Academic Publications

@article{Philippot2026,

title = {A combined territorial life cycle assessment and ecosystem services valuation to analyse the environmental performance of coastal planning scenarios: Insights from a case study in southern France},

author = {Katia Philippot and Hélène Rey-Valette and Jérôme Lavoie and Cécile Bulle and Jean Michel Salles and Rutger Wit and Valérie Derolez and Nicole Lautrédou-Audouy and Carmen Cordonnier and Eléonore Loiseau},

doi = {10.1016/j.eiar.2025.108256},

issn = {01959255},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Environmental Impact Assessment Review},

volume = {118},

pages = {108256},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Ravoahangy2026,

title = {Parametrization of biowaste composting system for life cycle assessment},

author = {Nomena Ravoahangy and Guillaume Majeau-Bettez and Olivier Schoefs},

doi = {10.1016/j.wasman.2026.115337},

issn = {0956053X},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Waste Management},

volume = {212},

pages = {115337},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Louvet2026,

title = {Regionalized characterization factors for microplastic emissions in life cycle assessment considering multimedia fate modelling},

author = {Juliette Louvet and Joris T. K. Quik and Anne-Marie Boulay},

doi = {10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.147217},

issn = {0959-6526},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Cleaner Production},

volume = {538},

publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},

abstract = {Microplastics released into the environment represent a threat to marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems. Current Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) methods inadequately address plastic litter, leading to an underestimation of the overall impact of plastic products on ecosystem quality. This study contributes to the MarILCA working group's efforts to incorporate plastic litter impacts into LCIA by investigating microplastic emissions across various environmental compartments and on three different types of ecosystems: Marine, Freshwater and Terrestrial. Regionalized multimedia Characterization Factors (CFs) are calculated following two different approaches: 1- the surface approach, indicating the proportion of species lost over an area (in PDF·m2·yr/kg) and 2- the species approach, quantifying the proportion of species lost from the global ecosystem (in PDF·yr/kg or species·yr/kg). They are calculated for midpoint and endpoint levels and focus on physical effects on biota. A fate model based on SimpleBox4Plastic adapted to USEtox is developed to characterize the fate of 14 different polymers across 5 sizes and 9 environmental compartments on continental and global scales in 8 world regions. Fate Factors (FFs) are computed and combined with Exposure and Effect Factors (EEFs) for terrestrial, aquatic, and sedimentary species, alongside Species Distribution Factors (SDFs). The developed CFs are tested in an illustrative example that assesses the impacts of biodegradable and non-biodegradable agricultural mulch film on ecosystem quality. The endpoint CFs calculated range from 1.87E-04 and 2.95E+04 PDF⸱m2⸱year/kgemitted for the surface approach and 1.57E-19 and 5.14E-08 PDF⸱year/kgemitted for the species approach. Low-density microplastics (MPs) exhibit similar CFs compared to high-density MPs, but for different reasons. Low-density MPs tend to accumulate in the water column, where the EEF is higher due to higher exposure via feeding, while high-density MPs accumulate in sediments, where the concentration of species is greater. Larger size microplastic emissions typically correspond to higher CFs due to longer degradation times. The species approach has a higher influence on the variation of CFs across regions. Case study results indicate that physical effects on biota exhibit a small contribution to ecosystem quality (0.34–2.40 % of the overall impact) for the different mulch film scenarios. The developed CFs can be integrated into emission inventories, enhancing LCAs of plastic products and facilitating informed decisions regarding plastic use.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Bieuville2026,

title = {Technology flexibility and sobriety to address shortage of energy-transition metals},

author = {Pénélope Bieuville and Guillaume Majeau-Bettez and Anne Bortoli},

doi = {10.1038/s41893-025-01762-y},

issn = {23989629},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Nature Sustainability},

publisher = {Nature Research},

abstract = {A successful energy transition is crucial for mitigating climate change but may be hindered by bottlenecks in the availability of critical metals. The energy transition scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change overlook such risks, proposing energy and transport pathways deemed unrealistic by past studies. Yet by relying on fixed market shares, those studies ignore the market’s ability to shift towards a (sub)technological mix requiring fewer supply-constrained metals. Here, for the most stringent decarbonization scenarios, we show that an optimized technology mix trims the list of metals constrained by mining capacities from 13 to copper, lithium and vanadium only. Key levers include substituting silver and gallium in solar technologies, prioritizing gearbox wind turbines and induction-motor electric vehicles without permanent magnets, and replacing part of the grid’s copper with aluminium. Sixteen other metals remain under pressure, but because over 90% of their demand stems from sectors outside the energy transition, our results underscore the need for economy-wide metallic sobriety.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Saadi2026,

title = {Microfibers in life cycle assessment: comparing the physical effects of cellulosic and synthetic fibers via characterization factors development},

author = {Nadim Saadi and Anne-Marie Boulay},

doi = {10.1093/inteam/vjag007},

issn = {1551-3777},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management},

pages = {vjag007},

abstract = {Textile clothing is a significant contributor to microfiber pollution in aquatic ecosystems. A large portion of these emissions are cellulosic-based, either natural (e.g., cotton, linen) or semisynthetic (e.g., viscose, lyocell), which can be ingested by aquatic organisms, posing harmful effects even at environmentally relevant concentrations. Studies comparing the effects of cellulosic and synthetic fibers report conflicting results: some suggest synthetic fibers are more harmful, others the opposite. However, despite their high environmental abundance, the lack of a species sensitivity distribution (SSD) for cellulosic microfibers (CMFs) has prevented comparison of their effects with synthetic microfibers (SMFs). Further, although SMFs have been integrated into life cycle assessment (LCA) through characterization factors (CFs), equivalent CFs for CMFs are missing due to a lack of an exposure and effect factor (EEF) specific to these fibers. We derived CFs for six CMFs (cotton, linen, viscose, lyocell, rayon, and modal) by combining modeled fate factors in marine water and sediments with an EEF calculated from a hazardous concentration for 20% of species (HC20), using an SSD of EC10eq values. Taxonomically split SSDs were also obtained for further analysis of the mode of action of CMFs and microplastics. The HC20 for CMFs was not significantly different from that of microplastics, suggesting similar physical effect mechanisms. Fate modeling indicated lower persistence for CMFs, resulting in CFs one to two orders of magnitude lower than those for SMFs. Computed CFs were applied in an LCA comparing the ecosystem quality impacts of a cotton and a polyester tee shirt while accounting for microfiber emissions. Results show that polyester emissions caused significant impacts compared with other life cycle impacts, whereas cotton emissions did not. This work therefore provides the first comparative LCA of a cellulosic and a synthetic textile that considers impacts of microfiber emissions, and computes CFs compatible with different life cycle impact assessment methods.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Greffe2026,

title = {Scenario-specific temporally differentiated characterization factors of dissipative flows of abiotic resources: introduction to the ACP and RESEDA methods},

author = {Titouan Greffe and Manuele Margni and Cécile Bulle},

url = {https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11367-026-02593-5},

doi = {10.1007/s11367-026-02593-5},

issn = {0948-3349},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment},

volume = {31},

issue = {1-3},

pages = {42},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Askham2026,

title = {Expanding life cycle impact assessment to account for marine plastic emissions: a case study for the fishing industry},

author = {Cecilia Askham and Alejandro Deville and Mafalda Silva and Ian Vázquez-Rowe and Anne-Marie Boulay and Elena Corella-Puertas and Nadim Saadi and Valentina Pauna and Francesca Verones and Ramzy Kahhat},

url = {https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11367-026-02607-2},

doi = {10.1007/s11367-026-02607-2},

issn = {0948-3349},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment},

volume = {31},

issue = {1-3},

pages = {46},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Souttre2026,

title = {mescal: a tool for coupling energy system models with life-cycle assessment},

author = {Matthieu Souttre and Guillaume Majeau-Bettez and François Maréchal and Manuele Margni},

