• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• 제43권5호
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• pp.716-721
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• 2010

LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) carried out to estimate carbon footprint and to establish of LCI (Life Cycle Inventory) database of rice production system. The results of collecting data for establishing LCI D/B showed that organic fertilizer and chemical fertilizer input to 4.29E-01 kg $kg^{-1}$ rice and 2.30E-01 kg $kg^{-1}$ rice for rice cultivation. It was the highest value among input for rice cultivation. And direct field emission was 3.23E-02 kg $kg^{-1}$ during rice cropping. The results of LCI analysis focussed on greenhouse gas (GHG) was showed that carbon footprint was 8.70E-01 kg $CO_2$-eq. $kg^{-1}$ rice. Especially for 80% of $CO_2$ in the GHG and 7.02E-01 kg of its $CO_2$-eq. $kg^{-1}$ rice. Of the GHG emission $CH_4$, and $N_2O$ were estimated to be 13% and 5%, respectively. With LCIA (Life Cycle Impact Assessment) for rice cultivation system, it was observed that fertilizer process might be contributed to approximately 80% of GWP (global warming potential).

• Clean Technology
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.182-190
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• 2010

The feasibility of clean technology to minimize the $CO_2$ emission by recycling and reuse the waste materials and energy have been studied for the cement industry. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed for an alternative raw material-supply method to use the molted slag as the major raw material in the cement clinker manufacturing. Using this new method, a 60% of $CO_2$ could be reduced that comes out during the decarboxylation from the cement rotary kiln. The energy-efficiency improvement and the alternative energy methods that had been determined in our previous study through the environmental assessment of cement industry were applied to the study for the reduction of $CO_2$ emission. The natural gas, one of the fossil fuels, was also used as the first choice to get the result at the earliest time by the most economic and the most efficient green technology and to switch into the carbon neutral energy consumption pattern.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.24-30
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• 2011

BACKGROUND: High input to the arable land is contributed to increasing productivity with causing the global environmental problems at the same time. Rapeseed cultivation has been forced to reassess its positive point for utilization of winter fallow field. The Objective of this study was performed to assess the environmental impact of rapeseed cultivation with double-cropping system in paddy rice on Yeonggwang district using life cycle assessment technique. METHODS AND RESULTS: For assessing each stage of rapeseed cultivation, it was collected raw data for input materials as fertilizer and pesticide and energy consumption rate by analyzing the type of agricultural machinery and working hours by 1 ton rapeseed as functional unit. Environmental impacts were evaluated by using Eco-indicator 95 method for 8 impact categories. It was estimated that 216 kg $CO_2$-eq. for greenhouse gas, 3.98E-05 kg CFC-11-eq. for ozone lazer depletion, 1.78 kg SO2-eq. for acidification, 0.28 kg $PO_4$-eq. for eutrophication, 5.23E-03 kg Pb-eq. for heavy metals, 2.51E-05 kg B(a)p-eq. for carcinogens, 1.24 kg SPM-eq. for smog and 6,460 MJ LHV for energy resource are potentially emitted to produce 1 ton rapeseed during its whole cultivation period, respectively. It was considered that 90% of these potential came from chemical fertilizer. For the sensitivity analysis, by increasing the productivity of rapeseed by 1 ton per ha, potential environmental loading was reduced at 22%. CONCLUSION(s): Fertilization affected most dominantly to the environmental burden, originated from the preuse stage, i.e. fertilizer manufacturing and transporting. It should be included and assessed an indirect emission, which is not directly emitted from agricultural activities. Recycling resource in agriculture with reducing chemical fertilizer and breeding the high productive variety might be contribute to reduce the environmental loading for the rapeseed cultivation.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• 제29권5호
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• pp.389-406
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• 2011

