ecological-footprint

Ecological footprint accounting in The Open Network

Ecological footprint accounting in the transactions assessment of The Open Network

flowchart LR
    subgraph one[Life Circle Inventory]
    B[Elementary Exchanges]
    C[CO2 Emissions] --> J
    D[Toxic emissions] --> K
    E[Land occupation and transformation] --> L
    F[Water inputs] --> M
    G[Other emissions] --> J
    G --> K
    H[Other resource Inputs] --> N
    end
    subgraph two[Life circle Impact Assessment]
    J[Climate change / Carbon footprint] -.-> P
    J -.-> Q
    K[Human Toxicity] -.-> P
    L[Land Use] -.-> Q
    M[Water use / Water Footprint] -.-> R
    N[Other impact categories / footprints] -.-> K
    N -.-> Q
    N -.-> R
    O[Damage Categories /Areas of Protection]
    P[Human health] -.-> T
    Q[Ecosystem Quality] -.-> T
    R[Natural Resources] -.-> T
    S[Weighted Total]
    T[Total]
    end

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Methods

Input

The "input" method files are in the form of CSV data with the following fields. Basically, the file lists all elementary flows and the characterization factors per impact category and/or indicator in columns. Preferably, method developers would provide methods in this format (including any other fields). Indicator units need to be reported in a separate file.

Field	Field type	Data type	Note
elementary_flow_id	recommended	string	method elementary flow ID
elementary_flow_name	mandatory	string	method elementary flow name
number	recommended if available	string	method elementary flow number
formula	recommended if available	string	method elementary flow formula
synonyms	recommended if available	string	synonyms for method elementary flow
unit_name	mandatory	string	method elementary flow unit name
directionality	recommended	string	method elementary flow directionality (resource or emission)
compartment	mandatory	string	method elementary flow compartment
subcompartment	recommended	string	method elementary flow subcompartment
{category and/or indicator 1}	mandatory where available	number	characterization factors for a method impact category and/or indicator; if category and indicator: preferably separated by "|"
...
{category and/or indicator n}
(any other field)	optional		any other information that is available and helps to understand the method and its elementary flows

Mapped

The "mapped" method files are in the form of CSV data with the following fields. They show what method elementary flows were mapped to elementary flows and can be used for reviewing method implementation.

Field	Data type	Note
elementary_flow_id	string	elementary flow UUID
elementary_flow_name	string	elementary flow name
number	string	elementary flow number
formula	string	elementary flow formula
synonyms	string	synonyms for elementary flow
compartment	string	elementary flow compartment
subcompartment	string	elementary flow subcompartment
unit_name	string	elementary flow unit name
flow_status	string	indicates whether the elementary flow was mapped
flow_used	boolean	indicates whether the elementary flow is used in the database
conversion_factor	number	the conversion with which the original characterization factor was multiplied
method_elementary_flow_id	string	method elementary flow UUID
method_elementary_flow_name	string	method elementary flow name
method_compartment	string	method elementary flow compartment
method_subcompartment	string	method elementary flow subcompartment
method_unit	string	method elementary flow unit
compartment_status	string	indicates whether the compartment/subcompartment was mapped or not
{category 1}|{indicator 1}	number	characterization factors of method impact category and indicator
...
{category n}|{indicator n}