Life cycle assessment for the implementation of emission control measures for the freight traffic with heavy duty vehicles in GermanyPhase 2: Life Cycle Impact assessment

Under consideration of the overall Life Cycle Inventory Analysis (LCI) results generated in the first step of this study and based on the February 1999 edition of ISO/DIS 14042 the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) for the introduction of various emission control measures for freight traffic heavy duty vehicles in Germany was determined. For the examination of the several mandatory elements 11 impact categories related to the freight traffic and the LCI results were focussed, the LCI results were designed to these impact categories and with characterization factors of the 11 selected and recognized characterisation models the categories indicator endpoints were quantified. The optional elements for normalization and weighting were added to the analysis. Two reference values are used for normalizing the category indicator results. For the weighting step 8 recognized evaluation methods were selected with the aim to aggregate the LCI results to an overall value. The results enable plausible conclusions with regard to the ecological advantages and disadvantages of the use of each analysed emission control technology for heavy duty diesel vehicles. As no perfectly clear ranking can be distinguished for evaluation of the generated results and no correlation can be established to the economical effects of the corresponding measurements, it is necessary to complete the currently existing recommendation from the ISO/DIS-Standards with further parameters.