url = {https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s44498-026-00005-3},

doi = {10.1007/s44498-026-00005-3},

issn = {1088-1980},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Industrial Ecology},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Magnaval2026,

title = {Harmonizing the assessment of (green) hydrogen supply chain: a modular and parametrized life cycle assessment framework},

author = {Gabriel Magnaval and Maël Mouhoub and Anne-Marie Boulay and Manuele Margni},

doi = {10.1039/d5ee07747h},

issn = {17545706},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Energy and Environmental Science},

volume = {19},

issue = {8},

pages = {2616-2643},

publisher = {Royal Society of Chemistry},

abstract = {Despite a growing number of life cycle assessment (LCA) studies on green hydrogen technologies, a lack of harmonization in how to scope the LCA modeling framework and transparently disseminate results prevents the field from fully capitalizing on this expanding body of knowledge. This paper presents a harmonized LCA framework to support a consistent assessment of green hydrogen supply chains and comparison with functionally equivalent alternatives. The framework guides the practitioners to define the functional unit, tailored to six identified end-use applications of hydrogen. The process tree is developed as a unified and agile modular structure applicable to describe the value chain of any green hydrogen technology, each module representing a standalone building block that can be modified or replaced within the product system. It provides a parametrized inventory model linking the flows of the product systems to key parameters characterizing their design or performance. The framework has been implemented in a dedicated LCA tool (the HTWOL), supported by a library of modules representing pre-set configurations of elementary processes (e.g., electrolyser technologies), enhancing accessibility for users with varying levels of expertise. The framework has been successively applied to representative use cases. Results show the importance of ensuring low-impact energy supply and always striving to maximize the overall energy-efficiency in delivering the functional units. Environmentally relevant deployment of green hydrogen technologies would target end-use applications with no viable fossil substitutions (e.g., production of ammonia) and long-term renewable electricity storage. Efforts toward direct electrification and demand reduction must continue in parallel.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Weinold2026,

title = {Critical analysis of the path-exchange method for hybrid life cycle assessment},

author = {Michael P. Weinold and Guillaume Majeau-Bettez},

doi = {10.1007/s44498-026-00023-1},

issn = {15309290},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Industrial Ecology},

volume = {30},

issue = {1},

pages = {325-346},

publisher = {Springer Nature},

abstract = {Hybrid life cycle assessment (HLCA) methods combine bottom-up data from process-based inventories with top-down data from environmentally extended input–output tables. This is done to overcome limitations of data coverage and aggregation: While process inventory data is more detailed, it can never be complete. On the other hand, input–output tables offer full cost-coverage for economic inventories that are complete, but highly aggregated into broad economic sectors. Combining these complementary datasets gives a more complete picture of the environmental impact associated with products or services. To this end, different mathematical methods have been proposed. Of the four main methods currently recognized in literature, three combine this data into a hybrid matrix. The path-exchange method instead works at the graph-level by combining the supply-chain paths of both systems. Unlike matrix-based hybrid methods, the accuracy of results of the graph-based method is limited by the number of paths considered, unless remainders are again computed using a matrix-based approach. For the first time, we provide a concise mathematical description of the path-exchange algorithm and conduct a proof that it is not a distinct mathematical method. It is instead equivalent to the tiered-hybrid matrix method with binary correction for double-counting, where upstream flows are inferred from the sectoral system. Based on this finding, we conclude that the path-exchange method confers no distinct mathematical advantages over matrix-based alternatives. Our proof is an important step toward a unified methodological framework for HLCA.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Agez2026,

title = {Regioinvent: a regionalized version of ecoinvent integrating detailed trade data},

author = {Maxime Agez and Guillaume Majeau-Bettez},

doi = {10.1007/s44498-026-00053-9},

issn = {15309290},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Industrial Ecology},

volume = {30},

issue = {2},

pages = {727-742},

publisher = {Springer Nature},

abstract = {Life cycle inventory databases currently offer limited country-level coverage and often rely on outdated supply chain representations in their market processes. In this research, we combine ecoinvent with the BACI database—which provides detailed international trade statistics—to regionalize ecoinvent and model average supply chains based on up-to-date data. To achieve this, we automatically duplicate regional processes and adapt them to specific national contexts by modifying three key inputs in the ecoinvent database: electricity, heat, and municipal solid waste treatment. We also construct national consumption markets based on international trade and domestic production data to capture country-specific supply chain characteristics. These markets are fully relinked throughout the database, and elementary flows are spatialized. The resulting regioinvent adaptation of ecoinvent comprises 4,031 products regionalized across 225 countries, yielding 669,571 newly created processes. We assess the effect of regionalization by comparing each regionalized process with its corresponding original ecoinvent process. On average, regionalization introduces differences of 10.8% for climate change, 13.9% for human health, and 11.6% for ecosystem quality. Spatialization of elementary flows is found to exert a stronger influence on regionalized impact categories than inventory regionalization alone. Future developments of regioinvent will focus on addressing its current limitations, particularly the estimation of domestic production data and the contextualization of transportation within national consumption markets. Despite these limitations, we recommend that LCA practitioners use regioinvent, as it is expected to provide more accurate results than the traditional ecoinvent database.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{DeWachter2026,

title = {Towards a mass-balanced ecoinvent life cycle assessment database},

author = {Han De Wachter and Thomas Sonderegger and Guillaume Bourgault and Guillaume Majeau-Bettez},

doi = {10.1007/s44498-026-00068-2},

issn = {1088-1980},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Industrial Ecology},

volume = {30},

issue = {3},

pages = {1003-1016},

publisher = {Springer Science and Business Media LLC},

abstract = {Life cycle assessment (LCA) databases have focused on capturing the links between unit processes to calculate the direct and indirect impacts of supplying individual products or services. These databases rarely record sufficient properties of flows to properly evaluate the respect of mass balance. Mass balance can help ensure data quality by verifying correctness and completeness and opens up potential re-use of inventories in other fields. We propose a reconciliation of unallocated LCA databases with conservation of mass. We formulate an optimization problem for a large database, like ecoinvent, to comply with conservation of mass while changing the mass content of products and elementary flows as little as possible. We find that we can estimate the mass imbalance in the database (36.79% imbalance for ecoinvent v3.10) and reduce it to 10.76% imbalance through the automized application of four steps. We disaggregate heterogeneous flows, add obviously missing flows, include capital end-of-life flows when capital products are used and optimize the mass content of products and elementary flows. The remaining imbalance (10.76% imbalance for ecoinvent v3.10) can be attributed to missing flows and needs some manual work to resolve. This is the first step towards a transformation of LCA databases into technology-rich material flow analysis (MFA) databases and enables the calculation of purity and composition of all products and elementary flows.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Tanguay-Rioux2026,

title = {Can hydrothermal carbonization be used as a mean to increase the circularity of existing food waste anaerobic digestion plants?},

author = {Fabrice Tanguay-Rioux and Kassem Ibrahim Al Houssaini and Guillaume Majeau-Bettez and Robert Legros and Laurent Spreutels},

doi = {10.1016/j.wasman.2026.115624},

issn = {18792456},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Waste Management},

volume = {221},

publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},

abstract = {Large-scale anaerobic digestion of food waste is often characterized by important material losses due to the pre-treatment steps required to remove impurities. Hydrothermal carbonization was used to increase the circularity of anaerobic digestion plants by converting the reject fractions, that would otherwise be discarded, into hydrochar and process water. The viability of this conversion was tested experimentally with samples collected from two commercial plants, and experimental results were used to verify the energetic performance of the process and realize a life-cycle assessment. While the hydrochar could be valorized as a fuel to replace coal, due to the high energy content (>20 MJ kg−1 for the light rejects) or as a soil amendment, the process water can be converted into additional methane. For every reject fraction considered, an increase in the methane potential of the process water was shown, when compared to the initial fraction, showing a solubilization of the organic materials. This high methane potential leads to an additional production of energy for anaerobic digestion facility. Overall, the conversion of the reject fractions by hydrothermal carbonization improves the environmental performance of anaerobic digestion plants for every scenario considered (1.2- to 1.6-fold reduction for climate change impact category), with the biggest gain when the hydrochar is used as a fuel to substitute coal.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Seitfudem2026,

