits of avoided impacts through the substitution of wood energy for fossil fuels. The combination of the subsidy with protection measures and/or local procurement slightly increases or decreases its eco-efficiency depending on the scale of implementation. In addition, we have identified other factors determining most the eco-efficiency of a policy, such as the characteristics of the forest resource, the importance of the local wood sector, and the characteristics of neighbouring regions.; L’objectif de cette thèse est d’élaborer une méthode d’évaluation quantitative de la performance économique et environnementale de stratégies de développement régional, appliquée au secteur forestier dans le Grand Est. La démarche s’appuie sur le couplage d’outils de modélisation provenant des sciences économiques et des sciences de l’environnement. Dans le chapitre 1, nous analysons les couplages existants entre 5 modèle économique et 3 outils d’évaluation environnementale. Une grille de critère dédiée permet de comparer leur pertinence pour fournir des évaluations intégratives à l’échelle méso. Les couplages entre modèles d’équilibre d’une part, et Analyse du Cycle de Vie (ACV) d’autre part, répondent le mieux aux objectifs définis. Le chapitre 2 détaille le cadre méthodologique du couplage entre un modèle d’équilibre partiel du secteur forestier français et l’ACV. L’homogénéisation des flux de matières entre les deux modèles permet de produire des indicateurs économiques et environnementaux au périmètre cohérent, dont le ratio fournit deux indicateurs d’éco-efficience. Le premier combine le surplus économique de la filière forêt bois avec ses impacts environnementaux potentiels (Partial Eco-Efficiency, PEE), le second y ajoute les impacts environnementaux évités par la substitution entre le bois-énergie et des énergies fossiles, par rapport à un scénario de référence (Full Eco-Efficiency, FEE). Dans le chapitre 3, nous utilisons ce cadre pour analyser différentes stratégies de développement de la bioéconomie orientées vers le bois-énergie, à l’échelle nationale et au niveau régional dans le Grand Est. Nous comparons la FEE de scénarios construits par combinaisons de différentes politiques : subvention de la demande de bois-énergie, approvisionnement local, protection des forêts, crise énergétique. Les stratégies intégrant une stimulation de la demande de bois-énergie sont les plus éco-efficientes, au niveau régional et national. Cela repose notamment sur les impacts évités via la substitution du bois-énergie aux combustibles fossiles. La combinaison de la subvention avec des mesures de protection et/ou d’approvisionnement local augmente ou diminue légèrement son éco-efficience selon l’échelle de mise en œuvre. D’autres facteurs déterminant de l’éco-efficience d’une politique sont identifiés, comme les caractéristiques de la ressource forestière, l’importance de la filière bois locale, et les caractéristiques des régions voisines.

