Time-explicit LCA with bw_timex#
bw_timex is a python package for time-explicit Life Cycle Assessment that helps you assess the environmental impacts of products and processes over time. bw_timex builds on top of the Brightway LCA framework.
✨ Features#
This package enables you to account for:
Timing of processes throughout the supply chain (e.g., end-of-life treatment occurs 20 years after construction)
Variable and/or evolving supply chains & technologies (e.g., increasing shares of renewable electricity or higher process efficiencies in the future)
Timing of emissions (by applying dynamic characterization functions)
You can define temporal distributions for process and emission exchanges, which are then automatically propagated through the supply chain and mapped to corresponding time-specific background databases. In addition, you can also define the temporal evolution of processes and emission exchanges, which applies a time-dependent modification to the exchange amounts compared to the original amounts. The resulting time-explicit LCI reflects the current technology status within the production system at the actual time of each process. Also, bw_timex keeps track of the timing of emissions, which means that you can apply dynamic characterization functions.
💡 Use Cases#
bw_timex is ideal for cases with:
Variable or strongly evolving production systems
Long-lived products
Biogenic carbon
Still unsure if you need time-explicit LCA? Overwhelmed by all the options? Check out our decision tree for some guidance.
📚 Citation#
If bw_timex supports your scientific work, please consider citing our companion publications:
The conceptual framework and formalization of time-explicit LCA are described in our methodology paper
The implementation of this methodology in
bw_timexis covered by our JOSS paper (under review)
💬 Support#
If you have any questions or need help, do not hesitate to contact us:
Timo Diepers (timo.diepers@ltt.rwth-aachen.de)
Amelie Müller (a.muller@cml.leidenuniv.nl)
Arthur Jakobs (artos.jakobs@psi.ch)