Building a consensus model for assessing impacts of water use in LCA – First results of the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative working group

While the general methodology for water footprinting has been harmonized by means of ISO 14046, a harmonized impact assessment model which promotes a commonly agreed and consistent application of water footprinting is still lacking. This work presents the current status of the methodological consensus building project of the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative’s working group on water use in LCA (WULCA). Including method developers and experts from the fields of LCA, hydrology, ecology, etc., WULCA is developing consensus-based indicators to assess impacts from water use on water stress, human health, and ecosystems. This paper focuses on the water stress impact pathway and presents three alternative characterization models describing the potential that water consumption will deprive another user of water in the same river basin. Unlike previous water stress indexes, the characterization models address both ecosystems and human water demand in comparison to freshwater availability and size of the basin. The resulting characterization factors, which have been determined for more than 11,000 basins, are currently discussed, tested in case studies, and will be presented at CILCA 2015 in Lima, Peru.

BERGER Markus;  BARE Jane;  BENINI Lorenzo;  BOULAY Anne-Marie;  MANZARDO Alessandro;  MARGNI Manuele;  NÚÑEZ Montserrat;  LATHUILLIERE Michael;  PFISTER Stephan;  RIDOUTT Bradley;  WORBE Sebastien; 

2016-02-05

Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Energías Renovables (INTE-PUCP)

JRC95644

978-9972-674-11-2,   

http://conferencia.pucp.edu.pe/cilca2015/descargas/,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC95644,