The objective of this thesis is to develop a method for quantitative assessments of the economic and environmental performance of regional development strategies, applied to the forestry sector in the region Grand Est. To this end, we adopt an approach based on the coupling of modelling tools from economics and environmental sciences. In chapter 1, we analyse couplings between 5 economic models and 3 environmental assessment tools from the existing literature. A dedicated criteria grid allows to compare their relevance to provide integrative assessments at the meso scale. Couplings between equilibrium models on the one hand, and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) on the other hand, best meet the defined objectives. Chapter 2 details the methodological framework of the coupling between a partial equilibrium model of the French forest sector and LCA. The homogenisation of material flows between the two models makes it possible to produce economic and environmental indicators with a coherent perimeter, the ratio of which provides two eco-efficiency indicators. The first combines the economic surplus of the forest-based sector with its potential environmental impacts (Partial Eco-Efficiency, PEE); the second adds the environmental impacts avoided by substitution between wood-energy and fossil fuels, compared to a reference scenario (Full Eco-Efficiency, FEE). In Chapter 3, we use this framework to analyse different wood energy oriented bio-economy development strategies at the national level and at the regional level in the region Grand Est. For this purpose, we compare the FEE of scenarios constructed by combinations of different policies: subsidising wood energy demand, local supply, forest protection, energy crisis. Strategies integrating a stimulation of wood energy demand are the most eco-efficient, at regional and national level. This is based in particular on the benefits of avoided impacts through the substitution of wood energy for fossil fuels. The combination of the subsidy with protection measures and/or local procurement slightly increases or decreases its eco-efficiency depending on the scale of implementation. In addition, we have identified other factors determining most the eco-efficiency of a policy, such as the characteristics of the forest resource, the importance of the local wood sector, and the characteristics of neighbouring regions.; L’objectif de cette thèse est d’élaborer une méthode d’évaluation quantitative de la performance économique et environnementale de stratégies de développement régional, appliquée au secteur forestier dans le Grand Est. La démarche s’appuie sur le couplage d’outils de modélisation provenant des sciences économiques et des sciences de l’environnement. Dans le chapitre 1, nous analysons les couplages existants entre 5 modèle économique et 3 outils d’évaluation environnementale. Une grille de critère dédiée permet de comparer leur pertinence pour fournir des évaluations intégratives à l’échelle méso. Les couplages entre modèles d’équilibre d’une part, et Analyse du Cycle de Vie (ACV) d’autre part, répondent le mieux aux objectifs définis. Le chapitre 2 détaille le cadre méthodologique du couplage entre un modèle d’équilibre partiel du secteur forestier français et l’ACV. L’homogénéisation des flux de matières entre les deux modèles permet de produire des indicateurs économiques et environnementaux au périmètre cohérent, dont le ratio fournit deux indicateurs d’éco-efficience. Le premier combine le surplus économique de la filière forêt bois avec ses impacts environnementaux potentiels (Partial Eco-Efficiency, PEE), le second y ajoute les impacts environnementaux évités par la substitution entre le bois-énergie et des énergies fossiles, par rapport à un scénario de référence (Full Eco-Efficiency, FEE). Dans le chapitre 3, nous utilisons ce cadre pour analyser différentes stratégies de développement de la bioéconomie orientées vers le bois-énergie, à l’échelle nationale et au niveau régional dans le Grand Est. Nous comparons la FEE de scénarios construits par combinaisons de différentes politiques : subvention de la demande de bois-énergie, approvisionnement local, protection des forêts, crise énergétique. Les stratégies intégrant une stimulation de la demande de bois-énergie sont les plus éco-efficientes, au niveau régional et national. Cela repose notamment sur les impacts évités via la substitution du bois-énergie aux combustibles fossiles. La combinaison de la subvention avec des mesures de protection et/ou d’approvisionnement local augmente ou diminue légèrement son éco-efficience selon l’échelle de mise en œuvre. D’autres facteurs déterminant de l’éco-efficience d’une politique sont identifiés, comme les caractéristiques de la ressource forestière, l’importance de la filière bois locale, et les caractéristiques des régions voisines.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the method most widely used to assess environmental impacts ofagricultural products. Current LCA methodology and studies tend to favour high-input intensiveagricultural systems and misrepresent less intensive agroecological systems such as organic agriculture.This is due partly to LCA’s approach, which focuses on products, without considering other ecosystemservices from agricultural systems, and partly because LCA rarely considers aspects that agroecologyaims to improve (soil health, biodiversity status, pesticide use impacts). We identify three key areas(additional indicators, broader perspective, indirect effects) for which we propose recommendations forLCA practitioners and priorities for research.; L'analyse du cycle de vie (ACV) est la méthode la plus utilisée pour évaluer les impacts environnementauxdes produits agricoles. La méthodologie et les études actuelles d'ACV ont tendance à favoriser lessystèmes agricoles intensifs utilisant beaucoup d’intrants et à donner une image inexacte des systèmesagroécologiques moins intensifs tels que l'agriculture biologique. Cela est dû en partie à l'approche del'ACV, qui se focalise sur les produits, sans prendre en compte les autres services écosystémiques dessystèmes agricoles, et en partie parce que l'ACV prend rarement en compte les aspects quel'agroécologie vise à améliorer (santé des sols, état de la biodiversité, impacts de l'utilisation despesticides). Nous identifions trois domaines clés (indicateurs supplémentaires, perspective plus large,effets indirects) pour lesquels nous proposons des recommandations pour les praticiens de l’ACV et despriorités de recherche

