IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i11p6234-d566933.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Status of Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): A Case Study of South Korea

Author

Listed:
  • Golden Odey

    (Department of Agricultural Civil Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea)

  • Bashir Adelodun

    (Department of Agricultural Civil Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea
    Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Ilorin, Ilorin 240003, Nigeria)

  • Sang-Hyun Kim

    (Department of Agricultural Civil Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea)

  • Kyung-Sook Choi

    (Department of Agricultural Civil Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea
    Institute of Agricultural Science & Technology, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea)

Abstract

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as an environmental-impact assessment tool has received increasing attention over the years. Unlike the water footprint (WF) and carbon footprint (CF) assessments, whose focus is only on a single environmental aspect, the LCA systematically analyzes the different impacts along the entire life cycle, making possible the identification of potential environmental tradeoffs. In Korea, LCA has drawn much attention from both industry and academia since the mid-1990s. However, the level of Korean-related LCA studies with respect to different sectors in the last 20 years has not been analyzed. This study, therefore, sought to assess the status of environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies in South Korea. Specifically, the study focused on a bibliometric review of LCAs conducted in South Korea in the last 20 years and identified potential research gaps. Online searches of English-written articles published between 2000 and 2019 were conducted on Google, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, using eligible keywords. At the end of the search, about 91 LCA-related studies were discovered for South Korea within the study period. The majority of these studies focused on the construction (47%) and energy (30%) sectors, with fewer environmental studies on manufacturing (11%), transportation (9%), agriculture (2%), and information and communication (1%) industries. Based on publication trends, results show that LCA studies in South Korea have been on the rise in the past 20 years, even though the number of publications has not followed a constant pace. In comparison with the economic sectors of the country, reports show an inadequacy in the coverage of major industries of growing economic relevance, such as tourism, health, and agriculture, suggesting a need to increase and improve LCA-related studies in these sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Golden Odey & Bashir Adelodun & Sang-Hyun Kim & Kyung-Sook Choi, 2021. "Status of Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): A Case Study of South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-30, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:11:p:6234-:d:566933
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/11/6234/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/11/6234/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cho, Young Sang & Kim, Jeom Han & Hong, Seong Uk & Kim, Yuri, 2012. "LCA application in the optimum design of high rise steel structures," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 3146-3153.
    2. Selim Karkour & Yuki Ichisugi & Amila Abeynayaka & Norihiro Itsubo, 2020. "External-Cost Estimation of Electricity Generation in G20 Countries: Case Study Using a Global Life-Cycle Impact-Assessment Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-35, March.
    3. Seunguk Na & Inkwan Paik, 2019. "Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Costs with the Alternative Structural System for Slab: A Comparative Analysis of South Korea Cases," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-19, September.
    4. Solhee Kim & Rylie E. O. Pelton & Timothy M. Smith & Jimin Lee & Jeongbae Jeon & Kyo Suh, 2019. "Environmental Implications of the National Power Roadmap with Policy Directives for Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-22, November.
    5. Lee, Suh-Young & Lee, Jae-Uk & Lee, In-Beum & Han, Jeehoon, 2017. "Design under uncertainty of carbon capture and storage infrastructure considering cost, environmental impact, and preference on risk," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 725-738.
    6. Tae, Sungho & Shin, Sungwoo & Woo, Jeehwan & Roh, Seungjun, 2011. "The development of apartment house life cycle CO2 simple assessment system using standard apartment houses of South Korea," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 1454-1467, April.
    7. Hong, Taehoon & Koo, Choongwan & Kwak, Taehyun & Park, Hyo Seon, 2014. "An economic and environmental assessment for selecting the optimum new renewable energy system for educational facility," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 286-300.
