Status of North American Life Cycle Inventory Data

摘要

In North America, as elsewhere, consideration of life cycle environmental impacts in public policy and consumer communication is creating greater demand for life cycle assessment (LCA) inventory data. For example, the U.S. 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act requires a comparison of fuel life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for government fuel purchasing contracts. Also, product category rules and environmental declarations (as in ISO 14025) use LCA for product comparison and market-driven improvement. Yet other examples come from nongovernmental organizations such as the U.S. Green Building Council and the Green Electronics Council (EPEAT), who are increasingly looking to use LCA data and methods to reward industry best practices. Given these policy and market developments, we informally review the North American life cycle inventory data over two decades of development.