Life Cycle Assessment of Residential Air Conditioners Considering the Benefits of Their Use: A Case Study in Indonesia
The global demand for air conditioners (ACs) has more than tripled since 1990, with 1.6 billion units currently in use. With the rapid economic and population growth of countries located in the hottest parts in the world, this trend is likely to continue in the future. The aim of this study was to s...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-01-01
|
| Series: | Energies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/2/447 |
| _version_ | 1797410944126550016 |
|---|---|
| author | Selim Karkour Tomohiko Ihara Tadahiro Kuwayama Kazuki Yamaguchi Norihiro Itsubo |
| author_facet | Selim Karkour Tomohiko Ihara Tadahiro Kuwayama Kazuki Yamaguchi Norihiro Itsubo |
| author_sort | Selim Karkour |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The global demand for air conditioners (ACs) has more than tripled since 1990, with 1.6 billion units currently in use. With the rapid economic and population growth of countries located in the hottest parts in the world, this trend is likely to continue in the future. The aim of this study was to show the benefits of introducing air conditioners with different materials or different technologies such as inverters with high energy-saving performance on the environment and human health in Indonesia. To evaluate the environmental impacts of the different technologies, a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) of air conditioners was conducted using the life-cycle impact assessment method based on endpoint modeling (LIME3). As expected, the use stage has the largest global warming potential (GWP), representing more than 90% of the impact, whereas copper and nickel have the most important impact in terms of resource consumption (about 50%). We found that the impacts are heavily dependent on the country’s energy mix, but reduction can be achieved by introducing better technologies. The integration factors from LIME3 were then applied to estimate the external cost of each model; the results showed that the use stage also has the most influence. Even though the impact of climate change is important, air pollution impact must be seriously considered as its impact was found to be the highest (about 60% of the total impact). The external cost was finally compared to the possible benefits produced by the introduction of air conditioning technologies during their 10-year life cycle. We found that the impacts are twice that of the benefit for the best model (USD 2003 vs. 1064); however, the novelty of this study is that the benefit was also considered. In the future, developing countries should promote AC models with inverters, refrigerants with low global warming impact such as natural refrigerants, and encourage the recycling of units as soon as possible. The energy mix for electricity production is also a key parameter to consider. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:37:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-27143173f611411e96ebca189278b546 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:37:50Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-27143173f611411e96ebca189278b5462023-12-03T13:24:59ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732021-01-0114244710.3390/en14020447Life Cycle Assessment of Residential Air Conditioners Considering the Benefits of Their Use: A Case Study in IndonesiaSelim Karkour0Tomohiko Ihara1Tadahiro Kuwayama2Kazuki Yamaguchi3Norihiro Itsubo4Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tokyo City University, Yokohama 224-8551, JapanGraduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa 277-8561, JapanGraduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa 277-8561, JapanTEPCO Research Institute, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc., Yokohama 230-8510, JapanGraduate School of Environmental Studies, Tokyo City University, Yokohama 224-8551, JapanThe global demand for air conditioners (ACs) has more than tripled since 1990, with 1.6 billion units currently in use. With the rapid economic and population growth of countries located in the hottest parts in the world, this trend is likely to continue in the future. The aim of this study was to show the benefits of introducing air conditioners with different materials or different technologies such as inverters with high energy-saving performance on the environment and human health in Indonesia. To evaluate the environmental impacts of the different technologies, a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) of air conditioners was conducted using the life-cycle impact assessment method based on endpoint modeling (LIME3). As expected, the use stage has the largest global warming potential (GWP), representing more than 90% of the impact, whereas copper and nickel have the most important impact in terms of resource consumption (about 50%). We found that the impacts are heavily dependent on the country’s energy mix, but reduction can be achieved by introducing better technologies. The integration factors from LIME3 were then applied to estimate the external cost of each model; the results showed that the use stage also has the most influence. Even though the impact of climate change is important, air pollution impact must be seriously considered as its impact was found to be the highest (about 60% of the total impact). The external cost was finally compared to the possible benefits produced by the introduction of air conditioning technologies during their 10-year life cycle. We found that the impacts are twice that of the benefit for the best model (USD 2003 vs. 1064); however, the novelty of this study is that the benefit was also considered. In the future, developing countries should promote AC models with inverters, refrigerants with low global warming impact such as natural refrigerants, and encourage the recycling of units as soon as possible. The energy mix for electricity production is also a key parameter to consider.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/2/447life cycle assessmentimpact assessmentclimate changeair conditioningcost-benefit analysisdeveloping countries |
| spellingShingle | Selim Karkour Tomohiko Ihara Tadahiro Kuwayama Kazuki Yamaguchi Norihiro Itsubo Life Cycle Assessment of Residential Air Conditioners Considering the Benefits of Their Use: A Case Study in Indonesia Energies life cycle assessment impact assessment climate change air conditioning cost-benefit analysis developing countries |
| title | Life Cycle Assessment of Residential Air Conditioners Considering the Benefits of Their Use: A Case Study in Indonesia |
| title_full | Life Cycle Assessment of Residential Air Conditioners Considering the Benefits of Their Use: A Case Study in Indonesia |
| title_fullStr | Life Cycle Assessment of Residential Air Conditioners Considering the Benefits of Their Use: A Case Study in Indonesia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Life Cycle Assessment of Residential Air Conditioners Considering the Benefits of Their Use: A Case Study in Indonesia |
| title_short | Life Cycle Assessment of Residential Air Conditioners Considering the Benefits of Their Use: A Case Study in Indonesia |
| title_sort | life cycle assessment of residential air conditioners considering the benefits of their use a case study in indonesia |
| topic | life cycle assessment impact assessment climate change air conditioning cost-benefit analysis developing countries |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/2/447 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT selimkarkour lifecycleassessmentofresidentialairconditionersconsideringthebenefitsoftheiruseacasestudyinindonesia AT tomohikoihara lifecycleassessmentofresidentialairconditionersconsideringthebenefitsoftheiruseacasestudyinindonesia AT tadahirokuwayama lifecycleassessmentofresidentialairconditionersconsideringthebenefitsoftheiruseacasestudyinindonesia AT kazukiyamaguchi lifecycleassessmentofresidentialairconditionersconsideringthebenefitsoftheiruseacasestudyinindonesia AT norihiroitsubo lifecycleassessmentofresidentialairconditionersconsideringthebenefitsoftheiruseacasestudyinindonesia |