Adriana Del Borghi | University of Genova (original) (raw)

Papers by Adriana Del Borghi

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2008

Abstract Background, aim, and scope In order to apply the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)... more Abstract Background, aim, and scope In order to apply the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) to products or services, specific rules [Product Category Rules (PCR)] have to be issued to ensure comparability among different declarations within the same ...

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2020

Purpose The packaging system plays an essential role in the logistic chain and takes into account... more Purpose The packaging system plays an essential role in the logistic chain and takes into account the rise in packaging demand and consumption. A study on sustainability was carried out through a comparative life cycle assessment in order to quantify and compare the environmental impacts of plastic, corrugated board and wood (solid, MDF and particleboard) crates used for food delivery. Single-use and multi-use systems were considered and compared. Methods According to ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, the whole life cycle of crates was divided into four primary phases: raw materials acquisition, crate manufacturing, transport (including the reuse, if applicable) and final disposal. The functional unit used for this study was 1 crate with an external dimension of 400 × 600 × 240 mm and with an inner volume of 50 l. The comparison focused on the critical parameters expected to have a higher influence on the results, such as the distances for delivery and the number of reuses for multi-use crat...

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment

Purpose Despite in Europe companies and policy makers perceive both the European Commission’s Pro... more Purpose Despite in Europe companies and policy makers perceive both the European Commission’s Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and Type III environmental declarations as applicable tools supporting external communication or public procurement, at scientific level there is still no prompt and comprehensive comparison between the PEF Guide and the EPD requirements. Therefore, this paper aims to compare the relevant PEF Guide requirements with the key rules defined by the International EPD® System (IES)—one of the main widely accepted EPD schemes —identifying the critical discrepancies which potentially reduces the consistency of the outcomes. Methods Coherently with the approach of the PEF Guide, the comparison was based on the analysis of the following criteria: scope, LCA application, reporting, review. Further, after a qualitative pre-assessment, the average results of the EPDs published in IES framework were evaluated in respect to the available benchmarks for the products belonging to the same categories for which the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCRs) were finalised. Results and discussion An overview of some key selected requirements contained in the PEF Guide was compared with the requirements/specifications contained in the IES GPI. Despite having a comparable scope and being based on a life cycle approach, the methods are not aligned in several key requirements, such as cut-off rules, modelling approach, allocation rules, and impact categories. The results of the comparison between the benchmarks defined in the PEFCRs and the average impacts in the EPDs show a general low comparability and, anyway, limited to the climate change impact category. Conclusions This paper was aimed to compare the relevant PEF Guide requirements with the key rules defined by the IES. Several critical discrepancies have been identified concerning key requirements affecting the results. The main outcome is that PEF and GPI results cannot be considered comparable and the EU PEF and EPDs cannot be alternatively used as tools supporting Green Public Procurement (GPP) tender requirements. In conclusion, the development of ecolabels can be stimulated via several initiatives such as improving the access to good quality LCA data and strengthening the link between public procurement and environmental labels, but a lot of work is still to be done to reach the harmonisation of rules and the comparability of the results. At present, a statement of non-comparability could be added on ecolabels based on different specific rules.

Energy Conversion and Management, 2015

ABSTRACT Through the combination of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) in a... more ABSTRACT Through the combination of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) in a dedicated toolbox, the aim of this paper is to evaluate both potential environmental impacts and potential costs of the operation of a 230 kW Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) system. LCA and LCC methodologies have been here applied for a comparison with a conventional technology, i.e. Micro Gas Turbine (MGT) for distributed power generation applications. A contribution analysis for the SOFC system fuelled with natural gas, reveals that the fuel supply is responsible of a relevant share of the environmental impact. The same system, fed with biogas, shows environmental benefits on global and regional impact categories, depending on the power energy mix used during the digestion process. For both SOFC and MGT systems, the life cycle hotspots are identifiable in the operation stage for the global warming category, and in the fuel supply stage for all the remaining impact categories. The LCA–LCC comparison between SOFC and MGT systems, based on a toolbox embedding a set of 8 sustainability indicators for decision making, shows that the SOFC system presents environmental and economic benefits in a life cycle perspective, particularly for household application. However, cost results to be the most sensitive bottle-neck for benchmarking with traditional energy systems. Therefore, the SOFC system is preferable to the conventional MGT technology when the sustainability of investment cost is demonstrated, whilst a wide advantage in environmental performance along the life cycle has been proved.

Applied Energy, 2016

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) sets an overall framework for ... more The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change. Besides the “flexibility mechanisms” defined by the Kyoto Protocol to lower the overall costs of achieving their emissions targets, The Voluntary Green House Gases (GHG) reduction projects can have a lead role in GHG reduction in “non Emissions Trading System ETS sectors”. Nowadays, the voluntary market is characterised by critical aspects, such as fragmentation, lack of accounting, monitoring and validation rules that have led to the low spread of voluntary emission reduction projects developed by local authorities in the European Union despite their high potentiality.

Sustainable Production and Consumption, 2020

World Fairs such as the Expo events are major events organized to generate tourism revenues, attr... more World Fairs such as the Expo events are major events organized to generate tourism revenues, attract people and investments, but which result in environmental impacts that need to be accounted in a reliable and comprehensive way. In particular, accounting the greenhouse gases of a mega-event and comparing the emissions of different events is a very challenging task due to the large amount of data to be collected and to the lack of a specific methodology. In this paper, the quantification of greenhouse gas emissions and removals of Milan Expo 2015 international exposition is presented. Calculations, performed according to the international standard ISO 14064-1, includes office activities, construction of expo site and pavilions, operations and decommissioning process. Detailed information on data collecting methods and sources is shown in the paper. Furthermore, the obtained GHG results normalized to the number of visitors were compared to other mega-events, i.e. the latest Olympic Games, FIFA World Cups and Shanghai Expo 2010. With all the limitations described in the paper, the results showed a total impact of World Expos of about one ton of CO2-eq per square meter of exhibition and averagely 60 kgCO2-eq/visitor. Olympic Games and FIFA World Cups have an average impact respectively of 400 kgCO2-eq/visitor and 600 kgCO2-eq/visitor. The performed analysis was presented in the form of requirements and guidelines with the aim of refining the existing standard methodology highlighting the specific aspect of mega-events and transferring the findings to future world fairs.

Dear colleagues, This Special Issue aims to attract works of scientific interest to deepen our u... more Dear colleagues,
This Special Issue aims to attract works of scientific interest to deepen our understanding of these fields with different approaches. Therefore, research activities about different strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation in the energy sector are welcome.
Topics for this Special Issue include but are not limited to:
carbon footprint and energy efficiency climate neutral business energy-related carbon emissions reduction carbon capture and storage renewable energy decarbonization of energy supply reducing energy remand energy efficiency enhancement behavioral changes circular carbon economy carbon neutrality at universities climate mitigation in cities energy infrastructure resilience adaptation measures of the energy sector

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/ClimateAdaptation_Mitigation

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2013

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Quarterly

ABSTRACT

... Water Phosphoric Acid Caustic Soda Solution Water Steam ... 4.3.1 Indirect Hydration The indi... more ... Water Phosphoric Acid Caustic Soda Solution Water Steam ... 4.3.1 Indirect Hydration The indirect hydration uses as principal raw material ethylene from different sources: coke production, cracking gas of ethane/propane mixtures, cracking gas of heavy gasoline or nafta. ...

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Quarterly

Two leachates from sanitary landfill, characterized by different biodegradability, were mixed wit... more Two leachates from sanitary landfill, characterized by different biodegradability, were mixed with municipal wastewater in different proportions and aerobically treated by activated sludge. The overall removals of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and am- monia as well as the fraction of hardly-biodegradable substances were investigated to se- lect the best operating conditions for the simultaneous removal of these pollutants. Pre- liminary

Rivista dei Combustibili

A study was made on the data taken in 2006 on air emissions gathered at various Italian cement pl... more A study was made on the data taken in 2006 on air emissions gathered at various Italian cement plants and, in particular, in 73 kilns according to production class, kiln type, and alternative fuels used in terms of type and quantity. The emissions parameters considered included total dust, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, CO, total organic carbons, HC1, HF, metals, PAH, and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzo-furans (PCDDIF). The average concentrations of the various pollutants, for the plants using only traditional fuels, and for the plants also using alternative fuels were compared. The use of alternative fuels in the 22 kilns studied did not influence the emission values of the pollutants examined. In some cases these emissions were under the legal limit allowed for traditional fuels. The results from the Italian kilns and those published by Cembureau from 200 European kilns were compared. The comparison confirmed that the emission performances of cement kilns appear to...

