How to import XML file from Waste Tools 2017?

Question

Hello,

I am using the Waste Tools 2017 created by Gabor Doka (https://www.doka.ch/publications.htm), an excel worksheet to build inventory on municipal solid waste treatment. The tool creates a Ecospold 2 - XML file that can be edited further in EcoEditor (ecoinvent). I was able to do so, but I can`t import the same file into my ecoinvent database in OpenLCA. After trying all the import options, nothing happens. I know how to import zolca files, but it is not working out for XML files. Although there is an option for Ecospold 2 files , which exibits a red tag for "XML".

P.S.: I am using OpenLCA 1.9.

Thank you for your help.

Best wishes,

Jonatas Marques

Answer 1

For EcoSpold02, openLCA expects a zip archive. However, the import is not perfect, less good than for other formats, since we follow the official EcoSpold02 format specification, made available with documentation to software developers when ecoinvent 3.0 was released, while the ecoEditor and ecoinvent have meanwhile modified the format and did not publish and document these changes publicly (to my knowledge); we included now some of these changes to allow most common things the ecoEditor expects but after some sort of trial and error. And of course we do not support quite some aspects of the format in openLCA, such as the exchanges properties (water content and carbon content and so forth for all exchanges), so these get lost.