Spatial and temporal specific characterisation factors for water use impact assessment in Spain

Núñez, Montserrat; Pfister, Stephan; Vargas, Mar; Antón, Assumpció

doi:10.1007/s11367-014-0803-5

Cited by 38 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(40 reference statements)

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“…Global hydrological models are uncertain, especially at the monthly level (Scherer et al 2015) and this is propagated to water scarcity measures (Pfister and Hellweg 2011;Núñez et al 2015;Boulay et al 2015c). This is mainly affecting not only water availability but also the demand side.…”

Section: Uncertaintymentioning

confidence: 99%

The WULCA consensus characterization model for water scarcity footprints: assessing impacts of water consumption based on available water remaining (AWARE)

Boulay

Bare

Benini

et al. 2017

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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Purpose Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been used to assess freshwater-related impacts according to a new water footprint framework formalized in the ISO 14046 standard. To date, no consensus-based approach exists for applying this standard and results are not always comparable when different scarcity or stress indicators are used for characterization of impacts. This paper presents the outcome of a 2-year consensus building process by the Water Use in Life Cycle Assessment (WULCA), a working group of the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, on a water scarcity midpoint method for use in LCA and for water scarcity footprint assessments. Methods In the previous work, the question to be answered was identified and different expert workshops around the world led to three different proposals. After eliminating one proposal showing low relevance for the question to be -017-1333-8 answered, the remaining two were evaluated against four criteria: stakeholder acceptance, robustness with closed basins, main normative choice, and physical meaning.Results and discussion The recommended method, AWARE, is based on the quantification of the relative available water remaining per area once the demand of humans and aquatic ecosystems has been met, answering the question BWhat is the potential to deprive another user (human or ecosystem) when consuming water in this area?^The resulting characterization factor (CF) ranges between 0.1 and 100 and can be used to calculate water scarcity footprints as defined in the ISO standard.Conclusions After 8 years of development on water use impact assessment methods, and 2 years of consensus building, this method represents the state of the art of the current knowledge on how to assess potential impacts from water use in LCA, assessing both human and ecosystem users' potential deprivation, at the midpoint level, and provides a consensusbased methodology for the calculation of a water scarcity footprint as per ISO 14046.

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Section: Uncertaintymentioning

confidence: 99%

The WULCA consensus characterization model for water scarcity footprints: assessing impacts of water consumption based on available water remaining (AWARE)

Boulay

Bare

Benini

et al. 2017

Int J Life Cycle Assess

Self Cite

570

381

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“…1961-1990. However, WSIs do not only vary seasonally, but, as a consequence of changing climate, population and lifestyles, they also vary inter-annually (Núñez et al 2015). Therefore, the WSIs have to be updated regularly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dealing with uncertainty in water scarcity footprints

Scherer

Pfister

2016

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…Using the dynamic systems approach, Bright and colleagues (), Dyckhoff and Kasah (), and Levasseur and colleagues () studied temporal dynamics during LCIA on climate changes. Studies addressing both temporal and spatial dynamics include a water usage impact assessment by Núñez and colleagues () and a photochemical oxidant impact assessment by Shah and Ries (). More studies have addressed the temporal and spatial dynamics for LCIA (Bright et al.…”

Section: Current Practices Limitations and Integration Of Agent‐basmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agent‐Based Modeling of Temporal and Spatial Dynamics in Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment

Apul

et al. 2017

J of Industrial Ecology

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SummaryCurrent aggregate and top-down approaches in life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) generally fail to account for spatial, temporal, and emergent behavioral dynamics simultaneously during the inventory stage. We discuss the key characteristics captured by complex system approaches (agent-based modeling [ABM] in particular) in the context of LCSA. It is understood that by integrating ABM, temporal, spatial, and behavioral dynamics can be addressed during the life cycle inventory stage. We propose a general concept to integrate ABM into current building life cycle assessment standards. We then use a hypothetical example of green building development to compare the ABM approach with a predefined static policy model. Simulation results from the agent-based model confirm that there are temporal and spatial variations caused by behavioral dynamics. The results are integrated into the calculation of temporally dynamic LCSA indicators on an annual basis. Spatially distributed simulation results can also be used in spatially dynamic LCSA. Keywords:agent-based modeling complexity life cycle sustainability assessment life cycle inventory (LCI) green buildings industrial ecology Supporting information is linked to this article on the JIE website

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Spatial and temporal specific characterisation factors for water use impact assessment in Spain

Cited by 38 publications

References 17 publications

The WULCA consensus characterization model for water scarcity footprints: assessing impacts of water consumption based on available water remaining (AWARE)

The WULCA consensus characterization model for water scarcity footprints: assessing impacts of water consumption based on available water remaining (AWARE)

Dealing with uncertainty in water scarcity footprints

Agent‐Based Modeling of Temporal and Spatial Dynamics in Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment

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