Traditional Iberian pig production is characterized by outdoor systems that produce animals fed with natural resources. The aim of this study was to assess the environmental impacts of such systems through Life Cycle Assessment. Environmental impacts were analysed per kilogram of live weight at farm gate. Iberian pig production in montanera had the lowest impacts for climate change (CC), acidification (AC), eutrophication (EU) and cumulative energy demand (CED), being 3.4 kg CO2 eq, 0.091 molc H+ eq, 0.046 kg PO43&minus, eq, and 20.7 MJ, respectively, due to the strict use of natural resources (acorns and grass) during the fattening period. As Iberian farms had a greater dependence on compound feed in cebo campo, environmental impacts on CC, AC, EU and CED were 22, 17, 95 and 28% higher, respectively, than with montanera. For land occupation (LO), however, cebo campo had a lower impact (31.6 m2&middot, year) than montanera (43.0 m2&middot, year) system. Traditional Iberian pig production systems have environmental impacts higher than conventional systems studied in literature but are similar to other traditional systems. Based on the present assessment, it is necessary to account for the contribution of emissions resulting from the consumption of natural resources to avoid the underestimation of environmental impacts.

Introduction In France, agricultural recycling of organic waste is widespread, but LCIs of organic waste treatments are scarce. This work presents LCIs of the most relevant organic waste treatments yielding residual organic amendments and fertilisers, and organic residue–based industrial processes yielding commercial organic amendments and fertilisers, in France. It also presents the results from a screening LCA performed on these LCIs. Material and methods LCIs were built frommainly secondary data sources. Four functional units were retained: 1 t fresh mass of final product and 1 t of N, P, or K in fresh mass. Economic allocation was applied, following the French Environment and Energy Management Agency position. The International Reference Life Cycle Data System 2011 suit for impact assessment was retained, and all impacts were expressed as single scores to facilitate comparisons. Organic wastes considered were liquid and solid manures, agro-industrial residues, sewage sludge, green wastes and harvest residues, and biowaste. Treatment steps modelled were stocking, shredding, sieving, and mixing of substrates; anaerobic and aerobic treatments; thickening, dewatering, drying, and pelletising; various biological and physicochemical treatments of phase-separated liquid fractions; and the industrial production of organic amendments and fertilisers. Comparisons were performed among products classified as amendments or fertilisers. Results and discussion LCIs of typical treatment routes are presented, complemented with screening life cycle impact assessment results. Dried sludge and treated solid fractions of agricultural digestates present consistently higher impacts than any other amendment, mainly due to their associated energy use, relatively lowN contents, and the use of maize silage as input. These items contribute in average > 50% of the aggregated impacts. Untreated manure and slurry feature the lowest relative impacts for all functional units. Compost-based commercial organic amendments have similar impacts to other composts per t of fresh mass, but slightly lower per t of nutrients or C, due to the inclusion of additional nutrient-rich inputs. Regarding fertilisers, the impact intensity of commercial organo-mineral fertilisers and treated liquid fractions of slurry and agricultural digestate is within similar orders of magnitude. Manure-based digestates feature relatively low impacts per all functional units. Only some digestates and untreated poultry manure feature impacts similar to those of N mineral fertilisers. Conclusions Energy provision and direct emissions are the main contributors to impacts in organic waste treatments. Modelling choices such as the allocation of impacts to agricultural by-products heavily influence specific impact categories, mainly climate change. Overall, these results represent a needed contribution to background data used in agricultural LCA.

CO2 emissions from cement production currently represent around 6% of global CO2 emissions. However, cement concrete absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere because of carbonation (i.e., penetration of atmospheric CO2 inside bulk concrete). Carbonation has beneficial effects on the mechanical resistance of cement concrete. However, carbonation also has adverse effects because it provokes a decrease in pH that favors later corrosion of reinforcing bars and thus reduces service life. Current European standards provide recommendations concerning reinforcing concrete covers, but these are not based on actual service-life durations. Thanks to a previously developed carbonation model combined with sensitivity analysis and LCA, we compare Climate Change indicators of 1 m2 of reinforced concrete cover over a 100-years service life exposed to XC4 conditions in Madrid, obtained on one hand by using current standards and on the other hand with concrete-cover depths calculated with our carbonation model. Our results show that cement strength class is a key parameter to both increase durability and decrease climate-change impacts. When the carbonation model is used to optimize both durability and climate-change impacts, it drives to considerable and significant improvements. Finally, climate-change indicators predicted from our carbonation model are not linearly linked to carbon intensity of cements, which is a current argument of so-called "green cements." The values of indicators presented in this article cannot be generalized: They mainly depend on the geographical location. However, the model and key action levers are general. Using high cement strength classes and low water-to-cement ratios allows use of lower concrete-cover depths and thus save amounts of concrete compared to the standard. This generates an important benefit in terms of climate-change impacts for identical service lives and improved mechanical resistance. Thus, considering the huge impact of cement and construction industry on climate change, we plead for a revision of standards which, instead of thresholds based on simplified models, should provide certified tools enabling the best design for every situation. This article met the requirements for a gold/gold JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges.

