PurposeCarbon footprinting and life cycle assessment (LCA) are moving from average secondary data towards supply chain specific primary data, which can be modelled via different chain of custody (CoC) models. Contrary to common LCA practice, there is a push towards CoC models that enable a separation of physical and accounted products: the mass balance–credit method and the book and claim model. This article deepens the understanding of CoC modelling options in LCA and identifies corresponding challenges.MethodsA three-step research procedure is defined. First, the five different CoC models, as described in ISO 22095, are illustrated with the example of a hypothetical organization that uses both inputs with specified characteristics, such as biogenic materials, and conventional inputs, such as fossil materials. Second, the fundamental LCA standards—ISO 14040/44—are analyzed for specifications that are relevant for CoC modelling. The five CoC models are then analyzed for their conformity with these specifications. Furthermore, standards, such as ISO 14067 and the GHG Protocol, as well as the carbon footprint guidelines from Catena-X, Pathfinder, and Together for Sustainability (TfS), are analyzed for relevant specifications. Finally, challenges and potential requirements for the use of CoC models in LCA are identified and elaborated.Results and discussionThe mass balance–credit method and the book and claim model can be interpreted as not adhering to the LCA approach of describing physical systems, as specified in ISO 14040. Further, the mass balance–credit method leads to co-products, while not applying the allocation hierarchy of ISO 14044. However, the market-based method for electricity accounting, which resembles the book and claim model, is allowed and even required by some standards, such as the GHG Protocol and the ISO 14067. This may set a precedent for a more general separation of physical and accounted products. Main challenges for CoC modelling in LCA are the avoidance of double counting, the definition of consistent allocation rules, and the definition and enforcement of adequate requirements. The decision on which CoC models are to be allowed in LCA and the corresponding requirements depend on value choices. Thus, stakeholder processes are required for consensus finding.ConclusionWhile CoC modelling may gain relevance in LCA, it is important for the LCA community to be aware of potential challenges and work towards adequate solutions and requirements. Further research and specification are necessary to harmonize the standards for CoC modelling and LCA.

PurposeSupplying off-grid facilities such as astronomical observatories with renewable energy–based systems (RES) instead of diesel generators can considerably reduce their environmental impact. However, RES require oversized capacities to counter intermittency and comply with reliability requirements, hence shifting the environmental impact from operation to construction phase. We assess whether 100% RES scenarios are favorable from an environmental point of view and discuss the trade-offs in systems with backup fossil generators versus 100% renewable ones.MethodsIn this comparative life cycle assessment (LCA), we study various RES supply systems to power a new telescope in the Atacama Desert, Chile. We compare six setups, including 100% RES scenarios, namely, photovoltaics (PV) with batteries and hydrogen energy storage; high-renewable scenarios, with fossil fuel power generation next to RES and storage; and a system combining PV with diesel generation. We base system sizing on a techno-economical optimization for the start of operation in 2030. Foreground data stem from life cycle inventories of RES components since 2015 and 2030 electricity mix assumptions of production countries. We assess environmental impact in the categories climate change, mineral resource depletion, and water use.Results and discussionWe find that 100% RES and high-renewable scenarios result in emissions of 0.077–0.115 kg CO2e/kWh supplied, compared to 0.917 kg CO2e/kWh in the reference case with solely diesel generation. One hundred percent RES scenarios have a lower CO2e impact than high-renewable scenarios. However, the latter lower the mineral resource depletion and water use by about 27% compared to 100% RES scenarios. Applying hybrid energy storage systems increases the water use impact while reducing the mineral resource depletion.ConclusionsNone of the six energy systems we compared was clearly the best in all environmental impacts considered. Trade-offs must be taken when choosing an energy system to supply the prospective off-grid telescope in Chile. We find high-renewable systems with some fossil generation as the better option regarding power reliability, mineral resource depletion, and water use, while inducing slightly higher greenhouse gas emissions than the 100% RES scenarios. As remote research facilities and off-grid settlements today are mainly supplied by fossil fuels, we expect to motivate more multifaceted decisions for implementing larger shares of RES for these areas. To advance the LCA community in the field of energy systems, we should strive to incorporate temporal and regional realities into our life cycle inventories. To ease the path for upcoming studies, we publish this work’s inventories as detailed activity level datasets.