title = {Harnessing model ensembles to assess uncertainty and provide prospective characterization factors for AWARE2.0},

author = {Georg Seitfudem and Markus Berger and Anne-Marie Boulay},

doi = {10.1007/s11367-026-02648-7},

issn = {16147502},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

urldate = {2026-01-01},

journal = {The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment},

volume = {31},

issue = {6},

publisher = {Springer},

abstract = {Purpose: Prospective LCAs sometimes neglect how potential future impacts could be affected by future shifts in environmental conditions. Despite expected future changes in water availability, prospective characterization factors (CFs) for the updated freshwater deprivation impact assessment method AWARE, AWARE2.0, do not exist yet. Additionally, interpreting AWARE requires an understanding of its uncertainty. This paper improves the understanding of AWARE2.0’s uncertainty by combining sets of alternative input values for the calculation of regular and of prospective AWARE2.0 CFs. Methods: Data from the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP) framework is used to estimate AWARE2.0’s uncertainty and to calculate prospective AWARE2.0 CFs. For the uncertainty assessment, stochastic AWARE2.0 is generated by Monte Carlo sampling from parametric distributions representing AWARE2.0’s input data. Two prospective versions of AWARE2.0 are calculated: A “climate-prospective” model ensemble consisting of five climate models produces prospective CFs under climate change for three scenarios. “Fully prospective” AWARE2.0 additionally integrates projected water demand changes for three shared socioeconomic pathways in a simplified manner. Results and discussion: Stochastic AWARE2.0 allows a discussion of major challenges in modeling the uncertainty of AWARE2.0 and suggests that its water availability input can deviate from observations by more than 20%. “Climate prospective AWARE2.0” shows that for many areas the future change in CFs under climate change is primarily determined by the selected climate models instead of the climate scenarios. The ensemble average CFs in some cases still change by more than 50% up to 2049. With the future socioeconomic changes integrated in “fully prospective AWARE2.0”, CF increases are more frequent than when considering climate change only. Conclusions: The input model choice for calculating AWARE CFs can considerably affect both regular and prospective CFs. With its prospective CF timeseries, this paper contributes to dynamic and prospective water deprivation LCIA while improving the understanding of input-data related uncertainty in AWARE2.0.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Debarre2026,

title = {Revamping the LCIA framework through the lens of ecosystem services},

author = {Laura Debarre and Titouan Greffe and Catherine Lalongé and Laure Patouillard and Benedetto Rugani and Jana Schluenss and Rutger Wit and Cécile Bulle and Manuele Margni},

doi = {10.1007/s11367-026-02644-x},

issn = {16147502},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

urldate = {2026-01-01},

journal = {The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment},

volume = {31},

issue = {6},

publisher = {Springer},

abstract = {Purpose: The integration of ecosystem services into the impact assessment phase, through the development of characterization models that reflect potential impacts on ecosystems’ capacity to provide services, is gaining momentum within the life cycle assessment community. This integration requires reflection on the positioning of concepts related to ecosystem services such as ecosystem functions, ecosystem services potential and flow within the life cycle impact assessment framework and in relation to common indicators. This research posits that the concepts linked to ecosystem services are at the crossroads of most characterization models, and proposes a revamped vision of the conceptual life cycle impact assessment framework. Its use is exemplified for the IMPACT World+ methodology. Method: Building on the areas of protection proposed by Verones et al. (2017), the framework introduces a revised “Ecosystem Services” area of protection, which aggregates potential impacts on the instrumental value of social-ecological systems. Here, the term “Ecosystem Services” follows the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES v5.2) and is used as an umbrella concept encompassing both biophysical ecosystem services and geophysical ecosystem outputs, noting the deviation from definitions of “ecosystem” provided by the UN’s Convention of Biological Diversity and some ISO standards. Results and discussion: The revamped life cycle impact assessment framework is structured around the ecosystem services “cascade model”. It identifies causal pathways linking human activities to changes across different stages of the cascade and, ultimately, to the areas of protection. The framework considers the consequences of replacement strategies in response to declining services flows: replacement costs, indirect impacts associated with boundaries’ expansion, deficit of services, and potential impacts on human health. Existing characterization models from the IMPACT World+ methodology are mapped within this new structure. The framework reconciles natural resources- and ecosystem services-oriented characterization models, helps identify priorities for the development of characterization models in the IMPACT World+ methodology, and offers perspectives for integrating ecosystem disservices into life cycle impact assessment. Conclusion and recommendations: By rethinking the life cycle impact assessment structure through the perspective of ecosystem services and related concepts, this work establishes a conceptual basis for the development of more coherent, comprehensive, and operational life cycle impact assessment models and methodologies.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Loog2026,

title = {Enhancing climate impact assessment with surface albedo effects of land cover changes: methodology and dataset},

author = {Kathryn Loog and Anders Bjørn and Manuele Margni},

doi = {10.1007/s44498-026-00127-8},

issn = {15309290},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Industrial Ecology},

volume = {30},

issue = {4},

pages = {1869-1884},

publisher = {Springer Nature},

abstract = {Surface albedo changes driven by changes in land cover—such as cropland expansion, urbanization, and forestry—are a known driver of climate change, yet these impacts are rarely quantified alongside impacts of greenhouse gas emissions in environmental impact assessments. One barrier to their inclusion is a lack of surface albedo data fit for this purpose, that capture spatial and temporal variations in surface albedo values, represent realistic atmospheric conditions, and, importantly, that can quantify surface albedo changes caused by changes in land cover. This study develops a methodology to estimate daily-mean blue-sky albedo values for multiple land cover types at the same location, enabling direct calculation of surface albedo changes. Applying this methodology, we produced a global climatological dataset of spatially- and temporally-specific surface albedo values for 22 different land cover types, with each land cover type found to be statistically distinct. We compared this novel dataset with values derived from existing simplified methods that do not account for diurnal fluctuations or represent realistic atmospheric conditions, finding that the simplified values underestimate surface albedo values by 2.7–5.8% on average, with errors reaching more than ± 50% in some cases. The dataset presented here provides a meaningful step towards the inclusion of the impacts of surface albedo changes into environmental impact assessment frameworks such as life cycle assessment, national and corporate carbon accounting and climate policy evaluations, enabling more complete evaluations of the climate impacts of land use and land cover changes.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Ravi2026,

title = {Workload-flexible data centers reduce renewable curtailment in Europe’s net-zero energy system},

author = {Sai Sudharshan Ravi and Jonas Schnidrig and Du Wen and Evelina Trutnevyte and Michaël Aklin and François Maréchal},

doi = {10.1016/j.crsus.2026.100755},

issn = {29497906},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Cell Reports Sustainability},

publisher = {Cell Press},

abstract = {Information and communication technology (ICT) is becoming a system-scale driver of Europe’s net-zero transition. Data centers concentrate electricity demand near cities while producing continuous cooling demand, and an increasing share of computing is deferrable in time. Yet most continental-scale energy-system studies still treat ICT demand as either exogenous or marginal, leaving its system-wide implications for net-zero planning insufficiently quantified. Here, using a Monte Carlo ICT-demand projection, country-level spatial disaggregation, and a continental EnergyScope-EU optimization framework, we quantify how these characteristics reshape near-optimal net-zero energy-system designs in Europe. Unlike prior studies, we represent data centers simultaneously as geographically concentrated electricity loads, sources of recoverable heat, and time-flexible demand within a continental multi-energy optimization framework. We find that data centers contribute ∼7.9% (667 TWh yr−¹) of final European electricity demand in 2050 and provide up to 243 TWh yr−¹ of recoverable thermal output from cooling with value concentrated in district-heating-ready urban areas. When a deferrable share of workloads is shifted toward wind- and solar-rich periods, the European curtailment rate declines from just over 9% (inflexible case) to ∼6.5% (fully flexible case), highlighting flexible computing as a measurable renewable-integration lever. These values reflect EU-wide totals, with system benefits concentrated in ICT-intensive load hubs (e.g., Germany, France, and Italy) for flexibility and in district-heating-ready countries for heat recovery. Explicitly representing data-center electricity, heat recovery, and workload flexibility are therefore necessary for credible decarbonization planning and for designing incentives that align digital infrastructure operation with system needs.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Pellan2026,

