John, all of the basic LCA materials I have read describe the process of
identifying the boundaries of the analysis, and there is some guidance.
One of the documents that seems most often referenced is "Life Cycle
Assessment: Principles and Practice" available on the USEPA website; you
might take a look at that. Although I am not an expert, my sense is that
much depends on the purpose of the analysis. If you want to compare the
life cycles of two different products, you may draw different boundaries
than if you wanted to improve the efficiency or greenness of one of the
products.
On the interdependence issue, you might take a look at the Economic
Input-Output LCA approach developed at Carnegie Mellon (google EIOLCA).
This model is a top-down approach based on economic input-output theory
originally developed by Leontieff. As always, there are pros
(information about connections to other economic sectors) and cons (no
real details about the life cycle itself), but it's a nice contrast to
the conventional bottom-up approach.
Best -- BC
Selsky, John (USF Lakeland wrote:
> Thanks, Fredrica, that slide show is evocative without being too
> depressing.
>
> I have a question for the life cycle analysis experts on the list: Can
> you enlighten the rest of us about how one bounds a LCA? Given the
> extensive interdependencies in complex ecosystems (or, given that all
> products are embedded in complex socio-technical-ecological systems),
> what decision rules has the LCA field developed in order to perform
> meaningful analyses and draw conclusions that are deemed legitimate,
> without covering the entire world?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> John
>
> .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
> Dr. John W. Selsky
> Associate Professor, Management
> University of South Florida Lakeland
> 3433 Winter Lake Road
> Lakeland, FL 33803
> +1-863-667-7718
> +1-863-667-7751 fax
>
jselsky@lakeland.usf.edu
> .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Organizations and the Natural Environment Discussion
> [mailto:
ONE-L@AOMLISTS.pace.edu] On Behalf Of Rudell, Fredrica
> Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 9:32 PM
> To:
ONE-L@AOMLISTS.pace.edu
> Subject: Dramatic illustration of plastic bag externalities...
>
> FYI, there's an impressive slide show making the e-mail rounds. Rather
> than attach a large file, I was able to track it to this website.
> Scroll down to "Shopping Bags," and click on "dangers of plastic bags
> and what countries around the world are doing about it."
>
>
http://www.globalstewards.org/reduce.htm
>
>
> FR
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: Organizations and the Natural Environment Discussion on behalf of
> Selsky, John (USF Lakeland
> Sent: Wed 6/11/2008 4:23 PM
> To:
ONE-L@AOMLISTS.pace.edu
> Subject: Re: Environmental impact of producing/using paper bags vs.
> plastic bags
>
>
>
> Lori,
> Rob's response is enlightening. Presumably the plastics industry's
> 'truncation' of the LCA would externalize the effects of ingestion of
> that low-value product by albatrosses, urban cows et al.
>
> John
>
> .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
> Dr. John W. Selsky
> Associate Professor, Management
> University of South Florida Lakeland
> 3433 Winter Lake Road
> Lakeland, FL 33803
> +1-863-667-7718
> +1-863-667-7751 fax
>
jselsky@lakeland.usf.edu
> .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
>
--
Bob Clemen
Fuqua School of Business
Duke University, Box 90120
Durham, NC 27708-0120
Phone: 919-660-8005
Fax: 919-684-2818
WWW: http://faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/~clemen/bio/