Cepeda, Gao, Herrera, Jatteau, and Tran: April 26, 2011 1

“Fact Sheet: Life Cycle Assessment in Transportation Policy”

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a technique used to

empirically assess the potential costs, energy use and Raw Materials Extraction
environmental impacts over the lifetime of a Construction
structural investment by compiling an inventory of
relevant energy, material inputs and environmental Use
releases, from raw material acquisition, to Maintenance
construction, to use and maintenance of the End-of-Life
investment. Adding life cycle assessment to the
procedures as outlined previously. Interested in
transportation decision-making process can provide
what the perceptions of the public may actually look
an understanding of the human health and
like, we conducted a survey with UC Berkeley
environmental impacts that traditionally are not
students (also potential future decision-makers) to
considered when selecting a project. This valuable
gauge the public‟s opinion on the environmental
information provides a way to account for the full
performance of several modes of transport.
impacts of decisions, especially those that occur
outside of the project site that are directly influenced
POLICY- & CONTEXT-RELATED ISSUES OF LCA
by the selection of a project alternative.
However, LCA has disadvantages in its use as a
decision-making tool that must be addressed or at
CURRENT USE OF LCA IN TRANSPORTATION
least acknowledged, including that such assessments
LCA had its beginnings in the 1960‟s in Europe over
are often time consuming, resource intensive, and
concerns of the limitations of raw materials and
tends to require significant assumptions. Issues that
energy resources, yet the use of LCA in the
also must be addressed in conducting a LCA include
transportation sector is still relatively recent. One
how to define the local effects of raw materials
example is the development of a rating system based
extraction, determining the planning horizon,
on LCA for transportation projects known as STARS
context-specificity of the analysis, and the selection
(Sustainable Transportation Access Rating System),
of the metrics, or functional units, to be analyzed.
similar to LEED (Leadership in Energy and
Environment Design). A current example of LCA in
The ultimate implication of LCA for transportation
transportation policy is California‟s Low Carbon Fuel
planners and civil engineers is that all of the potential
Standard (LCFS), a policy requiring the use of low
energy use and environmental impacts, as well as
carbon fuels, measured on a full life-cycle basis, to
costs, over the lifetime of a project must be analyzed
reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the
and considered in the selection and design of a
transportation sector.
transportation project. More research in this area
will continue to create justification for future policy
TRANSPORTATION MODE COMPARISON
at the federal, state, and regional/local levels of
The „end-pipe‟ approach currently used to evaluate
governments that mandates LCA for transportation
transportation modes for CO2 emissions levels may
projects, much like environmental assessments
also have a strong effect on the perceptions of the
originating with the National Environmental Policy
public and decision-makers. Since LCA is not a
Act (NEPA). However, LCA is simply one tool to
mainstream method used nationwide currently, we
better inform decision-makers that should be
believe that the public and decision-makers are
included with other decision criteria, such as cost
exposed more to emission level measurements that
and performance, to make a well-balanced decision.
come from direct evaluations for each mode. Direct
As global warming and sustainability continue to be
measurements will mostly neglect costs and
public policy issues, it may only be a matter of when,
emissions associated with raw materials extraction,
not if, LCA is part of transportation.
construction, maintenance, and end-of-life