Reviewing ISO Compliant Multifunctionality Practices in Environmental Life Cycle Modeling

Christian Moretti, Blanca Corona, Robert Edwards, Martin Junginger, Alberto Moro, Matteo Rocco and Li Shen
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Christian Moretti: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands
Blanca Corona: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands
Robert Edwards: Joint Research Centre, European Commission, 21027 Ispra, Italy
Martin Junginger: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands
Alberto Moro: Joint Research Centre, European Commission, 21027 Ispra, Italy
Matteo Rocco: Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, 21056 Milan, Italy
Li Shen: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 14, 1-24

Abstract: The standard ISO 14044:2006 defines the hierarchical steps to follow when solving multifunctionality issues in life cycle assessment (LCA). However, the practical implementation of such a hierarchy has been debated for twenty-five years leading to different implementation practices from LCA practitioners. The first part of this study discussed the main steps where the ISO hierarchy has been implemented differently and explored current multifunctionality practices in peer-reviewed studies. A text-mining process was applied to quantitatively assess such practices in the 532 multifunctional case studies found in the literature. In the second part of the study, citation network analysis (CNA) was used to identify the major publications that influenced the development of the multifunctionality-debate in LCA, i.e., the key-route main path. The identified publications were then reviewed to detect the origins of the different practices and their underlying theories. Based on these insights, this study provided some “food for thought” on current practices to move towards consistent methodology. We believe that such an advancement is urgently needed for better positioning LCA as a tool for sustainability decision-making. In particular, consistent allocation practices could be especially beneficial in bioeconomy sectors, where production processes are usually multifunctional, and where current allocation practices are not harmonized yet.

Keywords: bibliometrics; review; life cycle assessment (LCA); allocation; system expansion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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