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7.3.2.1 Integration of Land Use into LCA
Land use is an important topic in LCA and gaining much interest in LCA communities recently. Some commodities such as agricultural products have high impacts on
land in the production stage, and land use-related environmental impacts should be
considered from a product life cycle. The land use impacts are dependent on the
location of the land; spatial information will be important. The basic concept in the
assessment is ecosystem services of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA).
7.3.2.2 Framework for Land Use Impact Assessment Within LCA
The framework for land use impact assessment within LCA is shown in Fig. 7.3,
which is based on the UNEP-SETAC task force on the integration of land use
impacts into LCA. The characteristics of the framework are summarized as follows:
(1) land occupation and land transformation are separated explicitly; (2) land quality is defined during land use (q * , q 0 , q 1 , and q 2 ); (3) the degree of impacts is determined in relation to reference situation (q * ); and (4) the definition of the duration
(from t 0 to t 1 or t 2 ) is important in the assessment.
Fig. 7.3 Framework of land use impact assessment in LCA
7 Land Use Change Impacts: National and Regional Scales