Environmental Project No. 1205 2007 – State of LCA in Denmark 2003 – Introduction to the Danish LCA methodology and consensus project

State of LCA in Denmark 2003

1 Introduction

This guideline is a cross-cutting and unifying guideline on LCA developed within the Danish LCA methodology and consensus project.

The guideline addresses decision-makers and users of LCA in private companies as well as public and governmental institutions.

The objectives of the guideline are:

1. To describe the choices that have to be made in the process of developing an LCA, thereby allowing the reader to identify requirements to an LCA considering the anticipated utilization of the LCA.

2. To be an introduction to the other technical guidelines, prepared within the methodology and consensus project (reference is made to the preface), as well as other relevant LCA literature, as ISO standards, EDIP-publications etc.

More directly the purpose of the guideline can be said to explain the appropriate way to use and utilize LCA.

LCA is not science. LCA is , however, a tool based on science. It is a tool, that e.g. is used to assess environmental impacts related to products.

In reality the results of an LCA is used together with financial and technical considerations for decision making. LCA, therefore, must be classified as a decision support tool.

This guideline describes the state of LCA today and advantages and drawbacks related to different choices of methodology. Hereby the guideline hopefully assists in securing that LCA is used and respected for what it really is:

A good and appropriate tool in many cases, a tool which may give the right perspective to many choices and decisions, but in no way a miracle tool that will present an answer to all questions.

The guideline summarises many of the discussions that have taken place within the Danish LCA methodology and consensus project and has also gained inspiration in those publications referred to in the different sections. Furthermore, the guideline has drawn heavily on the publications [Jensen et al. 1997], [Wenzel 1998] and [Weidema 1998].