Aerosols emitted by antropogenic activity are in relationship to their emission source and exhibi... more Aerosols emitted by antropogenic activity are in relationship to their emission source and exhibit distinguishable characteristics (size, metal concentration and density) that can often univocally identify the source. Nevertheless, different processes can characterize industrial plants that produce the same product. Due to this, dusts emitted by the same source can have different chemical composition and physical properties. This paper reports the analysis carried out on dusts emitted by two cement plants that produce Portland cement, according to a substantially similar technological cycle, realized using the same raw materials. The most important difference between the two cement plants is that one uses a long kiln while the other utilizes a short one equipped with cyclon preheater and precalciner. 1

The results of a year monitoring study in Savona area (Italy) for dust deposition have been analy... more The results of a year monitoring study in Savona area (Italy) for dust deposition have been analyzed in order to characterize the emission sources. The contribution of the major pollutant sources have been determined by means: the tracer metals and their Enrichment Factors. The selected metals are Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr and Ni. The obtained results show four types

Journal of Biological Research - Bollettino della Società Italiana di Biologia Sperimentale, 2010

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2014

ABSTRACT Food production significantly contributes to consumption of resources and presents remar... more ABSTRACT Food production significantly contributes to consumption of resources and presents remarkable environmental impacts to be evaluated through a life cycle approach. The present paper aims to present and discuss the results of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) performed on 13 tomato based products (tomato purée, chopped tomatoes and peeled tomatoes in tomato juice) produced in Italy by a Group representing one of largest agri-food industry European companies. The environmental hotspots of the whole supply chains of the investigated products have been identified and technical and managerial solutions have been defined. Agricultural phase and packaging production resulted to be the life-cycle stages with the highest impact in all the considered categories. The identified improvement options related to packaging subsystem are the reduction of weight and the switch to different packaging materials. Other improvement options can be adopted in the cultivation phase, such as use of organic fertilizers or inorganic fertilizers with lower nitrogen and phosphorus content, crop rotation and use of efficient irrigation systems. The application of LCA methodology to tomato product systems has highlighted some methodological issues that will be taken into account during the CPC 2132 and CPC 2139 Product Category Rules (PCR) development in the framework of the International EPD® System.

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2008

Abstract Background, aim, and scope In order to apply the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)... more Abstract Background, aim, and scope In order to apply the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) to products or services, specific rules [Product Category Rules (PCR)] have to be issued to ensure comparability among different declarations within the same ...

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2020

Purpose The packaging system plays an essential role in the logistic chain and takes into account... more Purpose The packaging system plays an essential role in the logistic chain and takes into account the rise in packaging demand and consumption. A study on sustainability was carried out through a comparative life cycle assessment in order to quantify and compare the environmental impacts of plastic, corrugated board and wood (solid, MDF and particleboard) crates used for food delivery. Single-use and multi-use systems were considered and compared. Methods According to ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, the whole life cycle of crates was divided into four primary phases: raw materials acquisition, crate manufacturing, transport (including the reuse, if applicable) and final disposal. The functional unit used for this study was 1 crate with an external dimension of 400 × 600 × 240 mm and with an inner volume of 50 l. The comparison focused on the critical parameters expected to have a higher influence on the results, such as the distances for delivery and the number of reuses for multi-use crat...

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment

Purpose Despite in Europe companies and policy makers perceive both the European Commission’s Pro... more Purpose Despite in Europe companies and policy makers perceive both the European Commission’s Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and Type III environmental declarations as applicable tools supporting external communication or public procurement, at scientific level there is still no prompt and comprehensive comparison between the PEF Guide and the EPD requirements. Therefore, this paper aims to compare the relevant PEF Guide requirements with the key rules defined by the International EPD® System (IES)—one of the main widely accepted EPD schemes —identifying the critical discrepancies which potentially reduces the consistency of the outcomes. Methods Coherently with the approach of the PEF Guide, the comparison was based on the analysis of the following criteria: scope, LCA application, reporting, review. Further, after a qualitative pre-assessment, the average results of the EPDs published in IES framework were evaluated in respect to the available benchmarks for the products belonging to the same categories for which the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCRs) were finalised. Results and discussion An overview of some key selected requirements contained in the PEF Guide was compared with the requirements/specifications contained in the IES GPI. Despite having a comparable scope and being based on a life cycle approach, the methods are not aligned in several key requirements, such as cut-off rules, modelling approach, allocation rules, and impact categories. The results of the comparison between the benchmarks defined in the PEFCRs and the average impacts in the EPDs show a general low comparability and, anyway, limited to the climate change impact category. Conclusions This paper was aimed to compare the relevant PEF Guide requirements with the key rules defined by the IES. Several critical discrepancies have been identified concerning key requirements affecting the results. The main outcome is that PEF and GPI results cannot be considered comparable and the EU PEF and EPDs cannot be alternatively used as tools supporting Green Public Procurement (GPP) tender requirements. In conclusion, the development of ecolabels can be stimulated via several initiatives such as improving the access to good quality LCA data and strengthening the link between public procurement and environmental labels, but a lot of work is still to be done to reach the harmonisation of rules and the comparability of the results. At present, a statement of non-comparability could be added on ecolabels based on different specific rules.