To tackle water micropollutant pollution, the development of an advanced wastewater treatment is necessary and should be supported by an environmental evaluation to guide decision-makers. Life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology has been applied in the literature for several technologies and highlighted the variability of results (e.g. site-specific conditions) and the limited (eco-)toxicity benefits compared to additional operating impacts. In this study, the LCA of an activated carbon (AC) adsorption process based on a fluidized bed (limiting AC usage) was performed to determine its optimal operating conditions (dosage, use of micro-grain – μGAC or powder – PAC) and environmental benefits compared to the common ozonation process. This study was based on pilot processes installed at the Seine Centre treatment plant (France), using sensitivity analyses to identify the conditions for choosing a technology. For the seven scenarios (fluidized bed with 10 and 20 mg/L, both for PAC and μGAC; ozonation with 0.6 and 0.9 gO3/gDOC; and pre-ozonation combined with μGAC), the operational impacts generated (energy and material use) and the impacts avoided (micropollutant removal) were evaluated for climate change, freshwater ecotoxicity and human toxicity (USEtox characterization factors for micropollutants complemented with literature data). The LCA results showed that the fluidized bed process should preferably be operated with μGAC rather than PAC. The advantage of μGAC adsorption compared to ozonation is negligible but could nevertheless be significant in European countries with a significant share of coal-based electricity (i.e. all countries except Sweden and France). As in most of the previous works, the (eco)toxicity impacts avoided were found to be negligible, but other substances, such as hormones and oxidation by-products, should be further considered and characterized to better represent the treatment performances. The combination of ozonation and μGAC adsorption on a fluidized bed is a promising option to efficiently remove micropollutants, as well as oxidation by-products, while keeping the impacts generated within a reasonable range. This paper presented valuable results to support the eco-design of advanced wastewater treatment (both in terms of operating conditions and targeted substances) but should be complemented with large-scale evaluations (e.g. using consequential LCA) and better impact characterization of micropollutants.

International audience; To inform the modelling of organic waste treatments yielding organic amendments and fertilisers in France, published as 'Screening LCA of French organic amendments and fertilisers' [1], we compiled data pertaining to the chemical characteristics of both raw and treated organic residues, as well as inventory data on the most common organic waste treatments. The majority of these life cycle inventory data was obtained from reports and other literature, but primary data was also compiled, notably for commercial organic fertiliser production. The data presented here can be used by future life cycle assessment studies on organic waste treatments, as well as to inform agricultural modelling. © 2019 The Author(s)

In life cycle assessment (LCA), temporal considerations are usually lost during the life cycle inventory calculation, resulting in an aggregated “snapshot” of potential impacts. Disregarding such temporal considerations has previously been underlined as an important source of uncertainty, but a growing number of approaches have been developed to tackle this issue. Nevertheless, their adoption by LCA practitioners is still uncommon, which raises concerns about the representativeness of current LCA results. Furthermore, a lack of consistency can be observed in the used terms for discussions on temporal considerations. The purpose of this review is thus to search for common ground and to identify the current implementation challenges while also proposing development pathways.This paper introduces a glossary of the most frequently used terms related to temporal considerations in LCA to build a common understanding of key concepts and to facilitate discussions. A review is also performed on current solutions for temporal considerations in different LCA phases (goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory analysis and life cycle impact assessment), analysing each temporal consideration for its relevant conceptual developments in LCA and its level of operationalisation.We then present a potential stepwise approach and development pathways to address the current challenges of implementation for dynamic LCA (DLCA). Three key focal areas for integrating temporal considerations within the LCA framework are discussed: i) define the temporal scope over which temporal distributions of emissions are occurring, ii) use calendar-specific information to model systems and associated impacts, and iii) select the appropriate level of temporal resolution to describe the variations of flows and characterisation factors.Addressing more temporal considerations within a DLCA framework is expected to reduce uncertainties and increase the representativeness of results, but possible trade-offs between additional data collection efforts and the increased value of results from DLCAs should be kept in mind.

