Consolidated Guidelines for a transport-specific life cycle assessment (LCA)

The transport sector is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, our road transport system is rapidly transforming with zero-emission propulsion systems achieving steadily increasing market shares. However, for all stakeholders in the mobility sector to define realistic sustainability goals and to select the most sustainable solutions, the environmental, economic and social impacts of technologies and mobility concepts must be assessed in a holistic way. This presents a need for a harmonized assessment approach for zero-emission transport systems to ensure consistency and comparability.
TranSensus Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a coordination and support action project funded by the European Union. The project aims to establish a commonly accepted and applied single LCA approach for the LCA of zero-emission road transport systems in Europe. This was done through a consensus building approach which engaged the consortium, associated partners, defined scientific and industry advisory boards as well as the wider stakeholder community including the European Commission, standardization bodies and member states.
These guidelines result from TranSensus LCA’s efforts to develop a harmonized methodology. The guidelines establish 137 methodological requirements, of which 56 are mandatory, covering environmental and social LCAs for products, prospective scenarios, and fleet analyses.
The guidelines begin with descriptions of the relationships with other standards, guidelines and legislation for contextualization. This is followed by details on the different steps in conducting an LCA specifically, i) goal and scope definition, ii) life cycle inventory, iii) life cycle impact assessment and iv) interpretation. The document also provides guidance on reporting to ensure adherence to the TranSensus methodology. The guidelines conclude with a perspectives section which describes areas for future research that may be applied to future iterations of the methodology.
It is important to note that these guidelines are a "living" document to be updated as neces-sary. Future developments are expected based on the results of ongoing road testing.