Energy Conversion and Management, 2015

ABSTRACT Through the combination of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) in a... more ABSTRACT Through the combination of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) in a dedicated toolbox, the aim of this paper is to evaluate both potential environmental impacts and potential costs of the operation of a 230 kW Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) system. LCA and LCC methodologies have been here applied for a comparison with a conventional technology, i.e. Micro Gas Turbine (MGT) for distributed power generation applications. A contribution analysis for the SOFC system fuelled with natural gas, reveals that the fuel supply is responsible of a relevant share of the environmental impact. The same system, fed with biogas, shows environmental benefits on global and regional impact categories, depending on the power energy mix used during the digestion process. For both SOFC and MGT systems, the life cycle hotspots are identifiable in the operation stage for the global warming category, and in the fuel supply stage for all the remaining impact categories. The LCA–LCC comparison between SOFC and MGT systems, based on a toolbox embedding a set of 8 sustainability indicators for decision making, shows that the SOFC system presents environmental and economic benefits in a life cycle perspective, particularly for household application. However, cost results to be the most sensitive bottle-neck for benchmarking with traditional energy systems. Therefore, the SOFC system is preferable to the conventional MGT technology when the sustainability of investment cost is demonstrated, whilst a wide advantage in environmental performance along the life cycle has been proved.

Applied Energy, 2016

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) sets an overall framework for ... more The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change. Besides the “flexibility mechanisms” defined by the Kyoto Protocol to lower the overall costs of achieving their emissions targets, The Voluntary Green House Gases (GHG) reduction projects can have a lead role in GHG reduction in “non Emissions Trading System ETS sectors”. Nowadays, the voluntary market is characterised by critical aspects, such as fragmentation, lack of accounting, monitoring and validation rules that have led to the low spread of voluntary emission reduction projects developed by local authorities in the European Union despite their high potentiality.

Sustainable Production and Consumption, 2020

World Fairs such as the Expo events are major events organized to generate tourism revenues, attr... more World Fairs such as the Expo events are major events organized to generate tourism revenues, attract people and investments, but which result in environmental impacts that need to be accounted in a reliable and comprehensive way. In particular, accounting the greenhouse gases of a mega-event and comparing the emissions of different events is a very challenging task due to the large amount of data to be collected and to the lack of a specific methodology. In this paper, the quantification of greenhouse gas emissions and removals of Milan Expo 2015 international exposition is presented. Calculations, performed according to the international standard ISO 14064-1, includes office activities, construction of expo site and pavilions, operations and decommissioning process. Detailed information on data collecting methods and sources is shown in the paper. Furthermore, the obtained GHG results normalized to the number of visitors were compared to other mega-events, i.e. the latest Olympic Games, FIFA World Cups and Shanghai Expo 2010. With all the limitations described in the paper, the results showed a total impact of World Expos of about one ton of CO2-eq per square meter of exhibition and averagely 60 kgCO2-eq/visitor. Olympic Games and FIFA World Cups have an average impact respectively of 400 kgCO2-eq/visitor and 600 kgCO2-eq/visitor. The performed analysis was presented in the form of requirements and guidelines with the aim of refining the existing standard methodology highlighting the specific aspect of mega-events and transferring the findings to future world fairs.

