LCA Databases

What LCA Data Really Is

• Datasets are built from measured elementary flows: what a process takes from nature and what it emits back.
• New LCA data is not scraped from the web and not generated by machine learning. It rests on measured reality.

Why Databases Feel Complex

• Large databases stack up like a pyramid of processes. A product sits on top of many upstream steps: materials, energy, transport, equipment, and more. You do not need to master the whole pyramid to use it, but it explains why there are only a few general databases.

Ecoinvent

• Proprietary database founded by Swiss research institutions and maintained by the Ecoinvent Association.
• Known for transparency in the data hierarchy, which lets specialists modify datasets to reflect real conditions.
• Geography matters. Datasets often use a region’s electricity mix. If your process uses a different power source, impacts can shift, so practitioners sometimes replace parts of a dataset when they have better data.
• This level of editing is not possible with aggregated databases.

European Footprint Database

• Created by the EU to make LCA data freely available as LCAs move into regulation.
• Based on existing databases, including Ecoinvent, Sphera, and others.
• It is aggregated, so you cannot fully trace dataset origins or edit them in detail, but access is free.

Databases At a Glance📊

Database	Access	Structure	What you can do
Ecoinvent	Proprietary	Transparent hierarchy	Inspect and edit parts of datasets; reflect geography like electricity mix
European Footprint	Free	Aggregated	Use official, accessible data; limited drill down and no detailed editing

Key Takeaways for Beginners

• Results rest on measured flows.
• Location and system choices can change outcomes.
• Transparent databases allow fine tuning; aggregated ones trade detail for access.