Full life cycle assessment: The Australian clay brick industry experience

Recent years have seen copious amounts of life cycle assessments performed for diverse sectors in Australia. The clay brick industry, too, has been intensively active in that area. This report describes the various aspects of life cycle assessments, their results and the continuing need for further action.

1 Introduction

It is no secret that Australia has a very strong and efficient economy that benefits significantly from its natural and mineral resources. At the heart of the economy – perhaps unfortunately – is cheap energy fuelled by non-renewable resources.

The availability of non-renewable resources is “perhaps unfortunate” because investment decisions in these energy supply systems was made during the 1960s and earlier before the double-edge sword of plentiful non-renewable resources had become apparent.

Despite this, and despite the difficulty of climate politics currently occurring in...

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