Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle. LCA describes the life cycle as consecutive and interlinked stages of a product system extending from the acquisition of raw materials through materials processing, technology manufacturing/construction, technology use/maintenance/upgrade, and the technology retirement. LCA also provides a framework for understanding economic and social impacts. In an LCA, data are collected at the unit process level, intended to represent a single industrial activity, in this case the food and agriculture industry. Each single industrial activity (a) produces product and sometimes co-products; (b) uses resources from the environment; (c) uses resources from other unit processes in the technosphere; and (d) generates emissions to the environment. In an LCA, the inventory analysis combines unit process data for the life cycle and the impact assessment estimates the impact associated with activities and flows to and from the environment for the inventory. Datasets have been developed for the LCA Commons in response to a national need for data representing US operations. The LCA Commons database is an open access database developed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Library (NAL) for use in LCAs to support policy assessment, technology implementation decision-making, and publicly disclosed comparative product or technology assertions. K7612-17: Photo by Scott Bauer; http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/sep97/k7612-17.htm Resources in this dataset:Resource Title: LCA Commons website. File Name: Web Page, url: https://www.lcacommons.gov/

This document provides instructions for editing and submitting unit process or product system models to the USDA LCA Commons life cycle inventory (LCI) database. The LCA Commons LCI database uses the openLCA life cycle modeling tool's database schema. Therefore, this document describes how to import and edit data in openLCA and name and classify flows such that they properly import into and operate in the database. This document also describes metadata or documentation requirements for posting models to the LCA Commons. This document is an evolving standard for LCA Commons data. As USDA-NAL continues to gain experience in managing a general purpose LCI database and global conventions continue to evolve, so too will the LCA Commons Submission Guidelines. Resources in this dataset:Resource Title: LCA Commons Submission Guidelines_12/09/2015. File Name: lcaCommonsSubmissionGuidelines_Final_2015-12-09.pdf

(i) The CPM LCA Database is developed within the Swedish Life Cycle Center, and is a result of the continuous work to establish transparent and quality reviewed LCA data. The Swedish Life Cycle Center (founded in 1996 and formerly called CPM) is a center of excellence for the advance of life cycle thinking in industry and other parts of society through research, implementation, communication and exchange of experience on life cycle management. The mission is to improve the environmental performance of products and services, as a natural part of sustainable development. The Center has been instrumental for the development and adoption the life cycle perspective in Swedish companies and has made important contributions to international standardization in the life cycle field. More information about the Center, see www.lifecyclecenter.se. The Swedish Life Cycle Center owns the CPM LCA Database, which is today maintained by Environmental Systems Analysis at the Department of Energy and Environment at Chalmers University of Technology. (ii) All LCI datasets can be viewed in in three formats: the SPINE format, a format compatible with the ISO/TS 14048 LCA data documentation format criteria, and in the ILCD format. Three impact assessment models: EPS, EDIP, and ECO-Indicator, can be viewed in the IA98 format. Also a simple IA calculator is provided where the environmental impact of each LCI dataset can be calculated based on the three different IA methods. (iii) unknown (iv) unknown

Hybrid LCA database generated using ecoinvent and EXIOBASE, i.e., each process of the original ecoinvent database is added new direct inputs (coming from EXIOBASE) deemed missing (e.g., services). Each process of the resulting hybrid database is thus not (or at least less) truncated and the calculated lifecycle emissions/impacts should therefore be closer to reality.

For license reasons, only the added inputs for each process of ecoinvent are provided (and not all the inputs).

Why are there two versions for hybrid-ecoinvent3.5?

One of the version corresponds to ecoinvent hybridized with the normal version of EXIOBASE and the other is hybridized with a capital-endogenized version of EXIOBASE.

What does capital endogenization do?

It matches capital goods formation to the value chains of products where they are required. In a more LCA way of speaking, EXIOBASE in its normal version does not allocate capital use to value chains. It's like if ecoinvent processes had no inputs of buildings, etc. in their unit process inventory. For more detail on this, refer to (Södersten et al., 2019) or (Miller et al., 2019).

So which version do I use?

