Land Use in Product Life Cycles and Ecosystem Quality

Thomas Köllner

ISBN 10: 3039102079 / ISBN 13: 9783039102075

Published by Peter Lang, Peter Lang, 2003

About this Item

Druck auf Anfrage Neuware - Printed after ordering - Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is widely used for environmental planning and decision-making. However, land use and its consequences for ecosystem quality still are not adequately taken into account in LCA. Land use is an economic activity that generates large benefits for human society. As a side effect it has caused many environmental problems such as endangerment of species, nutrification of lakes and rivers, loss of fertile soil, and impact on landscapes' aesthetics. All of these impacts put pressure on the regional ecosystem quality. This book focuses on biodiversity, which is conceptualised as an important part of ecosystem quality. A method for assessing land use impacts on biodiversity is developed and the general method is made operable using empirical information on species diversity. The developed set of characterisation factors EDPsp-div for different land use types can be easily integrated in damage oriented methods of Life Cycle Impact Assessment. A case study on food products shows the application of the method.

Seller Inventory # 9783039102075

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Land Use in Product Life Cycles and Ecosystem Quality
• Publisher: Peter Lang, Peter Lang
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3039102079
• ISBN 13: 9783039102075
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 220W x 145H x 16D millimeters 220 millimeters width by 145 millimeters height by 16 millimeters depth
• Weight: 391 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is widely used for environmental planning and decision-making. However, land use and its consequences for ecosystem quality still are not adequately taken into account in LCA. Land use is an economic activity that generates large benefits for human society. As a side effect it has caused many environmental problems such as endangerment of species, nutrification of lakes and rivers, loss of fertile soil, and impact on landscapes’ aesthetics. All of these impacts put pressure on the regional ecosystem quality. This book focuses on biodiversity, which is conceptualised as an important part of ecosystem quality. A method for assessing land use impacts on biodiversity is developed and the general method is made operable using empirical information on species diversity. The developed set of characterisation factors EDPsp-div for different land use types can be easily integrated in damage oriented methods of Life Cycle Impact Assessment. A case study on food products shows the application of the method.

About the Author

The Author: Thomas Köllner (born 1969 in Germany) studied biology and business administration at the University of Göttingen and Trinity College Dublin. He received his Master’s Degree in biology in 1996 and started his Ph.D. at the Institute for Economy and the Environment at the University of St. Gallen. While preparing his dissertation, he worked on the project Sustainable Nutrition: Visions, Strategies, and Instruments supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation within the Priority Programme Environment and on the project Land use in Life Cycle Assessment supported by the Swiss Office for Education and Science. His main research focus is the methodological development of Life Cycle Assessment. Since 2001 he has been employed at the Department of Environmental Sciences at the ETH Zurich. He is leading the research group Ecosystem services.