Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) within Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) - Scientific Robustness and Consistency with International Standards

The 'food versus fuel' debate and the discussion about the environmental performance of biofuels in general has led to the development of the concept of indirect land use change (iLUC) and the proposal to include iLUC factors into environmental assessments of biofuels.While the science behind iLUC is still in its infancy, life cycle assessment (LCA) has matured over a few decades and is nowadays accepted internationally by all stakeholders as "...best framework for assessing the potential environmental impacts of products currently available (EU 2003)". The international standards ISO 14040/44 represent the constitution of LCA.

The core question of this study is, if and how iLUC can be included in the LCA or carbon footprints (CF) of biofuels in a scientifically robust and consistent way. While the currently published mainstream trend seems to demand the integration of iLUC factors into LCA and CF assessments and thereafter in regulations, this study seeks proof whether this is supported by the sober, critical and neutral perspective of science.

The study reveals that there is hardly any fact-based support for a scientifically robust and consistent inclusion of iLUC factors into LCA and CF. The report discusses in detail a number of results to substantiate this statement.