Adding CO2eq as Output flow to Process?

Question

I'm doing an LCA for a battery cell and the production uses some imported materials that are not available as flows in the EF 3.1 database and that we do not have and cannot obtain primary data for. As there a lot of unknowns about the production of these materials in our specific case, instead of trying to model that production from the ground up I would like to create flows for them that I can use and that have researched CO2eq values tied to them, as that is the only impact value that I am looking for in my end result.

My idea was to create processes for their production without inputs and have the desired flow and the researched CO2eq emissions as outputs. Is that possible? If so, how do I make that happen? Is there a better or recommended way to go about this?

The exact relevant materials I want to use are LFP, NMP, LiPF6, Copper Foil, Nickel Foil, Ethyl Methyl Carbonate and Vinylene Carbonate. I would also like to suggest that it would be incredibly helpful to be able to search by CAS-number, as a lot of materials have a number of common names.

Answer 1

Hi battery_LCA,

thanks for using openLCA and the EF database.

yes you can add the emissions factors in kg CO2 on the output side of a process then called "product XYZ". You can also use "Results" see here https://greendelta.github.io/openLCA2-manual/res_analysis/save_export.html and here https://greendelta.github.io/openLCA2-manual/epds/life_cycle_models.html. I think it is quite understandable. Make sure that the "PCFs" you get are calculated with the EF 3.1 method (might differ if you have biogenic carbon in your product but I don't think so).

For the CAS; you can do it already but the EF database does not provide the CAS numbers and we tried to keep the database as pure as it came. CAS is findable here: https://greendelta.github.io/openLCA2-manual/running_olca/toolbar_database.html (database, content). Then you can sort by CAS but the product flows in the EF database have no CAS numbers (not our fault). In ecoinvent, we added the CAS numbers as "Tags" which is a nice feature, so you can easily search them. Hence, it is not openLCA's issue.

I see the point that the battery regulation asks you to perform and LCA. However, all those materials (LiPF6, Ni foil) are not in the database.

Hi battery_LCA,

Thank you for using openLCA and the EF database.

Yes, you can add emission factors in kg CO₂ on the output side of a process as carbon dioxide elementary flow, which can be named something like "Product XYZ." With openLCA 2.5 you can also use the "Results" to integrate values; see the documentation  https://greendelta.github.io/openLCA2-manual/res_analysis/save_export.html and here https://greendelta.github.io/openLCA2-manual/epds/life_cycle_models.html. I think it's fairly straightforward. Just make sure that the Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs) you calculate are based on the EF 3.1 method. Results might vary if your product includes biogenic carbon, but I don’t think that applies in your case.

As for CAS numbers, you can technically include them, but the EF database doesn't provide CAS numbers and we kept the database in its original form. You can find more details https://greendelta.github.io/openLCA2-manual/running_olca/toolbar_database.html under database content. It's possible to sort by CAS numbers in openLCA, but since the EF product flows don’t include them, that’s a limitation of the dataset itself. In ecoinvent, we added CAS numbers as "tags," which makes them easier to search, and that feature is quite helpful. So, this is not on openLCA but on the EF database.

I understand that the battery regulation requires you to perform an LCA but please note that materials like LiPF₆, electrolytes or Ni foil are not included in the EF 3.1 database. 

Hope this helps