Is OpenLCA correctly applying the 'Location' feature in LCIA calculations for elementary flows?

Question

Hi everyone,

I've created a test dataset where I included 1 m³ of the elementary flow "Water, river" and selected the Location as CL. According to the AWARE 1.2 characterization factor in openLCA LCIA Methods 2.6.0, the value for this flow should be 81.3797 m³ world eq. However, the result from OpenLCA is 42.9535 m³ world eq.

I guess that OpenLCA might not be taking the Location (CL) into account in the calculation. Has anyone else encountered this issue?

Thank you!

Fernando

Answer 1

You simply set the location for the whole process (not for the exchange) and then you select "Regionalized calculation" in the calculation settings. openLCA will automatically assign each process location to the elementary flows inside each process and use the regionalized impact factors to calculate the regionalized impact results.