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Why Do GWP-Biogenic and GWP-LULUC Vary Across Production Zones?

Context of the Study

This analysis concerns a specific case where production involves the use of explosives for extraction and consumption of electricity from a mix defined by the user. However, the conclusions remain applicable to other sites with similar characteristics.

In a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), several processes contribute to the GWP-Biogenic and GWP-LULUC indicators. While electricity and explosives are major contributors in this case, other elements such as consumables or packaging may also have higher biogenic and LULUC contributions, but their overall impact remains limited due to the small quantities used.

Understanding the GWP-Biogenic and GWP-LULUC Indicators
  • GWP-Biogenic measures the impact of greenhouse gas emissions from biological sources, such as the combustion of biomass or biofuels. These emissions differ from fossil emissions because they come from recent organic materials that have captured atmospheric CO₂ during their growth.
  • GWP-LULUC (Land Use and Land Use Change) represents the impact of land use and changes in land use, such as the conversion of forests to agricultural land or land used to produce energy.
Why Do These Indicators Vary Across Production Zones?

Two main factors explain these variations between different sites:

  • The explosives used in extraction have a negative contribution to GWP-Biogenic (-1.0%), meaning they slightly reduce this indicator.
  • The electricity used on the production site has a positive contribution to GWP-Biogenic (+0.5%), meaning it increases this indicator.

Thus, the more electricity-intensive a product is, the greater the positive biogenic share from electricity will offset and eventually exceed the negative biogenic contribution from explosives. This results in a higher GWP-Biogenic for production sites with higher electricity consumption.

Similarly, this reasoning applies to GWP-LULUC, which can also vary depending on electricity consumption and the processes associated with different production zones.

The Impact of the Electricity Mix on GWP-Biogenic

A key factor to consider is that the biogenic share of electricity largely depends on the energy production sources. Depending on the country or even the specific site, the contribution to GWP-Biogenic can therefore vary.

  • From one country to another: An electricity mix containing a significant share of biomass or renewable energy may have a higher GWP-Biogenic than one primarily based on fossil sources.
  • From one site to another: If a user defines their own electricity mix based on energy purchase contracts (renewables, cogeneration, etc.), they can directly influence this value.
An Analysis Based on Background Data

It’s important to note that these variations arise from the background data used in the Life Cycle Assessment. More specifically, the GWP-Biogenic and GWP-LULUC values come from the ecoinvent database, which contains information on various industrial and energy processes.

Thus, the user does not have direct control over these values since they are not specific to their production site but come from the modeling of associated processes (electricity, explosives, transport, etc.). However, they can have an indirect influence by modifying certain production parameters, such as the energy mix used.

The purpose of this article is primarily informational, to help better understand carbon footprint results and explain why certain variations may be observed across different production zones.

If you have any questions about interpreting your results, feel free to contact us!