Dear colleagues, This Special Issue aims to attract works of scientific interest to deepen our u... more Dear colleagues,
This Special Issue aims to attract works of scientific interest to deepen our understanding of these fields with different approaches. Therefore, research activities about different strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation in the energy sector are welcome.
Topics for this Special Issue include but are not limited to:
carbon footprint and energy efficiency climate neutral business energy-related carbon emissions reduction carbon capture and storage renewable energy decarbonization of energy supply reducing energy remand energy efficiency enhancement behavioral changes circular carbon economy carbon neutrality at universities climate mitigation in cities energy infrastructure resilience adaptation measures of the energy sector

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/ClimateAdaptation_Mitigation

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2013

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Quarterly

ABSTRACT

... Water Phosphoric Acid Caustic Soda Solution Water Steam ... 4.3.1 Indirect Hydration The indi... more ... Water Phosphoric Acid Caustic Soda Solution Water Steam ... 4.3.1 Indirect Hydration The indirect hydration uses as principal raw material ethylene from different sources: coke production, cracking gas of ethane/propane mixtures, cracking gas of heavy gasoline or nafta. ...

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Quarterly

Two leachates from sanitary landfill, characterized by different biodegradability, were mixed wit... more Two leachates from sanitary landfill, characterized by different biodegradability, were mixed with municipal wastewater in different proportions and aerobically treated by activated sludge. The overall removals of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and am- monia as well as the fraction of hardly-biodegradable substances were investigated to se- lect the best operating conditions for the simultaneous removal of these pollutants. Pre- liminary

Rivista dei Combustibili

A study was made on the data taken in 2006 on air emissions gathered at various Italian cement pl... more A study was made on the data taken in 2006 on air emissions gathered at various Italian cement plants and, in particular, in 73 kilns according to production class, kiln type, and alternative fuels used in terms of type and quantity. The emissions parameters considered included total dust, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, CO, total organic carbons, HC1, HF, metals, PAH, and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzo-furans (PCDDIF). The average concentrations of the various pollutants, for the plants using only traditional fuels, and for the plants also using alternative fuels were compared. The use of alternative fuels in the 22 kilns studied did not influence the emission values of the pollutants examined. In some cases these emissions were under the legal limit allowed for traditional fuels. The results from the Italian kilns and those published by Cembureau from 200 European kilns were compared. The comparison confirmed that the emission performances of cement kilns appear to...

Aerosols emitted by antropogenic activity are in relationship to their emission source and exhibi... more Aerosols emitted by antropogenic activity are in relationship to their emission source and exhibit distinguishable characteristics (size, metal concentration and density) that can often univocally identify the source. Nevertheless, different processes can characterize industrial plants that produce the same product. Due to this, dusts emitted by the same source can have different chemical composition and physical properties. This paper reports the analysis carried out on dusts emitted by two cement plants that produce Portland cement, according to a substantially similar technological cycle, realized using the same raw materials. The most important difference between the two cement plants is that one uses a long kiln while the other utilizes a short one equipped with cyclon preheater and precalciner. 1

The results of a year monitoring study in Savona area (Italy) for dust deposition have been analy... more The results of a year monitoring study in Savona area (Italy) for dust deposition have been analyzed in order to characterize the emission sources. The contribution of the major pollutant sources have been determined by means: the tracer metals and their Enrichment Factors. The selected metals are Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr and Ni. The obtained results show four types

Journal of Biological Research - Bollettino della Società Italiana di Biologia Sperimentale, 2010

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2014

ABSTRACT Food production significantly contributes to consumption of resources and presents remar... more ABSTRACT Food production significantly contributes to consumption of resources and presents remarkable environmental impacts to be evaluated through a life cycle approach. The present paper aims to present and discuss the results of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) performed on 13 tomato based products (tomato purée, chopped tomatoes and peeled tomatoes in tomato juice) produced in Italy by a Group representing one of largest agri-food industry European companies. The environmental hotspots of the whole supply chains of the investigated products have been identified and technical and managerial solutions have been defined. Agricultural phase and packaging production resulted to be the life-cycle stages with the highest impact in all the considered categories. The identified improvement options related to packaging subsystem are the reduction of weight and the switch to different packaging materials. Other improvement options can be adopted in the cultivation phase, such as use of organic fertilizers or inorganic fertilizers with lower nitrogen and phosphorus content, crop rotation and use of efficient irrigation systems. The application of LCA methodology to tomato product systems has highlighted some methodological issues that will be taken into account during the CPC 2132 and CPC 2139 Product Category Rules (PCR) development in the framework of the International EPD® System.