An approach for determining LCA indicators for land use in western Argentina

ARENA, AP Y CIVIT B

Washington DC

Congreso; InLCA/LCM 2006; 2006

LCACenter

During the last year a work has been carried out for the calculation of regional characterization factors for acidification and euthrophization in the arid region of western Argentina. While performing this activity it has became evident that other impact categories that reflect local environmental issues of concern could be of more relevance for the region such as desertification, water consumption, land use and soil salinity, all of them mainly associated with the land use and its transformations due to the anthropogenic activities. The calculation of characterization factors for these impacts in the region considered has not been undertaken so far, and is being subject of discussion among expert groups around the world. Many research groups focused on the determination of the state and risk of desertification, soil salinization, and water consumption are working in the region, though with objectives and indicators different from what is needed in LCA studies. Starting from their work and focusing in desertification, in this paper the activities which are being performed for the identification and further calculation of characterization factors for land use in western Argentina are described, including identification of relevant groups and researchers involved in the field, the adaptation of their studies and results for making them suitable for LCA, and a first approach for determining some indicators within the framework proposal of the Life Cycle Initiative. Among the indicators proposed to describe and evaluate desertification in the region, eleven state indicators were selected to establish the fragility of the area considered and six pressure indicators to evaluate the impact produced by the anthropogenic actvities performed in the region.