Ecoinvent Reference

Ecoinvent is the world's leading Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) database, providing 33,784 activity terms for comprehensive environmental assessments across all industrial sectors.

Overview

Ecoinvent offers consistent and transparent LCI datasets for thousands of products and services, enabling detailed environmental impact assessments.

Key Statistics:

Total Terms: 33,784
Provider: ecoinvent Association
Coverage: Global industrial processes
Geographical Scope: 50+ countries and regions
Data Type: Activity names and process identifiers
Update Frequency: Annual major releases

Purpose and Applications

Primary Use Cases

Life Cycle Assessment Studies
- Product environmental footprinting
- Comparative product assessments
- Process optimization
- Environmental impact quantification
Supply Chain Analysis
- Upstream impact assessment
- Material sourcing decisions
- Transportation impact evaluation
- Multi-tier supply chain mapping
Sustainability Reporting
- Corporate carbon footprints
- Environmental product declarations (EPDs)
- Sustainability metrics
- Regulatory compliance
Research and Development
- Academic LCA research
- Product innovation
- Process technology assessment
- Policy analysis

Database Structure

Activity Types

Ecoinvent organizes data into several activity types:

Market Activities
- Represent average supply of a product in a region
- Aggregate multiple production routes
- Include transportation to market
- Format: market for [product]
Production Activities
- Specific production processes
- Technology-specific data
- Location-specific when available
- Format: [product] production
Treatment Activities
- Waste treatment processes
- Recycling processes
- Wastewater treatment
- Format: treatment of [waste type]
Transport Activities
- Transportation modes
- Distance-based impacts
- Various vehicle types
- Format: transport, [mode], [vehicle type]

Geographical Scope

Ecoinvent provides data for specific geographical contexts:

Levels of Geography:

Global (GLO) - Worldwide average
Continents - RER (Europe), RoW (Rest of World)
Countries - CH (Switzerland), DE (Germany), US, CN, etc.
Regions - Specific regions within countries

Example:

market for wheat grain | CH
market for wheat grain | RER
market for wheat grain | GLO

Main Coverage Areas

1. Agriculture and Food

Crop Production:

Cereals (wheat, rice, maize, barley)
Fruits and vegetables
Oilseeds
Sugar crops
Fodder crops

Animal Production:

Cattle farming (meat, dairy)
Pig farming
Poultry (meat, eggs)
Aquaculture
Beekeeping

Food Processing:

Milling and baking
Dairy processing
Meat processing
Beverage production
Food preservation

Example Terms:

market for wheat grain | GLO
cattle for slaughtering, live weight | CH
milk, from cow | CH
bread production | RER
vegetable oil production, rapeseed | RER

2. Energy Supply

Electricity Generation:

Coal-fired power plants
Natural gas power plants
Nuclear power
Hydroelectric power
Wind power
Solar photovoltaic
Biomass power

Heat Production:

District heating
Industrial heat
Residential heating

Fuels:

Fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas)
Biofuels (biodiesel, bioethanol)
Hydrogen production

Example Terms:

electricity production, hard coal | DE
electricity production, photovoltaic | CH
heat production, natural gas, at boiler | RER
diesel production | GLO
bioethanol production from sugar beet | CH

3. Materials and Chemicals

Metals and Minerals:

Steel and iron production
Aluminum production
Copper and other metals
Cement production
Glass production

Plastics and Polymers:

Polyethylene (PE)
Polypropylene (PP)
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
Polystyrene (PS)
PVC

Chemicals:

Fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium)
Pesticides
Industrial chemicals
Cleaning agents

Example Terms:

steel production, electric, low-alloyed | GLO
aluminium production, primary, ingot | IAI Area, EU27 & EFTA
cement production | CH
polyethylene production, high density, granulate | RER
ammonia production, steam reforming, liquid | RER

4. Transportation and Logistics

Road Transport:

Trucks (various sizes)
Passenger cars
Buses
Motorcycles

Rail Transport:

