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Bridge Processes: A Solution for LCI Datasets Independent of Background Databases
Citation:
Ingwersen, W., E. Kahn, AND J. Cooper. Bridge Processes: A Solution for LCI Datasets Independent of Background Databases. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT. Ecomed Verlagsgesellschaft AG, Landsberg, Germany, 23(11):2266-2270, (2018).
Impact/Purpose:
To suggest a convention in LCA data modeling that makes linkages between a user's LCA data and a background database more transparent and the quality of the linkage described
Description:
Introduction. New platforms are emerging that enable more data providers to publish life cycle inventory data. Background. Providing datasets that are not complete LCA models results in fragments that are difficult for practitioners to integrate and use for LCA modeling. Additionally, when proxies are used to provide a technosphere input to a process that was not originally intended by the process authors, in most LCA software this requires modifying the original process. Results. The use of a bridge process, which is a process created to link two existing processes, is proposed as a solution. Discussion. Benefits to bridge processes include increasing model transparency, facilitating dataset sharing and integration with compromising original dataset integrity and independence, providing a structure with which to make the data quality associated with process linkages explicit, and increasing model flexibility in the case that multiple bridges are provided. A drawback is that they add additional processes to existing LCA models which will increase their size. Conclusion. Bridge processes can be an enabler in allowing users to integrate new datasets without modifying them to link to background databases or other processes they have available. They may not be the ideal long-term solution, but provide a solution that works within the existing LCA data model.
URLs/Downloads:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11367-018-1448-6
Free access through PubMed Central