Using the version "with capitals" gives a more comprehensive coverage. Using the "without capitals" version means that if a process of ecoinvent misses inputs of capital goods (e.g., a process does not include the company laptops of the employees), it won't be added. It comes with its fair share of assumptions and uncertainties however.

Why is it only available for hybrid-ecoinvent3.5?

The work used for capital endogenization is not available for exiobase3.8.1.

How do I use the dataset?

First, to use it, you will need both the corresponding ecoinvent [cut-off] and EXIOBASE [product x product] versions. For the reference year of EXIOBASE to-be-used, take 2011 if using the hybrid-ecoinvent3.5 and 2019 for hybrid-ecoinvent3.6 and 3.7.1.

In the four datasets of this package, only added inputs are given (i.e. inputs from EXIOBASE added to ecoinvent processes). Ecoinvent and EXIOBASE processes/sectors are not included, for copyright issues. You thus need both ecoinvent and EXIOBASE to calculate life cycle emissions/impacts.

Module to get ecoinvent in a Python format: https://github.com/majeau-bettez/ecospold2matrix (make sure to take the most up-to-date branch)

Module to get EXIOBASE in a Python format: https://github.com/konstantinstadler/pymrio (can also be installed with pip)

If you want to use the "with capitals" version of the hybrid database, you also need to use the capital endogenized version of EXIOBASE, available here: https://zenodo.org/record/3874309. Choose the pxp version of the year you plan to study (which should match with the year of the EXIOBASE version). You then need to normalize the capital matrix (i.e., divide by the total output x of EXIOBASE). Then, you simply add the normalized capital matrix (K) to the technology matrix (A) of EXIOBASE (see equation below).

Once you have all the data needed, you just need to apply a slightly modified version of the Leontief equation:

(\begin{equation} \textbf{q}^{hyb} = \begin{bmatrix} \textbf{C}^{lca}\cdot\textbf{S}^{lca} & \textbf{C}^{io}\cdot\textbf{S}^{io} \end{bmatrix} \cdot \left( \textbf{I} - \begin{bmatrix} \textbf{A}^{lca} & \textbf{C}^{d} \ \textbf{C}^{u} & \textbf{A}^{io}+\textbf{K}^{io} \end{bmatrix} \right) ^{-1} \cdot \left( \begin{bmatrix} \textbf{y}^{lca} \ 0 \end{bmatrix} \right) \end{equation})

qhyb gives the hybridized impact, i.e., the impacts of each process including the impacts generated by their new inputs.

Clca and Cio are the respective characterization matrices for ecoinvent and EXIOBASE.

Slca and Sio are the respective environmental extension matrices (or elementary flows in LCA terms) for ecoinvent and EXIOBASE.

I is the identity matrix.

Alca and Aio are the respective technology matrices for ecoinvent and EXIOBASE (the ones loaded with ecospold2matrix and pymrio).

Kio is the capital matrix. If you do not use the endogenized version, do not include this matrix in the calculation.

Cu (or upstream cut-offs) is the matrix that you get in this dataset.

Cd (or downstream cut-offs) is simply a matrix of zeros in the case of this application.

Finally you define your final demand (or functional unit/set of functional units for LCA) as ylca.

Can I use it with different versions/reference years of EXIOBASE?

Technically speaking, yes it will work, because the temporal aspect does not intervene in the determination of the hybrid database presented here. However, keep in mind that there might be some inconsistencies. For example, you would need to multiply each of the inputs of the datasets by a factor to account for inflation. Prices of ecoinvent (which were used to compile the hybrid databases, for all versions presented here) are defined in €2005.

What are the weird suite of numbers in the columns?

Ecoinvent processes are identified through unique identifiers (uuids) to which metadata (i.e., name, location, price, etc.) can be retraced with the appropriate metadata files in each dataset package.

Why is the equation (I-A)-1 and not A-1 like in LCA?