Purpose: Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a key role in soil functioning and in greenhouse gas exchange with the atmosphere. Land use and land use changes can critically affect SOC. However, despite various methodological developments, there is still no scientific consensus on the best method to assess the holistic impact of land use and land use change within LCA. The SOCLE project aimed to review how SOC contribution to climate change is accounted for in LCA and to test the feasibility and sensitivity of best methodological options. Methods: In total, five crop products (annual/perennial, temperate/tropical) and two livestock products were investigated through 22 scenarios of land use changes (LUC) and agricultural land management changes (LMC). Three methods were applied: IPCC Tier 1-2 (2006), Müller-Wenk and Brandaõ (2010) and Levasseur et al. (2012). We also carried out a sensitivity analysis on key variables, notably carbon stocks, reference states, and regeneration times. Results and discussion: The accounting for LUC and LMC influenced greatly the results on the climate change impact. Compared to the impact of other GHG emissions, (i) LUC impacts ranged from − 23 to + 1702% with the IPCC method and from − 5 to + 336% with the Müller-Wenk and Brandaõ method, and (ii) LMC impacts from − 130 to + 54% and from − 31 to + 11%, respectively. The sensitivity analyses stressed the critical influence of all methodological and data choices on final results. Conclusions: Based on the project results, we recommend accounting systematically for the impact of LULUC on climate change by applying, a minima, the comprehensive IPCC Tier 1 approach (2006), which provides default factors for SOC accounting. Where available, case-specific data should be used (e.g., Tier 2) for SOC stocks but also C:N ratio in order to model the degressive impact over 90% of the time period needed to reach equilibrium.

International audience; Ongoing debates focus on the role of forest-sourced bioenergy within climate mitigation efforts, due to the long rotation lengths of forest biomass. Valuing sequestration is debated due to its reversibility; however, dynamic modelling of biogenic carbon (Cbio) flows captures both negative and positive emissions. The objective of this work is to respond to the key issue of timing sequestration associated with two opposed modelling choices (historic vs. future) in the context of dynamic life cycle assessment (LCA). Methods: The outputs of a partial-equilibrium model are used to inform prospective evaluations of the use of forest wood residues in response to an energy transition policy. Dynamic forest carbon modelling represents the carbon cycle between the atmosphere and technosphere: Cbio fixation and release through combustion and/or decay. Time-dependent characterization is used to assess the time-sensitive climate change effects. The two Cbio sequestration perspectives for bioenergy (forest biomass use) and reference (no use) scenarios are contrasted to assess (i) their temporal profiles, (ii) their climatic consequences concerning C-complete (fossil + biogenic C) vs. C-neutral (fossil C) approaches, and (iii) the implications of comparing the two approaches with dynamic LCA. Results and discussion: Full lifetime carbon accounting confirms that Cbio entering the bioenergy system equals the Cbio leaving it in the net balance, but not within annual dynamic balances, which alter the atmospheric greenhouse gas composition. The impacts of the historic approach differed considerably from those of the future. Moreover, the 'no use' scenario yielded higher forcing effects than the 'bioenergy' due to the higher methane proportions. The chicken-egg dilemma arises in attributional LCA: as the forcing depends on the timing of the Cbio sequestration and its allocation to a harvest activity. A decision tree supported by case study applications provides general rules for selecting the adequate time-related modelling approach based the criteria of provision of wood and regrowth from managed and unmanaged forests, determined by the origin of biotic resources and related spheres. Conclusions: Excluding dynamic Cbio introduces under- (future) or over- (historic) estimation of the results, misleading mitigation decisions. Further research is needed to close the gap between forest stand and landscape level, addressing issues beyond the chicken-egg dilemma and developing complete dynamic LCA studies.

