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Netzwerk Lebenszyklusdaten / Arbeitskreis Energie

Funding organization: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung

Cooperation: The network is based on 50 organizations from researchs, environmental protections, economy, and industry.

Duration: The network started in 2004.

Contact: Dr. Peter Viebahn

Office:

• Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Department of Technology-Induced Material Flow

Homepage: http://www.lci-network.de/

The Network

The German Network on Life Cycle Inventory Data is the German platform dedicated to the development of a sound scientific infrastructure for life cycle analysis. It provides the opportunity for all interested parties, both scientific and non-scientific, to exchange data and co-operate in projects to develop life cycle thinking in theory and practice. The Network has been supported by Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe since 2002. Over a three-year project period (2004–2007), the development of the organisation as well as several focused research projects have been funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) from the Research for Sustainability program (FONA).

 
The Objectives

The long term objective of the network is to develop and maintain an infrastructure for continuous data acquisition, analysis, archiving, and distribution. This infrastructure will therefore enhance several aspects of German scientific and industrial activities, notably:

• The competitiveness of the German industry in the development of sustainable products and services.
• The development of a platform for German science that will greatly increase the efficiency of research and international  recognition of German achievements and expertise.
• The linking of institutional funding and project funding.

This is achieved in the following key areas:

• A web portal as a point of information ex¬change for all interested persons and organizations which also provides users with access to virtual working rooms as well as to the services of the Network.
• Scientific co-operation between the Helmholtz Association, German universities, and research institutes for research in life cycle analysis.
• A data pool as an open source of standardised and verified basic data for life cycle analysis.

Energy expert working group

The DLR-Institute of Technical Thermodynamics was responsible for the Energy expert workinggroup till 2007.

Energy processes are of central meaning for LCA, as nearly all production as well as service processes require energy inputs. Since the energy sector is subject to changes which tend to become stronger in the future, it is necessary to update LCI data for energy processes in a transparent and efficient way. Furthermore, various LCI data available for a certain product or process often show differences in emissions and materials use. Therefore, the LCI should be based on data agreed on by the stakeholders and reviewed according to a quality standard.

Development of a methodology to create standardized, quality tested, and updatable LCI datasets by way of the German electricity mix

With respect to the German electricity generation mix, the authors developed a methodology to create a standardized, quality tested, and updatable LCI. To model the most relevant power plants' emissions, reviewed and half-yearly updated data from the German National System of Emissions Inventories originally developed for the UN FCCC reporting process are used. As regards the more difficult data situation for the upstream fuel processes, an approach to create standardized data is suggested. (project report in German)

Publications

Viebahn, Peter; Patyk, Andreas; Fritsche, Uwe (Hrsg.) 2007: Erstellung der Grundlagen für einen harmonisierten und fortschreibbaren Datensatz des deutschen Strommixes. Stuttgart/Heidelberg/Darmstadt.

Viebahn, Peter; Fritsche, Uwe;  Patyk, Andreas; Wagner, Hermann-Josef 2007: Ökobilanz des deutschen Strommixes. Konzept zur Erstellung eines harmonisierten und fortschreibbaren Datensatzes basierende auf validierten Grunddaten, Energiewirtschaftliche Tagesfragen (Nov. 2007).

VDI-Gesellschaft Energietechnik (Hrsg.) 2007: Erstellung der Grundlagen für einen harmonisierten und fortschreibbaren Datensatz des deutschen Strommixes. Düsseldorf. ISBN 3-931384-61-6.

Presentations

Poster Präsentation auf der SETAC Europe in Porto, 2007

Contact

Networks' scientific management