Available online at www.sciencedirect.
com
Life Cycle Assessment and the chemical engineer: a marriage of
convenience
Jonathan Provo, Jim Fava and Steven Baer
Chemical engineers assume a broad range of functions in
industry, spanning the development of new process designs,
the maintenance and optimization of incumbent systems, and
the production of intermediate materials, end products and
new technologies. The technical aptitude that enables the
chemical engineer to fulfill these various roles along the value
chain makes them compelling participants in the environmental
assessment of the product in question. This article provides a
brief overview of LCA and how chemical engineers will find it
accessible, both in terms of technical exercise as well as in
utility to sustainability functions. It also examines some of the
issues that can arise when performing an LCA on a chemical
product and proposes ways to address them and improve the
LCA situation in the chemical industry.
Addresses
PE INTERNATIONAL INC., United States
Corresponding author: Fava, Jim (J.Fava@fivewinds.com)
Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering 2013, 2:278–281
This review comes from a themed issue on Energy and environ-
mental engineering
Edited by Rakesh Agrawal and Subhas K Sikdar
For a complete overview see the Issue and the Editorial
Available online 15th June 2013
2211-3398/$ – see front matter, # 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights
reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.coche.2013.05.001
Introduction
Measurements of a system cannot be made without affect-
ing the system. The implications of this principle extend
beyond its origins in physics and into many other areas of
science and society. By quantifying the environmental
impacts of a system using the Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA) tool, this observer effect also finds traction. Unlike
physical measurements that directly change a system, LCA
indirectly benefits the product system being assessed, with
the potential to reduce environmental burden.
The chemical engineer is frequently expected to assume
more responsibilities and have a broader awareness of the
issues that face not only the industry, but also society as a
whole. Where once, the chemical engineer focused on the
technical details of a particular process, over time, finan-
cial considerations became more salient with escalating
competition, followed by health and safety parameters as
major disasters illuminated the need for more oversight.
Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering 2013, 2:278–281
Now, as the consequences of environmental negligence
emerge with increasing regularity, the chemical engineer
may be tasked with assessing the environmental impacts
related to his or her product. Just as tools were developed
to meet the financial and, health and safety functions, the
LCA tool provides the chemical engineer with the quan-
tified environmental performance of a product [1].
The salient ideology championed by LCA is the appli-
cation of a holistic perspective when considering the
environmental impacts arising from a product. An LCA
exercise challenges the practitioner to consider all
impacts, not just those attributed to one’s immediate
industrial activities, but also to those arising from
upstream materials as well as to those related to product
disposal or end-of-life [2]. Perhaps switching to an
alternative solvent leads to more favorable reaction con-
ditions, but also results in higher fugitive emissions. LCA
provides the quantified results necessary to compare two
or more scenarios. In fact, the chemical engineer can
employ LCA to address a variety of problems [3]:
 To assess the environmental performance of a product,
with the outcomes often serving as a baseline for future
improvements.
 To compare the environmental performance of
different production routes used to manufacture the
same product.
 To compare the environmental performance of
different products that are functionally equivalent.
In order to begin applying LCA to these problems, it is
first necessary to understand the process of conducting an
LCA.
Life Cycle Assessment in theory
LCA is a tool that captures the full spectrum of environ-
mental impacts (e.g. global warming, eutrophication, smog
formation and others) arising from the complete (i.e. cra-
dle-to-grave) lifespan of a product or process. Throughout
this paper, both product and process are used interchange-
ably as the chemical engineer may consider either when
performing an LCA. As seen in Figure 1, an LCA is
comprises four interdependent phases: the goal and scope
definition, inventory analysis, and impact assessment all
linked with an overarching interpretation phase.
The goal and scope phase identifies the objectives and
context of the study, establishing the key technical details
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 LCA and the chemical engineer Provo, Fava and Baer 279

Figure 1 intent of the interpretation is to ascertain the level of

confidence in the final results. More elaborate descrip-
ISO Framework tions of these phases can be found in the ISO standards
for conducting an LCA.
Goal and
Scope LCA for chemical engineers
Definition
Chemical engineers will find appeal in the accessibility of
LCA as a tool. Aspects of the LCA exercise, such as
building process-flow diagrams, establishing system
Inventory boundaries, defining a functional unit (all part of the goal
Interpretation
Analysis
and scope definition), and balancing mass and energy
(part of the LCI), are all very familiar to the chemical
engineer [4]. Indeed, one of the more time consuming
Impact activities of performing an LCA can be the data collection
Assessment phase, in which the complete inventory of inputs and
outputs related to the functional unit (in most chemical
Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering
LCAs this is a fixed quantity of product, such as 1 ton of
chemical X) are collected and the mass balance across the
LCA phases: the goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact
assessment and interpretation phases, dynamically linked, comprise an
system boundary is ensured. This activity is incumbent to
LCA. the chemical engineer and often requires little additional
effort in the context of an LCA.