Energy materials are particularly important from a sustainability perspective for advancing renewable energy systems, including energy production and storage. Their appropriate use and development require quantitative assessment methods. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a method to support sustainable development that can be used to identify environmental hotspots and compare different technologies. The purpose of this research is to support development of several energy materials and make LCA a more relevant tool for sustainability assessment by extending its use in two emerging directions: assessment of technologies at the early stage of development, and by supporting more resource-effective choices for a circular economy.The research objectives focus on informing the development of technologies and identifying methodological challenges and opportunities by applying LCA to three energy-technology case studies, each at a different technological maturity level. In the first case study, alkaline batteries, currently at a high maturity level (incumbent products), are evaluated using LCA in combination with a circular economy indicator, the Material Circularity Indicator (MCI). The aim was to investigate opportunities to combine the two methods, while considering trade-offs between indicators for different strategies for battery design and management. In the second case study, nickel-cobalt hydroxide charge storage electrodes, currently at a low maturity level (laboratory-scale), are evaluated to investigate environmental hotspots and preferred synthesis route. In the third case study, organic photovoltaic portable chargers for small electronics, currently at a medium maturity level (pilot-scale), are evaluated for replacing conventional electricity grid for charging a mobile phone.; Les matériaux énergétiques sont particulièrement intéressants du point de vue du développement durable pour faire progresser les systèmes d’énergie renouvelable, notamment les énergies de production et de stockage. Leurs utilisations appropriées ainsi que leur développement requièrent une méthode d’évaluation quantitative. L’Analyse de Cycle de Vie (ACV) est une méthode qui soutient le développement durable par l’identification de priorités environnementales ainsi que par la comparaison de différentes technologies. Cette recherche vise à soutenir le développement des matériaux énergétiques et de faire de la méthode d'analyse du cycle de vie un outil plus pertinent pour l'évaluation environnementale à travers l’extension de son usage dans deux directions émergentes : l’évaluation des technologies au début de leur développement et le soutien des choix économes en ressources dans le contexte d'une économie circulaire.Les objectifs de recherche se focalisent sur le développement de l’information relatives aux technologies ainsi que sur la méthodologie d’identification des défis et opportunités par l’application de l’ACV sur trois études de cas de technologie énergétique à différents niveaux de maturité. Dans le premier cas d’étude, les piles alcalines, actuellement à haut niveau de maturité () sont évalué grâce à l’utilisation de l’ACV combiné avec un indicateur d’économie circulaire, l'indicateur de circularité du matériau (MCI). Le but était d’explorer une opportunité de couplage des deux méthodes ainsi que les compromis entre les indicateurs pour différentes stratégies de conception et de gestion de ces batteries. Dans le deuxième cas d’étude, les électrodes à base d’hydroxyde de nickel-cobalt, à présent à bas niveau de maturité (échelle de laboratoire) sont évaluées dans l’optique d’étudier des priorités environnementales des voies de synthèse favorables. Dans le troisième cas d’étude, les chargeurs organiques photovoltaïques portables pour petits équipements éléctroniques, actuellement à un niveau de maturité intermédiaire (échelle pilote), sont évalués pour remplacement du réseau électrique traditionnel pour le chargement de téléphones portables.

