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Volumetric Method for the Determining kg CO2 eq. and Energy Requirements for the Production of Power Tools at an Early Stage of Product Design
Sovják, Richard ; Sobotová,, Lydia (oponent) ; Grall, Günter (oponent) ; Křenek, Ladislav (vedoucí práce)
Emissions of kg CO2 eq. occur at different stages of the product life cycle and have a significant impact on global warming. The method used to assess these negative impacts is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which enables the determination of the carbon footprint, energy requirements of materials production, manufacturing processes, transport, use, and end of life (EoL). These analyses are time-consuming, costly to train, and require mass and material characterisation of products. The proposed VEME (Volumetric Evaluating Method of Ecodesign) method uses the volumetric properties of the product and its structural and material compositions. To achieve the objective, 134 power tools (manufactured from 1989 to 2018) were analysed with the inclusion of 10 types of categories based on the type of tool. 3D scanning was used to determine the volume of the product followed by material analysis and then the Oil Point Method (OPM), which is based on LCA. Tools were evaluated in three possible EoL variants (Landfilling, Combustion, and Recycling 90%). From the data obtained, a Monte Carlo simulation was performed for each tool sample of n = 1,000 with 95% confidence. Equations were established to determine the energy requirements for tool production, emissions of kg CO2 eq. (for 11 world countries), packaging and transport data. With 90% recycling, energy savings of up to 32.4% are possible compared to landfill. Of the 134 samples, 9.7% were recycled, where recycling was up to 6.2% more energy intensive than landfilling. This is due to the high energy requirements of the recycling materials. The new method will find applications in product design in industrial design, but also in the areas of the economic evaluation of production method and location. It can also be used to extend the energy labelling of products to include the energy intensity of production, transport, and packaging.
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