Life Cycle Impact Assessment of Regional Water Consumption

• Main Authors: Tsai-Wen Chiang, 蔣在文
• Other Authors: Pei-Te Chiueh
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/48678373146098572097

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 環境工程學研究所 === 100 === Water scarcity has drawn great attention in Taiwan. According to the definition of the United Nations, Taiwan is one of the countries facing a water crisis in the 21th century.Although water scarcity is a global issue, there is no unified approach for the assessment of impacts of water consumption. While current life cycle assessments (LCA) evaluate impacts due to changes in water quality, assessment schemes and characterisation factors for the impacts of water use are still lacking. Our research establishes a method for assessing the environmental impacts of freshwater consumption in Taiwan based on current studies. The water stress level of three reservoirs in Taiwan were calculated by an water stress index. For impact assessment, Eco-indicator 99 method was used in this research. On the other hand, a case study of IC product-DRAM was discussed in this research to compare the original impact and the impact with freshwater consumption added. The results indicated that the water stress index (WSI) of all three reservoirs was higher than medium level. Impact assessment revealed, Shihgang reservoir to have the highest total impact per m3 of water consumed.WuShanTou reservoir to have the highest impact per m3 of water consumed in human health impact category. Shihmen reservoir to have the highest impact per m3 of water consumed in Ecosystem quality impact category, and Shihgang reservoir to have the highest impact per m3 of water consumed in Resources impact category. In the case study of DRAM, impact with water cunsumption added may be 1.17 times more than the original impact.