Finally, an end to the diversion debate
Today more than ever before, lifecycle assessments (“LCAs”) are being used to measure the true environmental impact of products and processes from cradle to grave. LCAs have become the primary tool to assess the environmental efficiency of one system versus another. However, the results of LCAs are generally presented as a series of data which include a variety of pollution indicators, all of which — while are helpful — make it difficult to evaluate the big picture because there is no common measurement. For example, what exactly does it mean when one process results in higher particulate matter, than another which creates high amounts of carbon dioxide? Which is less harmful?
