LCA key parameter models as a basis for the Naturemade label

ESU develops since more than 20 years the LCA key parameter models for testing electricity, biomethane, cooling and heat from renewable energy sources. Since the opening of European electricity markets, utilities are launching green electricity products. In Switzerland, the privately initiated ecolabel “naturemade star” ensures the environmental and ecolo­gi­cal quality including life cycle thinking. The evaluation method includes a simplified and partly site-specific life cycle assessment using the ReCiPe 2016 (H, A) impact assessment method.

Simplified LCA approach

In a first step, detailed LCAs case studies were made by ESU-services for power plants and technologies which are candidates for the “naturemade star” label. Here, technology-specific parameters are identified that dominate the outcome of the LCA and for which data are available for the owner or operator of the power plant at issue. For wood energy, for instance, key parameters are the annual production, the type of combustion, and some single emissions. Based on the knowledge gained with the detailed LCA, parameter models for digestion plants for biomass, wood energy, heat pumps, and waste incineration have been established on a spread­sheet-basis. They are easy to handle for SME operators or manufacturers of the candidate power plants. With the help of the key parameter models, operators of power plants can carry out the required LCA within a few hours. At the same time, they can check, whether the plant fulfills the “naturemade star” threshold or not. The threshold has been set to 50% of the environmental impact in ReCiP (hierarchist) points of a similar production system based on natural gas. Furthermore, the KPM also allow a simplified environmental product declaration for different energy products.