An improved life cycle impact assessment principle for assessing the impact of land use on ecosystem services

Benoit Othoniel; Benedetto Rugani; Reinout Heijungs; Marco Beyer; Miriam Machwitz; Pim Post

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.180

An improved life cycle impact assessment principle for assessing the impact of land use on ecosystem services

Sci Total Environ. 2019 Nov 25:693:133374. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.180. Epub 2019 Jul 13.

Authors

Benoit Othoniel¹, Benedetto Rugani², Reinout Heijungs³, Marco Beyer², Miriam Machwitz², Pim Post⁴

Affiliations

¹ Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), Department of Environmental Research & Innovation (ERIN), 41 Rue du Brill, 4422 Belvaux, Luxembourg; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics, 1105 De Boelelaan, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Electronic address: ben.othoniel@gmail.com.
² Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), Department of Environmental Research & Innovation (ERIN), 41 Rue du Brill, 4422 Belvaux, Luxembourg.
³ Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics, 1105 De Boelelaan, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Leiden University, Department of Industrial Ecology, P.O. Box 9500, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands.
⁴ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), 9 Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan, 3721 MA Bilthoven, the Netherlands; University of Amsterdam, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), P.O. Box 94240, 1090 GE Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

PMID: 31376755
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.180

Abstract

In order to consider the effects of land use, and the land cover changes it causes, on ecosystem services in life cycle assessment (LCA), a new methodology is proposed and applied to calculate midpoint and endpoint characterization factors. To do this, a cause-effect chain was established in line with conceptual models of ecosystem services to describe the impacts of land use and related land cover changes. A high-resolution, spatially explicit and temporally dynamic modeling framework that integrates land use and ecosystem services models was developed and used as an impact characterization model to simulate that cause-effect chain. Characterization factors (CFs) were calculated and regionalized at the scales of Luxembourg and its municipalities, taken as a case to show the advantages of the modeling approach. More specifically, the calculated CFs enable the impact assessment of six land cover types on six ecosystem functions and two final ecosystem services. A mapping and comparison exercise of these CFs allowed us to identify spatial trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services due to possible land cover changes. Ultimately, the proposed methodology can offer a solution to overcome a number of methodological limitations that still exist in the characterization of impacts on ecosystem services in LCA, implying a rethinking of the modeling of land use in life cycle inventory.

Keywords: Characterization factor; Ecosystem services; Integrated modeling; Land use; Life cycle assessment.