IO and LCA have the same computational background. In LCA however, the convention is to represents outputs and inputs in the technology matrix. That's why there is a diagonal of 1s (the outputs, i.e. functional units) and negative values elsewhere (inputs). In IO, the technology matrix does not include outputs and only registers inputs as positive values. In the end, it is just a convention difference. If we call T the technology matrix of LCA and A the technology matrix of IO we have T = I-A. When you load ecoinvent using ecospold2matrix, the resulting version of ecoinvent will already be in IO convention and you won't have to bother with it.

Pymrio does not provide a characterization matrix for EXIOBASE, what do I do?

You can find an up-to-date characterization matrix (with Impact World+) for environmental extensions of EXIOBASE here: https://zenodo.org/record/3890339

If you want to match characterization across both EXIOBASE and ecoinvent (which you should do), here you can find a characterization matrix with Impact World+ for ecoinvent: https://zenodo.org/record/3890367

It's too complicated...

The custom software that was used to develop these datasets already deals with some of the steps described. Go check it out: https://github.com/MaximeAgez/pylcaio. You can also generate your own hybrid version of ecoinvent using this software (you can play with some parameters like correction for double counting, inflation rate, change price data to be used, etc.). As of pylcaio v2.1, the resulting hybrid database (generated directly by pylcaio) can be exported to and manipulated in brightway2.

Where can I get more information?

The whole methodology is detailed in (Agez et al., 2021).

This is a step-by-step tutorial for getting started with OpenLCA software. This tutorial contains 1 database (.zolca), 2 handouts, and 2 accompanying lecture slides. [Disclaimer] the database used for this tutorial is compiled from two open-access databases (ELCD database and USDA crop database v1.1).

The demand for life cycle assessments (LCA) is growing rapidly, which leads to an increasing demand of life cycle inventory (LCI) data. While the LCA community has made significant progress in developing LCI databases for diverse applications, challenges still need to be addressed. This perspective summarizes the current data gaps, transparency, and uncertainty aspects of existing LCI databases. Additionally, we survey and discuss novel techniques for LCI data generation, dissemination, and validation. We propose key future directions for LCI development efforts to address these challenges, including leveraging scientific and technical advances such as the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, and blockchain/cloud platforms. Adopting these advanced technologies can significantly improve the quality and accessibility of LCI data, thereby facilitating more accurate and reliable LCA studies.

An excel template with data elements and conventions corresponding to the openLCA unit process data model. Includes LCA Commons data and metadata guidelines and definitions Resources in this dataset:Resource Title: READ ME - data dictionary. File Name: lcaCommonsSubmissionGuidelines_FINAL_2014-09-22.pdfResource Title: US Federal LCA Commons Life Cycle Inventory Unit Process Template. File Name: FedLCA_LCI_template_blank EK 7-30-2015.xlsxResource Description: Instructions: This template should be used for life cycle inventory (LCI) unit process development and is associated with an openLCA plugin to import these data into an openLCA database. See www.openLCA.org to download the latest release of openLCA for free, and to access available plugins.

These workbooks overview the availability of additive data in major LCA databases using the UNEP (2023) comprehensive list of additives with known use in plastics within the EU. SI 1 offers the lists of available data from the LCA databases reviewed and the CAS-RNs reviewed. SI 2 provides a tool that allows users to search for available additive data in their chosen LCA database. SI 3 provides the additive ranges used to assess additive coverage and trends in plastics data in CLA databases. The S4 workbook offers the full review outcomes of the UNEP (2023) additive list. Full details of this review and analysis of the results can be found in the accompanying article.

The global Life Cycle Assessment Database market size was valued at USD 270.0 million in 2021 and is projected to grow from USD 320.1 million in 2023 to USD 798.5 million by 2033, exhibiting a CAGR of 12.0% during the forecast period (2023-2033). The market growth can be attributed to the increasing demand for environmental sustainability, growing awareness about climate change, and the adoption of life cycle assessment (LCA) in various industries. Key drivers for the market include the growing demand for transparency and sustainability in supply chains, the implementation of regulations related to carbon emissions and environmental protection, and the technological advancements in data collection and analysis. The market is segmented by application into enterprises, municipalities, and others, and by type into on-premise and cloud-based solutions. Major companies operating in the market include GHG Protocol, Ecochain, Sphera, openLCA Nexus, AssessCCUS, Ecoinvent, openLCA, Swedish Life Cycle Center, Psilca, Fraunhofer IBP, Metsims - Sustainability Consulting, and Carbon Minds.

