Papers by Gabriela Benveniste
The international journal of life cycle assessment, Jun 18, 2024
Purpose The objective of this study is to assess the potential social risks and benefits of EV Li... more Purpose The objective of this study is to assess the potential social risks and benefits of EV Li-ion batteries by combining the S-LCA framework with gender aspects throughout all the life cycle phases of the battery. Methods The social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) methodology has been applied to determine social concerns about a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery pack design for electric vehicles (EVs) from cradle to grave. A questionnaire based on UNEP S-LCA guidelines and literature case studies of S-LCA on batteries and the energy industry has been prepared for each of the stakeholder categories and distributed among experts in the Li-ion battery sector (more than 21 industrial and academic experts representing the whole battery value chain). Furthermore, the social assessment also includes updated gender aspects to provide wider and more comprehensive social impacts to ensure a gender-neutral approach. Results and discussion The Li-ion battery presents a positive social impact in all the stakeholder categories evaluated, where the worker category has the best social performance driven by the highest score (scores range from 0 to 1, where 0 is the worst social performance and 1 is the best) in 13 indicators out of 23. Furthermore, local community, consumers, and society categories have a good social performance attributed to the absence of involuntary resettlement of individuals, the possibility of the product being reused for other purposes and technology accessible and affordable to developing countries, among others. Four out of seven indicators to evaluate the gender aspects and impacts have the highest score, demonstrating a commitment to fostering an inclusive and equitable work environment. The end-of-life phase presents a positive social performance with a score of 0.77 out of 1 attributed to the presence of infrastructure to dispose of product components other than landfill and incineration responsibly, the possibility of the product to be reused for other purposes and clear information provided to consumers on end-of-life options, among others. Conclusions The study presents generally good social impact and gender neutrality on the battery pack design. It gives an insight into the actual status of Li-ion battery social and gender impacts, and the results can be useful to policymakers to design and implement strategies for the welfare of various stakeholders.
Cerâmica Industrial, 2012
Resources, Conservation & Recycling Advances
Journal of Environmental Management, 2018
The market share in electric vehicles (EV) is increasing. This trend is likely to continue due to... more The market share in electric vehicles (EV) is increasing. This trend is likely to continue due to the increased interest in reducing CO 2 emissions. The electric vehicle market evolution depends principally on the evolution of batteries capacity. As a consequence, automobile manufacturers focus their efforts on launching in the market EVs capable to compete with internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEV) in both performance and economic aspects. Although EVs are suitable for the day-today needs of the typical urban driver, their range is still lower than ICEV, because batteries are not able to store and supply enough energy to the vehicle and provide the same autonomy as ICEV. EV use mostly Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries but this technology is reaching its theoretical limit (200-250 Wh/kg). Although the research to improve Li-ion batteries is very active, other researches began to investigate alternative electrochemical energy storage systems with higher energy density. At present, the most promising technology is the Lithium-Sulphur (Li-S) battery. This paper presents a review of the state of art of Li-Sulphur battery on EVs compared to Li-ion ones, considering technical, modelling, environmental and economic aspects with the aim of depicting the challenges this technology has to overcome to substitute Li-ion in the near future. This study shows how the main drawbacks for Li-S concern are durability, self-discharge and battery modelling. However, from an environmental and economic point of view, Li-S technology presents many advantages over Li-ion.
Carbon Footprint (CF), being a simplified LCA tool, can be of great importance for the disseminat... more Carbon Footprint (CF), being a simplified LCA tool, can be of great importance for the dissemination of life-cycle information of products. The use of CF has remarkably increased recently despite some methodology aspects are still not sufficiently addressed. This paper deals with one of these: the accounting of biogenic emissions, focusing on the wine sector where several LCA and CF studies have been developed in recent years. As there are some issues that need to be taken into consideration when accounting for exchanges of biogenic carbon, such as forest management, agricultural practices, the inclusion of all parts of a tree, land use and land use change, soil erosion, the inclusion of the end-of-life phase, etc., no certain conclusions can yet be drawn with regard to if cork is a carbon sink or if the wine sector in general can be regarded as low-carbon.
Food, Biomedical, and Textile Applications, 2010
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2014
ABSTRACT Carbon Footprint (CF) can be of great importance for the dissemination of life-cycle inf... more ABSTRACT Carbon Footprint (CF) can be of great importance for the dissemination of life-cycle information of products. The use of CF has recently increased, despite some methodology aspects being still not sufficiently addressed. This paper deals with the accounting of biogenic carbon exchanges, focusing on the wine sector, which has been the object of several life-cycle-based studies. A review of guidelines, standards and key papers has shown that there are still unresolved issues to be considered when accounting for exchanges of biogenic carbon, such as forest management, agricultural practices and land use, soil erosion, the inclusion of all parts of a tree, the inclusion of the end-of-life phase, etc. As a result, no clear-cut conclusions can yet be drawn with regard to biogenic carbon exchanges related to the life cycle of wine products.
The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2010
Informes de la Construccion, 2011
Análisis de ciclo de vida y reglas de categoría de producto en la construcción. El caso de las ba... more Análisis de ciclo de vida y reglas de categoría de producto en la construcción. El caso de las baldosas cerámicas Life cycle assessment and product category rules for the construction sector. The floor and wall tiles sector case study
The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Horizon2020 pr... more The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Horizon2020 programme under the agreement H2020-LCE-2014-1-640741. D 7.4 State-of-the-Art FOWT design practice and guidelines LIFES50+ Deliverable, project 640741 2/78 Disclaimer The content of the publication herein is the sole responsibility of the publishers and it does not necessarily represent the views expressed by the European Commission or its services. While the information contained in the documents is believed to be accurate, the authors(s) or any other participant in the LIFES50+ consortium make no warranty of any kind with regard to this material including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Neither the LIFES50+ Consortium nor any of its members, their officers, employees or agents shall be responsible or liable in negligence or otherwise howsoever in respect of any inaccuracy or omission herein. Without derogating from the generality of the foregoing neither the LIFES50+ Consortium nor any of its members, their officers, employees or agents shall be liable for any direct or indirect or consequential loss or damage caused by or arising from any information advice or inaccuracy or omission herein.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology is presented as the result of a project analysis applied ... more Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology is presented as the result of a project analysis applied to the specific context of hyperfunctional surfaces production. Nowadays, most of the processes used for surface functionalisation have a high environmental impact due to the use of large amounts of water, energy and chemical solutions. The aim of plasma technologies processing is to achieve the same, or even enhanced, surface functionalities, with respect to the traditional treatments, but providing an environmental friendly process. Surface functionalisation representative processes are considered for the treatment of thermo-sensitive and thermo-resistant substrates applied in the textile and food processing industry. Main plasma processes considered are Physical Vapour deposition (PVD), and Atmospheric Pressure Glow Dielectric Barrier Discharge (GDDBD). Innovative plasma processes are compared with wet processes for surface coating and treatment. The considered functionalities are wea...
Lithium-Sulphur (Li-S) batteries have emerged as a promising battery technology, with a higher th... more Lithium-Sulphur (Li-S) batteries have emerged as a promising battery technology, with a higher theoretical capacity and energy density than Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries used today. Moreover, due to their chemical composition, Li-S batteries presumably present a lower environmental profile compared to Li-ion ones. To verify this statement, this study performs life cycle assessment (LCA) analyses on Li-S battery coin cells to be further scaled up in order to estimate their performance as a battery for electric vehicles (EVs).
Resources, Conservation and Recycling
Uploads
Papers by Gabriela Benveniste