Real-time linked open data for life cycle inventory

Abstract

The quality of data used for the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is of prime importance as they influence the outcomes of the impact assessments. Most of the LCI data has validity periods as the data gets outdated due to introduction of new technology and process. In order to replace outdated data with most recent value we have developed a device called EnBoX (Energy Baseline of X) for real-time power measurement and which would be used for generating Linked Open Data. In this paper a semantic web based Linked Open Data architecture is developed to update the sensed data into an LCI database. A case study is presented in this paper by updating an existing data base of injection moulding process with an Open LCI data base using the proposed method. The LCI data is open and could potentially eliminate the data validity issues arising out of conventional LCI data gathered over time. The work presented in this paper would be useful to manage sustainability performance of products/processes in an accurate manner.