title = {Toward Site-Specific Life-Cycle Assessment for Mining Activities: Methodological Framework and Application to 35 Production Sites in Canada},

author = {Marin Pellan and Titouan Greffe and Guillaume Majeau-Bettez and Anne Bortoli},

doi = {10.1021/acs.est.6c01701},

issn = {15205851},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Environmental Science and Technology},

volume = {60},

issue = {32},

pages = {22408-22422},

publisher = {American Chemical Society},

abstract = {Metals are essential to a wide range of strategic sectors, and their demand is expected to increase rapidly, along with associated environmental impacts. Yet, the ability of life-cycle assessment (LCA) to guide sustainable decisions remains constrained by life-cycle inventory (LCI) data that are incomplete and insufficiently representative across time, technology, and geography, often failing to capture site-level specificity. Building on MetalliCan, a high-resolution data set of Canadian mining and metallurgical activities, this study proposes a modular framework to construct site-specific and production-weighted inventories for mining products. The framework integrates facility-level environmental data and applies a hierarchical data-driven strategy that prioritizes site-specific parametrization, complemented by archetype-based inference and literature-derived proxies. Site-specific inventories are further integrated with regionalized background supply chains and spatially explicit environmental flows. Using this approach, 35 site-specific inventories are constructed for gold–silver, copper, nickel, uranium, molybdenum, and zinc mining and implemented in Brightway2. Life-cycle impact assessment is performed using the IMPACT World+ 2.1 method. Results reveal pronounced site-level heterogeneity, with potential impacts varying by up to a factor of 13 across facilities producing the same product and by up to a factor of 6 relative to background proxy data sets, indicating that reliance on generic inventories can mask critical differences. Overall, this work highlights the importance of granular inventories for robust environmental assessment and science-based policies.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Kumar2026,

title = {Artificial intelligence meets LCA: a critical analysis from technical, ethical, and organizational perspectives},

author = {Manish Kumar and Laure Patouillard and Artur Donaldson and Simone Cornago and Pietro Bartocci and Qingshi Tu and Han De Wachter and Nicolas Hübner and Marina Dumont and Vlad C. Coroamă and Bharathan Balaji and Claudia Peña and Elias Martinez-Hernandez and Luke Cullen and Steven MacMaster and Shaolei Ren and Abhishek Chaudhary and Viera Pechancová and Sonia Valdivia and Giuseppe Cecere and Qing Yang and Cajetan Oriekezie and Archana Datta},

url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11367-026-02761-7},

doi = {10.1007/s11367-026-02761-7},

issn = {0948-3349},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment},

volume = {31},

issue = {11},

pages = {195},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Verones2026,

title = {A global consensus life cycle impact assessment method - GLAM: impacts on ecosystem quality},

author = {Francesca Verones and Valerio Barbarossa and Anne-Marie Boulay and Elena Corella-Puertas and Mélanie Douziech and Laura Golsteijn and Carla Hajjar and Arnaud Hélias and Andrew D. Henderson and Koen Kuipers and Marion Lebrun and Andreas Link and Alexandra Marques and Ottar Michelsen and Montse Núñez and Eléonore Pierrat and Stephan Pfister and Leo Posthuma and Francesca Rosa and Nadim Saadi and Laura Scherer and Chloe Stanford-Clark and Mikolaj Owsianiak and Rosalie Zelm and Ian Vázquez-Rowe and Jinhui Zhou and Martin Dorber},

doi = {10.1007/s11367-026-02748-4},

issn = {16147502},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

urldate = {2026-01-01},

journal = {The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment},

volume = {31},

issue = {10},

publisher = {Springer},

abstract = {Purpose: The aim of this paper is to report and document the models integrated into the ecosystem quality part of the first life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) version of the GLAM (Global Guidance for Life Cycle Impact Assessment Indicators and Methods) project. The focus is on endpoint models, and all included models provide characterization factors related to the loss of species richness, indicated in potentially disappeared fraction of species (PDF·yr). Methods: In the scoping phase eight impact categories have been identified as being of relevance and provided recent methodological developments that were mature enough to be included in the consensus model within GLAM. These include ecotoxicity, land use, water consumption, eutrophication (individually for marine and freshwater ecosystems), aquatic microplastic pollution, terrestrial acidification and climate change (individual models for terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems). Apart from harmonizing and developing these models, aspects of vulnerability have been included by further developing and applying the global extinction probability (GEP) concept. Results and discussion: The eight impact categories provide in total more than 500 000 characterization factors (CFs) at country and global scale for the GLAM research version 1.1.2025.11, representing potential global species loss. Five of the impact categories (land use, water consumption, marine and freshwater eutrophication and terrestrial acidification) provide values at country levels as well as global averages. The other three (ecotoxicity, climate change and aquatic microplastics pollution) provide global CFs only. Climate change and marine eutrophication provide average CFs only, terrestrial acidification only marginal while all the others provide average and marginal CFs. Conclusions: The covered impact categories for the first time consistently represent potential global species losses in terms of PDF.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Motoshita2026,

title = {Consensus-based framework for the impact assessment of natural resource use in life cycle assessment: generalized impact pathways and recommended methods for abiotic resource use},

author = {Masaharu Motoshita and Ryosuke Yokoi and Titouan Greffe and Olivier Jolliet and Rodrigo Alvarenga and Antoine Beylot and Johannes Drielsma and Tom Huppertz and Manish Kumar and Stephen Northey and Mikołaj Owsianiak and Amandine Valérie Pastor and Charlotte Pradinaud and Stephan Pfister and Rita Schulze},

url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11367-026-02733-x},

doi = {10.1007/s11367-026-02733-x},

issn = {0948-3349},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment},

volume = {31},

issue = {10},

pages = {179},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Fantke2026,

title = {A Global Consensus Life Cycle Impact Assessment Method (GLAM): impacts on human health},

author = {Peter Fantke and Anne-Marie Boulay and Renée Cardinaals and Laura Debarre and Lei Huang and Kamrul Islam and Gaël Kijko and Annie Levasseur and Dingsheng Li and Shaobin Li and Shannon Lloyd and Manuele Margni and Masaharu Motoshita and Jacob Namovich and Christopher Oberschelp and Andrea Paulillo and Stephan Pfister and Lea Rupcic and Laura Scherer and Marko Tainio and Eliseu Verly and Bo P. Weidema and Olivier Jolliet and Thomas McKone},

doi = {10.1007/s11367-026-02742-w},

issn = {0948-3349},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment},

volume = {31},

issue = {9},

publisher = {Springer Science and Business Media LLC},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Patouillard2026,

title = {New life cycle database on food consumption: A strategic tool to drive Climate-Smart Action in Québec},

author = {Laure Patouillard and Titouan Greffe and Estelle Louineau and Catherine Houssard and Cécile Bulle},

doi = {10.15353/cfs-rcea.v13i2.792},

issn = {2292-3071},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Canadian Food Studies La Revue Canadienne Des études Sur l’alimentation},