    8. Hyeong†Woo Kim & Satoshi Ohnishi & Minoru Fujii & Tsuyoshi Fujita & Hung†Suck Park, 2018. "Evaluation and Allocation of Greenhouse Gas Reductions in Industrial Symbiosis," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(2), pages 275-287, April.
    9. Roh, Seungjun & Tae, Sungho & Suk, Sung Joon & Ford, George & Shin, Sungwoo, 2016. "Development of a building life cycle carbon emissions assessment program (BEGAS 2.0) for Korea׳s green building index certification system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 954-965.
    10. Lee, Nayoon & Tae, Sungho & Gong, Yuri & Roh, Seungjun, 2017. "Integrated building life-cycle assessment model to support South Korea's green building certification system (G-SEED)," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 43-50.
    11. Chau, C.K. & Leung, T.M. & Ng, W.Y., 2015. "A review on Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Energy Assessment and Life Cycle Carbon Emissions Assessment on buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 395-413.
    12. Jihoon Kim & Sungho Tae & Rakhyun Kim, 2018. "Theoretical Study on the Production of Environment-Friendly Recycled Cement Using Inorganic Construction Wastes as Secondary Materials in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-14, November.
    13. Nasir, Mohammed Haneef Abdul & Genovese, Andrea & Acquaye, Adolf A. & Koh, S.C.L. & Yamoah, Fred, 2017. "Comparing linear and circular supply chains: A case study from the construction industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 183(PB), pages 443-457.
    14. Manfred Lenzen & Ya-Yen Sun & Futu Faturay & Yuan-Peng Ting & Arne Geschke & Arunima Malik, 2018. "The carbon footprint of global tourism," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(6), pages 522-528, June.
    15. Lee, Kanghee & Tae, Sungho & Shin, Sungwoo, 2009. "Development of a Life Cycle Assessment Program for building (SUSB-LCA) in South Korea," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(8), pages 1994-2002, October.
    16. Seungjun Roh & Sungho Tae & Rakhyun Kim, 2018. "Analysis of Embodied Environmental Impacts of Korean Apartment Buildings Considering Major Building Materials," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-17, May.
    17. Roh, Seungjun & Tae, Sungho & Suk, Sung Joon & Ford, George, 2017. "Evaluating the embodied environmental impacts of major building tasks and materials of apartment buildings in Korea," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 135-144.
    18. Tae Hyoung Kim & Chang U Chae & Gil Hwan Kim & Hyoung Jae Jang, 2016. "Analysis of CO 2 Emission Characteristics of Concrete Used at Construction Sites," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-14, April.
    19. Solhee Kim & Taegon Kim & Timothy M. Smith & Kyo Suh, 2018. "Environmental Implications of Eco-Labeling for Rice Farming Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-19, April.
    20. Tae Hyoung Kim & Sung Ho Tae & Chang U. Chae & Won Young Choi, 2016. "The Environmental Impact and Cost Analysis of Concrete Mixing Blast Furnace Slag Containing Titanium Gypsum and Sludge in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-19, May.
    21. Park, Junghoon & Tae, Sungho & Kim, Taehyung, 2012. "Life cycle CO2 assessment of concrete by compressive strength on construction site in Korea," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 2940-2946.
    22. Lee, Suh-Young & Lee, In-Beum & Han, Jeehoon, 2019. "Design under uncertainty of carbon capture, utilization and storage infrastructure considering profit, environmental impact, and risk preference," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 34-44.
    23. Taehyoung Kim & Chang U. Chae, 2016. "Evaluation Analysis of the CO 2 Emission and Absorption Life Cycle for Precast Concrete in Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-13, July.
    24. Inkwan Paik & Seunguk Na, 2019. "Comparison of Carbon Dioxide Emissions of the Ordinary Reinforced Concrete Slab and the Voided Slab System During the Construction Phase: A Case Study of a Residential Building in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-16, June.
    25. Hyojin Lim & Sungho Tae & Seungjun Roh, 2018. "Analysis of the Primary Building Materials in Support of G-SEED Life Cycle Assessment in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-14, August.
    26. Heitz, Adeline & Dablanc, Laetitia & Olsson, Jerry & Sanchez-Diaz, Ivan & Woxenius, Johan, 2020. "Spatial patterns of logistics facilities in Gothenburg, Sweden," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    27. Sungwoo Lee & Sungho Tae & Seungjun Roh & Taehyung Kim, 2015. "Green Template for Life Cycle Assessment of Buildings Based on Building Information Modeling: Focus on Embodied Environmental Impact," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-15, December.
