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US EPA’s Life Cycle Impact Assessment Research for Land Use
Citation:
BARE, J. C. US EPA’s Life Cycle Impact Assessment Research for Land Use . Presented at Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), Portland, OR, November 08 - 11, 2010.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
Initially, Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA ) researchers focused on chemical emissions categories for a variety of reasons, including the ease of modeling, and the historical regulations in this area. As LCIA researchers become more involved in developing land use impact assessment it has become apparent that land use may be one of the most difficult categories to quantify, and does not fit well into existing LCIA and sustainability metrics frameworks. This presentation will provide criteria for land and water use modeling, recommendations for an ecosystem services based framework, theory, and implementation along with a discussion of research which will greatly increase the practicality of conducting land use impact assessment. Outputs will include integration curves, maps, and ecosystem profiles for various scenarios.