Search Results

A life cycle inventory (LCI) study evaluates the environmental performance of the ULSAB-AVC (UltraLight Steel Auto Body - Advanced Vehicle Concepts) vehicle product system. The LCI quantifies the inputs and outputs of each life cycle stage of the ULSAB-AVC PNGV-gas engine vehicle (998 kg) over the 193,000 km service lifetime of the vehicle. The use phase of the ULSAB-AVC PNGV-diesel engine variant (1031 kg) is also quantified. The data categories measured for each life cycle phase include resource and energy consumption, air and water pollutant emissions, and solid waste production. The ULSAB-AVC LCI study is based on the methods, model and data from the 1999 study by the United States Automotive Materials Partnership (USAMP), a consortium within the United States Council for Automotive Research. This model was modified to represent the ULSAB-AVC PNGV-gas engine vehicle for each life cycle phase as well as the use phase of the PNGV-diesel engine variant.

The International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) has developed life-cycle assessment (LCA) tools to help understand the benefits of steel recycling. The key themes important to sustainability are that: Steel recycling avoids environmental impacts associated with producing steel from virgin material sources; The amount of steel which is recycled/reused at end-of-life is crucial to the sustainability of the steel application; Whilst all steels contain recycled content, the level has little or no impact on the sustainability of the steel application in a life-cycle context. There is a misperception that specifying recycled steel is more environmentally friendly than specifying virgin material steel. When looked at in the broader context of sustainability, analysis shows that recycled content is irrelevant providing that the steel is reused or recycled at the end-of-life of the application.