As part of a feasibility study for introducing carbon labeling of fruit products in Korea, we explore the use of carbon footprints for Korean kiwifruit from Gyeongnam region as a case study. In Korea, the Korean Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI) is responsible for the carbon footprint labeling certification, and has two types of certification programs: one program focuses on climate change response (carbon footprint labeling analysis) and the other on low-carbon products (reduction of carbon footprints analysis). Currently agricultural products have not yet been included in the program. Carbon labeling could soon be a prerequisite for the international trading of agricultural products. In general the carbon footprints of various agricultural products from New Zealand followed the methodology described in the ISO standards and conformed to the PAS 2050. The carbon footprint assessment focuses on a supply chain, and considers the foreground and the background systems. The basic scheme consists of four phases, which are the 'goal', 'scope', 'inventory analysis', and 'interpretation' phases. In the case of the carbon footprint of New Zealand kiwifruit the study tried to understand each phase's contribution to total GHG emissions. According to the results, shipping, orchard, and coolstore operation are the main life cycle stages that contribute to the carbon footprint of the kiwifruit supply chain stretching from the orchard in New Zealand to the consumer in the UK. The carbon emission of long-distance transportation such as shipping can be a hot-spot of GHG emissions, but can be balanced out by minimizing the carbon footprint of other life cycle phases. For this reason it is important that orchard and coolstore operations reduce the GHG-intensive inputs such as fuel or electricity to minimize GHG emissions and consequently facilitate the industry to compete in international markets. The carbon footprint labeling guided by international standards should be introduced for fruit products in Korea as soon as possible. The already established LCA methodology of NZ kiwifruit can be applied for fruit products as a case study.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.49-58
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• 2015

In order to determine how much a new green building reduce the environmental impacts, it is necessary to establish the reference target for comparison. Therefore, this study aims to establish the reference target by evaluating the environmental impacts of existing buildings. To ensure this end, this study evaluated the environmental impacts(Global warming potential, ozone layer depletion potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, photochemical ozone creation potential, and abiotic depletion potential) of 17 existing elementary school buildings, which are located in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, and Gwangju, by using the hybrid LCA model. As a result, the environmental impacts of the case buildings were clearly distinguished in different regions. Therefore, this study presented the reference targets which are appropriate to each region. For example, the reference targets for global warming potential, which can be used in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, and Gwangju, are 3.76E+03, 1.90E+03, 2.63E+03, $2.81E+03kg-CO_2\;eq./m^2$, respectively. The presented reference targets are expected to be useful for understanding how much environmental impacts can be reduced when a new green school building is constructed.

• Resources Recycling
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.37-45
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• 2022

The development of the electrical, electronic, and telecommunication industries has increased the share of electricity in total energy consumption. With the enforcement of the Act on the Promotion of the Development, Use, and Diffusion of New and Renewable Energy in 2021, the mandatory supply ratio of new and renewable energy is expected to expand, and the amount of waste cables generated in the stage of replacing and discarding cables used in the industry is also expected to increase. The purpose of this study was to quantify the environmental burden of waste cable recycling through the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. The results showed that the higher the amount of glue contained in the waste cable, the greater was the amount of fine dust and greenhouse gases generated. In addition, by assigning weights to 10 environmental burden items, it was confirmed that the marine aquatic eco-toxicity potential (MAETP) and human toxicity potential (HTP) had the greatest environmental burden. The main causes were identified as heptane and ethanol, which were the glue contained in the waste cable and the cleaning solutions used to remove them. Therefore, it is necessary to refrain from using glue in the cable production process and reduce the environmental burden by reducing the use of waste cable cleaning solutions used in the recycling process or using alternative materials.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.17-27
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• 1999

Applicability of LCA in establishing the integrated solid waste management were examined. Data were collected from current waste management system. LCA method was then applied to find environmentally sustainable waste management. The process comprises five steps : (1) collecting data, comparing the data with comprehensive urban planning as well, (2) analyzing the current waste treatment procedure leading to the database establishment, (3) LCA for the waste management system, (4) finding alternative scenarios based on the former steps, (5) establishing the optimum method in Ecopolis, best fitted to the local situation. The results and suggestions in this study are expected to yield comprehensive analysis as to current practices in waste management. More importantly it will be a valuable data in minimizing environmental burdens in connecting with living environments of Ecopolis. Information regarding the urban system and total environmental quality are expected from this study.

