Attributional or consequential assessments in a cyclic greenhouse gas management process – Comparison of guidance on use and production of electricity and district heating

Ensuring greenhouse gas reductions from electric vehicles compared to hybrid gasoline vehicles requires a cleaner U.S. electricity grid

“…Usually, a life-cycle analysis (cradle-to-grave) includes vehicle and battery manufacturing emissions, vehicle use and associated fuel or carrier emissions, and disposal. LCA can be used in attributional or consequential frameworks 3,4 . The attributional approach focuses on the emissions and impacts associated with an activity based on modeler judgments of how to assign emissions to activities or products.…”

“…While all life-cycle stages are relevant, the use-phase emissions are most important, thus requiring a spatially explicit framework since EVs will be only as clean as the grid used to charge them. Studies have found that the emissions implications of EVs have substantial regional variation [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] and depend on which vehicle types are being considered 5 . Other important factors influencing usephase emissions include temperature, as that will effect vehicle energy consumption and HVAC [6][7][8][9] , the kind of road and driving [10][11][12][13] , and when/how the electric vehicles are charged [14][15][16][17][18] , as they may alter power plant dispatch, systems peak load, marginal generators, and associated emissions 15,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] .…”

Collaborative approaches to greenhouse gas inventory in higher education: Insights from the Universities Denmark Group

“…Various types of background data can be used to conduct LCAs, including flows quantified in everything from MJ of electricity consumed to money spent on consultancies (process based vs spend based). Two distinct approaches exist within the LCA methodology, namely the retrospective attributional approach (aLCA) and the prospective consequential approach (cLCA) [ 21 ]. Each approach presents its own challenges and benefits and are supported by both the GHGP and the ISO 14000 series.…”