Abstract
This paper summarizes the 76th LCA Discussion Forum end its main findings. Main issues when addressing emerging technologies identified were: the lack of primary data, the need for (shared) future background scenarios and (guidlines for) a common methodology. The following recommendations have been derived by the organizers: 1) Specific foreground inventories are always tailor-made, but consistency can be improved through lists of mandatory considerations. 2) Continue sharing (future) technology data and proxy processes, that can be readily replicated to new studies and assist in developing inventories. 3) Streamline and unify the process of including scenarios for background systems. New approaches may provide first important solutions to efficiently include consistent future scenarios in prospective LCA.
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Acknowledgements
The organizers of the Discussion Forum would like to thank the sponsors (Carbotech, ETH Zurich, treeze Ltd. and Empa), the advisory board, the technical team and, most importantly, the speakers, the panellists (listed in the previous sections) and participants for their contribution to the success of the event. Lugas Raka Adrianto and Matthias Buyle are grateful for the funding provided by the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 under Grant Agreement No. 812580 ‘SULTAN’ and No. 730471 ‘CHROMIC’, respectively.
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Communicated by Matthias Finkbeiner
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Poll methods/results, extended descriptions of presenters’ talks, and full list of references are accessible in the accompanying Supporting Information. More materials, including all presentations from the 76th LCA Discussion Forum, are available for download at http://www.lcaforum.ch, while the video recordings of all sessions can be watched online at http://www.video.ethz.ch/events/lca/2020/autumn/76th.html.
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Adrianto, L.R., van der Hulst, M.K., Tokaya, J.P. et al. How can LCA include prospective elements to assess emerging technologies and system transitions? The 76th LCA Discussion Forum on Life Cycle Assessment, 19 November 2020. Int J Life Cycle Assess 26, 1541–1544 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-021-01934-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-021-01934-w