WorldAutoSteel joins corporations from 17 countries and 20 industry sectors in a road test of a new global framework for green house gas emissions (GHG) measurement. The road test is part of the GHG Protocol Initiative convened by the World Resource Institute (WRI) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), whose mission is to develop internationally accepted GHG accounting and reporting standards and promote their use worldwide. WorldAutoSteel announced today its participation in the road test for one of two new standards developed through the GHG Protocol Initiative: the Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard. This standard provides guidance for the preparation of a GHG emissions inventory for a given product.
''WorldAutoSteel is committed to and actively seeking opportunities to support life cycle thinking around the globe for automotive design and material selection decisions,'' said Edward Opbroek, Director, WorldAutoSteel. ''The GHG Protocol Initiative gives us an opportunity to test and improve methodologies used to analyse material impact on vehicle life cycles.'' WorldAutoSteel participants will use the University of California at Santa Barbara GHG Materials Comparison Model to fulfil the requirements for the road test and create case studies of vehicle life cycle emissions using a variety of materials, powertrains and fuel sources.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a technique compiling an inventory of relevant inputs and outputs of a product system, evaluating the potential environmental impacts associated with those inputs and outputs, and interpreting the results of the inventory and impact phases in relation to the goal and scope of a study.
Current regulations being developed around the world are centering on tailpipe, or use phase emissions. However, it is not just vehicle use that causes GHG emissions, but all of its life cycle stages, from material production and vehicle manufacturing to vehicle end-of-life management.
A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach, focused on the impact of GHG emissions, assists automakers in evaluating and reducing the total energy consumed and the lifetime GHG emissions of their products. Regulations that consider only the vehicle use phase can encourage use of low-density, GHG-intensive materials that provide somewhat lighter weight components. However, this may have the unexpected result of increasing GHG emissions during the vehicle's total life cycle.
''If materials are selected based on their performance in just one phase of a vehicle's life, it could result in the unintended consequences of higher emissions over the whole life cycle,'' said Opbroek. ''Or, worse yet, impose severe cost increases for no ultimate gain on emissions improvements.''
To learn more about the GHG Protocol Initiative, visit www.ghgprotocol.org.
