The latest version of Ecoinvent, a life cycle inventory database which is the base for many European Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs), now includes data which significantly impacts the carbon footprint of fossil-based plastics.
Versions 3.9 and 3.10, released at the end of 2023, include updates on the crude oil/natural gas, and chemicals sectors, respectively.
According to the Ecoinvent website, version 3.9 “includes an update on the natural gas and crude petroleum oil supply chains (production, long-distance transport, and regional distribution) in the Ecoinvent database to reflect the global supply situation in 2019. The geographical coverage in the database is expanded with data on the production of natural gas and crude petroleum oil in different countries and regions. When combined, the Ecoinvent database now covers 90% of the global production of crude oil and nearly 80% of natural gas. In addition, the update introduces regional consumption mixes for crude petroleum oil to North America and Europe, alongside new or updated natural gas supply to 44 countries, based on the situation in 2019.”
The latest 3.10 version improves “the data representation for essential chemical precursors and their derivatives, such as short-chain alkenes (ethylene, propylene, butene, and butadiene), monocyclic aromatics (benzene, toluene, and xylenes [p-, o-, mixed]), ethylene oxide, and ethylene glycol. Additional key updates comprise of technological and geographical coverage expansion for ethylene, propylene, hydrogen, and methanol. Specifically, Ecoinvent v3.10 introduces data for China, United States, and Europe.”
Germany-based Nova Institute analysed the effect of these updates on the carbon footprint of fossil-based naphtha, PE, PP, and PET, compared with version 3.8. Results show the footprint of fossil naphtha rose by 107% whilst PE saw an increase of 34%, PP of 30%, and PET of 26%.
“The impact of these increased footprints will be significant for non-fossil plastics and other products made from renewable carbon,” Nova Institute said in a statement. “Many carbon footprints will be recalculated based on the updated data with the expectation that previous comparisons between fossil and non-fossil plastics will shift further in favour of the latter. For example, whereas the carbon footprint associated with the production of bio-based plastics has typically been around 20-30% lower than that of fossil-based plastics, it is now expected that bio-based plastics actually emit rather 40-50% less CO2 than their fossil-based counterparts.”
The LCA community has long been discussing how to compare assessments for fossil and non-fossil based products. Within plastics, the renewable carbon community has often emphasised that the environmental footprint of fossil-based plastics is likely underestimated, lacks scrutiny, regional differentiation, and transparency. It also complains that biogenic or atmospheric carbon is often not adequately accounted for in LCAs.
Nova Institute expects the updates to the Ecoinvent database to have a ‘significant impact on European policy’. So far, bioplastics and CO2-based plastics play a very small role in the European Union’s plans towards net zero, in striking contrast with policies in the United States, for example.
“The defossilisation of the chemical industry is more important for climate protection than previously thought,” said Michael Carus, executive manager of the Renewable Carbon Initiative, a group of more than 60 companies in the chemicals value chain. “The importance of bio-based and CO2-based carbon has been underestimated because data for crude oil data and natural gas has been systematically embellished. Now the first steps have been taken to recognise the true impact of petroleum use. Politicians now have another reason to support the chemical industry’s transition away from fossil carbon much more strongly,” he concluded.