PurposeGlobally, there is an increased demand for education on life cycle assessment (LCA). In response, there has been an increase in course availability, but also a lack of clarity on the comprehensiveness of these offerings and the resulting student competencies.MethodsA global survey was conducted to obtain empirical evidence on teaching LCA. The survey explored the availability of LCA courses globally and the depth of the teaching, including expected core competencies and related teaching and learning workloads. A purposive sampling strategy was adopted wherein eligible participants were approached by the researchers.Results and discussionAccording to the survey, annually, over 10,000 students participate in more than 200 LCA courses. The results reflected the interdisciplinary nature of LCA with courses being taught across different disciplines, including engineering, chemical sciences, and economics. Estimated workload demands for achieving different competency levels were significantly lower than those estimated by an expert panel before. This may be attributed in part to respondents not accounting for the full workload beyond classroom interactions. Nonetheless, workload demands increased with competency levels.Conclusions and recommendationsThe results emphasize the need for a common understanding of LCA teaching with regard to content, literacy levels, and competencies to avoid false expectations of the labor and research markets in terms of available expertise. Therefore, LCA curriculum development and program planning remain significant challenges and essential tasks for the global LCA community.

PurposeLimited availability of life cycle assessment (LCA) data poses a significant challenge to its mainstream adoption, rendering it a central issue within the LCA community. The Global LCA Data Access (GLAD) network aims to increase the accessibility and interoperability of LCA data and offers benefits for different use cases. GLAD is an intergovernmental collaboration involving different stakeholders organized into working groups. The GLAD Nomenclature Working Group (NWG) developed a procedure and a set of criteria to map elementary flows among major nomenclature systems and reviewed bidirectional mappings. This paper provides an overview of the methodological approach followed by the NWG to achieve the resulting mapping files.MethodsThe mapping procedure involves several steps of flow and compartment matches and bilateral review. The procedure is supported by an ad hoc software tool called the “GLAD Mapper Tool” developed with the NWG and which is made available for free by the European Commission. The input files for the procedure are the properly formatted source and target flow lists and a file containing the mapping criteria. The four nomenclature systems mapped are those used in ecoinvent, Environmental Footprint, IDEA, and the U.S. Federal LCA Commons. The procedure included representatives from each of these nomenclature systems to ensure a multilateral agreement on the approach to verifying and assessing the quality of the results. The iterative mapping process included different stages of bidirectional reviews to achieve a balance between mapping coverage (i.e., percentage of source flows covered by the target list) and accuracy.Results and discussionThe mapping procedure proved to be an efficient approach for LCA practitioners in mappings between different nomenclature systems. After a relatively low number of iterations, mapping coverages higher than 90% were achieved, which is driven by the availability of unique substances (flow names) and the granularity of environmental compartments. Overall, none of the four flow lists achieved full coverage and the use of approximated matches (proxy matches) for environmental compartments and/or substances was necessary when a perfect matches between flows were not possible.ConclusionsThe NWG’s mapping activities may serve as a starting point towards defining a central hub for mapping impact assessment methods and datasets, improving data accessibility and interoperability for the LCA community as a step towards defining a unified nomenclature system. The GLAD mapping approach is open and transparent. The approach fosters traceability in the mapping process and offers the potential for greater interoperability across the LCA community, underlining the commitment to openness and collaboration.

Power lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are an important component of carbon neutrality in the transportation sector. The rapid growth of the LIB recycling industry is driven by various factors, such as resource scarcity. As a process interacting upstream and downstream, LIB recycling must consider the impact of the application of modeling approaches on the allocation of environmental benefits and burdens, especially at a time when carbon emissions are highly correlated with profit. In this study, seven allocation methods were chosen and applied to the production and multiple recycling process of typical LIB on the same data basis. The application of different allocation methods produced very disparate allocation results, and the conclusions of previous studies comparing the environmental performance of battery types need to be revisited. The life-cycle assessment (LCA) results should be interpreted with caution due to the impact of the allocation methods. Furthermore, a multi-indicator qualitative analysis based on product and process characteristics compares the applicability of the allocation methods to different aspects of LIB recycling. Relevant product standards for batteries should consider the characteristics of different methods and recommend a specific allocation method for the LCA community to employ in time to ensure that relevant studies are representative and comparable.

PurposeThe accessibility to most metals is crucial to modern societies. In order to move towards more sustainable use of metals, it is relevant to reduce losses along their anthropogenic cycle. To this end, quantifying dissipative flows of mineral resources and assessing their impacts in life cycle assessment (LCA) has been a challenge brought up by various stakeholders in the LCA community. We address this challenge with the extension of previously developed impact assessment methods and evaluating how these updated methods compare to widely used impact assessment methods for mineral resource use.MethodsBuilding on previous works, we extend the coverage of the average dissipation rate (ADR) and lost potential service time (LPST) methods to 61 metals. Midpoint characterization factors are computed using dynamic material flow analysis results, and endpoint characterization factors, by applying the market price of metals as a proxy for their value. We apply these methods to metal resource flows from 6000 market data sets along with the abiotic depletion potential and ReCiPe 2016 methods to anticipate how the assessment of dissipation using the newly developed methods might compare to the latter two widely used ones.Results and discussionThe updated midpoint methods enable distinguishing between 61 metals based on their global dissipation patterns once they have been extracted from the ground. The endpoint methods further allow differentiating between the value of metals based on their annual average market prices. Metals with a high price that dissipate quickly have the highest endpoint characterization factors. The application study shows that metals with the largest resource flows are expected to have the most impacts with the midpoint ADR and LPST methods, metals that are relatively more expensive have a greater relative contribution to the endpoint assessment.ConclusionThe extended ADR and LPST methods provide new information on the global dissipation patterns of 61 metals and on the associated potentially lost value for humans. The methods are readily applicable to resource flows in current life cycle inventories. This new information may be complementary to that provided by other impact assessment methods addressing different impact pathways when used in LCA studies. Additional research is needed to improve the characterization of the value of metals for society and to extend the methods to more resources.

Circular utilization of urban tree waste contributes to the mitigation of climate change and eutrophication

PurposeAn adequate matching between the nomenclature of elementary flows in life cycle inventory (LCI) databases and life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods is key for ensuring the proper application of life cycle assessment (LCA). However, the nomenclature of elementary flows lacks harmonization among the LCA community. This paper aims at defining mapping rules and discussing main challenges related to the process of systematically mapping LCI nomenclatures to LCIA methods and models addressing biodiversity impacts.MethodsEight LCIA methods and models addressing biodiversity loss are analyzed: five comprehensive LCIA methods (i.e., LC-IMPACT, Impact World + , Ecological Scarcity 2013, ReCiPe 2016, and Stepwise), one land use intensity-specific LCIA model; and two approaches adapting the GLOBIO model to LCIA. These models and methods are mapped to two LCI nomenclatures (ecoinvent v3.6 as implemented in Simapro and Environmental Footprint (EF) 3.0). A mapping tool was developed to support the process of (a) mapping elementary flows by name, Chemical Service number or available synonyms; (b) implementing specific mapping rules regarding compartment/sub-compartment, and substance name; (c) mapping elementary flows to manually defined proxies (e.g., synonyms, spelling corrections and similar substances); and (d) assigning characterization factors (CFs). The process entails analyzing a case study to identify uncharacterized elementary flows.Results and discussionWe present a mapping of LCIA methods and models addressing impacts on biodiversity loss with specific LCI nomenclatures. Mapping rules are proposed for elementary flows regarding chemicals, carbon emissions, land use, water use, and particulate matter. Specific aspects to be considered in mapping elementary flows in LCIA and LCI nomenclatures are discussed. Main gaps in LCI nomenclatures are associated to toxicity and climate change impacts. The EF 3.0 was more aligned than ecoinvent 3.6 with the LCIA methods and models regarding elementary flows coverage and regionalization level. Analyzing uncharacterized flows revealed further coverage needs for “Chemical, organic” (between 19 and 20% uncharacterized flows), “Chemical, inorganic” (between 9 and 18% uncharacterized flows) and “Chemical, radioactive” (between 9 and 14% uncharacterized flows).ConclusionsThis paper contributes to the operationalization of LCIA methods and models addressing biodiversity impacts by proposing a systematic mapping process and rules for a better LCIA-LCI connection. Different development pathways of LCI (e.g., focused on substance name detail) and LCIA (e.g., towards improved regionalization level) have stretched the gap between both nomenclatures. Recommendations are provided identifying further efforts towards the harmonization of the nomenclature of elementary flows in the LCA community.

