Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 25, 2025
09:44
Use of Principal Components for Scaling Up Topographic Models to Map Soil Redistribution and Soil Organic Carbon
Published on: October 16, 2018
10.4K
A Commodity Supply Mix for More Regionalized Life Cycle Assessments
Michael J Lathuillière1, Laure Patouillard2, Manuele Margni2,3
1Stockholm Environment Institute, Linnégatan 87D, Box 24218, 104 51 Stockholm, Sweden.
Environmental Science & Technology
|August 10, 2021
Summary
The commodity supply mix (CSM) enhances regional life cycle assessments (LCAs) by detailing product sourcing. This method improves impact allocation for commodities like Brazilian soybeans, crucial for biodiversity and water scarcity footprints.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Life Cycle Assessment
- Supply Chain Management
Background:
- Regionalizing life cycle assessments (LCAs) requires detailed supply chain data, often unavailable.
- Existing methods lack granular information linking production and consumption centers.
Purpose of the Study:
- Introduce the commodity supply mix (CSM) for enhanced LCA regionalization.
- Improve the allocation of environmental impacts to specific markets.
- Quantify biodiversity and water scarcity footprints for Brazilian soybeans.
Main Methods:
- Defined CSM as a trade-volume-weighted average of production geographies for exported commodities.
- Applied CSM to the Trase-mapped Brazilian soybean supply chain.
- Quantified biodiversity and water scarcity impacts for different export markets.
Main Results:
- The EU exhibited the lowest biodiversity damage but the highest water scarcity footprint for soybeans.
- Sourcing patterns varied across 12 ecoregions and 18 river basins for different markets.
- CSM-derived impacts differed significantly from average production impact scores.
Conclusions:
- CSM enhances the regional relevance of LCAs, especially for spatially variable impacts like biodiversity and water scarcity.
- The method can be applied at various scales using existing supply chain data.
- CSM is a valuable tool for more accurate environmental impact assessment in global supply chains.
Related Concept Videos
01:12Regional Terms
13.3K
Regional terms describe anatomy by dividing the body parts into different regions that contain structures involved in contributing similar functions. Using these terms helps increase the accurate description and identification of the particular region of interest or region affected by the disease.
Primarily, the human body has two major regions, the axial and appendicular regions. The axial region comprises regions from the head to the abdomen and makes up the central body axis. In contrast,...
Primarily, the human body has two major regions, the axial and appendicular regions. The axial region comprises regions from the head to the abdomen and makes up the central body axis. In contrast,...
13.3K
01:17Design Example: Analyzing Capacity Contours for Flood Risk Assessment
161
Flood risk assessment involves careful planning and analysis to ensure the safety of communities near water retention structures. Capacity contours are a vital tool in this process, as they illustrate the potential spread of water at specific levels in a given area. In the context of building a bund across a small valley, these contours play a critical role in evaluating the safety of nearby residential areas.In this example, the bund is intended to store stormwater in the valley. The engineers...
161
01:16Bioequivalence: Overview
1.3K
Pharmaceutical equivalents, by definition, are drug products with the same active ingredient in the same quantities, encapsulated in identical dosage forms, and intended for the same administration routes. These pharmaceutical equivalents are deemed bioequivalent if the bioavailability of the active entity in the drug preparations is similar. Moreover, pharmaceutical equivalents demonstrating bioequivalence are also regarded as therapeutically equivalent. This means that when used as directed,...
1.3K
01:23Sampling Plans
346
Sampling is a crucial step in analytical chemistry, allowing researchers to collect representative data from a large population. Common sampling methods include random, judgmental, systematic, stratified, and cluster sampling.
Random sampling is a method where each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected for the sample. It involves selecting individuals randomly, often using random number generators or lottery-type methods. For example, when analyzing the properties of a...
Random sampling is a method where each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected for the sample. It involves selecting individuals randomly, often using random number generators or lottery-type methods. For example, when analyzing the properties of a...
346
01:13Bioavailability: Overview
3.5K
Bioavailability refers to the proportion of an unaltered drug that, after administration, enters the systemic circulation and can be distributed to the desired action site. Factors such as gastrointestinal (GI) absorption and liver biotransformation influence the bioavailability of a drug when it is administered orally. When a drug is administered intravenously, it enters the systemic circulation directly; by definition, its bioavailability is assumed to be 100%. The bioavailability of an...
3.5K
01:43Sustainable Development
14.0K
As the human population continues to grow and use resources, we must be mindful of our planet’s natural limits. Sustainable development provides a pathway to maintain and improve human life now while also ensuring that future generations will have the resources that they need. The long-term success of sustainability efforts rests on understanding the interplay between human actions and ecological systems.
14.0K