and laying the groundwork for the remaining work. The
life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis is the phase in which
all relevant material and energy flows into and out of
nature are catalogued (details on how this is accomplished
are provided in the later section LCA for chemical engin-
eers). This inventory of flows is then characterized during
the impact assessment phase into common equivalence
units that are then aggregated into impact categories (e.g.
carbon dioxide equivalents to assess global warming
potential). The interpretation phase evaluates the results
from the other phases to yield conclusions on the environ-
mental impacts while addressing limitations and provid-
ing recommendations for future action. The primary
Once the production inputs and outputs have been col-
lected, these ‘technical flows’ will need to be translated
into the basic flows into and out of the ecosphere that
constitute the LCI of the product system. While pro-
duction data related to one’s own operations is often
readily available and well understood, the upstream
supply chains needed to reach the LCI are likely unavail-
able. The most direct way to bridge this gap is by using an
LCA software tool that contains a database of processes
that already have defined LCIs through the supply chain.
These LCIs are available from sources such as Ecoinvent
databases as well as through companies like PE INTER-
NATIONAL.

Figure 2

Acetone (from isopropanol) X

Isopropanol
Product

Nitrogen

Electricity grid mix

Deionised water

Steam conversion (mp) Deionised water

superheated PE
Thermal energy from
natural gas

Catalyst Process steam from

natural gas

Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering

GaBi model of acetone: the production of acetone from isopropanol is modeled in GaBi showing all relevant material and energy inputs.

www.sciencedirect.com Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering 2013, 2:278–281

