1. ABB and sustainable development
Michael Robertson
Life cycle assessment techniques are the key to “greener” products
ABB
© ABB Ltd - Page 1

2. How ABB supports sustainability
Sharing technology
45,000 employees in developing countries
Ecoefficient products
Life Cycle Assessment LCA
Environmental declarations
Innovative R&D programs
Economic performance
Sustain-
ability
ABB’s environmental performance
ISO in place (97% of sites)
Environmental performance
Social performance
Contribution to common efforts
Environmental and social improvement projects

3. Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) - what is it?
Environmental impact
Scrapping & recycling
of motor
Waste
Emission
Resource
depletion
Noise
Disposal
Use of motor
20-30 years
Recycling
Manufacturing
of motor
Manufacturing
of materials
Emissions
Power demand
Fuel
ABB
Gate 1
Gate 2
Gate 3
Utility
This OH shows the cumulative Life Cycle impact over the life cycle. I think it is very important to point out that the major product impact is not within ABB but outside at our suppliers and users sites.
However even if the major impact is outside ABB it is very important for ABB to design a product with low life cycle impact as possible to contribute to a sustainable society.
Life Cycle Management is then a prerequisite for a sustainable society
LCA is a necessary operative tool to achieve this in an industrial organisation
Cradle
Grave
LCA is a tool to define the environmental
impact during the product’s whole life cycle
from cradle to grave

4. Typical input data for an LCA study
Materials
Manufacturing
Product use
Disposal
ABB
Gate 1
Gate 2
Gate 3
Utility
Materials
types & amounts
Energy
consumption & type
Energy losses
Disposal process
This OH shows the cumulative Life Cycle impact over the life cycle. I think it is very important to point out that the major product impact is not within ABB but outside at our suppliers and users sites.
However even if the major impact is outside ABB it is very important for ABB to design a product with low life cycle impact as possible to contribute to a sustainable society.
Life Cycle Management is then a prerequisite for a sustainable society
LCA is a necessary operative tool to achieve this in an industrial organisation
Emissions & waste
Scrapping, waste
handling, recycling,
landfill
Emissions & waste
Transport distances & type

5. Typical result of an LCA study
Global warming potential down by 25% (CO2, N20, SF6) 18
Reference motor (efficiency 98.0%) 12
Impact /MWh
“Motorformer” (efficiency 98.5%) 6
This OH will be updated and maybe some more pictures will be used…...
Resources and emissions from a system can be grouped into a number of impact categories. These may describe effects on global warming (greenhouse effect), acidification and ozone depletion.
Global warming potential for the different life cycle phases of the systems. The use phase is the dominant phase for both systems. That means that the largest impact on the environment is during operation and that is due to the long operating time, which embraces many years. The manufacture of the system thus plays a minor part in the impact of the whole life cycle.
The environmental impact of the losses during operation is dependent on how the electricity is generated. In this study it is assumed that the compensation is carried out with the electricity production mix in the USA which is based on approximately 20 % nuclear power, 10 % hydro power and 70 % fossil fuel.
The contribution to global warming is mainly via CO2, carbon dioxide (1). Other global warming gases are CH4, methane (24,5) and N2O, nitrous oxide (320). The impact value is expressed in CO2-equivalents.
The reference system has a higher global warming potential compared to the new motor.
Note:
Other results: Acidification potential (SO2, NOx), Ground-level ozone formation (VOCs), Eutrophication potential (NOx), Depletion of the ozone layer (CFCs)
Manufacture Use End of life

6. LCA experience
Enables design of ecoefficient products - identifies significant environmental aspects
Enables comparisons with other suppliers’ products - enhances our competitive edge
Helps increase environmental awareness - builds company reputation and performance
Serves as basis for environmental product declarations - an ABB group-wide objective

7. Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)
Good for business - good for the environment
Provides information on a product’s environmental performance
Takes account of materials, energy, emissions & waste over a product’s life cycle
Used for R&D and marketing  user benefits, recycling, disposal
Over 30 EPDs produced, covering all product segments

8. Motorformer- environmental benefits
Builds on ABB’s powerformer technology platform
Low losses, high efficiency
More compact system, less space
No transformer - no oil risks (fire, spillage)
Less maintenance
No materials of environmental concern - no epoxy-resin
High recyclability
This is a preliminary list to be checked more with ABB Motors

9. ABB’s development of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Web tools
LCA integrated in business area strategies
Database
A B B ’ s L C A t o o l - E c o l a b
Expertise
LCA introduced in ABB’s environmental management program
LCA studies - switchgear, motors, etc.
ABB has been an active part in the LCA development during the last decade.
LCA has been fully implemented into ABBs business activitiese during the last years.
Joint projects - university collaboration, ISO standardization
1995
2000
1991

10. Future development - Web technology
A pioneering development by ABB
An ABB environmental design handbook
information, instructions, search facilities
Design for Environment (DFE), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), EcoLab LCA tool, Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), Standards (ISO), Self-training courses
For global access by ABB designers on our internal website
to share experience
to design new products