Browsing by Author "Uctug, Fehmi Gorkem"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Emerging Waste Valorization Pathway with Aerobic Granular Sludge: Prospective Life Cycle Assessment for Türkiye
(Elsevier Sci Ltd, 2026-06) Fereidani, Bahar M.; Eljamal, Ramadan; Uctug, Fehmi Gorkem; Yilmaz, Gulsum
To address the environmental burdens of wastewater generation and fossil-based economy, application of aerobic granular sludge (AGS), which entails bio-resource recovery and wastewater treatment can be promising. Recognizing AGS technology as a sustainable waste management solution requires a robust assessment of its environmental performance relative to conventional pathways. Prospective environmental impacts of two AGSbased wastewater treatment configurations were evaluated in the context of Türkiye: (1) AGS with primary settling and an external membrane (PS-AGS-EM), (2) AGS with an external membrane (AGS-EM), where both enable recovery of polyhydroxyalkanoates, extracellular polymeric substances and biogas. From a consequential assessment perspective, operation of AGS configurations with an average of-0.3 kg CO2eq. per m3 wastewater demonstrated to be more favorable compared to the activated sludge and membrane bioreactor with 1.26 kg CO2eq. and 0.8 kg CO2eq. per m3 wastewater, respectively. Consumption of electricity was the major hotspot in both AGS configurations, especially for AGS-EM with almost 50% contribution to global warming potential and freshwater eutrophication potential categories. Under a wastewater management functional unit and assuming high substitution rates of conventional polymers by recovered biopolymers, AGS-EM configuration demonstrated superior environmental performance despite higher energy and chemical demands. Conversely, when EPS production was considered as the functional unit, PS-AGS-EM performed more favorably due to its lower energy and chemical requirements and higher biogas recovery potential. In the endeavors towards sustainable phasing out of fossil-based polymers and efficient water treatment strategies, the outcomes of the present AGS resource recovery study can provide an environmentally enlightening guideline.
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Electric Vehicles and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles Manufactured in Turkey
(2022) Uctug, Fehmi Gorkem
Bu çalışmada Türkiye’de üretilen elektrikli ve benzinle çalışan içten yanmalı motorlu binek otomobillerin çevresel etkileri yaşam döngüsü değerlendirmesi yöntemiyle kıyaslanmıştır. Fonksiyonel birimin aracın kat ettiği 1 kilometrelik mesafe olarak tanımlandığı çalışmada CCaLC yazılımı ve CML2001 yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Karbon ayak izi açısından elektrikli araçların içten yanmalı motorlu araçlara göre daha çevre dostu olduğunu görülmekle beraber, diğer çevresel etkiler de göz önüne alındığında iki teknoloji arasında ciddi bir fark görülmemiştir. Eşit ağırlıklandırma yoluyla hesaplanan toplam çevresel etki skoruna bakıldığında elektrikli araçların, içten yanmalı motorlu araçlara göre %4 daha yüksek etkiye sahip olduğu belirlenmiştir. Çevresel etkilerin iki temel sebebi olarak otomobil lastikleri ve araçların hareketi için gereken enerji ihtiyacı tespit edilmiştir. 2030 yılında Türkiye’de ön görülen elektrik araç yaygınlaşma hedeflerinin tutturulması halinde ulusal karbon ayak izinin %1,6 oranında düşmesi beklenmektedir. Elektrikli araçların karbon ayak izi dışındaki diğer çevresel etkilerinin azaltılabilmesi için Türkiye’deki şebeke elektriği üretiminde yenilenebilir kaynakların payının artırılması gerekliliği ortaya çıkmıştır.
Citation - WoS: 8
Citation - Scopus: 12
Life Cycle Assessment-Based Environmental Impact Analysis of a Tier 4 Data Center: a Case Study in Turkey
(Elsevier Ltd, 2023-03) Görkem Üçtuğ F.; Can Ünver T.; Görkem Üçtuğ, Fehmi; Can Ünver, Tayyar; Unver, Tayyar Can; Uctug, Fehmi Gorkem
Data centers are responsible for 1% of the global electricity consumption, leading to significant greenhouse gas emissions. This study is considered to be the first in the literature which uses life cycle assessment to investigate the environmental impacts of a tier-4 data center operation. The impacts were calculated via CCaLC software with Ecoinvent2 database by using CML2001 method. Office supplies, electricity, water and fuel consumption, direct emissions, and end-of-life treatment where applicable were considered in the system boundaries. The results show that more than 98% of the environmental impacts are caused by the electricity consumption in the data center. It was found out that improvements made in cooling and uninterrupted power supply systems have the potential to reduce the annual impacts by approximately 15% on average. Compared to the average data center in the United States, the data center analyzed in this study was found to have approximately 20% higher impact scores. The main conclusion of this study is that it is evident that governments should provide incentives such as tax deductions to promote energy efficiency and/or renewable energy utilization in the data centers for better impact mitigation. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd