Evaluating LCA Approaches and Methodologies for Renewable Carbon Sources Report 3 of 3 – Non-technical Summary (March 2025) (PDF)

This Non-technical Summary (15 pages),highlights main insights into the project results and states key take-aways for policy-makers.

It compares several frameworks, such as ISO 14040, Product Environmental Footprint (PEF), and GHG Protocol, finding both commonalities and critical differences in areas like biogenic carbon accounting and recycling assessment. The study identifies significant methodological flexibility in existing frameworks, leading to inconsistencies in LCA results and challenges in standardisation. Key issues include differing treatment of carbon capture and utilisation (CCU), direct air capture (DAC), and allocation of environmental burdens in multifunctional processes. Policy recommendations emphasise the need for harmonisation, improved biogenic carbon accounting, and clear guidance on emerging technologies like DAC and mass balance attribution. Overall, the study calls for refining LCA methodologies to ensure fair comparison between renewable and fossil-based carbon solutions.

This report is the third report of a larger RCI project on LCA methodology, which includes two additional publications:

Report 1 of 3 – Renewable Carbon in LCA Guidelines
Report 2 of 3 – Renewable Carbon in Recycling Situations

Please find these additional reports by following the respective links at the bottom of this page.

Authors

Ferdinand Kähler, Christopher vom Berg (nova-Institute)

Date of publication

Mar 2025

Pages

15

Language

File type

PDF

Downloads

295