Life Cycle Assessment

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an analytical technique used to assess the environmental and economic impact of a product at every stage of its existence. This includes the extraction of raw resources, manufacturing, distribution, use, and end of life.

Imagine a car in your mind. Now imagine all of the components that come together to make that same car. Every hose, clamp, wire, tire, and seat started as a raw resource somewhere before making its long journey through factories and assembly lines to the consumer. The consumer(s) will drive the car for “x” number of years and then the components of the car will be taken apart to be recycled and discarded.

Each phase of these processes has its own environmental and economic impacts. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), is a useful tool in determining the potential for or success of a project.

Image Source: https://www.ahssinsights.org/news/life-cycle-assessment-why-is-it-important/

Solid Introductory Resource: https://ecochain.com/knowledge/life-cycle-assessment-lca-guide/

LCA of Electric vs. Gasoline vs. Diesel: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6973130/