Freight trains
Passenger trains

Water Transport:

Container ships
Bulk carriers
Inland waterways

Air Transport:

Passenger aircraft
Freight aircraft

Example Terms:

transport, freight, lorry 16-32 metric ton, EURO5 | RER
transport, freight train | CH
transport, transoceanic freight ship | GLO
transport, passenger car, medium size, diesel | RER

5. Waste Treatment

Solid Waste:

Landfill disposal
Incineration
Recycling processes
Composting

Wastewater:

Municipal wastewater treatment
Industrial wastewater treatment

Hazardous Waste:

Special waste incineration
Chemical waste treatment

Example Terms:

treatment of municipal solid waste, incineration | CH
treatment of wastewater, average | CH
treatment of waste plastic, mixture, sanitary landfill | CH
recycling of waste paper | CH

6. Construction and Infrastructure

Building Materials:

Concrete production
Brick manufacturing
Insulation materials
Wood products

Infrastructure:

Road construction
Building construction
Pipelines
Transmission networks

Example Terms:

concrete production, normal, at plant | CH
brick production | RER
building construction, residential | CH
road construction | CH

Impact Categories

Ecoinvent datasets enable calculation of multiple environmental impact categories:

Impact Category	Indicator	Unit
Climate Change	Global Warming Potential	kg CO₂-eq
Ozone Depletion	Ozone Depletion Potential	kg CFC-11-eq
Human Toxicity	Comparative Toxic Unit	CTUh
Particulate Matter	Disease Incidence	cases
Ionizing Radiation	Human exposure efficiency	kBq U-235-eq
Photochemical Ozone Formation	Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential	kg NMVOC-eq
Acidification	Accumulated Exceedance	mol H⁺-eq
Eutrophication (Terrestrial)	Accumulated Exceedance	mol N-eq
Eutrophication (Freshwater)	Phosphorus accumulation	kg P-eq
Eutrophication (Marine)	Nitrogen accumulation	kg N-eq
Ecotoxicity (Freshwater)	Comparative Toxic Unit	CTUe
Land Use	Soil Quality Index	dimensionless
Water Use	Water deprivation	m³ water-eq
Resource Use (Minerals)	Abiotic Depletion Potential	kg Sb-eq
Resource Use (Fossils)	Abiotic Depletion Potential	MJ

Data Quality and Documentation

Quality Indicators

Ecoinvent uses pedigree matrix for data quality assessment:

Quality Dimensions:

Reliability - Source and verification
Completeness - Data coverage
Temporal correlation - Age of data
Geographical correlation - Regional match
Technological correlation - Technology match

Quality Scores:

1 = Excellent
2 = Good
3 = Fair
4 = Poor
5 = Very poor

Uncertainty Quantification

All ecoinvent datasets include uncertainty information:

Lognormal distributions for most parameters
Geometric standard deviation provided
Monte Carlo simulation supported
Sensitivity analysis enabled

Integration with LCA Glossary

Mapping to Food Systems

Food Product Mapping:

FoodEx2: A010101 (Common wheat)
    ↓ maps to
Ecoinvent: market for wheat grain | GLO
    ↓ provides
Complete LCI data for wheat production

Processing Chain:

Hestia: wheat-grain (agricultural production)
    ↓ links to
Ecoinvent: market for wheat grain
    ↓ processing
Ecoinvent: bread production
    ↓ provides
Farm-to-product LCA

Integration with Eaternity EOS

Link ecoinvent processes to EOS calculations:

EOS FlowNode: Wheat flour
    ↓ maps to
Ecoinvent: market for wheat grain
    + processing activities
    ↓ calculates
Environmental impact via EOS API

Query Examples

SQL Queries

-- Find all food production activities
SELECT id, name, category
FROM terms
WHERE source = 'ecoinvent'
  AND (name LIKE '%production%' OR name LIKE '%market for%')
  AND (name LIKE '%wheat%' OR name LIKE '%milk%' OR name LIKE '%meat%')
ORDER BY name;

