Everything is relative and nothing is certain. Toward a theory and practice of comparative probabilistic LCA

Reinout Heijungs; Jeroen B. Guinée; Angelica Mendoza Beltrán; Patrik J.G. Henriksson; Evelyne Groen

doi:10.1007/s11367-019-01666-y

Everything is relative and nothing is certain. Toward a theory and practice of comparative probabilistic LCA

Reinout Heijungs^*, Jeroen B. Guinée, Angelica Mendoza Beltrán, Patrik J.G. Henriksson, Evelyne Groen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Tinbergen Institute

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Comment / Letter to the editor › Academic

Abstract

It is widely recognized that LCA is in most cases relative and contains uncertainties due to choices and data. This paper analyses the combination of the two comparative uncertainties. Basic concepts: We carefully define the idea of relativity and uncertainty within LCA. We finish off by giving an example of case where inappropriate handling of comparative uncertainties will lead to a misleading result for a decision-maker. Correlations: We develop a generic framework for probabilistic comparative LCA and analyse at which places correlations may be present. We also discuss the most convenient approaches for handling such correlated uncertainties. Conclusion: We put the elements discussed in a structure that provides a research agenda for dealing with comparative uncertainties in LCA.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1573-1579
Number of pages	7
Journal	International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
Volume	24
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-019-01666-y
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2019

Keywords

Comparative analysis
Correlations
Life cycle assessment
Uncertainty

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1007/s11367-019-01666-y

Handle.net

Persistent link

Cite this

@article{fe1cfd12ae714a1db03c7deb03b581e3,

title = "Everything is relative and nothing is certain. Toward a theory and practice of comparative probabilistic LCA",

abstract = "It is widely recognized that LCA is in most cases relative and contains uncertainties due to choices and data. This paper analyses the combination of the two comparative uncertainties. Basic concepts: We carefully define the idea of relativity and uncertainty within LCA. We finish off by giving an example of case where inappropriate handling of comparative uncertainties will lead to a misleading result for a decision-maker. Correlations: We develop a generic framework for probabilistic comparative LCA and analyse at which places correlations may be present. We also discuss the most convenient approaches for handling such correlated uncertainties. Conclusion: We put the elements discussed in a structure that provides a research agenda for dealing with comparative uncertainties in LCA.",

keywords = "Comparative analysis, Correlations, Life cycle assessment, Uncertainty",

author = "Reinout Heijungs and Guin{\'e}e, {Jeroen B.} and {Mendoza Beltr{\'a}n}, Angelica and Henriksson, {Patrik J.G.} and Evelyne Groen",

year = "2019",

month = sep,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1007/s11367-019-01666-y",

language = "English",

volume = "24",

pages = "1573--1579",

journal = "The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment",

issn = "0948-3349",

publisher = "Springer Science + Business Media",

number = "9",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Everything is relative and nothing is certain. Toward a theory and practice of comparative probabilistic LCA

AU - Heijungs, Reinout

AU - Guinée, Jeroen B.

AU - Mendoza Beltrán, Angelica

AU - Henriksson, Patrik J.G.

AU - Groen, Evelyne

PY - 2019/9/1

Y1 - 2019/9/1

N2 - It is widely recognized that LCA is in most cases relative and contains uncertainties due to choices and data. This paper analyses the combination of the two comparative uncertainties. Basic concepts: We carefully define the idea of relativity and uncertainty within LCA. We finish off by giving an example of case where inappropriate handling of comparative uncertainties will lead to a misleading result for a decision-maker. Correlations: We develop a generic framework for probabilistic comparative LCA and analyse at which places correlations may be present. We also discuss the most convenient approaches for handling such correlated uncertainties. Conclusion: We put the elements discussed in a structure that provides a research agenda for dealing with comparative uncertainties in LCA.

AB - It is widely recognized that LCA is in most cases relative and contains uncertainties due to choices and data. This paper analyses the combination of the two comparative uncertainties. Basic concepts: We carefully define the idea of relativity and uncertainty within LCA. We finish off by giving an example of case where inappropriate handling of comparative uncertainties will lead to a misleading result for a decision-maker. Correlations: We develop a generic framework for probabilistic comparative LCA and analyse at which places correlations may be present. We also discuss the most convenient approaches for handling such correlated uncertainties. Conclusion: We put the elements discussed in a structure that provides a research agenda for dealing with comparative uncertainties in LCA.

KW - Comparative analysis

KW - Correlations

KW - Life cycle assessment

KW - Uncertainty

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071058768&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85071058768&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s11367-019-01666-y

DO - 10.1007/s11367-019-01666-y

M3 - Comment / Letter to the editor

AN - SCOPUS:85071058768

SN - 0948-3349

VL - 24

SP - 1573

EP - 1579

JO - The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment

JF - The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment

IS - 9

ER -

Everything is relative and nothing is certain. Toward a theory and practice of comparative probabilistic LCA

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Handle.net

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this