How Green is That Product?

An Introduction to Life Cycle Environmental Assessment

Homework #5 Solutions
Correct Answers in Red
Goals: In this assignment, youll do the following:

construct an aggregated unit process inventory for water treatment and delivery using an
analysis-based approach; and
solve a multi-functionality issue by dividing a co-product inventory into sub-processes.

Instructions: The questions below can be answered offline. When you complete the assignment, return
to the Week 5 course page on the Coursera website. Click on the Submit Homework Assignment
Answers button, which will allow you to enter your answers into a web form for automated grading.
Grading: This assignment is worth 100 points. The point values of each answer are listed below. You
can submit a maximum of 30 attempts. The highest scoring attempt that is submitted before the
deadline will count toward your official grade. Scores for each attempt will be available immediately
after submission of your answers.
Numbers: In this assignment, and throughout this course, numbers will be expressed using the U.S.
numeric convention where commas separate thousands and the dot (or decimal point) is the decimal
separator. For example, the number one thousand two hundred and one-tenth is written 1,200.1.
Analysis-based estimation of a unit process inventory (8 points for each correct answer)
For your bottled soft drink LCA, lets assume that a credible life-cycle inventory cannot be found in the
public domain for treatment and delivery of water to the soft drink bottling plant. Lets further assume
that the processes of water treatment and delivery require only electricity consumption. As a result,
youll need to estimate the electricity requirements of the water treatment and delivery unit process in
your model using an analysis-based approach. Youll use average data from U.S. water treatment
processes from the following article, as well as other assumptions:
Gleick, P.H., and H.S. Cooley (2009). Energy implications of bottled water. Environmental
Research Letters, Volume 4, Issue 1. http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/4/1/014009 or
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/4/1/014009 or http://pacinst.org/publication/energyimplications-of-bottled-water/
First, lets estimate the energy intensity of treating water at a typical water treatment plant. To do so,
enter the electricity intensities of each water treatment processing step listed in the table below. You
can find electricity intensities for each treatment process in the Gleick and Cooley (2009) article. Then
calculate the total electricity intensity for all of these process steps combined and enter your answer in
the grey answer box. Your answer to Question 1 represents the energy intensity of treated water
leaving the treatment plant. Use the following number format: XXX (i.e., three digits with no decimals)

Water treatment
Water treatment process
step
1
Ozone disinfection
2
UV radiation for bacteria
3
Microfiltration (use the lower value in the range)
4
Reverse osmosis (source TDS = 1000 ppm)
Question 1: What is the total electricity intensity of water treatment using the
above four processing steps (sum of all steps, kWh per million liters treated)?

Electricity intensity (kWh

per million liters treated)
100
10
70
790
970

The source for all of the above electricity intensities is Table 2 from Gleick and Cooley (2009).
Second, lets account for leaks in the treated water distribution system. Assume that for every liter of
treated water that reaches the customer, 1.1 liters of treated water must leave the treatment plant.1
Accounting for this rate of leakage, and using your answer to Question 1, enter the total electrical
intensity of water treatment per million liters of treated water DELIVERED TO THE CUSTOMER below.
Use the following number format: XXXX (i.e., four digits with no decimals and no comma to separate
thousands)
Question 2: What is the total electricity intensity of water treatment per unit of
treated water delivered to the customer (kWh per million liters delivered)?

970*1.1=1067

Using our answer from Question 1, and accounting for leaks in the system, we calculate the electricity
intensity per unit of water delivered to the customer as follows:
970 (kWh/106 liters treated) * 1.1 (liters treated/liter delivered) = 1067 kWh/106 liters delivered
Third, lets account for the energy required to deliver (i.e., pump) the treated water from the treatment
plant to the customer (i.e., to the point of use). In the United States, for every million liters of treated
water that is ultimately delivered to the customer, typically 600 kWh of electricity is required for
pumping. Based on this knowledge, and your answer to Question 2, enter the total combined electricity
intensity for treatment and delivery of water to the point of use in units of kWh per million liters
delivered to the customer. Use the following number format: XXXX (i.e., four digits with no decimals
and no comma to separate thousands)
Question 3: What is the total electricity intensity of water treatment and delivery
per unit of treated water delivered to the point of use (kWh per million liters
delivered)?