-- Find transportation activities
SELECT id, name
FROM terms
WHERE source = 'ecoinvent'
  AND name LIKE 'transport,%'
ORDER BY name;

-- Find waste treatment processes
SELECT id, name
FROM terms
WHERE source = 'ecoinvent'
  AND name LIKE 'treatment of%'
ORDER BY name;

-- Count activities by type
SELECT
  CASE
    WHEN name LIKE 'market for%' THEN 'Market'
    WHEN name LIKE 'transport,%' THEN 'Transport'
    WHEN name LIKE 'treatment of%' THEN 'Waste Treatment'
    WHEN name LIKE '%production%' THEN 'Production'
    ELSE 'Other'
  END as activity_type,
  COUNT(*) as count
FROM terms
WHERE source = 'ecoinvent'
GROUP BY activity_type
ORDER BY count DESC;

JavaScript/TypeScript

import { Glossary, Term } from './glossary.types'

// Load glossary
const glossary: Glossary = await fetch('/glossary.json')
  .then(r => r.json())

// Filter ecoinvent terms
const ecoinventTerms = glossary.terms.filter(t =>
  t.source === 'ecoinvent'
)

// Find market activities
const marketActivities = ecoinventTerms.filter(t =>
  t.name.startsWith('market for')
)

// Find Swiss-specific activities
const swissActivities = ecoinventTerms.filter(t =>
  t.name.includes('| CH')
)

// Search for specific materials
const steelActivities = ecoinventTerms.filter(t =>
  t.name.toLowerCase().includes('steel')
)

// Group by activity type
const activityTypes = {
  market: ecoinventTerms.filter(t => t.name.startsWith('market for')),
  transport: ecoinventTerms.filter(t => t.name.startsWith('transport,')),
  treatment: ecoinventTerms.filter(t => t.name.startsWith('treatment of')),
  production: ecoinventTerms.filter(t => t.name.includes('production'))
}

console.log('Ecoinvent activity summary:')
Object.entries(activityTypes).forEach(([type, terms]) => {
  console.log(`  ${type}: ${terms.length} activities`)
})

Python Analysis

import json
import pandas as pd
import re

# Load glossary
with open('glossary.json') as f:
    glossary = json.load(f)

# Create DataFrame
df = pd.DataFrame(glossary['terms'])
ecoinvent_df = df[df['source'] == 'ecoinvent'].copy()

# Extract geography from names
def extract_geography(name):
    match = re.search(r'\|\s*([A-Z]{2,3})$', name)
    return match.group(1) if match else 'Unknown'

ecoinvent_df['geography'] = ecoinvent_df['name'].apply(extract_geography)

# Geography distribution
geo_counts = ecoinvent_df['geography'].value_counts()
print("Top 10 geographies:")
print(geo_counts.head(10))

# Activity type classification
def classify_activity(name):
    if name.startswith('market for'):
        return 'Market'
    elif name.startswith('transport,'):
        return 'Transport'
    elif name.startswith('treatment of'):
        return 'Waste Treatment'
    elif 'production' in name:
        return 'Production'
    else:
        return 'Other'

ecoinvent_df['activity_type'] = ecoinvent_df['name'].apply(classify_activity)
type_counts = ecoinvent_df['activity_type'].value_counts()
print("\nActivity types:")
print(type_counts)

# Find food-related activities
food_keywords = ['wheat', 'milk', 'meat', 'grain', 'vegetable', 'fruit']
food_df = ecoinvent_df[
    ecoinvent_df['name'].str.contains('|'.join(food_keywords), case=False)
]
print(f"\nFood-related activities: {len(food_df)}")

Best Practices

Activity Selection

Choose Appropriate Geography
- Use most specific geography available
- GLO for global average
- Country-specific when possible
- RER for European average
Select Correct Activity Type
- Market activities for average supply
- Production activities for specific technology
- Include full activity name including geography
Consider System Boundaries
- Cradle-to-gate vs. cradle-to-grave
- Include all relevant life cycle stages
- Account for transport and waste treatment

Common Patterns

Food Product Assessment:

Agricultural production (from Hestia/ecoinvent)
    ↓
Processing (ecoinvent)
    ↓
Packaging (ecoinvent materials + production)
    ↓
Transport (ecoinvent transport activities)
    ↓
End-of-life (ecoinvent waste treatment)

Material Production:

Raw material extraction (ecoinvent)
    ↓
Material production (ecoinvent)
    ↓
Manufacturing process (ecoinvent)
    ↓
Use phase (user-defined)
    ↓
Disposal/recycling (ecoinvent waste treatment)

Versions and Updates

Version in ESFC Glossary: Based on ecoinvent v3.x series Update Frequency: Annual major releases by ecoinvent Compatibility: Activity names generally stable across versions

Version Differences

v3.8 - Latest version with updated datasets
v3.7 - Previous version, some differences in geographies
v3.6 - Earlier version, fewer activities

Important: Always specify which ecoinvent version you're using in LCA studies.

License and Access

License Type: Commercial license required Access Options:

Individual user license
Institutional license
Consulting license
Full database access

ESFC Glossary Integration:

Activity names and identifiers (no proprietary data)
Term structure and categories
Free to search and reference
Full LCI data requires ecoinvent license

Documentation Resources

Official ecoinvent Resources

Website: ecoinvent.org
Database Portal: ecoquery.ecoinvent.org
Documentation: Methodology reports and data quality guidelines
Support: Help desk for licensed users

ESFC Glossary Resources

33,784 activity terms indexed and searchable
Semantic mappings to Hestia, FoodEx2, Eaternity
SQL queries for activity discovery
TypeScript types for integration

Data Sources - Overview of all sources
Hestia Reference - Food LCA data
FoodEx2 Reference - Food classification
Semantic Mapping - Cross-source matching
Eaternity Schema - EOS integration

Citation

When using ecoinvent data or activity names in publications:

Wernet, G., Bauer, C., Steubing, B., Reinhard, J., Moreno-Ruiz, E., and Weidema, B. (2016).
The ecoinvent database version 3 (part I): overview and methodology.
The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 21(9), 1218–1230.
DOI: 10.1007/s11367-016-1087-8

Overview​

Purpose and Applications​

Primary Use Cases​

Database Structure​

Activity Types​

Geographical Scope​

Main Coverage Areas​

1. Agriculture and Food​

2. Energy Supply​

3. Materials and Chemicals​

4. Transportation and Logistics​

5. Waste Treatment​

6. Construction and Infrastructure​

Impact Categories​

Data Quality and Documentation​

Quality Indicators​

Uncertainty Quantification​

Integration with LCA Glossary​

Mapping to Food Systems​

Integration with Eaternity EOS​

Query Examples​

SQL Queries​

JavaScript/TypeScript​

Python Analysis​

Best Practices​

Activity Selection​

Common Patterns​

Versions and Updates​

Version Differences​

License and Access​

Documentation Resources​

Official ecoinvent Resources​

ESFC Glossary Resources​

Related Documentation​

Citation​

Overview

Purpose and Applications

Primary Use Cases

Database Structure

Activity Types

Geographical Scope

Main Coverage Areas

1. Agriculture and Food

2. Energy Supply

3. Materials and Chemicals

4. Transportation and Logistics

5. Waste Treatment

6. Construction and Infrastructure

Impact Categories

Data Quality and Documentation

Quality Indicators

Uncertainty Quantification

Integration with LCA Glossary

Mapping to Food Systems

Integration with Eaternity EOS

Query Examples

SQL Queries

JavaScript/TypeScript

Python Analysis

Best Practices

Activity Selection

Common Patterns

Versions and Updates

Version Differences

License and Access

Documentation Resources

Official ecoinvent Resources

ESFC Glossary Resources

Related Documentation

Citation