volume = {13},

issue = {2},

pages = {86-116},

abstract = {Purpose: Food consumption is a major contributor to individual carbon footprint but production conditions, supply-chain configurations, and eating habits vary significantly across regions. A regionalized overview of food consumption patterns and their potential impact on climate change is therefore essential to allowing businesses, governments, and citizens to reach more sustainable food consumption targets. Methods: We collected and structured data to develop the first life cycle inventory database of food consumption in the province of Québec (Canada) and build a farm-to-fork model covering 58 food categories consumed in 2018. Food intakes are derived from a 24-hour recall survey of 2297 Québec adults conducted in 2015. Consumption markets (domestic and imported) based on the Québec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food data, food production processes, food loss and waste rates based on FAO data, and transportation distances are regional-ized. We analyze the main contributors to food consumption carbon footprint across the supply chain and outline the profiles of eight Québec adult archetypes. Results: The average food consumption carbon footprint in Québec is 2377 kg CO₂eq per capita per year. Gender-and-age-based carbon footprint archetypes range from 1.7 and 2.9 metric tons CO₂eq/adult/year. Meat and dairy contribute to 48%, and food waste contributes 17% to the carbon footprint of purchased food. Perspectives: This initial diagnostic provides a baseline for identifying the key drivers of Québec's food consumption carbon footprint. While further regionalization and greater granularity are still needed, this initiative offers a solid foundation for stakeholders to shape sustainable food systems and drive climate change mitigation. Abstract},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Surmont2025,

title = {Assessing the sustainability and safety of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) liners for lead service lines (LSL) upgrades},

author = {Amélie Surmont and Laura Rowenczyk and {Viveros Santos}, Ivan and Fatemeh Hatam and Anne-Marie Boulay and Michèle Prévost},

doi = {10.1016/j.watres.2024.122686},

issn = {00431354},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

urldate = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Water Research},

volume = {268},

pages = {122686},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Rachid2025,

title = {Life cycle assessment of phosphate mining and beneficiation in Morocco: Performance evaluation},

author = {Safa Rachid and Yassine Taha and Elliot Muller and Mostafa Benzaazoua},

doi = {10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123453},

issn = {03014797},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Environmental Management},

volume = {373},

pages = {123453},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Hajjar2025,

title = {Identifying influencing physical and environmental parameters on fate and characterization factors for microplastic emissions in the marine environment},

author = {Carla Hajjar and Cécile Bulle and Maxime Agez and Elena Corella-Puertas and Anne-Marie Boulay},

doi = {10.1007/s11367-024-02421-8},

issn = {0948-3349},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Fries2025,

title = {Decentralized clinical trials are better for the participants and for the planet: the case study of a double-blind randomized controlled trial in Singapore (PROMOTE study)},

author = {Lisa R. Fries and Nadia Khaled and {Viveros Santos}, Ivan and Elvira Suniega-Tolentino and Motshewa Sesing and Melissa P. S. Toh and Chui Yuen Yang and Shiao Yng Chan and Sara Colombo Mottaz},

doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2024.1508166},

issn = {2296-2565},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

urldate = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Frontiers in Public Health},

volume = {12},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Rognan2025,

title = {SSELF: A Specific SEmiautomated Lifecycle Footprinting framework to go beyond generic data in LCA},

author = {Marit Salome Rognan and Manuele Margni and Guillaume Majeau-Bettez},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.70056},

doi = {10.1111/jiec.70056},

issn = {1088-1980},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Industrial Ecology},

pages = {1-17},

abstract = {<p>Advancements in life cycle assessment (LCA) and environmentally extended input–output analysis enable quick generic estimations of the environmental footprint of almost any product and service. However, going beyond a generic estimate to an assessment based on actual, specific supply chain data remains costly and impracticable and demands significant sharing of proprietary data between supply chain actors and the LCA practitioner. Achieving widespread specificity in LCA requires fundamentally changing the way inventory and emission data are collected, stored, and exchanged. This research develops the SSELF (Specific SEmiautomated Lifecycle Footprinting) framework to go beyond generic data in LCA in a way that can scale up, while safeguarding sensitive data. A key feature of the framework is decentralizing inventory collection and footprint calculations. Thus, production functions remain private and upstream impacts are calculated using an iterative approach with a database of unique product identifiers and the footprints reported by other users, capturing changes in the footprints of suppliers. Although this substantially reduces the effort of footprint assessments, implementing the framework in practice presents new challenges, which are identified and discussed in this paper along with recommendations on how they can be addressed and their implications. This work provides important insight into how to get to a point where every product and service has its unique footprint. Broad access to footprints with more specificity is necessary to help consumers reduce their consumption‐based impacts and make companies take accountability for, and reduce, their indirect impacts.</p>},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Greffe2025,

title = {Evaluation of metals mining and processing energy consumption and potential metals supply–demand mismatch towards 2100},

author = {Titouan Greffe and Manuele Margni and Cécile Bulle},

doi = {10.1016/j.resconrec.2025.108482},

issn = {09213449},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Resources, Conservation and Recycling},

volume = {223},

pages = {108482},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Wu2025,

title = {A review of current state-of-the-art road vehicle life cycle assessment tools},

author = {Susie Ruqun Wu and Anne de Bortoli and Cécile Bulle},

doi = {10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.146278},

issn = {09596526},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

urldate = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Cleaner Production},

volume = {522},

publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},

abstract = {With the increasing availability of vehicle Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools, practitioners need a clear understanding of each tools' modeling methodology to select the one best fitting their needs to reach robust conclusions on whether and how a reduction of certain environmental burdens could be realized from advanced technologies, such as electric vehicles. We reviewed five free open-source LCA tools evaluating four wheeled vehicles, namely, GREET (2022 rev1), AFLEET (2023), carculator (v1.8.4), GHGenius (v5.02), and EV Footprint (2023). We conducted the review through 1) deciphering the LCA methodology of each tool, 2) benchmarking key inventory data to understand where and why tool-derived discrepancies could happen, and 3) developing a framework for assessing tools' adaptability and suitability to aid practitioners in choosing and customizing tools as needed. The results showed that each tool is developed with different scopes, adopting different model mechanism, sourcing different background data and characterizing different impact categories. At inventory stage, data on fuel feedstock, electricity mix, battery chemistry are sourced and aggregated differently, and different types of on-road emissions are reported. The life cycle impact assessment implementation does not significantly contribute to discrepancies where carbon footprint is the only commonly reported impact indicator across tools. Using the newly proposed framework, we found carculator to have the highest adaptability, followed closely by GREET. The framework proposes aligning user needs with each tool's goals and scope to determine final suitability scores. We finally identified key input parameters for each tool, with examples of parameter customization provided.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Saadi2025,

title = {Including impacts of microplastics in marine water and sediments in life cycle assessment},

author = {Nadim Saadi and Jérôme Lavoie and Peter Fantke and Paula Redondo-Hasselerharm and Anne-Marie Boulay},

doi = {10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.146037},

issn = {09596526},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

urldate = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Cleaner Production},

volume = {520},

publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},

abstract = {Microplastics (MPs) pose a threat to marine ecosystems. When released, MPs first reach the water column, where they can be ingested by pelagic species. MPs can then reach marine sediments, a potential sink, where they may affect sediment-dwelling species. However, current life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods do not consider the impact of MPs in sediments, providing an incomplete picture when comparing environmental profiles of products and services. This work builds on the MarILCA working group characterization factors (CFs) by computing updated physical effects on biota CFs that include both water and sediment compartments, as previous factors did not consider the latter. A simplified fate of MPs in the marine environment is modelled, combining fate in water and sediments and differentiating between MP polymers, sizes, and shapes. A combined exposure and effect factor for MPs in sediments (EEFsed) is developed, calculated from a hazardous concentration for 20 % of species (HC20), derived from a species sensitivity distribution (SSD) of effect concentrations of 10 % (EC10) values. A methodology accounting for species feeding behaviour is proposed to derive ecosystem-level impacts via exposure through different compartments, expressed as the potentially affected fraction (PAF) of marine species. Combining the fate, EEFsed, and EEFw (water) yielded updated marine CFs including impacts on both water and sediment-dwelling biota. CFs were tested in a textile LCA case study. Sediments were found to be a sink for high-density MPs, with EEFsed (16 PAF m3/kg) significantly lower than the previously reported EEFw (1068 PAF m3/kg). Developed marine CFs range from 34 to 5.4 × 108 PAF m3 d/kg and are available for use in environmental decision-making.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Ospital2025,

