Page 135 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

118 LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK

- The European Commission's Joint Research Center developed the
European Reference Life Cycle Database (ELCD), which is com-
prised of LCI data for key materials, energy carriers, transport,
and waste management. The respective data sets are officially
provided and approved by the named industry association. New
data continue to be added. The data sets are accessible free of
charge and without access or use restrictions for all LCA practitio-
ners. The ELCD core database version II can be found at: http://
lca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/lcainfohub/datasetArea.vm.
- The UNEP/SETAC Database Registry aims to (1) aid users world-
wide in finding the most suitable (and therefore best quality) data
and (2) assist data providers worldwide in finding users (http://
lca-data.org).

5.7 Using Non-LCI Data in LCAs

Government documents and databases provide data on broad categories
of processes and are publicly available. Most government documents are
published on a periodic basis, e.g., annually, biennially, or every four years.
However, the data published within them tend to be at least several years
old. Furthermore, the data found in these documents may be less specific and
less accurate than industry data for specific facilities or groups of facilities.
However, depending on the purpose of the study and the specific data objec-
tives, these limitations may not be critical. All studies should note the age of
the data used.
Government databases include both non-bibliographic types where
the data items themselves are contained in the database and bibliographic
types that consist of references where data may be found. In a study
conducted for the US Environmental Protection Agency, Boguski identi-
fied twelve data sources that have utility in developing LCA data sets for
2
the US (Boguski 2000) . The data sources Boguski evaluated included the
following:

• Aerometric Information Retrieval System (AIRS) - US Environ-
mental Protection Agency
• Permit Compliance System (PCS) - US Environmental Protection
Agency
• Biennial Reporting System (BRS) - US Environmental Protection
Agency
• Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Database - US Environmental
Protection Agency

2 Other useful U.S. government sources include: U.S. Department of Commerce's Census of
Manufacturers, U.S. Bureau of Mines' Census of Mineral Industries, and the U.S. Department of
Energy's Monthly Energy Review.