Abstract
Purpose
The goal of this study is to develop an estimate of water use and consumption in automotive manufacturing to enhance the data quality of vehicle life cycle assessments that include life cycle water impacts. A benchmark is developed to compare water resources across manufacturing and nonproduction-related manufacturing processes, including an indication whether indirect water consumption due to electricity generation is significant.
Methods
Data from 12 original equipment manufacturers’ (OEM’s) sustainability reports are examined for the years 2006 to 2010. Distinctions are made between “water use” and “water consumption.” These factors are divided by total reported production to develop use and consumption values in cubic meter/vehicle for comparison. Additionally, total energy consumption is converted to indirect water consumption based on the water consumed in the generation of electricity for the electricity grid mix.
Results and discussion
Excluding outliers, average direct water use is 5.20 and 5.95 m3/vehicle for manufacturing and company-wide activities, respectively, with corresponding standard deviations of 1.42 and 1.20 m3/vehicle. Average direct water consumption was calculated to be 1.25 and 4.29 m3/vehicle for manufacturing and company-wide activities, respectively, with corresponding standard deviations of 0.52 and 1.56 m3/vehicle. Average indirect water consumption due to electricity consumption is found to be 2.21 m3/vehicle. Variability arises through different understandings on the words “consumption” and “use,” reporting continuity between years and in classification of data as it relates to manufacturing, nonmanufacturing, or company-wide activities.
Conclusions
These water values show that needs vary widely across OEMs. Additionally, the magnitude of the indirect water consumption results indicates that OEMs should focus on both indirect and direct water consumption to reduce their overall water footprint. The results also highlight the potential for significance and variability in indirect water consumption, in particular for “cradle-to-gate” type of impact assessments, dependent on electricity generation water consumption assumptions. It is hoped that with the introduction of water reporting standards like the International Organization of Standardization 14046, manufacturers will provide a more comprehensive summary of their water use and consumption in the future.
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Abbreviations
- LCA:
-
Life cycle assessment
- OEM:
-
Original equipment manufacturer
- ISO:
-
International Organization of Standardization
- VMA:
-
Vehicle manufacturing and assembly
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Acknowledgments
The material presented in this manuscript is based on research done within the Sustainable Design and Manufacturing Program of the Manufacturing Research Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The authors would like to thank all those who have contributed their invaluable input and support, including but not limited to David Berdish, Thomas Niemann, Tim Wallington, Sherry Mueller, Hyung Chul Kim, and Wulf-Peter Schmidt from the Ford Motor Company.
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Semmens, J., Bras, B. & Guldberg, T. Vehicle manufacturing water use and consumption: an analysis based on data in automotive manufacturers’ sustainability reports. Int J Life Cycle Assess 19, 246–256 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-013-0612-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-013-0612-2