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(81-06) Including Desiccation as an Impact Category in LCA: a First Exploration. van Oers, Lauran1, van der Voet, Ester1, Lindeijer, Erwin*,2, Witte, Flip3,4, van Ek, Remco4, 1 Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands2 TNO Industry, Delft, the Netherlands3 Wageningen Agricultural University, Wageningen, the Netherlands4 Kiwa N.V. Water Research, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands ABSTRACT- In some areas, extraction of groundwater has adverse impacts on nature due to a lowering of the groundwater table. This environmental problem, known as desiccation, presently is not included in LCA. A team of desiccation experts and LCA experts have cooperated in a first attempt to remedy this. Dutch floristic data, together with Dutch hydrological and impact assessment models have been used to quantify the relationship between groundwater extraction and impacts on the flora. For the Netherlands as a whole, a linear relation appears to exist between these two variables, indicating that desiccation can be included at least based on m3 extracted groundwater without further weighing procedure. The dose-effect relationships in the DEMNAT model were used to derive characterisation factors for different soil types, in an attempt to refine the indicator. It proved possible to do so in a number of different ways. The applicability in LCA still needs to be tested. The extrapolation to the continental and global scale level remains to be investigated. Two routes are open for this: (1) by defining characterisation factors per country or group of countries, (2) by generalising the characterisation factors for different soil types. Key words: LCA, Impact Assessment, Desiccation |
