Potentials and Limitations of Combined Life Cycle Approaches and Multi-dimensional Assessment

Abstract

The use of life cycle approaches—purely or in combination with non-life cycle methods—to assess product systems from a multi-dimensional perspective arises as a current need in the path towards actual sustainability. While pure life cycle approaches involve mainly life cycle sustainability assessment, a wide range of novel approaches are currently under study in order to overcome the limitations typically linked to multi-dimensional assessment and multi-criteria decision analysis. This is done through the synergistic combination of life cycle (mainly, life cycle assessment) and non-life cycle (techno-economic assessment, data envelopment analysis, energy systems modelling, agent-based modelling, land change and ecosystem services modelling, urban metabolism analysis, interdisciplinary policy assessment, material flow analysis, etc.) methods. The main potentials, fields of application and pending issues associated with these tools are summarised herein.