Exploring Life Cycle Analysis in Developing Sustainable Communities in Chhattisgarh

Shraddha Sharma*

Department of Architecture, National Institute of Technology, Raipur, C.G.

Abstract

With the rapid growth in the urbanization of Chhattisgarh, the need for sustainability has also brought out various strategies for catering to the issue of mass fossil usage. One such way can be seen in creating neighborhoods and environments that engage in practices that encourage sustainable living. Another is the usage of a technique that measures the amount of energy a commodity takes to produce to be put into use, followed by its maintenance and end of life. Life cycle analysis (LCA) is a technique used to understand the amount of energy that has surpassed the initial production of any product to its final disposal stage. This was brought out for the sole purpose of utilizing and opting for products that possess low embodied energy- an attempt to sensitize people to sustainability. Over the years the phases and the scale for LCA have changed drastically. This paper focuses on how the life cycle analysis could contribute to developing an environment for people that portrays sustainability in Chhattisgarh. A sustainable community is a way ahead for a better future and by integrating LCA for creating a sustainable community in the Indian context, a holistic approach could be envisaged that delivers the aim to be environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable.

Keywords- Sustainability, Life cycle analysis, Chhattisgarh

1.     Introduction

The United Nation’s 2030 sustainable development goal was introduced for identifying the best solutions in catering to the issues of climate change, environmental degradation, and mass fossil use. With the intent to find the requirements of the present and saving for the future generation, a tool was required that understands and evaluates the amount of energy any commodity, from small to large scale could utilize from its production stage to its disposal. This tool would help analyse how different materials would impact the environment, and later, on a large scale, with the decision-making and use of policy framework, the aim of sustainable development could be put into play. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is the tool that caters to the environmental, ecological, and social impacts of a product throughout its course of life.

There are four major phases of LCA. Each division is based on the steps that classify and rectify all the other processes and phases shown in Figure 1. The first phase begins with the definition of confined goals and the scope of the analysis. This helps to refine the necessary boundaries, its functionality, and the type of analysis the study aims. It is said to be the first defined declaration made to provide clear intended answers for the range, interest, target group, and accessibility of the aimed analysis. The second phase is called the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI). This phase inculcates all the necessary data required for the analysis. This data begins from its production stage along with manufacturing, transportation, product use, and ultimately, disposal. These stages vary as per the examination and the type of required life cycle assessment (Adhikari, Mahmoud, and Ellingwood 2021;). The most typical types are cradle-to-grave analysis, cradle-to-cradle assessment, and cradle-to-gate analysis (Abokersh et al. 2021).

Cradle-to-gate analyses the process from its production stage till it is ready for use. Cradle-to-grave tracks the process further and analyses it till its disposal whereas, cradle-to-cradle, being the most sustainable one, recycles the product instead of disposing of it. The third stage is the impact assessment where the data collected and interpreted is assessed and categorized as per their characterization models, which later goes into processes like Grouping and Normalisation. The final stage is the interpretation of the results analysed which gives a detailed idea of the significance of the study and its limitation which is shown in Figure 2.

One of the important potential factors of LCA is for the comparison of alternative methods which helps in providing pertinent information about the life cycle (Zaker Esteghamati et al. 2022). As an example, while comparing the Life Cycle analysis of construction materials such as fly ash bricks, objectives such as comparing the impact of recycled bricks and fly ash bricks, its impact, and identification of improvements in the life cycle are also available which makes the study versatile and robust. LCA works in parallel to the economic, ecological, and social sustainability domains. One example could be explained through the provision of knowledge about the potential social repercussions on people brought on by the activities occurring during the life cycle of a product, provided by social LCA which aims to assist organizations in operating in a socially responsible manner (Aberilla et al. 2020).

LCA is seen as a tool for process and product designers to include environmental factors in their design process, making it easy to foresee and steer clear of any hazards. LCA is viewed by consumers and consumer interest organizations as a tool to better inform customers about the relative environmental effect of alternative products to put pressure on manufacturers. Finally, regulators and decision-makers use LCA as a tool to direct the creation of environmental policy and to enforce statutory goals.

