Evaluation of regionalized land use and biodiversity aspects in life cycle analysis (LCA) for bio-based products

Bioeconomy aims to substitute fossil materials and fuel with biogenic resources. However, the use of renewable resources instead of fossil material demands land area. Land and soil fulfil a variety of ecological functions and services. Both the sealing of surfaces by building development and the use of land for agriculture, forestry, infrastructure, and industrial processes lead to changes in natural soil functions and thus in the originally provided ecosystem services. The natural balance is affected. The consideration of land use impacts on soil functions and biodiversity is therefore essential in evaluating processes caused by human activity. Established methods and tools, which aim to holistically examine the environmental impacts of products, processes, or services, must be expanded to include aspects of land use and biodiversity.

The goal of this project was to enhance existing preliminary work and globally applicable approaches for regionalized land use and biodiversity assessments in a product’s life cycle, and to make it available for use in the Bioeconomy in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. These approaches will supplement established global and nationwide evaluation parameters in LCA according to ISO 14040 and 14044. At the end of the project, evaluation of local site conditions in environmental assessments of products, processes, and services will be improved in comparison to currently available approaches and methods.

The enhanced methods were applied and demonstrated in case studies from the Bioeconomy Research Program Baden-Württemberg. The results of the project were incorporated into the further development of the LANCA® method. A current version (version number 2.5) of the LANCA® Characterization Factors is publicly available and contains a single point indicator for land use. This indicator is prescribed by the European Commission (EC) for use within the framework of the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF).