1. LCA Examples © Colin Fitzpatrick

2. Ericsson LCA Paper “Life Cycle Assessment of 3G Wireless Telecommunication Systems at Ericsson” available on the website. Summary of the study “Life Cycle Assessment of a Third Generation (3G) System at Ericsson” available on the website.

3. Ericsson LCA Goal – Develop a flexible LCA model with the capacity of producing reliable environmental information for Ericsson’s present and future needs – Develop a user-friendly database with all the LCA data collected during this and previous Ericsson LCA studies – Determine and describe the environmental impact from Ericsson’s 3G wireless telecommunication systems

4. Ericsson LCA Scope – System consists of 3G terminals, radio network, control equipment & a core network with switches, routers, servers and workstations – Transmission equipment like feeders and cables & site materials like antennas, climate control equipment and site housing

5. Ericsson LCA Functional Unit – One year of operation of the 3G pilot system is studied – For comparisons another functional unit, per subscriber and information flow and year is needed.

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

7. Ericsson LCA Focuses on the climate change indicator as it is the most widely accepted environmental indicator. Based on the global warming potential (GWP) and is measured in CO2 equivalents Two external independent scientists reviewed the LCA to ensure carried out to ISO14040 series specification. Although data is not available to the public, the data used is valid and interpretations are accurate

8. Ericsson LCA

10. What impact does my 3G subscription have? +0.06% raw material resources depletion +0.7% energy resources depletion & climate change +0.004% use of land resources

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

12. LCA of an Integrated Circuit Paper available on website EPROM IC chosen for study Gate to Gate study Functional Output is a complete EPROM device Carried out according to relevant ISO standards

13. LCA of an Integrated Circuit Front End Transport Back End Device Raw Wafer

14. LCA of an Integrated Circuit OxidationMasking EtchingDoping Dielectric Deposition Metallisation PassivationElectrical Test Raw Wafer Processed Wafer Front End Processed Wafer Production

15. LCA of an Integrated Circuit CutWelding Base Bonding Packaging Electrolytic Tuning Surface Clipping Insert on Tube Processed Wafer Device Back End Device Realisation

16. LCA of an Integrated Circuit Transport – Packaging for transport – Truck to airport (40km) – Plane from Milan to Singapore (10,000km) – Truck to site (10km)

17. LCA of an Integrated Circuit Selected total inventory data for one single EPROM device

18. LCA of an Integrated Circuit De-Ionised Water – Plays a large part in semiconductor manufacture – Only ultra pure and DI water can be used – Special treatments involve energy and chemical consumption – Introducing a water reclaim step can minimise the environmental impact of the IC’s

19. LCA of an Integrated Circuit Gross energy in different life cycle phases of one single device

20. LCA of an Integrated Circuit Energy Use Phase – Specific device requires 0.36 Watts – Life estimated at 10 years – Equipment obsolescence estimated less than this (5 years) – Real operating time approx 33% of equipment life – 1MJ of electrical energy requires 3MJ of gross energy – Use phase turns out to be 54 MJ

21. LCA of an Integrated Circuit Chip production energy density

22. LCA of an Integrated Circuit Conclusions – Large amount of material & process data required – Only few data available, used several different databases and other LCA studies – Use of same steps in other IC’s will make other LCA studies easier

23. Impacts of IC’s extremely low entropy, highly organised forms of matter made from materials of high entropy, and lowly organised forms of matter

24. Impacts of PC’s “The total energy and fossil fuels used in producing a desktop computer with 17-in. CRT monitor are estimated at 6400 megajoules (MJ) and 260kg, respectively” – Eric Williams, Environmental Science & Technology, 2004, 38, 6166-6174 Based on Irish figures this is equivalent to 1,109 kg CO 2 Other studies give figures between 27,700 kg and 2,600,000 kg of water consumed Emphasis must move to recycling this embodied energy by reuse and by refurbishment

25. Impacts of PC’s

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

27. Offsetting These Impacts Keep your PC for 4 years; – 277.25 kg/CO 2 p.a. User Profile “Power Saving Outside Office Hours” (1240 hours use); – 71.39 kg/CO 2 p.a. Drive a VW Golf 1.4L Petrol; – 163 g CO 2 /km (source www.simi.ie) Must save yourself 2,134 km (1,326 miles) driving p.a. (approx 25 miles per week)