Assessing Water Footprint During Technology Selection

Companies today increasingly use life cycle thinking in product design, operations and business strategy. In the context of chemical companies, traditionally, financial considerations have driven technology selection and investment decisions. Although life cycle energy and carbon footprint considerations are also increasingly being taken into account, water footprint is a relatively less studied aspect. Through case studies, this work will evaluate the cradle to gate water footprint of alternative routes and technologies for the manufacturing of a selected chemical product against the economic attractiveness of each technology. The life cycle energy and carbon footprints will also be compared. This work will provide insights on the usability of data from currently available LCA databases, and hotspots in the life cycle water consumption of chemical products. This will also give directional indications of where chemical companies should focus on to reduce their life cycle water footprint.