Multicriteria analysis of coal mine

In order to analyze the environmental impact of the coal production we must take into account all relevant aspects such as energy consumption, the consumption of non-renewable resources, waste generated during all stages of the coal production, methane emission from coal mines and many other factors that can significantly affect the final environmental impact. The separate analysis should be made for the whole system without distinguishing the unit processes with the system boundaries defined as the boundaries of coal mine itself. The general efficiencies of the whole system are used. This type of analysis could be useful for stakeholder like executives, government and other decision makers. The detailed evaluation of specific unit processes could be used for the optimization process of the whole system. The evaluation requires a lot of data and appropriate assessment models and tools. In the manuscript the complete model of multi-criteria analysis is presented. It is done on the basis of LCA approach using CML2001 methodology. The additional impact indicators was proposed. They cover important issues like waste management focused on the most favored methods of utilization, energy efficiency and quality of the final product. The special attention is paid to location of the system and its importance for the results of analysis.