title = {Development of a parametrized and regionalized life cycle inventory model for tire and road wear particles},

author = {Louisa Ospital and Manuele Margni and Anne-Marie Boulay},

doi = {10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.138986},

issn = {18733336},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

urldate = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Hazardous Materials},

volume = {495},

publisher = {Elsevier B.V.},

abstract = {Tire and Road Wear Particles (TRWPs), composed of degraded tire rubber and road particles, are non-exhaust traffic emissions and a significant global source of microplastics. With concerns regarding environmental and health effects, accurate emission estimates are needed to better understand their occurrence and potential impacts. Existing methodologies for quantifying TRWP emissions and fail to account for key parameters related to vehicle operation, environmental, and driving conditions influencing emissions, while overlooking geographical variations. This research article introduces a novel, parametrized, and regionalized inventory model for quantifying TRWP emissions, providing context-specific estimates at vehicle and national scales. It aims to complement Life Cycle Inventory databases allowing a comprehensive Life Cycle Impact Assessment of TRWPs in future works. A vehicle-specific methodology, incorporating nine key parameters – road texture, carried load, driving behavior, speed, road wetness, paved or non-paved roads, temperature, humidity, and tire type (summer, friction, studded) – to estimate both large (10–500 µm) and fine (<10 µm) tire wear particle emissions. Results indicate that road texture, driving behavior and road wetness mainly influence large particle emissions while increasing temperature and carried load predominantly affect fine particle emissions. The driving environment significantly influences both emission types. Despite limited data accuracy and availability, the design of the model allows for continuous updates to refine its applicability across diverse contexts.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{deBortoli2025,

title = {More rationality and inclusivity are imperative in reference transition scenarios based on IAMs and shared socioeconomic pathways - recommendations for prospective LCA},

author = {Anne de Bortoli and Alexis Chanel and Camille Chabas and Titouan Greffe and Estelle Louineau},

doi = {10.1016/j.rser.2025.115924},

issn = {18790690},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

urldate = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews},

volume = {222},

publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},

abstract = {Prospective life cycle assessment (pLCA) is a key tool for evaluating future environmental impacts and supporting environmental policies. Recent pLCA methods integrate technological projections from transition scenarios modeled with integrated assessment models (IAMs), leveraging the shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) and representative concentration pathways developed within the framework of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC). However, this computational framework is influenced by subjective modeling choices within IAMs and SSPs, which can affect the robustness and relevance of future technological scenarios thus pLCA results. This article starts by highlighting these subjective choices through the lens of Science and Technology Studies, to then provide recommendations to enhance pLCA practices within this computational framework, especially through the selection of more (a) rational and (b) inclusive technological scenarios. The first step toward better practices is recognizing the inherited choices and limitations of borrowed models. Our recommendations then address the selection of future technological scenarios for pLCA: these scenarios could (a.1) account for the whole variability of mainstream transition scenarios from the latest IPCC report and its effect on pLCA results, (a.2) include only screened IPCC mainstream IAM scenarios based on proposed reality check criteria, (b.1) integrate scenarios rooted in alternative economic schools of thought, such as post-Keynesian economics or ecological macroeconomics, explore scenarios based on alternative (b.2) indicators prioritizing strong sustainability, justice, and well-being, and (b.3) societal narratives such as economic downscaling avenues and degrowth. Finally, we emphasize the need to incorporate ethical considerations into modeling, offering recommendations to (b.4) prioritize more equitable scenarios.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Corre2025,

title = {Life cycle assessment and techno-economic comparison of methane production routes from sewage sludge: Incineration vs. hydrothermal gasification and anaerobic digestionn},

author = {Soline Corre and Meire Ellen Gorete Ribeiro Domingos and Daniel Florez-Orrego and Gabriel Magnaval and Manuele Margni and François Maréchal},

doi = {10.1016/j.enconman.2025.120015},

issn = {01968904},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

urldate = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Energy Conversion and Management},

volume = {341},

publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},

abstract = {The disposal of sewage sludge poses significant challenges due to storage difficulties and the presence of pollutants and pathogens. Conventional treatment methods, such as incineration and anaerobic digestion (AD), are compared to advanced technologies like hydrothermal gasification (HTG) with syngas upgrading for methane production. Various indicators — i.e. environmental impacts, exergy efficiency, capital expenditures, and operational expenses — are assessed to evaluate these pathways. The scope of the life cycle assessment (LCA) accounts for the waste recovery, the treatement infrastructure, and material and energy flows. It additionally account for the substitution of valorized products. For instance, the methane produced is assumed to replace fossil methane with a substitution rate ranging from 100% (entire replacement of fossil methane) to 0%, considering either no substitution or future decarbonized energy systems. As a result, HTG achieves an exergy efficiency as low as 10.2 %. Yet, carbon management strategies, such as co-electrolysis (co-SOEC), can improve the exergy efficiency up to a value of 62.2 %. The most favourable routes in terms of GHG emissions are those mineralizing CO2 from sludge gasification (−1,100 kg CO2-eq/FU) or maximizing sludge-to-methane conversion (e.g., HTG with co-SOEC, −790 kg CO2-eq/FU). However, this benefit reverses under a 0 % substitution scenario (+770 kg CO2-eq/FU). In contrast, AD-based routes with lower energy demand show impacts between − 328 and + 70 kg CO2-eq/FU, also being more competitive in terms of costs. Beyond GHG emissions, trade-offs emerge across other impact categories, notably water scarcity, ecosystem quality, and fossil and nuclear energy use, particularly for routes involving CO2 mineralization and co-SOEC due to their high energy demand.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Magnaval2025,

title = {Development of an analytical model of automobile energy consumption during use-phase for parametrized life cycle assessment},

author = {Gabriel Magnaval and Anne-Marie Boulay},

doi = {10.1016/j.rser.2025.115716},

issn = {18790690},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

urldate = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews},

volume = {217},

publisher = {Elsevier Ltd},

abstract = {Models for automobile energy consumption calculations often lack adaptability, granularity, and consistency, limiting the transparency, reproducibility, and representativeness of automobile processes in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Although developing parametrized models appears to be promising, their application to automobile energy consumption is constrained by the complexity of powertrain modeling and the integration of driving conditions. This work presents a model for gasoline and electric vehicles based on parametrized equations, describing physical drivers of energy demand while uncoupling the role of contributors, including the vehicle body, powertrain, path, and driver. An innovative method for parametrizing driving conditions is introduced, eliminating reliance on traditional driving cycles. Complemented by pre-set configurations to enhance usability, the computational tool PETRAUL built on this framework enables practitioners to perform precise and representative energy consumption calculations for vehicles. This study further demonstrates the tool's utility for both foreground and background LCA processes. This includes scenario analyses emphasizing the necessity of multi-solution strategies, a comparison with ecoinvent and Carculator highlighting improved granularity, and an LCA case study on lightweighting, illustrating enhanced representativeness for assessments across diverse technological and regional conditions. This streamlined LCA of a polycarbonate glazing highlights the potential burden shifting from the vehicle use phase to the manufacturing of lightweight materials, notably when coupled with electrification. Ultimately, PETRAUL provides a robust foundation for advancing LCA practices by enhancing adaptability and transparency in parametrized modeling, while illustrating the need for both technological and sobriety measures to reduce environmental impacts of the automobile industry.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Seitfudem2025,

title = {The updated and improved method for water scarcity impact assessment in LCA, AWARE2.0},

author = {Georg Seitfudem and Markus Berger and Hannes Müller Schmied and Anne-Marie Boulay},

