Local environmental impacts: Life cycle environmental impact assessment (LC-EIA)

The life cycle environmental impact assessment (LC-EIA) is an environmental assessment method developed by ifeu in conjunction with IUS Weibel & Ness GmbH. The developers’ main intention was to supplement and enhance the results from standard life cycle assessments (LCA) with the local and site-specific effects of a production system which are usually not covered by standard LCA methodology.

This method borrows elements from life cycle assessment (LCA) and from environmental impact assessment (EIA), which is a standardised tool for analysing proposed projects in terms of their potential to affect the local environment. LC-EIA follows the same approach as the life cycle assessment to evaluate the use of raw materials in production and the conversion stage of the biogenic pathway by comparison with the conventional reference system. Similar to EIA, LC-EIA is performed as a qualitative benefit and risk assessment.

ifeu has successfully applied the LC-EIA methodology in multiple EU projects including BIOCORE, SWEETFUEL and SUPRABIO.

Projects

Pri-o-biodiv

Determining the ecological footprint of biodiversity-relevant products and services

Is a concept and a concrete methodology for the ecological footprint of biodiversity-relevant products and services available?

BioMates

Reliable Bio-based Refinery Intermediates

The four-year project aims at manufacturing intermediate products made from wood-like or stalk-like non-food biomass, e.g. from agricultural residues and perennial grasses, which are suitable for…

COSMOS

COSMOS aims at reducing the dependence on imported coconut and palm kernel oils and fatty acids and on castor oil as sources for medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA, C10–C14) and medium-chain polymer…

OPTIMA

The project, coordinated by the University of Catania, focused on the Mediterranean region where marginal lands are usually characterised by poor water availability.

Wissenschaftliche Studie

BIOCORE

The project focused on the production of a wide range of products from non-food biomass feedstocks using an innovative Organosolv technology.

SUPRABIO

The SUPRABIO project researched, developed and demonstrated a toolkit of novel generic processes that can be applied to a range of biorefinery concepts.

BIOLYFE

The BIOLYFE project improved critical process steps and demonstrated the whole supply chain, from feedstock sourcing via fuel production to product utilisation.

Bioenergy chains from perennial crops in South Europe

The project was a feasibility study to evaluate an entire Southern European bioenergy chain, i.e. from biomass production to thermochemical conversion, under consideration of technological, financial/…