Project
Spatialisation of impacts in LCA
In Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), the integration of the geographical dimension remains heterogeneous and only partially operationalized. Practices related to inventory spatialization and impact regionalization vary across methods, databases, and software tools, which can influence the representativeness of results. This study analyzes current practices and provides recommendations for the various LCA stakeholders.
The study Spatialization of Impacts in LCA (SCORE LCA, Study No. 2023-05, 2024) examines the conditions required to conduct robust regionalized LCAs. It provides:
- A state-of-the-art review of methods integrating the spatial dimension, both at the inventory level and within impact assessment methods;
- An analysis of LCA databases and software regarding the operationalization of spatialized inventories and regionalized characterization factors;
- An applied case study illustrating the effects of different levels of inventory regionalization and impact assessment methods;
- Recommendations for method developers, software providers, database developers, and practitioners.
