LCA database

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LCA databases are also called life-cycle assessment databases (LCA databases referred). They contain life cycle inventory data - also called Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) - or data on individual processes, which are analyzed as part of a life cycle assessment .

General

Life cycle assessment databases contain life cycle inventory analysis data etc. a. for energy supply, for material production and processing, for transport and disposal services. They primarily serve the purpose that companies that carry out life cycle assessments can access these sources. Life cycle assessment databases can be integrated internally into a company environmental information system or provide life cycle assessment data sets externally as a data source for research and industry. With the help of life cycle assessment databases, the effort involved in creating individual life cycle assessments is reduced.

standardization

Various initiatives have been taken to standardize data collection and coding. One of these initiatives is funded by the JRC (Joint Research Center) of the European Commission and is the “International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD)” to develop sustainable consumption and production structures. As part of this effort, an ILCD manual has been developed and published. Priority is given to compliance with ISO 14044 and a common standard for life cycle assessment databases is presented. This standard is referred to as the ILCD standard.

The JRC has also compiled a list of software tools and a directory of databases for life cycle assessment. Another major standard for life cycle assessment data is the EcoSpold01 or EcoSPold02 standard.

Another standardization project is the “database registry” project of the UNEP / SETAC Life Cycle Initiative. This register is intended to provide a global overview and characterization of life cycle assessment databases and life cycle databases. Great emphasis is placed on the quality of data. The project has been running since 2007 and is co-financed by the BMU and BMBF .

Databases

GaBi

The GaBi LCI databases are the most extensive internally consistent life cycle assessment data on the market. They contain around 13,000 ready-to-use inventory inventory records (as of April 2020) and are based to a significant extent on qualified information from industry or associations. GaBi stands for "holistic accounting" and is the brand name for life cycle assessment software and data from the provider Sphera (formerly thinkstep). GaBi databases have been around since the early 1980s. The data sets are updated annually in accordance with the latest developments in science and technology and are entered in more than 20 branch-specific additional databases for all relevant sectors and areas (e.g. energy, steel, aluminum, renewable raw materials, etc.)

Ecoinvent

The international ecoinvent database is currently the world's leading data system from the Swiss ecoinvent center for central recording, calculation, administration and the provision of life cycle assessment data via the Internet with over 4500 users in more than 40 countries. As part of the evoinvent 2000 project, the first version (v1.0) was published at www.ecoinvent.ch in autumn 2003. The database of version v2.2 from 2010 comprises more than 4000 data records. The current version (as of June 2016) is version 3.2. It lists life cycle inventory data on energy, materials, waste disposal, agricultural products and processes, transport, electronics, metal processing and building ventilation, which were created with industrial data by independent experts. In addition to the inventory analyzes, the ecoinvent database also contains assessment methods for these areas such as a. the Ecoindicator 99, the ecological scarcity method 06 or the CML method.

ProBas

The web portal process-oriented basic data for environmental management instruments (ProBas) is a database of the German Federal Environment Agency and the Öko-Institut e. V. , which provides data on environmental management, life cycle assessments and material flow analyzes free of charge. Specifically, it contains information on the topics of energy, materials and products as well as transport and disposal, which are also helpful for corporate life cycle assessments.

ELCD

The European Reference Life Cycle Database (ELCD) includes data from EU business organizations on Life Cycle Inventory (LCI). The current version is the ELCD III, in which process data records have been updated or adapted. The English language database was developed taking into account the guidelines ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. The focus in harmonizing the data was on applicability, consistency and quality, which were described in the ILCD handbook. The data sets in the database are not official EU reference values. The data is designed to be integrated into life cycle assessment tools or other life cycle assessment databases. The database currently includes over 300 process data records on transport services, material production, energy supply, land use and other areas. The data can be called up in the ILCD standard.

Network life cycle data

The life cycle data network is still under construction and can be accessed free of charge. The data can be called up in EcoSpold format or converted to ILCD standard with a format converter.

Further life cycle assessment databases

LCA food
LCAfood is a Danish online database which mainly collects data in the food sector.
GEMIS
Life cycle data on various processes, products, references and scenarios can be called up in the GEMIS database free of charge. Most of the data on primary energy and raw material extraction are available free of charge in the Gemis database. The database is part of the GEMIS project.
NEEDS
The NEEDS database contains data for life cycle costs of future energy supply systems, material and transport services.
NREL
US database for lifecycle data.
ÖkoPro
Interactive database for chemicals and their toxicity, whose data sheets can be accessed free of charge.

literature

Web links

Individual proof

  1. ↑ GaBi databases. Retrieved April 22, 2020 .