    28. Kim, Rakhyun & Tae, Sungho & Roh, Seungjun, 2017. "Development of low carbon durability design for green apartment buildings in South Korea," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 263-272.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Karim Naderi Mahdei & Seyed Mohammad Jafar Esfahani & Philippe Lebailly & Thomas Dogot & Steven Passel & Hossein Azadi, 2023. "Environmental impact assessment and efficiency of cotton: the case of Northeast Iran," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(9), pages 10301-10321, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Seungjun Roh & Sungho Tae & Rakhyun Kim & Suroh Park, 2019. "Probabilistic Analysis of Major Construction Materials in the Life Cycle Embodied Environmental Cost of Korean Apartment Buildings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-13, February.
    2. Roh, Seungjun & Tae, Sungho, 2017. "An integrated assessment system for managing life cycle CO2 emissions of a building," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 265-275.
    3. Seunguk Na & Inkwan Paik, 2019. "Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Costs with the Alternative Structural System for Slab: A Comparative Analysis of South Korea Cases," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-19, September.
    4. Seungjun Roh & Sungho Tae, 2016. "Building Simplified Life Cycle CO 2 Emissions Assessment Tool (B‐SCAT) to Support Low‐Carbon Building Design in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-22, June.
    5. Lee, Nayoon & Tae, Sungho & Gong, Yuri & Roh, Seungjun, 2017. "Integrated building life-cycle assessment model to support South Korea's green building certification system (G-SEED)," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 43-50.
    6. Chau, C.K. & Leung, T.M. & Ng, W.Y., 2015. "A review on Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Energy Assessment and Life Cycle Carbon Emissions Assessment on buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 395-413.
    7. Fenner, Andriel Evandro & Kibert, Charles Joseph & Woo, Junghoon & Morque, Shirley & Razkenari, Mohamad & Hakim, Hamed & Lu, Xiaoshu, 2018. "The carbon footprint of buildings: A review of methodologies and applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 1142-1152.
    8. Kim, Rakhyun & Tae, Sungho & Roh, Seungjun, 2017. "Development of low carbon durability design for green apartment buildings in South Korea," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 263-272.
    9. Shi, Qian & Lai, Xiaodong & Xie, Xin & Zuo, Jian, 2014. "Assessment of green building policies – A fuzzy impact matrix approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 203-211.
    10. Yan, Kun & Gao, Hanbo & Liu, Rui & Lyu, Yizheng & Wan, Mei & Tian, Jinping & Chen, Lyujun, 2024. "Review on low-carbon development in Chinese industrial parks driven by bioeconomy strategies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    11. Claudio Favi & Elisa Di Giuseppe & Marco D’Orazio & Marta Rossi & Michele Germani, 2018. "Building Retrofit Measures and Design: A Probabilistic Approach for LCA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-15, October.
    12. Kai Xue & Md. Uzzal Hossain & Meng Liu & Mingjun Ma & Yizhi Zhang & Mengqiang Hu & XiaoYi Chen & Guangyu Cao, 2021. "BIM Integrated LCA for Promoting Circular Economy towards Sustainable Construction: An Analytical Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-21, January.
    13. Jozef Mitterpach & Emília Hroncová & Juraj Ladomerský & Jozef Štefko, 2016. "Quantification of Improvement in Environmental Quality for Old Residential Buildings Using Life Cycle Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-12, December.
    14. Kong, Minjin & Ji, Changyoon & Hong, Taehoon & Kang, Hyuna, 2022. "Impact of the use of recycled materials on the energy conservation and energy transition of buildings using life cycle assessment: A case study in South Korea," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    15. Rosaria E.C. Amaral & Joel Brito & Matt Buckman & Elicia Drake & Esther Ilatova & Paige Rice & Carlos Sabbagh & Sergei Voronkin & Yewande S. Abraham, 2020. "Waste Management and Operational Energy for Sustainable Buildings: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-21, July.
    16. Ä°rem Åžanal, 2018. "Discussion on the effectiveness of cement replacement for carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction in concrete," Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 8(2), pages 366-378, April.
    17. Onat, Nuri Cihat & Kucukvar, Murat, 2020. "Carbon footprint of construction industry: A global review and supply chain analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    18. Yibo Wang & Lei Kou & Xiaoyu He & Wuxue Li & Huiyuan Liang & Xiaodong Shi, 2023. "A Modified Process Analysis Method and Neural Network Models for Carbon Emissions Assessment in Shield Tunnel Construction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-17, June.
    19. Gao, Hui & Wang, Donglin & Du, Xiaoxu & Zhao, Zhongwei, 2024. "An LCA-BIM integrated model for carbon-emission calculation of prefabricated buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    20. Shad, Rouzbeh & Khorrami, Mohammad & Ghaemi, Marjan, 2017. "Developing an Iranian green building assessment tool using decision making methods and geographical information system: Case study in Mashhad city," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 324-340.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:11:p:6234-:d:566933. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.