Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become the recognized instrument to assess the ecological burdens and human health impacts connected with the complete life cycle (creation, use, end-of-life) of products, processes and activities, enabling the assessor to model the entire system from which products are derived or in which processes and activities operate. This volume introduces the major new book series LCA Compendium - The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment. In this volume, the main drivers in the development of LCA are explored. The volume also discusses strengths and limitations in LCA as well as challenges and gaps, thus offering an unbiased picture of the state-of-the-art and future of LCA.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has developed in Australia over the last 20 years into a technique for systematically identifying the resource flows and environmental impacts associated with the provision of products and services. Interest in LCA has accelerated alongside growing demand to assess and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across different manufacturing and service sectors. Life Cycle Assessment focuses on the reflective practice of LCA, and provides critical insight into the technique and how it can be used as a problem-solving tool. It describes the distinctive strengths and limitations of LCA, with an emphasis on practice in Australia, as well as the application of LCA in waste management, the built environment, water and agriculture. Supported by examples and case studies, each chapter investigates contemporary challenges for environmental assessment and performance improvement in these key sectors. LCA methodologies are compared to the emerging climate change mitigation policy and practice techniques, and the uptake of ‘quick’ LCA and management tools are considered in the light of current and changing environmental agendas. The authors also debate the future prospects for LCA technique and applications.

Life Cycle Assessment

This book covers the latest developments in life cycle assessment LCA both in terms of methodology and its application in various research areas. It includes methodological questions as well as case studies concerning energy and mobility, materials and engineering, sustainable construction and future technologies. With numerous research articles from leading German and Austrian research institutes, the book is a valuable source for professionals working in the field of sustainability assessment, researchers interested in the current state of LCA research, and advanced university students in various scientific and technical fields. Chapter “Life Cycle Assessment of a Hydrogen and Fuel Cell RoPax Ferry Prototype” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This book presents specialised methods and tools built on classical LCA. In the first book-length overview, their importance for the further growth and application of LCA is demonstrated for some of the most prominent species of this emerging trend: Carbon footprinting; Water footprinting; Eco-efficiency assessment; Resource efficiency assessment; Input-output and hybrid LCA; Material flow analysis; Organizational LCA. Carbon footprinting was a huge driver for the market expansion of simplified LCA. The discussions led to an ample proliferation of different guidelines and standards including ISO/TS 14067 on Carbon Footprint of Product. Atsushi Inaba (Kogakuin University, Tokyo, Japan) and his eight co-authors provide an up-to-date status of Carbon Footprint of Products. The increasing relevance of Water Footprinting and the diverse methods were the drivers to develop the ISO 14046 as international water footprint standard. Markus Berger (Technische Universität Berlin, Germany), Stephan Pfister (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) and Masaharu Motoshita (Agency of Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Japan) present a status of water resources and demands from a global and regional perspective. A core part is the discussion and comparison of the different water footprint methods, databases and tools. Peter Saling from BASF SE in Ludwigshafen, Germany, broadens the perspective towards Eco-efficiency Assessment. He describes the BASF-specific type of eco-efficiency analysis plus adaptions like the so-called SEEBALANCE and AgBalance applications. Laura Schneider, Vanessa Bach and Matthias Finkbeiner (Technische Universität Berlin, Germany) address multi-dimensional LCA perspectives in the form of Resource Efficiency Assessment. Research needs and proposed methodological developments for abiotic resource efficiency assessment, and especially for the less developed area of biotic resources, are discussed.The fundamentals ofInput-output and Hybrid LCA are covered by Shinichiro Nakamura (Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan) and Keisuke Nansai (National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Japan). The concepts of environmentally extended IO, different types of hybrid IO-LCA and the waste model are introduced. David Laner and Helmut Rechberger (Vienna University of Technology, Austria) present the basic terms and procedures of Material Flow Analysismethodology. The combination of MFA and LCA is discussed as a promising approach for environmental decision support. Julia Martínez-Blanco (Technische Universität Berlin, Germany; now at Inèdit, Barcelona, Spain), Atsushi Inaba (Kogakuin University, Tokyo, Japan) and Matthias Finkbeiner (Technische Universität Berlin, Germany) introduce a recent development which could develop a new trend, namely the LCA of Organizations.

This book describes the importance of the goal and scope phase for the entire LCA study. In this first phase of the LCA framework (ISO standardized), the purpose of the assessment is defined and decisions are made about the details of the industrial system being studied and how the study will be conducted. Selecting impact categories, category indicators, characterization models, and peer review is decided during goal and scope definition. The book provides practical guidance and an overview of LCIA methods available in LCA software. Although not specified in the ISO standards, Attributional LCA and Consequential LCA are presented in order to appropriately determine the goal and scope of an assessment. The book closes with the interconnection between goal and scope definition and the interpretation phase. Example goal and scope documents for attributional and consequential LCAs are provided in the annexes.

This book discusses the phase “Interpretation” in an outstanding way. According to the opinio communis within the LCA community, “Interpretation” is classified as fourth phase of the LCA framework. However, referring to ISO 14040, this book defines “Interpretation” according to its function in the LCA framework, and this means that “Interpretation has a much broader influence than generally accepted. It overarches goal and scope, inventory analysis and impact assessment. Conclusions are drawn from the results of the inventory and the impact assessment, and recommendations refer to the objective of the study, the goal and scope phase. Likewise to be considered are the defined framework conditions, the reasons for carrying out the study as well as the context of the intended applications and the target groups of the results). A second highlight of this book concerns “Interpretation” as discussed in conjunction with Critical Review and Reporting, which is an outstanding approach. The relationship between interpretation and critical review can be seen in the fact that interpretation is a kind of structured preparation of a critical review; in practice, the performance of a critical review can be made much easier if the preparers of a life cycle assessment study very carefully follow the requirements that are specifically placed on the interpretation. Because the critical review is the independent quality control of an LCA, the results improve the credibility of reporting. The critical review helps to avoid text weaknesses and potential misunderstandings because these aspects will easier be realized by independent readers from different viewpoints. The reviewers thus also represent the first readership of a study and can help to ensure that the specific requirements for good and clear reporting of life cycle assessments are met. Sound reporting needs clear conclusions.

This book comprises recent developments in life cycle assessment (LCA) both with regards to the methodology and its application in various research fields, including mobility, engineering and manufacturing. Containing numerous original research articles from leading German research institutes, the book provides an insightful resource for professionals working in the field of sustainability assessment, for researchers interested in the current state of LCA research as well as for advanced university students in different scientific and engineering fields.

This book addresses the specialized topic of input–output models for sustainable industrial systems. While these models are well-established tools for economic analysis, their underlying mathematical structure is also applicable to the analysis and optimization of a wide range of systems that are characterized by linear interdependencies among their components. This means that input–output models can be used for diverse networks, such as processes within industrial plants, industrial plants in a supply chain, or departmental units within an organization. The models can also be readily extended to interactions between man-made systems and the environment, e.g. flows of natural resources and/or pollutants. Furthermore, model variants with excess degrees of freedom can be formulated to allow optimization and decision-making to be integrated within the framework. This book examines how input–output models can be applied to sustainable industrial systems. Each major variant is discussed separately in a dedicated chapter, and representative case studies and supporting LINGO code are also included.