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Clean Technol.
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Multidisciplinary Applications of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the Development,...
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Multidisciplinary Applications of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the Development, Optimization, and Validation of Sustainable Solutions

A special issue of Clean Technologies (ISSN 2571-8797).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 2472

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Joana Pesqueira

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. LSRE-LCM–Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering-Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
2. ALiCE–Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Interests: life cycle assessment; sustainability; global warming; environmental policy and regulation; wastewater treatment; waste treatment
Dr. Inmaculada Velo-Gala

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Farmacy, University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain
Interests: life cycle assessment; wastewater treatment; material science; sustainability; drinking water; water reuse
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ana B. López

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering, Higher Polytechnic School of Linares, University of Jaén, Campus Cientifico-Tecnologico de Linares, 23700 Linares, Jaén, Spain
Interests: life cycle assessment; sustainable materials; circular economy; waste valorization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability is a core concept in today’s world. Across all disciplines, it is essential to ensure that new solutions are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. However, following general sustainability criteria is not enough. Sustainability demands a holistic perspective, one that avoids solving one problem at the expense of creating another, and considers the interrelationships of systems. For example, removing pollutants from wastewater may reduce ecotoxicity; however, it may require energy-intensive processes that increase the global warming potential or lead to resource depletion. Similarly, switching to raw materials may shift burdens to other life cycle stages, such as end-of-life.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) plays a vital role as a standardized method for evaluating and supporting sustainability claims.  It helps identify trade-offs between impact categories and life cycle stages. The integration of LCA into research and development introduces analytical complexity, but provides crucial insights for optimizing solutions from a life-cycle perspective that aims to ensure sustainability.

This Special Issue aims to showcase multidisciplinary applications of LCA in the development, optimization, and validation of sustainable solutions. We invite contributions that apply LCA across sectors to refine the design of a range of solutions, demonstrating how this methodology is reshaping research, innovation, and decision-making.

Dr. Joana Pesqueira
Dr. Inmaculada Velo-Gala
Dr. Ana B. López
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Clean Technologies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainability
  • life cycle assessment
  • green innovation
  • decision support tools
  • impact assessment
  • life cycle thinking

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 1852 KB  
Article
Process-Level Decarbonization Pathways of Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) Production: A Life Cycle Assessment Approach
by Xiaoyan Le, Mengmeng Shen, Ziyi Liao, Zhongyuan Zhu, Hao Niu, Kai Luo, Xidong Shi and Qiaoli Wang
Clean Technol. 2026, 8(3), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/cleantechnol8030078 - 27 May 2026
Viewed by 63
Abstract
Purified terephthalic acid (PTA) is an extremely important bulk organic raw material; it plays a central connecting role in the PX–PTA–polyester industry chain, while its significant carbon intensity remains poorly quantified. Through process-level life cycle assessment (LCA) based on in situ industrial data, [...] Read more.
Purified terephthalic acid (PTA) is an extremely important bulk organic raw material; it plays a central connecting role in the PX–PTA–polyester industry chain, while its significant carbon intensity remains poorly quantified. Through process-level life cycle assessment (LCA) based on in situ industrial data, this study establishes a comprehensive material-energy inventory for PTA production. The results show that the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the entire PTA process reached 1600.9 kg of CO2 eq·t−1, exceeding those of common primary chemicals, like aromatics, butadiene and styrene. The end process of the PTA unit (PU) dominates GHG emissions, reaching 365.6 kg CO2 eq·t−1, accounting for 22.3%, driven by extra xylene input, various catalyst consumption, auxiliary chemicals, and energy intensity. After allocating steam-related emissions from coal-fired power stations, the GHG emissions of the PU rise to 400.9 kg CO2 eq·t−1. Sensitivity analysis demonstrates that replacing conventional hydrogen with green hydrogen slashes hydrogen-related global warming potential (GWP) contribution by 61.5%. In addition, a 10% increase in electricity, coal, or steam elevates system GWP by 0.80%, 0.036% and 2.48%, respectively. The findings demonstrate that energy structure optimization and green hydrogen integration represent decisive levers for PTA decarbonization, providing data-driven insights for industrial transition under a carbon reduction policy framework. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multidisciplinary Applications of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the Development, Optimization, and Validation of Sustainable Solutions)
32 pages, 4717 KB  
Article
Integrating Rooftop Grid-Connected Photovoltaic and Battery Systems to Reduce Environmental Impacts in Agro-Industrial Activities with a Focus on Extra Virgin Olive Oil Production
by Grazia Cinardi, Provvidenza Rita D'Urso and Claudia Arcidiacono
Clean Technol. 2025, 7(4), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/cleantechnol7040091 - 16 Oct 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1598
Abstract
Agro-industrial activities require adaptations of technological energy systems to align with the European Sustainable Development Goals, and their highly seasonal and intermittent consumption profiles necessitate precise environmental assessment. This study aims at investigating the photovoltaic (PV) energy in various existing olive mills to [...] Read more.
Agro-industrial activities require adaptations of technological energy systems to align with the European Sustainable Development Goals, and their highly seasonal and intermittent consumption profiles necessitate precise environmental assessment. This study aims at investigating the photovoltaic (PV) energy in various existing olive mills to assess the reduction in olive oil carbon footprint (CF) when it is supplied by either a rooftop PV system or by PV combined with a battery energy storage system (BESS) to promote the self-consumption of the renewable energy produced, compared to the case when electricity is supplied by the national grid (NG). To this end, an algorithm was developed to optimise a decision-making tool for low-carbon energy systems in agro-industrial activities. An economic assessment was performed to complement the decision-making process. The potential energy self-consumed by the mill ranged between 11% and 18.1%. The renewable energy produced covered between 11% and 84.7% of the mill’s energy consumption. CF reduction resulted between 22% and 119%, depending on the system boundaries considered. The proposed methodology allows for replicability to other industrial activities, having different energy consumption profiles, with seasonal and discontinued consumption paths, since it is based on an hourly energy consumption evaluation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multidisciplinary Applications of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the Development, Optimization, and Validation of Sustainable Solutions)
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