1067+600 = 1667

Fourth, note that in the unit process inventory for soft drink bottling, which is on the Bottling tab of
the bottled soft drink LCA spreadsheet, the product input requirements for treated and delivered water
1

Unfortunately, this rate of leakage is quite typical of U.S. water distribution systems, but it can be reduced
through technology and operations improvements. See for example the following article:
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Leaks-the-under-appreciated-water-conservation-5647739.php

are expressed in cubic meters. Thus, youll need to make sure your analysis-based inventory for water
treatment and delivery is expressed in units of cubic meters of water treated and delivered. Therefore,
convert your answer to Question 3 into units of kWh per cubic meter, and enter this value in the grey
answer box below. Enter only the numerical value using two decimal places after the decimal
separator (i.e., X.XX).
Question 4: What is the total electricity intensity of water treatment and delivery
expressed in units of kWh per cubic meter delivered to the point of use?

1.67

To convert 1667 kWh per million liters into kWh per cubic meter, we must use the following unit
conversions: 1667 (kWh/106 liters)*(1 liter/10-3 cubic meter) = 1667*(103/106) = 1667/103 = 1.67
kWh/cubic meter
Fifth, use one of the links below to download a spreadsheet file with unit process inventory tabs for U.S.
electricity generation and transmission, water treatment and delivery, and an aggregated inventory for
water treatment and delivery that includes electricity generation and transmission.

HW5 unit process inventory file (.ods file format)

HW5 unit process inventory file (.xls file format)

The first tab contains a unit process inventory for U.S. electricity generation and transmission. This is an
aggregated unit process inventory that contains all elementary flow data associated with U.S. average
electricity generation and transmission, including extraction, processing, conversion, transport, and
combustion of all fuels in the system for generating and transmitting electricity to the points of use in
the United States.
The second tab contains a blank unit process inventory for water treatment and delivery. Assume the
following flows for this unit process inventory, and enter the values into the appropriate rows in the
inventory:

Input from nature: 1.1 cubic meters of water

Input from the technosphere: X kWh of electricity, U.S. average mix, at point of use (replace X
with the kWh required to treat and deliver 1 cubic meter of water to the point of use from your
answer to Question 4)
Output to the technosphere: 1 cubic meter of treated water at point of use

The third tab contains another blank unit process inventory table, which youll use to generate an
aggregated unit process inventory for water treatment and delivery. To generate this aggregated
inventory, youll need to do the following2:
1. Scale the unit process inventory flows for U.S. electricity generation and transmission based on
the quantity of kWh needed for treatment and delivery of 1 cubic meter of water to the point of
use (using your answer to Question 4)
2

Note that the scaling and addition you need to perform here is exactly the same at the scaling and addition you
performed to generate an aggregated unit process inventory for PP enclosure injection molding in HW4.

2. Add the scaled flows from the electricity unit process to the direct flows in the water treatment
and delivery unit process
3. Enter the sums of flows into the aggregated inventory for water treatment and delivery, which
will now include all flows related to generation and transmission of electricity required for water
treatment and delivery.
From your completed aggregated inventory for the treatment and delivery of 1 cubic meter of water,
enter the mass quantity of carbon dioxide (fossil) emissions to nature (from cell F36) in the grey answer
box below. Use units of kilograms. (Note: this is a spot check to make sure youve done the
calculations correctly). Enter only the numerical value using two decimal places after the decimal
separator (i.e., X.XX).
Question 5: What is the quantity of the aggregated inventory flow of carbon
dioxide (fossil) to nature for the treatment and delivery of 1 cubic meter of water
(in units of kg CO2 per cubic meter of treated and delivered water)