Supplementary Material for the paper "Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based tools for the eco-design of wooden furniture". The ILCD file can be uploaded on LCA software, where an Ecoinvent database is available. This tool aims to support LCA of wooden furniture, as detailed in the paper.

This dataset is a set of life cycle assessment (LCA) models for select construction materials that have been developed by the Applied Economics Office of the Engineering Laboratory. An LCA model consists of two components: an inventory and a dataset(s). An inventory compiles and quantifies environmentally relevant flows: products, materials (including waste and emissions), or energy as defined in ISO 14040. Datasets contain environmentally relevant information of the process producing or treating the related flow. Datasets are commonly referred to as "processes" or "process models" in LCA literature.The models published here are "bridged" (i.e., call on) to publicly available life cycle inventory (LCI) databases available on the Federal LCA Commons (USLCI and eLCI databases). These models are built in openLCA, a free, public LCA modeling software tool. Users can download the ZIP file and upload directly into openLCA to use the models. The models are examples and provide a template (i.e., starting point) for structuring an LCA model for the specific product. The inventory should not be considered representative for an entire industry.

OpenLCA Nexus is an online repository for LCA data. It combines data offered by world-leading LCA data providers such as PE International (GaBi databases), the ecoinvent centre (ecoinvent), or the Joint Research Centre from the European Commission (ELCD).

This website contains a powerful search engine for LCA data that allows filtering requested data sets by database, or by year, geographical location, by industrial sector, and by product and price. Nexus contains free and “for purchase” data sets.

Website: http://www.lifecycleinitiative.org/

This material is part of the free Environmental Performance in Construction (EPiC) Database. The EPiC Database contains embodied environmental flow coefficients for 250+ construction materials using a comprehensive hybrid life cycle inventory approach.Rubber is a highly elastic polymer (elastomer) that can be obtained naturally, or produced synthetically using oil-based production methods. It has a high tensile strength, resistance to fatigue and tearing, abrasion resistance and a high resilience/ability to return to its original shape and size. In addition to this, it has good insulative qualities and adheres well to itself and other materials.Natural rubber is harvested in the form of latex from the sap of rubber trees, which is refined and converted into rubber. Variations in quality can be observed in natural rubber, due to the geographical area, weather and soil conditions.In comparison with natural rubber, synthetic rubber is generally tolerant to a broader range of temperatures, is resistant to oil and grease, and ages well against weathering. Natural rubber is favoured for its high performance and low cost, which is not directly tied to the price of petroleum.

This dataset has been developed to provide standardized and harmonized Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data for key technologies involved in energy production, storage, and conversion. It includes environmental impact indicators for photovoltaic systems, battery and thermal energy storage, hydrogen production and storage technologies, internal combustion engines, boilers, heat pumps, and Organic Rankine Cycles, as well as various energy carriers such as electricity, natural gas, hydrogen, and biomass. The dataset offers normalized values per unit of installed capacity (kW) and operational output (kWh), facilitating the integration of environmental metrics into energy system design and optimization. All data are derived from a comprehensive review of peer-reviewed literature, institutional reports, and LCA databases, ensuring methodological consistency and transparency.

A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) facilitates the systematic quantitative assessment of products, both goods and services, in terms of environmental, human health, and resource consumption considerations. The full life cycle of a product is taken into account– this includes the supply of raw materials, processing, transport, retail, use, as well as end-of-life waste management.

A quantitative LCA-study requires Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data on technical processes included in the system under study. Mostly such data are collected on a case-by-case basis with the help of the companies involved.

In LCI databases data are often organized around a unit process. A unit process describes the produced goods (economic output), consumed goods (economic input) , emitted substances (environmental output) and consumed resources (environmental input). A produced economic output is economic input of the next process in the chain. In this way unit processes are linked to a cradle-to-grave process chain relevant for a specific product.

