Version 1
: Received: 31 October 2023 / Approved: 31 October 2023 / Online: 1 November 2023 (03:50:13 CET)
How to cite:
Andrae, A. S. Life Cycle Assessment Method for Avoided Impact Enabled by Specific Digital ICT Services. Preprints2023, 2023102089. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202310.2089.v1
Andrae, A. S. Life Cycle Assessment Method for Avoided Impact Enabled by Specific Digital ICT Services. Preprints 2023, 2023102089. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202310.2089.v1
Andrae, A. S. Life Cycle Assessment Method for Avoided Impact Enabled by Specific Digital ICT Services. Preprints2023, 2023102089. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202310.2089.v1
APA Style
Andrae, A. S. (2023). Life Cycle Assessment Method for Avoided Impact Enabled by Specific Digital ICT Services. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202310.2089.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Andrae, A. S. 2023 "Life Cycle Assessment Method for Avoided Impact Enabled by Specific Digital ICT Services" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202310.2089.v1
Abstract
Certain services can help avoid environmental impact in larger contexts. However, there is no commonly agreed bottom-up methodology for calculation of the total net reduction effect of specific digital services. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a common denominator for most methodologies. The most common method is the Attributional LCA (ALCA), and recently the emerging handprint ALCA estimating so-called positive environmental impacts. Moreover, Consequential LCA (CLCA) can be used to capture market effects. The third conceptual approach is Input-Output LCA. The purpose is to propose and test a new method based on some of the existing ones. The existing concepts are compared and a synthesis is made to create a practical but still useful method. The new method is applied to two illustrative cases in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) domain; the introduction of a 5G enabled drone for pipe inspection and the 5G enabled health consultation. Compared to simplified ALCA, the difference between the absolute score for the baseline system and the target system changes up to 15% when the proposed simplified CLCA (SCLCA) method is used. The results show that SCLCA, when combined with analytical methods for expressing digital ICT services’ own impact, is a fruitful approach which is both practical and feasible.
Keywords
avoided impact; digital; ICT services; life cycle assessment
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Sustainable Science and Technology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