PurposeIn this paper, we present new tools to ease the analysis of the effect of variability and uncertainty on life cycle assessment (LCA) results.MethodsThe tools consist of a standard protocol and an open-source library: lca_algebraic. This library, written in Python and based on the framework Brightway2 (Mutel in J Open Source Softw 2(12):236, 2017) provides functions to support sensitivity analysis by bringing symbolic calculus to LCA. The use of symbolic calculus eases the definition of parametric inventories and enables a very fast evaluation of impacts by factorizing the background activities. Thanks to this processing speed, a large number of Monte Carlo simulations can be generated to evaluate the variation of the impacts and apply advanced statistic tools such as Sobol indices to quantify the contribution of each parameter to the final variance (Sobol in Math Comput Simul 55(1–3):271–280, 2001). An additional algorithm uses the key parameters, identified from their high Sobol indices, to generate simplified arithmetic models for fast estimates of LCA results.Results and discussionThe protocol and library were validated through their application to the assessment of impacts of mono crystalline photovoltaic (PV) systems. A comprehensive sensitivity analysis was performed based on the protocol and the complementary functions provided by lca_algebraic. The proposed tools helped building a detailed parametric reference LCA model of the PV system to identify the range of variation of multi-criterion LCA results and the key foreground-related parameters explaining these variations. Based on these key parameters, we generated simplified arithmetic models for quick and simple multi-criteria environmental assessments to be used by non-expert LCA users. The resulting models are both compact and aligned with the reference parametric LCA model of crystalline silicon PV systems.ConclusionThis work brings powerful and practical tools to the LCA community to better understand, identify, and quantify the sources of variation of environmental impacts and produce simplified models to spread the use of LCA among non-experts. The library mainly explores the uncertainties of the foreground activities. Further work could also integrate the uncertainty of background activities, described, for example, by pedigree matrices.

The role of life cycle assessment (LCA) in informing the development of a sustainable and circular bioeconomy is discussed. We analyse the critical challenges remaining in using LCA and propose improvements needed to resolve future development challenges. Biobased systems are often complex combinations of technologies and practices that are geographically dispersed over long distances and with heterogeneous and uncertain sets of indicators and impacts. Recent studies have provided methodological suggestions on how LCA can be improved for evaluating the sustainability of biobased systems with a new focus on emerging systems, helping to identify environmental and social opportunities prior to large R&D investments. However, accessing economies of scale and improved conversion efficiencies while maintaining compatibility across broad ranges of sustainability indicators and public acceptability remain key challenges for the bioeconomy. LCA can inform, but not by itself resolve this complex dimension of sustainability. Future policy interventions that aim to promote the bioeconomy and support strategic value chains will benefit from the systematic use of LCA. However, the LCA community needs to develop the mechanisms and tools needed to generate agreement and coordinate the standards and incentives that will underpin a successful biobased transition. Systematic stakeholder engagement and the use of multidisciplinary analysis in combination with LCA are essential components of emergent LCA methods.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bio-derived and bioinspired sustainable advanced materials for emerging technologies (part 1)’.

The FAO Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance (LEAP) Partnership organised a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to develop reference guidelines on water footprinting for livestock production systems and supply chains. The mandate of the TAG was to i) provide recommendations to monitor the environmental performance of feed and livestock supply chains over time so that progress towards improvement targets can be measured, ii) be applicable for feed and water demand of small ruminants, poultry, large ruminants and pig supply chains, iii) build on, and go beyond, the existing FAO LEAP guidelines and iv) pursue alignment with relevant international standards, specifically ISO 14040 (2006)/ISO 14044 (2006), and ISO 14046 (2014). The recommended guidelines on livestock water use address both impact assessment (water scarcity footprint as defined by ISO 14046, 2014) and water productivity (water use efficiency). While most aspects of livestock water use assessment have been proposed or discussed independently elsewhere, the TAG reviewed and connected these concepts and information in relation with each other and made recommendations towards comprehensive assessment of water use in livestock production systems and supply chains. The approaches to assess the quantity of water used for livestock systems are addressed and the specific assessment methods for water productivity and water scarcity are recommended. Water productivity assessment is further advanced by its quantification and reporting with fractions of green and blue water consumed. This allows the assessment of the environmental performance related to water use of a livestock-related system by assessing potential environmental impacts of anthropogenic water consumption (only “blue water”); as well as the assessment of overall water productivity of the system (including “green” and “blue water” consumption). A consistent combination of water productivity and water scarcity footprint metrics provides a complete picture both in terms of potential productivity improvements of the water consumption as well as minimizing potential environmental impacts related to water scarcity. This process resulted for the first time in an international consensus on water use assessment, including both the life-cycle assessment community with the water scarcity footprint and the water management community with water productivity metrics.Despite the main focus on feed and livestock production systems, the outcomes of this LEAP TAG are also applicable to many other agriculture sectors.