The ELCD (European reference Life Cycle Database) comprises Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data from front-running EU-level business associations and other sources for key materials, energy carriers, transport, and waste management. The respective data sets are officially provided and approved by the named industry association. The database contains both unit process data as also Life Cycle Inventory Results, which present the environmental inputs and outputs of a process chain.

Website: http://eplca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ELCD3/processList.xhtml?stock=default

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Database market has emerged as a critical component in the field of sustainability and environmental analytics. As industries increasingly focus on minimizing their ecological footprints, LCA databases provide a comprehensive framework for evaluating the environmental impacts associat

In the Chinese Food Life Cycle Assessment Database (CFLCAD), Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGE) for 80 food items, Water Use (WU) for 93 food items and Land Use (LU) for 50 food items are collected through a literature review. The CFLCAD applies conversion factors for the edible portion of food, food loss ratio and processing, storage, packaging, transportation, and food preparation stages to estimate the environmental footprints of food from production to consumption. Similar food groups and recipes are used to match those food items without LCA value in the Chinese food composition table, resulting in a total of 17 food groups in the database.

Hemp-based products are gaining research interest due to their diverse applications and eco-friendly cultivation practices. Recognized as a key contributor to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, industrial hemp is emerging as a vital biobased material for eco-friendly products. However, the absence of industrial hemp product and process data in available life cycle inventory (LCI) databases poses a challenge for the emerging industry due to a lack of standardized practices and global market adoption. Notably, the industry faced legal restrictions in the U.S., leading to a paucity of industrial hemp research and technology development since the 1930s. This study addresses the data gaps hindering comprehensive environmental impact assessments of industrial hemp products. A mixed-method approach was employed to review relevant literature and develop an inventory of product and process data for life cycle assessment (LCA). Data were extracted for pre-harvest operations, including fertilizer use, seeding density, irrigation, agricultural machinery, diesel use, electricity use, and harvest yield. Post-harvest operations data included decortication processes, extraction yield, and carbon storage. Machine learning techniques were explored for data processing and prediction (interpolation and extrapolation). The resulting datasets can facilitate sustainability assessments and support industry competitiveness and growth by reducing or eliminating the labor-intensive and time-consuming processes of creating LCI amidst data scarcity in the hemp industry. This work highlights the need for comprehensive LCI databases and thorough LCA studies to guide hemp-based and other emerging biobased industries through innovation challenges. Future research will consider more recent studies and explore region-specific datasets to reduce LCA variability and uncertainties in environmental impact assessments.

This material is part of the free Environmental Performance in Construction (EPiC) Database. The EPiC Database contains embodied environmental flow coefficients for 250+ construction materials using a comprehensive hybrid life cycle inventory approach.Nylon 66 (nylon 6-6, nylon 6/6, or nylon 6,6) is a polyamide made from two monomers with six carbon atoms each. It has high mechanical strength, rigidity, good stability under heat and chemical resistance.Nylon 66 is synthesised by polycondensating hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid. The same amount of each monomere are mixed with water and crystallised to produce a nylon salt. The salt is polymerised and nylon 66 is formed. It can be extruded, granulated or spun into fibres.Nylon 66 is mostly used as a sheet in construction, but also in rods, tubes, screws, washers, ropes and spacers.

A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) facilitates the systematic quantitative assessment of products, both goods and services, in terms of environmental, human health, and resource consumption considerations. The full life cycle of a product is taken into account– this includes the supply of raw materials, processing, transport, retail, use, as well as end-of-life waste management.

A quantitative LCA-study requires Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data on technical processes included in the system under study. Mostly such data are collected on a case-by-case basis with the help of the companies involved.

In LCI databases process data are often organized around a unit process. A unit process describes the produced goods (economic output), consumed goods (economic input) , emitted substances (environmental output) and consumed resources (environmental input). A produced economic output is economic input of the next process in the chain. In this way unit processes are linked to a cradle-to-grave process chain relevant for a specific product.

ECOINVENT is a commercial database that provides well documented unit process data for thousands of products. The database contains both unit process data as also Life Cycle Inventory Results, which present the environmental inputs and outputs of a process chain.

Website: http://www.ecoinvent.org/