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Life cycle assessment of industrial symbiosis: A critical review of relevant reference scenarios
Author(s) -
Aissani Lynda,
Lacassagne Antoine,
Bahers JeanBaptiste,
Féon Samuel Le
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of industrial ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.377
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1530-9290
pISSN - 1088-1980
DOI - 10.1111/jiec.12842
Subject(s) - industrial ecology , computer science , industrial symbiosis , scenario analysis , life cycle assessment , reference model , reference data , scale (ratio) , field (mathematics) , operations research , sensitivity (control systems) , risk analysis (engineering) , engineering , production (economics) , ecology , sustainability , data mining , mathematics , statistics , software engineering , quantum mechanics , pure mathematics , economics , biology , waste management , medicine , electronic engineering , macroeconomics , physics
This paper highlights the methods and parameters used to define and design a reference scenario to be compared with an industrial symbiosis (IS) scenario using the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. To this end, a critical review was conducted of 26 peer‐reviewed papers using LCA in the field of IS. The analysis focuses on the definition and design of reference scenarios through five cross‐analyses to determine correlations between the type and the number of reference scenarios and the type of IS scenarios studied and also some LCA characteristics such as the functional unit, the type of data used, and the use of sensitivity analysis. Results show that the definition of reference scenarios depends mainly on the type of IS scenario considered. For a current IS developed at an industrial scale, the suitable reference scenario is mainly a hypothetical nonsymbiotic reference scenario. For a prospective IS, the suitable reference scenario is mainly a current nonsymbiotic reference scenario. Due to this critical review, the problem of variability of reference scenarios emerges. To resolve it, the authors analyze different reference scenarios or use sensitivity analysis. What is more, territorial aspects are rarely taken into account in the design of reference scenarios. It is clearly a gap for LCA of IS because of the influence of territorial factors. The new research challenge is to include the consideration of territorial aspects to define and design the worst‐ and best‐case reference scenarios to assess strict environmental performances of IS.