Life Cycle Assessment and Judgement
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER
Life Cycle Assessment and Judgement Christopher Nathan
&
Stuart Coles
Received: 22 October 2019 / Accepted: 14 September 2020 / Published online: 26 November 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract It has become a standard for researchers carrying out biotechnology projects to do a life cycle assessment (LCA). This is a process for assessing the environmental impact of a technology, product or policy. Doing so is no simple matter, and in the last decades, a rich set of methodologies has developed around LCA. However, the proper methods and meanings of the process remain contested. Preceding the development of the international standard that now governs LCA, there was a lively debate in the academic community about the inclusion of ‘values’ within the process. We revisit this debate and reconsider the way forward for LCA. We set out ways in which those outside of science can provide input into LCAs by informing the value assumptions at stake. At the same time, we will emphasize that the role of those within the scientific community need not (and sometimes, will inevitably not) involve value-free inquiry. We carry out this exploration through a case study of a particular technology project that sought ways to produce industrial and consumer products from algal oils. Keywords Life cycle assessment . Responsible innovation . Technology assessment . Sustainability C. Nathan (*) Department of Politics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK e-mail: [email protected] S. Coles Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
Introduction It has become standard for researchers carrying out biotechnology projects to do a life cycle assessment (LCA). This is a process for assessing the environmental impact of a technology, product or policy. Doing so is no simple matter, and in the last decades, a rich set of methodologies has developed around LCA. Reflecting this complexity, the technique has its own dedicated journal (the Journal of Life Cycle Assessment); there are several commercially run, well-marketed databases of the impacts of different substances; and in 2009 Time magazine named life cycle assessment one of the ‘10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now’. However, the proper methods and meanings of the process remain contested. One practitioner argues that LCA as an international standard is failing because competing interpretations of it are so widespread [1]. Preceding the development of the international standard that now governs LCA, there was a lively debate in the academic community about the inclusion of ‘values’ within the process. We revisit this debate and reconsider the way forward for LCA. It is a goal of this paper to set out ways in which those outside of science can provide input into LCAs by informing the value assumptions at stake. We conclude by suggesting that the role of those within the scientific community need not (and sometimes, will inevitably not) involve value-free inquiry and proposing that researchers embrace this state of affairs.
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