Difficulties with LCA
Chemistry: AQA GCSE Higher, topic 10.2.3
Difficulties Associated with Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs)
Some elements of LCAs are easy to measure, such as energy use. Other elements can be more difficult to estimate. LCAs can also be manipulated by not including all of a product's environmental impacts.
Subjective elements
- Most LCAs have subjective parts to them (i.e. parts that are based on personal opinion). This means that they can be biased.
- For example, quantifying (deciding the size) of the environmental impact of pollutants involves personal judgement.
Missing details
- Sometimes, LCAs will choose to ignore certain environmental impacts of a product. We call these selective LCAs.
- These can be exploited by biased companies to create positive advertising.
Test yourself on Difficulties with LCA
Why might a biased company choose to produce a selective Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)?
What is true of subjective elements in a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)?
What is true of selective Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs)?
Why can judging the size of a pollutant's environmental impact make a Life Cycle Assessment harder to keep unbiased?
Why might a consumer get a false impression of a product's environmental impact from a selective Life Cycle Assessment?