Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a method that assesses the environmental impacts of products or systems. It is the recommended method for environmental display at the European level and standardized at the international level. This method is largely used because of its 3 main characteristics:
Functional: The object of study is defined by the function it fulfills. This allows a comparison between different solutions in order to choose the best one,
Multi-criteria: Several environmental indicators are taken into account during the study. They include global warming potential, contribution to the depletion of abiotic and fossil resources, or the contribution of ionizing radiation. These indicators are among the main contributors to the impacts of digital technology.
Life-cycle approach: The impacts generated during all life cycle stages of the studied object are considered:
- Extraction of raw materials: A lot of energy, chemicals and water are needed to extract materials from the earth and refine them. Furthermore, the concerned resources are limited and are getting rarer, thus it will be more and more difficult to extract them.
- Manufacturing: During manufacturing, the raw materials are transformed into digital components and equipment. This consumes a lot of water and energy.
- Distribution: Distribution represents the transport of the digital components from their place of fabrication to their place of use, mainly from Asia to Europe for IT equipment.
- Use:The use of digital devices represents the energy consumed whilst using them.
- End-of-life: This step concerns the disposal of the devices, either recycled, buried or burnt.
The LCA methodology is defined by ISO standards, in particular, ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. Standard ISO 14040 describes the main principles of an LCA and is fairly general. Standard ISO 14044 sets out the requirements and guidelines in greater detail.
What is the difference with a Carbon Footprint assessment or GHG protocol?
The LCA methodology differs from the Greenhouse Gas Assessment or GHG Protocol by the multi-criteria and multi-stage life cycle approach. As explained above, LCA does not limit itself to the global warming caused by greenhouse gases but also estimates a variety of environmental impacts such as the contribution to the depletion of abiotic and fossil resources, or the effects of ionizing radiation. The latter are among the main contributors to the impacts of digital technology.
Thus, the results of the LCA can feed the GHG protocol. However, the reverse is not possible.
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