doi = {10.1111/jiec.70023},

issn = {15309290},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

urldate = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Industrial Ecology},

volume = {29},

issue = {3},

pages = {891-907},

publisher = {John Wiley and Sons Inc},

abstract = {Supported by the Life Cycle Initiative, in 2018, the Water Use in Life Cycle Assessment (WULCA) working group published Available Water Remaining (AWARE), a consensus-based method for water scarcity impact assessment. This article presents AWARE2.0, an update based on new data and an improved calculation process and recommended by the authors of the original AWARE publication. Water availability for 1990–2019 and the global water consumption inventory of 2019 are modeled with the global hydrological model WaterGAP2.2e. AWARE2.0 refines the calculations for river deltas, inland sinks, and subdivided river basins and furthermore benefits from an improved representation of basin area, increased responsiveness of environmental water requirements to seasonal flow patterns, and a more appropriate water consumption definition. This work analyses differences between AWARE and AWARE2.0 and the influence of the improvements on the characterization factors (CFs). The update is relevant to life cycle assessment, since more than half of the water consumption inventory is linked to CFs changing by more than 10%. Globally relevant changes mainly result from the new input data including the temporal reference period, whereas other improvements target individual types of basins, sometimes changing their CFs by two orders of magnitude. The AWARE2.0 CFs are provided for 9406 basins and the country definitions of ecoinvent and GLAM. This article met the requirements for a gold-gold JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Kaddoura2025,

title = {Global sensitivity analysis reduces data collection efforts in LCA: A comparison between two additive manufacturing technologies},

author = {Mohamad Kaddoura and Guillaume Majeau-Bettez and Ben Amor and Manuele Margni},

doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179269},

issn = {18791026},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Science of The Total Environment},

volume = {975},

publisher = {Elsevier B.V.},

abstract = {Accounting for the environmental impacts in the design of technologies is becoming a necessity for manufacturers. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a well-established method to quantify the environmental impacts of products and services through a holistic perspective and is increasingly used to support the eco-design of products and technologies. However, LCA generally faces an inherent issue with data availability. Given the constraints on both time and cost for collecting inventory data to feed the LCA model, a trade-off between data cost robustness is required with an efficient data collection strategy. The objective of this study is to develop a framework to prioritize data collection efforts in LCA using uncertainty analysis. This starts with a screening life cycle inventory analysis systematically informing all input parameters with uncertainty ranges. Monte Carlo analysis is then used to propagate the uncertainty through the model. Stochastic results are then compared with an acceptable confidence level set by the decision maker. This is followed by a global sensitivity analysis using Sobol' indices to rank different input parameters based on their contribution to the variability of the results. This paves the way for an iterative process prioritizing further data collection focusing on the most sensitive parameters. A case study comparing cold spray and wire arc additive manufacturing illustrates how to operationalize the framework. Learnings from the case study highlight the importance of defining the uncertainty ranges and the convergence criterion, where more work is needed in that domain.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Pellengahr2025,

title = {Modeling marine microplastic emissions in Life Cycle Assessment: characterization factors for biodegradable polymers and their application in a textile case study},

author = {Felicitas Pellengahr and Elena Corella-Puertas and Valérie Mattelin and Nadim Saadi and Francesca Bertella and Anne-Marie Boulay and Yvonne Meer},

doi = {10.3389/ftox.2025.1494220},

issn = {26733080},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

urldate = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Frontiers in Toxicology},

volume = {7},

publisher = {Frontiers Media SA},

abstract = {Introduction: With the continuous increase of plastics production, it is imperative to carefully examine their environmental profile through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). However, current LCA modeling is not considering the potential impacts of plastic emissions on the biosphere. To integrate plastic emissions into LCA, characterization factors are needed that commonly consist of three elements: a fate factor, an exposure factor, and an effect factor. In this context, fate factors quantify the distribution and longevity of plastics in the environment. Research on these fate factors is still limited, especially for biodegradable polymers. Hence, the main objective of this research was to determine the fate factors of biodegradable polymers [poly (lactic acid), poly (butylene succinate), and poly (ε-caprolactam)] based on primary experimental data for the marine environment. Methods: The validity of former research is tested by comparing the degradation evolution of i. macro- and microplastic particles, ii. two different grades of the polymer, and iii. different temperature levels. The degradation data are obtained by monitoring the oxygen consumption over a period of six months in natural seawater. The determined degradation rates are combined with sedimentation, resuspension, and deep burial rates to obtain fate factors. These fate factors are used to develop polymer-specific characterization factors. The resulting characterization factors are tested in an LCA case study of a synthetic sports shirt made from biodegradable polymer fibers. It allows to assess the relative importance of microplastic impacts compared to other life cycle impacts. Results and discussion: Comparing the resulting specific surface degradation rates indicates that microplastic degradation rates could be overestimated when using macroplastic degradation data. Pertaining to the case study, the results show that the impact on ecosystem quality by microplastic emissions could account for up to 30% of the total endpoint category. Overall, this work aims to foster interdisciplinary collaboration to leverage the accuracy of LCA studies and thus provide guidance for novel material development.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Rhouma2025,

title = {Connecting the water footprint with the water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus concept and its added value in the Mediterranean},

author = {Ali Rhouma and Georg Seitfudem and Jerome El Jeitany and Tommaso Pacetti and Floor Brouwer and José M. Gil},

doi = {10.1016/j.indic.2025.100640},

issn = {26659727},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Environmental and Sustainability Indicators},

volume = {26},

publisher = {Elsevier B.V.},

abstract = {The Mediterranean region faces significant challenges within the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus due to water scarcity, increasing agricultural and energy demands, and ecosystem degradation exacerbated by climate change. This research addresses these challenges by integrating two water footprint (WF) methodologies, the volumetric Water Footprint Assessment (WFA) and the impact-oriented Water Scarcity Footprint (WSF) and then correlating the results with the WEF Nexus Index and other sustainability indicators, to explore trade-offs and synergies across water, energy, food, and ecosystem dimensions at multiple scales. Findings highlight that the most significant impacts of water consumption stem from the cultivation of water-intensive crops in water-scarce regions, both within and beyond the Mediterranean. This underscores the pivotal role of virtual water trade and the global implications of local water management practices. The results further reveal critical disparities in water resource use and stress among Mediterranean countries, emphasizing the need for targeted policy interventions and international cooperation to address these challenges. By elucidating the interdependencies between water and the other WEFE Nexus dimensions, this study contributes valuable insights for policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders striving to achieve sustainable resource management and resilience in the Mediterranean region and beyond.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Pellan2025,

title = {A dataset on metal-related production activities and their socio-environmental impacts in Canada},

author = {Marin Pellan and Titouan Greffe and Guillaume Majeau-Bettez and Anne de Bortoli},

doi = {10.1038/s41597-025-06106-1},

issn = {2052-4463},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

urldate = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Scientific Data},

volume = {12},

issue = {1},

pages = {1820},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Nong2025,

title = {Material efficiency for transport decarbonization: a case study of carsharing in montreal},

author = {Yonsorena Nong and Laure Patouillard and Guillaume Majeau-Bettez and Francesco Ciari},

doi = {10.1016/j.trd.2025.105037},

issn = {13619209},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment},

volume = {149},

pages = {105037},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Sacchi2025,

title = {Contextual LCIA without the overhead: an exchange-based framework for flexible impact assessment},

author = {Romain Sacchi and Alvaro Hahn Menacho and Georg Seitfudem and Maxime Agez and Joanna Schlesinger-Martinat and Anish Koyamparambath and Jair Santillan Saldivar and Philippe Loubet and Christian Bauer},

doi = {10.1007/s11367-025-02551-7},

issn = {16147502},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

urldate = {2025-01-01},

journal = {The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment},

publisher = {Springer},

abstract = {Purpose: Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) has traditionally applied characterization factors (CFs) to elementary flows in isolation, treating impacts as fixed properties of substances, regardless of where and how they occur within the life cycle product system. While recent advances have introduced regionalized LCIA methods and GIS-based spatial modeling frameworks, these remain difficult to operationalize in routine assessments and are often limited to differentiation at the elementary flow level. This paper presents a methodological advancement in LCIA: the application of CFs at the level of exchanges—the resolved biosphere and technosphere flows between processes. Methods: Shifting the CF unit from elementary flows to exchanges enables CFs to reflect the full context of each exchange, including the geographic origin and destination, the identity of the emitting process and environmental recipient, and prospective, scenario-dependent parameters. The method offers a flexible, intermediate solution between traditional elementary flow-based LCIA and full spatially explicit models, supporting national and subnational regionalization without requiring high-resolution GIS integration. Results: The approach is implemented in the open-source Python library edges, which extends the Brightway LCA framework to support exchange-specific and symbolic CFs. We illustrate its capabilities through four applications: 1) Regionalized LCIA, using the AWARE water scarcity method with dynamic handling of region aggregation and disaggregation; 2) Technosphere-based LCIA, via a new implementation of the GeoPolRisk indicator, which assigns CFs based on country-to-country commodity trade relationships; and scenario-sensitive prospective LCIAs, enabling alignment with climate scenarios, where CFs are defined by symbolic expressions that depend on scenario-specific variables, with application 3) focusing on global warming potential based on atmospheric gas concentration, and application 4) addressing fossil resource scarcity through dynamic fossil fuels extraction rates. Conclusions: Together, these examples demonstrate how exchange-resolved LCIA expands the methodological space of impact modeling, offering a scalable, exchange-aware framework for regional, relational, and future-oriented life cycle assessments.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{deBortoli2024,

title = {Environmental life-cycle impacts of bitumen: Systematic review and new Canadian models},

author = {Anne de Bortoli and Olutoyin Rahimy and Annie Levasseur},

doi = {10.1016/j.trd.2024.104439},

issn = {13619209},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

urldate = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment},

volume = {136},

pages = {104439},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Duval2024,

title = {Optimization of the end‐of‐life tire repartition within the European treatment system to minimize its environmental impacts},

author = {Lisa Duval and Guillaume Majeau-Bettez and François Saunier and François Maréchal and Manuele Margni},

doi = {10.1111/jiec.13474},

issn = {1088-1980},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Industrial Ecology},

abstract = {<p>This study contrasts two different approaches to inform European‐scale decision‐making to mitigate the environmental impacts of the end‐of‐life tires (ELT) management system. The first analysis is a traditional life cycle assessment (LCA) that compares the environmental performances of the 12 main available European end‐of‐life (EOL) technologies in ELT processing while restricting the boundaries to the EOL stage. The second analysis has a broader scope, addressing the optimization of the ELT distribution within the 12 considered pathways to minimize the environmental impacts of the total tire use in Europe under present capacity and constraints. The results of the traditional LCA show that, except for landfill, all the tested EOL routes present environmental benefits. Material recovery pathways bring the most environmental credits, whereas civil engineering pathways are the least promising. The LCA results that emerged from the optimization of ELT management technologies yield two optimal technological mixes that maximize the quantity of ELT recycled in molded objects production: such results represent a hypothetical case with no constraints. When considering constraints, that is, limitations on maximum quantities of ELT that can undergo retreading, pyrolysis, or recycling in synthetic turfs, in molded objects and in production, the number of optimal technology mixes increases to five. The type of technologies favored depends on the minimized impact categories (climate change, fossil and nuclear energy use, human health, and ecosystem quality). A comparison between constrained and unconstrained scenarios shows that achieving the best environmental performances is conditional to the accessibility of the EOL technologies as well as their individual environmental impacts.</p>},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Beylot2024,

title = {Mineral resources depletion, dissipation and accessibility in LCA: a critical analysis},

author = {Antoine Beylot and Jo Dewulf and Titouan Greffe and Stéphanie Muller and Gian-Andrea Blengini},

doi = {10.1007/s11367-023-02278-3},

issn = {0948-3349},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Kaddoura2024,

title = {Estimating and reducing dissipative losses in thermal spray: A parametrized material flow analysis approach},

author = {Mohamad Kaddoura and Guillaume Majeau-Bettez and Ben Amor and Dominique Poirier and Manuele Margni},

doi = {10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141978},

issn = {09596526},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Cleaner Production},

volume = {450},

pages = {141978},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Provost-Savard2024,

title = {Substitution modeling can coherently be used in attributional life cycle assessments},

author = {Arianne Provost-Savard and Guillaume Majeau-Bettez},

doi = {10.1111/jiec.13480},

issn = {1088-1980},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Industrial Ecology},

abstract = {<p> Most life cycle assessment (LCA) studies use the attributional methodology. This approach attributes a share of global environmental impacts to one or multiple functions provided by a normatively circumscribed system. Multifunctional systems that are not technologically subdivisible between co‐functions are frequently encountered in LCA studies. It then becomes necessary to resort to co‐production modeling techniques, like the substitution approach. The use of substitution modeling in attributional LCA (ALCA) is, however, discouraged amongst practitioners, due to the alleged violation of central requirements of the attributional methodology. The objective of this research is to shed light on common misconceptions about the compatibility of substitution with ALCA. The first misconception is that the use of substitution in ALCA violates the conservation of total environmental impacts. We find that this idea arises from a confusion regarding the attribution of impacts to the secondary product(s). The second misconception stipulates that substitution is not coherent with the state‐descriptive characteristic of ALCA. We conclude that we can describe a given system <italic>as resulting</italic> from an inferred (substitution) change, rather than <italic>as disrupted</italic> by this change. Finally, we discuss the choice of the substituted technology, and argue there is a logic to marginal substitution in ALCA. We therefore recommend accepting substitution modeling in ALCA. </p>},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Suh2024,

title = {Conceptual framework for identifying polymers of concern},

author = {Sangwon Suh and Anne-Marie Boulay and Peter Fantke and Dingsheng Li and Dilip Menon and Raoul Meys and Llorenç Milà Canals},

doi = {10.3389/frsus.2024.1399431},

issn = {2673-4524},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Frontiers in Sustainability},

volume = {5},

abstract = {<p>With the increasing global concern over plastics' environmental and human health impacts, the urgency for effective regulatory measures is evident. The UN Environment Assembly's initiative to establish an international, legally binding instrument via the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution marks a significant step toward addressing this issue. However, the vast diversity of plastic types and their myriad applications present a complex challenge in pinpointing the most critical targets for regulation. This study builds on the existing body of literature to outline potential key criteria for identifying Polymers of Concern (PoC). We recommend a dual-focused definition of PoCs considering both (1) the type of the plastics and (2) their domain of applications based on the environmental and human health impacts throughout the polymer's life cycle. Recognizing the current gaps in our understanding of the full spectrum of plastics' impacts across their life cycles, we suggest adopting a precautionary approach that factors in the volume of plastics entering natural ecosystems alongside their life cycle impacts as reported in the literature. We then bring forward existing data on the assessment of some of the main polymer types and applications. We propose that policymakers examine a wide spectrum of strategies including not only bans and phaseouts but also economic incentives, innovation, and the redesign of plastic materials and products to mitigate the adverse impacts of PoCs. We further emphasize the importance of thoroughly assessing the feasibility, costs, and environmental, social and economic implications of alternative materials to avoid “regrettable substitution.” We conclude by identifying existing knowledge gaps and emphasizing the need for further research to refine the proposed criteria for identifying PoCs.</p>},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Schnidrig2024b,

title = {Between green hills and green bills: Unveiling the green shades of sustainability and burden shifting through multi-objective optimization in Swiss energy system planning},

author = { Jonas Schnidrig and Matthieu Souttre and Arthur Chuat and François Maréchal and Manuele Margni},

doi = {10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122537},

issn = {03014797},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Environmental Management},

volume = {370},

pages = {122537},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}