Using the current state of life cycle assessment (LCA), carbon and water footprinting, and EPDs in South Africa, this work explores the challenges and opportunities for scholarly development in these areas in the country. Being a relatively small LCA community in South Africa, academics, consultants, and other stakeholders were approached to provide lists of known studies, with further reports, that may have been missed, obtained through internet searches. Information was collated on database development, capacity building, and other aspects and presented here in a single paper. While the authors are aware of companies working on LCA and related studies, hidden in confidential reports, we were able to find 27 LCA, 17 water and 12 carbon footprinting, and 10 EPD studies. Although these studies have potential advantages for policymaking and business, their number, implementation, and impact remain limited. While previously seen as an academic exercise, life cycle thinking has been adopted by industry, private consultants, and the South African National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC-SA), among others. Growing interest has led to the creation of several training courses available at academic institutes, the NCPC-SA, and consulting firms, ranging from the basic understanding to advanced use of software packages and modeling techniques. The development of a national LCI database and further exposure and opportunity for LCA studies are important steps to hopefully spur LCA in Southern Africa in the future.

PurposeThe methods for assessing the impact of using abiotic resources in life cycle assessment (LCA) have always been heavily debated. One of the main reasons for this is the lack of a common understanding of the problem related to resource use. This article reports the results of an effort to reach such common understanding between different stakeholder groups and the LCA community. For this, a top-down approach was applied.MethodsTo guide the process, a four-level top-down framework was used to (1) demarcate the problem that needs to be assessed, (2) translate this into a modeling concept, (3) derive mathematical equations and fill these with data necessary to calculate the characterization factors, and (4) align the system boundaries and assumptions that are made in the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) model and the life cycle inventory (LCI) model.ResultsWe started from the following definition of the problem of using resources: the decrease of accessibility on a global level of primary and/or secondary elements over the very long term or short term due to the net result of compromising actions. The system model distinguishes accessible and inaccessible stocks in both the environment and the technosphere. Human actions can compromise the accessible stock through environmental dissipation, technosphere hibernation, and occupation in use or through exploration. As a basis for impact assessment, we propose two parameters: the global change in accessible stock as a net result of the compromising actions and the global amount of the accessible stock. We propose three impact categories for the use of elements: environmental dissipation, technosphere hibernation, and occupation in use, with associated characterization equations for two different time horizons. Finally, preliminary characterization factors are derived and applied in a simple illustrative case study for environmental dissipation.ConclusionsDue to data constraints, at this moment, only characterization factors for “dissipation to the environment” over a very-long-term time horizon could be elaborated. The case study shows that the calculation of impact scores might be hampered by insufficient LCI data. Most presently available LCI databases are far from complete in registering the flows necessary to assess the impacts on the accessibility of elements. While applying the framework, various choices are made that could plausibly be made differently. We invite our peers to also use this top-down framework when challenging our choices and elaborate that into a consistent set of choices and assumptions when developing LCIA methods.

‘Green’ business models1 have received considerable political and financial support, which for the public is a validation of the sustainability of the business models. The sustainability performance seems, however, often questionable, and the purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of a specific public support programme for green business models. Based on an analytical framework of key elements of life cycle assessment (LCA), 14 business models supported financially by the Danish Fund for Green Business Development were investigated. This included text analysis and interviews with companies receiving funding. Results document that despite clear ambitions of improving environmental performance, life cycle assessment and other quantitative methods are rarely applied among supported companies to document the environmental benefits of their green business models. Furthermore, the companies rarely consider substitution and alternatives or apply a holistic perspective in terms of impacts. There is an urgent need to strengthen credibility of public support programme on the performance of green business models. The LCA community has, as expert community, a special role in pointing at the implications and need of documenting environmental performance.

Impacts of life cycle inventory databases on life cycle assessments: A review by means of a drivetrain case study

Data quality of life cycle inventory background databases should be ensured in order to be useful for life cycle assessment (LCA) studies. However, databases do not always have procedures to evaluate the quality of the data sets in place. The Global Guidance Principles for LCA Databases of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in collaboration with the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) provide, among others, recommendations to enhance data quality through improved documentation and review. Flagship 2a in Phase 3 of the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative aimed to enable the practical implementation of these recommendations with the development of review criteria and the testing of these criteria on 3 national databases. After a pilot-testing phase, this project entered a more mature road-testing exercise, of which the results are presented in this paper. The review criteria have been updated and provide more emphasis on goal and scope documentation completeness and include a new cluster of criteria that evaluate the materiality of the data set. The updated criteria have been applied to national databases of Thailand, Australia, and Chile. All databases would benefit from additional documentation, for example, on system boundaries, the reference model, sampling procedures, and cut-off criteria. Furthermore, conducting the review was enabled by extensive documentation and data accessibility in LCA software. Communication of the criteria to the database managers enabled them to anticipate data quality requirements of the global LCA community and improve the data sets in advance. Reviewers sometimes had a different interpretation of the criteria, which suggests that there is room for additional fine-tuning of the process guidance and exemplification of review criteria. This project has demonstrated that the criteria are applicable to and provide useful feedback for databases with different levels of maturity and contribute to improving quality of life cycle inventory (LCI) data. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2020;16:517-524. © 2020 SETAC.