• Magazine of RCR
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• 제18권1호
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• pp.20-28
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• 2023

기업의 ESG 활동의 일환으로 탄소중립과 순환경제의 개념을 활용한 기업의 성과를 고객에게 알리기 위하여 고품질의 전과정평가 결과에 대한 요구가 커지고 있다. 이를 위해서 LCI 데이터베이스에 대한 글로벌 요건에 맞는 고품질의 LCI 데이터베이스를 구축하고 관리하는 것이 국가적으로 중요하게 인식되고 있다. 이를 위해 UNEP는 GLAD 플랫폼을 만들었고, EU는 LCDN 플랫폼을 만들어 국제통용성을 고려한 고품질의 LCI 데이터베이스를 관리하려는 노력을 하고 있다. 국내 LCI 데이터베이스는 정부주도로 1999년부터 지속적으로 개발되어 활용되고 있지만, 국제통용성의 측면에서 볼 때, 기업의 생산현황을 반영한 최신의 일차데이터가 부족하고, LCI 데이터베이스에 포함된 목록항목들이 모든 환경영향을 충분히 평가할 수도 없으며, 데이터 정보제공의 형식인 LCI 데이터베이스 포맷이 글로벌 동향을 충분히 반영하지 못하고 있다. 이에 국제통용성을 고려한 국내 LCI 데이터베이스의 개발을 위해 산업을 대표하는 협회 또는 단체를 통해 매년 최신의 일차데이터를 확보하고, 이를 토대로 모든 환경영향을 평가할 수 있는 수준의 목록항목을 포함한 국내 LCI 데이터베이스를 개발하고, 이를 Eco-SPOLD_02 또는 ILCD 등의 최신 LCI 데이터베이스 포맷으로 관리하여야 한다.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• 제45권6호
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• pp.1143-1152
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• 2012

We established a top-down methodology to estimate carbon footprint as national mean value (reference) with the statistical data on agri-livestock incomes in 2007. We also established LCI (life cycle inventory) DB by a bottom-up methodology with the data obtained from interview with farmers from 4 large-scale farms at Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do province to estimate carbon footprint in 2011. This study was carried out to compare top-down methodology and bottom-up methodology in performing LCA (life cycle assessment) to analyze the difference in GHGs (greenhouse gases) emission and carbon footprint under conventional rice cultivation system. Results of LCI analysis showed that most of $CO_2$ was emitted during fertilizer production and rice cultivation, whereas $CH_4$ and $N_2O$ were mostly emitted during rice cultivation. The carbon footprints on conventional rice production system were 2.39E+00 kg $CO_2$-eq. $kg^{-1}$ by top-down methodology, whereas 1.04E+00 kg $CO_2$-eq. $kg^{-1}$ by bottom-up methodology. The amount of agro-materials input during the entire rice cultivation for the two methodologies was similar. The amount of agro-materials input for the bottom-up methodology was sometimes greater than that for top-down methodology. While carbon footprint by the bottom-up methodology was smaller than that by the top-down methodology due to higher yield per cropping season by the bottom-up methodology. Under the conventional rice production system, fertilizer production showed the highest contribution to the environmental impacts on most categories except GWP (global warming potential) category. Rice cultivation was the highest contribution to the environmental impacts on GWP category under the conventional rice production system. The main factors of carbon footprints under the conventional rice production system were $CH_4$ emission from rice paddy field, the amount of fertilizer input and rice yield. Results of this study will be used for establishing baseline data for estimating carbon footprint from 'low carbon certification pilot project' as well as for developing farming methods of reducing $CO_2$ emission from rice paddy fields.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• 제9권5호
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• pp.524-531
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• 2006

Environmental problem is one of important global issues. Transportations are main pollutant emission sources. Although railroad is stilt an environmental-friendly transportation, its environmental impact has been increased continuously. Especially, because a large amount of environmental impact is released from vehicles and facilities, it is necessary to assess and to reduce their environmental impact. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a representative method which can evaluate environment impact through the whole life cycle of a product or a process. In this study, the environmental impact of seat in the electric motor unit (EMU) was analyzed quantitatively with its material using lift cycle assessment (LCA). As a result, the characteristics of environmental impact were investigated differently with the material of seat. Among ten impact categories, the seat with aluminum and FRP showed the highest ozone depletion (OD). On the other hand, in the seat with stainless steel and plastic, fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity (FAET) and marine water aquatic ecotoxicity (MAET) were high relatively. Therefore, the parts of EMU must be selected considering the characteristics of environmental impact in future.