1.11

See the solutions files below:

HW5 unit process inventory file -- Solution (.ods file format)

HW5 unit process inventory file -- Solution (.xls file format)

Multi-functionality and co-products (20 points for each correct answer)

Table A contains representative facility energy use and product output data for the commercial bakery
example that weve discussed in the lectures.
Table A: Energy and production data for a commercial baking facility
Production of baked bread (kg/year)
500,000
Production of frozen dough (kg/year)
400,000
Natural gas used to generate steam (TJ/yr)
0.97
Natural gas used directly in baking ovens (TJ/yr)
2.31
Electricity use (MWh/yr)
461

Table B contains data specific to baked bread and frozen dough product outputs at this commercial
bakery, which one might obtain through measurements taken at each process.
Table B: Energy intensities by process for each product line3
Product
Process
Steam use
Direct natural
(MJ/kg)
gas use (MJ/kg)
Baked bread
Mix
Ferment
0.84
Shape
Proof
0.46
Bake
0.39
3.58
Cool
Slice
Package
Frozen dough
Mix
Form and chill
0.32
Bake
1.30
Cool
Finish
Package
-

Electricity use
(kWh/kg)
0.02
0.06
0.05
0.08
0.04
0.08
0.07
0.01
0.52
0.07
0.07

Your job is to determine the total natural gas and electricity inputs attributable to baked bread in this
commercial baking facility. Youll do this by using the information in Tables A and B to assign the
facilitys inputs of natural gas (for steam), natural gas (for direct use), and electricity to the baked bread
and frozen dough production lines. In other words, youll divide the facility into its sub-processes to
avoid arbitrary allocation of facility energy inputs between its two co-products. Enter your results in the
table below. For all answers, enter only the numerical value using two decimal places after the
decimal separator (i.e., X.XX).
Question 6: How much of the facilitys annual natural gas use for steam is
attributable to just the baked bread? Use units of TJ/year in your answer.
Question 7: How much of the facilitys annual direct natural gas use is
attributable to just the baked bread? Use units of TJ/year in your answer.
Question 8: How much of the facilitys annual electricity use is attributable to
just the baked bread? Use units of MWh/year in your answer.

0.85
1.79
165.00

Recall that a process energy intensity quantifies the amount of input energy required by a process to generate
one unit of mass output

To solve this problem, we first determine the total energy intensities for steam use, direct natural gas
use, and electricity use for baked bread in Table B as follows:
Product

Process

Baked bread

Mix
Ferment
Shape
Proof
Bake
Cool
Slice
Package

Total (column sum)

Steam use
(MJ/kg)
0.84
0.46
0.39
1.69

Direct natural
gas use (MJ/kg)
3.58
3.58

Electricity use
(kWh/kg)
0.02
0.06
0.05
0.08
0.04
0.08
0.33

Next, we multiply the total annual quantity of baked bread that is produced by the bakery (500000 kg
from Table A) by the total energy intensities calculated above as follows:
Total annual steam use for baked bread = 1.69 (MJ steam/kg) * 500000 (kg baked bread/yr) =
845000 MJ/yr
Total direct natural gas use for baked bread = 3.58 (MJ/kg) * 500000 (kg baked bread/yr) =
1790000 MJ/yr
Total electricity use for baked bread = 0.33 (kWh/kg) * 500000 (kg baked bread/yr) =
165000 kWh/yr
Finally, we must convert to the required units in the answer boxes:
Total annual steam use for baked bread = 845000 (MJ/yr) * 1/106 (TJ/MJ) = 0.85 TJ/yr
Total direct natural gas use for baked bread = 1790000 (MJ/yr) * 1/106 (TJ/MJ) = 1.79 TJ/yr
Total electricity use for baked bread = 165000 (kWh/yr) * 1/103 (MWh/kWh) = 165 MWh/yr