2.     Literature Study

The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) carried out India’s first LCA analysis for steel in 1999. Other studies were then carried out for various other materials such as cement, coal, paper, and jute. The investigations were initiated by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (formerly MoEF), the Manufacturing Associations, and the National Council for Cement & Building Materials (NCCB) Faridabad.

The Sustainable Recycling Industries (SRI) initiative, supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, has seen a lot of LCA work since 2015 (Campos-Guzmán et al. 2019, Corona and San Miguel 2019). This project's activities included establishing a regional centre for life cycle assessment (LCA), hosting several programs to build capacity, and gathering data for calculating the life cycle inventories (LCIs) in nine industries, including the electricity production and distribution in India, along with the cement industries, coal mining, agricultural products, textiles, waste treatment technologies, iron mining and steel production, water supply, and freight transportation. LCA consultants are experiencing several inquiries from the industry for performing LCAs recently due to the inclusion of LCA in ISO 14001 criteria.

Businesses having specialized LCA teams inside their organizations include Mahindra & Mahindra Tata Motors Limited, JK Tyres & Industries Limited, Sagar Cement, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., ITC Limited, Eaton Corporation, Lucas TVS, and SPB Papers. The primary goals of these studies are to increase resource efficiency and cut costs by concentrating on a certain product or process.

3.     Methodology

This study will portray an extensive literature study based on the functions of LCA and its integration in creating sustainable communities and later, specific communities of Chhattisgarh. Figure 2 shows the iterative process of the life cycle analysis in the Chhattisgarh communities context. The methodology begins with formulating a clear goal and scope of the study that needs to be done along with the collection of preliminary data that later on provides an inventory of the life cycle assessment which collaborates with the community’s database which later defines the results obtained and the amount of impact on the environment (Aberilla et al. 2020). With some data interpretation and changes a comparative analysis is formed to obtain the wanted result.

 Figure 2: Life Cycle Assessment Iterative Process (Source: Author)

4.     Communities in Chhattisgarh

One of the fastest growing and developing states, Chhattisgarh is a hub of rich heritage and ethnicity (De Boni et al. 2022). Due to growing urbanization, living standards had also seen a drastic variation. On the other hand, the tribal communities use old techniques that are sustainable and promote better living conditions. The main tribes as per location in Chhattisgarh is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Location-wise communities (tribal) in Chhattisgarh

Along with landscape tourism, the tribal communities play an important role in reviving the local craft and artworks which help in revenue generation, hence promoting social sustainability.

5.     Case study

In Ranidhera, Chhattisgarh, India, a decentralized power-producing facility was put into operation in 2006 for running on pure jatropha oil. The objectives were to evaluate the project's environmental viability to give policymakers an evidence-based justification for powering rural settlements (M. Hannouf and Assefa 2017; M. B. Hannouf et al. 2022). A thorough Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for rural electrification was performed which was Jatropha-based, along with other electrification methods including diesel-powered generators, photovoltaic (PV), and grid connection. In conclusion, compared to a diesel generator or grid connection, the jatropha-based electricity in Ranidhera decreases greenhouse gas emissions over the course of its whole life cycle by a factor of 7. Due to drawbacks such as air pollution caused by pre-heating the jatropha seeds, the environmental performance is only marginally enhanced. However, if jatropha is grown on marginal land and land use competition can be avoided, environmental advantages can only be realized. Given these circumstances, jatropha-based energy generation which is very durable and can be maintained even in distant and severely underdeveloped regions might be a good substitute for other renewable electrification methods. Hence, the community participation in Ranidhera in providing rural electrification has created sustainable development factors and enriched it with low carbon emissions.

6.     Conclusion

LCA is a method to analyse the impact of any commodity on the environment. Using healthy community participation, sustainable practices will implement better living standards as well as improve the quality of life and surroundings (Safarpour et al. 2022, Sevigné-Itoiz et al. 2021). Chhattisgarh being a hub of communities, stands apart from all the other states and has the potential of providing communities enriched with a better environment.

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