Energy materials are particularly important from a sustainability perspective for advancing renewable energy systems, including energy production and storage. Their appropriate use and development require quantitative assessment methods. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a method to support sustainable development that can be used to identify environmental hotspots and compare different technologies. The purpose of this research is to support development of several energy materials and make LCA a more relevant tool for sustainability assessment by extending its use in two emerging directions: assessment of technologies at the early stage of development, and by supporting more resource-effective choices for a circular economy.The research objectives focus on informing the development of technologies and identifying methodological challenges and opportunities by applying LCA to three energy-technology case studies, each at a different technological maturity level. In the first case study, alkaline batteries, currently at a high maturity level (incumbent products), are evaluated using LCA in combination with a circular economy indicator, the Material Circularity Indicator (MCI). The aim was to investigate opportunities to combine the two methods, while considering trade-offs between indicators for different strategies for battery design and management. In the second case study, nickel-cobalt hydroxide charge storage electrodes, currently at a low maturity level (laboratory-scale), are evaluated to investigate environmental hotspots and preferred synthesis route. In the third case study, organic photovoltaic portable chargers for small electronics, currently at a medium maturity level (pilot-scale), are evaluated for replacing conventional electricity grid for charging a mobile phone., Les matériaux énergétiques sont particulièrement intéressants du point de vue du développement durable pour faire progresser les systèmes d’énergie renouvelable, notamment les énergies de production et de stockage. Leurs utilisations appropriées ainsi que leur développement requièrent une méthode d’évaluation quantitative. L’Analyse de Cycle de Vie (ACV) est une méthode qui soutient le développement durable par l’identification de priorités environnementales ainsi que par la comparaison de différentes technologies. Cette recherche vise à soutenir le développement des matériaux énergétiques et de faire de la méthode d'analyse du cycle de vie un outil plus pertinent pour l'évaluation environnementale à travers l’extension de son usage dans deux directions émergentes : l’évaluation des technologies au début de leur développement et le soutien des choix économes en ressources dans le contexte d'une économie circulaire.Les objectifs de recherche se focalisent sur le développement de l’information relatives aux technologies ainsi que sur la méthodologie d’identification des défis et opportunités par l’application de l’ACV sur trois études de cas de technologie énergétique à différents niveaux de maturité. Dans le premier cas d’étude, les piles alcalines, actuellement à haut niveau de maturité () sont évalué grâce à l’utilisation de l’ACV combiné avec un indicateur d’économie circulaire, l'indicateur de circularité du matériau (MCI). Le but était d’explorer une opportunité de couplage des deux méthodes ainsi que les compromis entre les indicateurs pour différentes stratégies de conception et de gestion de ces batteries. Dans le deuxième cas d’étude, les électrodes à base d’hydroxyde de nickel-cobalt, à présent à bas niveau de maturité (échelle de laboratoire) sont évaluées dans l’optique d’étudier des priorités environnementales des voies de synthèse favorables. Dans le troisième cas d’étude, les chargeurs organiques photovoltaïques portables pour petits équipements éléctroniques, actuellement à un niveau de maturité intermédiaire (échelle pilote), sont évalués pour remplacement du réseau électrique traditionnel pour le chargement de téléphones portables.

International audience; With an ageing bridge stock and in order to limit economic and environmental costs, developing preventive maintenance, repair and strengthening strategies will help asset owners to make efficient decisions in a sustainable way. For steel and composite steel bridges, preventing fatigue failure is at stake. In this context, easy-to-apply preventive strengthening techniques should be developed to extend fatigue life-time of steel bridges and delay resource-consuming major interventions such as traditional steel strengthening, rehabilitation, or decommissioning and new construction.This paper investigates the cost and environmental burdens associated with several strategies to extend steel bridges fatigue life-time. In particular, one details the needed information and the methodology for the implementation of an overall life-cycle analysis of an adhesively bonded CFRP solution compared with traditional techniques (use of steel plates). This is carried out considering economic, environmental and social benefits of the preventing policy and illustrating the developed methodologies with a case study corresponding to the strengthening of an existing steel bridge during its service life.

Environmental impacts of contrasted Iberian pig production systems. X. International symposium of mediterranean pig

International audience; This paper aims at presenting a consistent Life Cycle assessment of the environmental impact of an industrialmilk protein fractionation process at the level of unit processes (gate to gate approach), focusing on the effectivecontribution of both the production and the cleaning steps. The precise assessment of the impact of cleaningstages could indeed constitute key issues for the optimisation and management of food plants. The results showthat the production phase accounts for approximately two-thirds of the environmental impact of the entire foodmanufacturing process, and the cleaning phase for more than 30% of the total impact. The latter is, however,underestimated due to methodological drawbacks and partly unavailable data. Among both the production andthe cleaning stages the most impacting unit processes are the membrane and the thermal operations mainly dueto the single-use of cleaning solutions and several temperature changes. Hence, for reduction of the overallenvironmental impact of the milk protein fractionation process it is advisable to primarily focus on improvementand optimisation of the microfiltration operation and secondly, on the thermal units.