Use of LCI data in the construction of ecological indicators for regions

This Life-Environment project, called ECOREG, aims to produce indicators for monitoring changes in the eco-efficiency of a region. The ecological indicators of the project will be based on an environmental analysis of the major economic sectors. The basic techniques in the inventory phase correspond to the techniques used in LCI, although in our work we do not use product-specific functional units. The interventions of each sector are calculated per the total annual production volume of the sector. The basic regional data are mainly collected and processed from public statistics and databases maintained by environmental authorities. The data pertaining to upstream processes outside the region are acquired from diverse available LCI databases. The aim is that the LCI data related to the material and energy flows of the sectors should be product chain-specific to the extent possible. In the approach described, the data quality of the conventional emissions from point sources is good. On the other hand, the estimation of the emissions from diffuse sources, toxic pollutants and land use interventions includes large uncertainties.