ecoinvent
ecoinvent is a Swiss lifecycle inventory database used in lifecycle assessment and carbon accounting. It contains thousands of datasets modeling materials, energy, transport, agriculture, waste, and industrial processes, and supplies emission factors for product carbon footprints and Scope 3 calculations.
ecoinvent was launched in 2003 by the Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories. It is now maintained by the ecoinvent association and is one of the most widely used lifecycle inventory (LCI) databases in the world. The database covers more than 20,000 datasets across sectors such as electricity, fuels, chemicals, metals, textiles, agriculture, transport, and waste.
The database is published in versions, with version 3 released in 2013 and subsequent annual updates. ecoinvent offers three system models. The cut-off model attributes all upstream impacts to the first useful product. The allocation at the point of substitution model divides impacts between co-products. The consequential model models how markets respond to changes in demand.
Carbon accounting teams use ecoinvent for product carbon footprints and Scope 3 Category 1 (purchased goods and services) estimates when supplier-specific data is unavailable. The factors are typically expressed per unit of activity, such as kilograms of steel or kilowatt-hours of electricity, and are more granular than economy-wide input-output factors.
ecoinvent is transparent about its modeling and provides detailed documentation for each dataset. It is often paired with impact assessment methods, such as ReCiPe or EF3.0, to calculate lifecycle impacts beyond climate change.
Frequently asked questions
What is ecoinvent? +
ecoinvent is a Swiss lifecycle inventory database containing thousands of datasets for materials, energy, transport, agriculture, and industrial processes. It supplies emission factors for lifecycle assessment and carbon accounting.
When should I use ecoinvent? +
Use ecoinvent for product carbon footprints and Scope 3 calculations when you need process-level detail and supplier-specific data is unavailable. It is more granular than economy-wide spend-based models.
What are ecoinvent system models? +
ecoinvent offers three system models: cut-off, allocation at the point of substitution, and consequential. The choice affects how co-product impacts are handled and can significantly change results for recycled or multi-output processes.
Related terms
Lifecycle Assessment (LCA)
A lifecycle assessment (LCA) is a systematic analysis of the environmental impacts of a product, process, or service across its entire lifecycle — from raw material extraction through production, use, and end-of-life. Governed by ISO 14040/14044, LCAs evaluate multiple impact categories including climate change, acidification, eutrophication, and resource depletion.
Product Carbon Footprint (PCF)
A product carbon footprint (PCF) quantifies the total greenhouse gas emissions associated with a product throughout its lifecycle — from raw material extraction (cradle) through manufacturing, distribution, use, and end-of-life disposal (grave). It is expressed in units of CO₂e per functional unit of the product.
Emission Factor
An emission factor is a coefficient that converts an activity measurement — such as litres of fuel burned, kilowatt-hours of electricity consumed, or dollars spent on a commodity — into a quantity of greenhouse gas emissions, typically expressed in kilograms or tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (tCO₂e).
Scope 3 Emissions
Scope 3 emissions are all indirect greenhouse gas emissions that occur in an organization's value chain — both upstream (suppliers, purchased goods, business travel, employee commuting) and downstream (product use, end-of-life treatment, investments). Scope 3 typically represents 70–90% of a company's total carbon footprint.
EEIO
EEIO (Environmentally Extended Input-Output) is an economic modeling approach that estimates greenhouse gas emissions per dollar of economic output by industry sector, commonly used for Scope 3 spend-based emissions calculations.