A Life Cycle Inventory for the North American Steel Industry

摘要

The increasing need for data is becoming apparent as life cycle assessment becomes a popular tool for analyzing the environmental performance of product systems. Life cycle inventory is the underlying block of data necessary for completing life cycle assessment studies. The first attempt to create a flexible life cycle inventory of North American steel products was successfully completed in 1997. The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) with its member companies undertook the project in conjunction with a global effort guided by the International Iron and Steel Institute (HSI). A world-wide life cycle inventory of 12 steel products was initiated by HSI in December 1995. Data was collected from over 50 plants in 17 countries mostly from North American, European, and Asian markets. The steel industry study is not a full life cycle inventory study because the system boundary starts with the extraction of resources from the earth and ends with the production of steel at plant gates. The transformation of the steel products into goods for consumer and industrial consumption and the use of these goods were not included. These life cycle stages will be studied in future work. The North American life cycle inventory includes primary data representing 1995 production from six steel companies. Collectively, these six companies represent about 26% of annual steel production in Canada and the United States. An example of results from the life cycle inventory study is presented.