Abstract Urbanization often entails a surge in urban temperature compared to the rural surroundings: the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. Such a temperature increase triggers the formation of pollutants worsening the urban air quality. Jointly, bad air quality and UHI affect ecosystems and human health. To alleviate the impacts on the population and the environment, it is crucial to design effective UHI‐mitigation measures. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an assessment tool able to capture the complexity of urban settlements and quantify their impact. Yet, as currently implemented, LCA neglects the interactions between the built environment and the local climate, omitting the resulting impacts. This study reviews the existing literature, showing the lack of studies that organically include interactions between the built environment and local climate in LCA. This forms the basis to identify the unsuitability of the current LCA framework for comprehensively capturing the impact of urban settlements. To overcome this limitation, this research offers a pathway to expand the LCA methodology, indicating the necessity to (a) couple the LCA methodology with climate models or physical relations that quantify the interactions between the local climate and the built environment; (b) include novel impact categories in LCA to address such interactions; and (c) use existing or ad hoc developed characterization factors to assess the impacts related to the UHI effect. The LCA community can build on the frame of reference offered by this research to overcome the current limitations of LCA and enable its use for a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of UHI and its mitigation measures.

Abstract The use of nanostructured materials has been recently proposed in the field of environmental nanoremediation. This approach consists in using nanomaterials not directly, but as building blocks for the design of nano‐porous micro‐dimensional systems, overcoming the eco‐ and health‐toxicology risks generally associated with the use of nano‐sized technologies. Herein we report the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) as an eco‐design tool for optimizing the production of cellulose nanosponges (CNS), nanostructured materials recently developed for water remediation purposes. LCA was applied from the acquisition of raw materials to the synthesis of CNS (from cradle‐to‐gate), considering three production systems, from the lab‐level to a modeled scale‐up system. The lab‐scale LCA identified the main environmental hotspots, namely the energy‐consuming steps and the final purification of the material (washing step). In a second lab‐scale production, an improvement action could be implemented, switching the washing solvent from methanol to water and decreasing the washing temperature. A second LCA showed a reduced contribution to the impacts from the materials, while the global impacts remained within the same order of magnitude. A simulated scale‐up of the process allowed to optimize the energy‐consuming steps and the water consumption, through internal recycling. A third LCA assessed the resulting benefits and a decrease in the global impacts by two orders of magnitude. Our study contributes to the discussion of LCA community, providing a focus on the importance of scaling‐up of emerging technologies, namely nanostructured porous materials, highlighting the benefits of a LCA based approach since the very beginning of product design (eco‐design).

The availability of resources is crucial for the socio-economic stability of our society. For more than two decades, there was a debate on how to structure this issue within the context of life-Cycle assessment (LCA). The classical approach with LCA is to describe “scarcity” for future generations (100–1000 years) in terms of absolute depletion. The problem, however, is that the long-term availability is simply not known (within a factor of 100–1000). Outside the LCA community, the short-term supply risks (10–30 years) were predicted, resulting in the list of critical raw materials (CRM) of the European Union (EU), and the British risk list. The methodology used, however, cannot easily be transposed and applied into LCA calculations. This paper presents a new approach to the issue of short-term material supply shortages, based on subsequent sudden price jumps, which can lead to socio-economic instability. The basic approach is that each resource is characterized by its own specific supply chain with its specific price volatility. The eco-costs of material scarcity are derived from the so-called value at risk (VAR), a well-known statistical risk indicator in the financial world. This paper provides a list of indicators for 42 metals. An advantage of the system is that it is directly related to business risks, and is relatively easy to understand. A disadvantage is that “statistics of the past” might not be replicated in the future (e.g., when changing from structural oversupply to overdemand, or vice versa, which appeared an issue for two companion metals over the last 30 years). Further research is recommended to improve the statistics.

An effect factor approach for quantifying the entanglement impact on marine species of macroplastic debris within life cycle impact assessment