LCA Inventory results - what does resource 'in air' mean?

Question

Hi,

Id like some help with understanding the inventory categories that result from using the CML methods. They currently do not make sense to me as they include resource inputs 'from air' that I believe would be unlikely to be derived from extraction from air, and are surprisingly large. For instance 0.15 kg of 1-methyl-2-pentanone as a resource (from air) in the creation of 1kg of primary aluminium. It seems unlikely that this chemical is sourced from the air, and at such large quantities! Clearly I misunderstand what is meant by category: 'resource' subcategory: 'in air'. Could somebody explain this to me?

Cheers!

Answer 1

What kind of database did you use, and what did you model? Resource in air means indeed uptake from air.

Comments

Hi Andreas,
Thanks for your reply. I used Ecoinvent, OpenLCA and CML 2001 method.
Cheers,
Sally