Choice of land reference situation in life cycle impact assessment

Abstract

Purpose Land use life cycle impact assessment is calculated as a distance to target value—the target being a desirable situation defined as a reference situation in Mila i Canals et al.’s (Int J Life Cycle Assess 12(1):2–4, 2007) widely accepted framework. There are several reference situations. This work aims to demonstrate the effect of the choice of reference situation on land impact indicators.