280 Energy and environmental engineering
LCA software, such as the GaBi platform, allows the
chemical engineer to model the product system in a
recognizable process-flow interface. Figure 2 depicts
the GaBi model for acetone production. The gray blocks
represent operations, such as the conversion of isopropa-
nol to acetone, or the cradle-to-gate material and energy
LCIs. Material flows (in blue) and energy flows (in red)
can be seen flowing from the LCI datasets and entering
the acetone production process. The emissions and raw
materials for the datasets are not explicitly shown but are
accounted for in the inventories within each block. These
software tools offer twofold support in conducting an
LCA: they provide the upstream process inventories,
but also facilitate the impact assessment by applying
one of the many methodologies to the production model
when calculating the results of the product system.
LCA and the chemical industry: the need for
data
With access to LCI data and the support of an LCA
software tool, the chemical engineer can readily generate
LCA results. However, the available LCI data may not
meet the needs of the project. Intermediate chemical LCI
data is scarce, and all the materials used in a particular
process may not have a corresponding LCI dataset [5].
When the exact dataset is unavailable, a resourceful chemi-
cal engineer may choose an appropriate proxy from the
available datasets, using his knowledge of chemical pro-
duction to select an equitable substitute for the otherwise
absent material [6]. A more industrious practitioner may
even use process knowledge to develop the missing dataset
and achieve a more faithful representation of the environ-
mental impacts [7]. Furthermore, researchers [8] are work-
ing to estimate chemical LCIs through production
congruencies to other chemicals as well as using molecular
structure-based models. While these approaches can ame-
liorate an otherwise incomplete LCA, primary data cap-
tures the true production conditions and allows for the
greatest assurance in the results. Data quality is one of the
main considerations when interpreting LCA outcomes and
only primary production data can provide total confidence
when the results are used in decision-making.
To this end, more transparency is needed in the chemical
industry to enable LCA’s adoption on a broader level.
Certainly, protection of key process parameters is essential
in such a competitive space, but one of the benefits of LCA
is that by reducing a process to its basic flows into and out of
the ecosphere — which occurs when process data is aggre-
gated as an LCI — it becomes impossible to derive any
competitive insights into the production process. The
American Chemistry Council has taken the initiative to
publicly disclose LCI data on the production of many
polymers [9]. Some manufacturers have also realized the
benefits of hiding their production data through industry
association LCA studies, allowing them to share LCI
information while maintaining confidentiality.
Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering 2013, 2:278–281
LCA and green chemistry
The chemical industry has made progress in addressing
environmental concerns. The development of green
chemistry and its implementation both in the academia
and industry has promoted a more sustainable mindset in
chemical engineers. The green chemistry principles pro-
vide a qualitative framework, but lack the robustness
afforded by a quantitative approach. Additionally, green
chemistry principles become less pertinent as activities
move further from theoretical operations of chemistry and
into more practical applications [10]. LCA can support
green chemistry functions by providing the quantitative
support necessary to evaluate certain products and pro-
vide clear insight when assessing alternatives. Green
chemistry has most traction during the development
phase, especially when creating new syntheses, but is
difficult to apply when dealing with an established pro-
cess. LCA on the other hand, can be applied to processes
at all levels of maturity, suitable for both new develop-
ments as well as incumbent processes [11].
Often times, green chemistry may appear to distinguish
processes that are ‘green’ from those that do not meet
green chemistry principles. LCA does not cast judgment
and is not meant to vilify any product. By capturing the
breadth of environmental impacts, it can be seen where
certain improvements in one category (global warming)
may lead to worse outcomes in another (eutrophication or
acidification); even green has shades of gray. For the sake
of sustainability, LCA and green chemistry provide a
remarkably synergy for sustainable approaches to chemi-
cal production: green chemistry supplying the paradigm,
and LCA serving as the assessment tool.
Conclusions
Trade-offs are not foreign to the chemical engineer or
LCA practitioner. Rarely is any individual chemical/
process/product the clearly superior choice whether
one is considering environmental impacts or process
designs. It is often the case where environmental metrics
are deprioritized over the other aspects of production
design (i.e. financial, technical, safety, etc.) particularly
when the raw material production or end-of-life fall
outside the influence of the organization. Even if this
is the case, the quantitative environmental metrics
derived from an LCA provide for greater transparency
in the decision-making process, and enable a more com-
plete representation of the product system. A surplus of
understanding is never an issue in chemical manufactur-
ing, and very likely, the perspective gained through the
LCA exercise will influence some part of the process
design and lead to environmental improvements at some
stage in development. Perhaps this can be considered an
observer effect, or perhaps, it is simply that ‘what gets
measured gest managed.’ Our need for chemicals is not
going away, but neither are the substantial environmen-
tal problems facing this world. With LCA it is possible for
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chemical engineers to measure the environmental per-
formance of a product, and while this may not lead to
immediate action, it will impart the mindset necessary to
make changes that lead to improvements in their process
and inevitably, the world.
References and recommended reading
Papers of particular interest, published within the period of review,
have been highlighted as:
 of special interest
 of outstanding interest
1. Baumann H, Tillman A-M: The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to LCA: An
Orientation in Life Cycle Assessment Methodology and
Application. Lund, Sweden: Studentlitteratur; 2004, .
2. Kim S, Jiménez-González C, Dale BE: Enzymes for
pharmaceutical applications — a cradle-to-gate Life Cycle
Assessment. Int J Life Cycle Assess 2009, 14:392-400.
3. Jacquemin L, Pontalier P-Y, Sablayrolles C: Life Cycle
 Assessment (LCA) applied to the process industry: a review.
Int J Life Cycle Assess 2012, 17:1028-1041.
This literature review provides a solid overview of LCA and its application
to process systems engineering. Efforts to integrate LCA with process
design and optimization tools to synergistically advance both young fields
are discussed.
4. Saling P, Kicherer A, Dittrich-Krämer B, Wittlinger R, Zombik W,
Schmidt I, Schrott W, Schmidt S: Eco-efficiency analysis by
BASF: the method. Int J Life Cycle Assess 2002, 7:203-218.
5. Wernet G, Hellweg S, Fischer U, Papadokonstantakis S,
Hungerbühler K: Molecular-structure-based models of
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LCA and the chemical engineer Provo, Fava and Baer 281
chemical inventories using neural networks. Environ Sci
Technol 2008, 42:6717-6722.
6. Brentner LB, Eckelman MJ, Zimmerman JB: Combinatorial Life
Cycle Assessment to inform process design of industrial
production of algal biodiesel. Environ Sci Technol 2011,
45:7060-7067.
7. Baitz M, Albrecht S, Brauner E, Broadbent C, Castellan G,
Conrath P, Fava J et al.: LCA’s theory and practice: like ebony
and ivory living in perfect harmony? Int J Life Cycle Assess
2012, 18:5-13.
8. Wernet G, Hellweg S, Hungerbühler K: A tiered approach to
 estimate inventory data and impacts of chemical products
and mixtures. Int J Life Cycle Assess 2012,
17:720-728.
Four approaches for estimating impacts of chemicals where no LCI data
exist are compared. The authors discuss the circumstances suited for
applying extrapolation or the use of proxy data where the chemical
accounts for <5% of the impacts. If the component is a significant
contributor, applying a process model is the best approach. The authors
have developed the Finechem tool to screen chemicals and provide
sophisticated estimates of their impacts.
9. Tabone MD, Cregg JJ, Beckman EJ, Landis AE: Sustainability
metrics: Life Cycle Assessment and green design in polymers.
Environ Sci Technol 2010, 44:8264-8269.
10. Gustafsson LM, Börjesson P: Life Cycle Assessment in green
chemistry. Int J Life Cycle Assess 2006, 12:151-159 http://
dx.doi.org/10.1065/lca2006.11.280.
11. Tufvesson LM, Tufvesson P, Woodley JM, Börjesson P: Life Cycle
 Assessment in green chemistry: overview of key parameters
and methodological concerns. Int J Life Cycle Assess 2012.
LCA provides a quantitative methodology for validating green chemistry
efforts. LCA can further support the planning or research stage by high-
lighting key parameters that affect environmental performance.
Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering 2013, 2:278–281