The bitumen Life Cycle Assessment

Cradle-to-gate scope

The Eurobitume LCA 4.0 covers the production of bitumen and oxidised bitumen from cradle to gate, i.e. it considers the environmental impacts associated with crude oil production, its transportation to the refinery, refining and bitumen storage inside the refinery.

Representativeness & data quality

The results are based upon data collected from 17 refinery locations in Europe operated by Eurobitume members where bitumen is produced. This represents approximately more than 75 % of the bitumen produced by Eurobitume members.

The Eurobitume LCA 4.0 is intended to meet the expectations of stakeholders for their construction projects. The use of this reference dataset enables an objective comparison, at the infrastructure scale, between various technical solutions including bituminous products.

Inventory data quality is judged by its precision (measured, calculated or estimated), completeness, consistency and representativeness (geographical, temporal, and technological).

To cover these requirements and to ensure reliable results, primary data from 17 refineries in Europe were used in combination with consistent background LCA information from Sphera’s MLC database. The LCI datasets from Sphera’s MLC v. 2024.1 database are widely distributed and used with Sphera’s LCA For Expert (LCA FE) software. The datasets have been used in LCA models worldwide in industrial and scientific applications in internal as well as in many critically reviewed and published studies.

Results and deliverables

The Eurobitume LCA 4.0 contains:

• a bitumen Life Cycle Inventory (LCI): the compilation and quantification of inputs and outputs for the bitumen production throughout its life cycle. The complete LCI dataset in the ILCD (International Life Cycle Data System) format can be downloaded through this request form.
• a Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA): the magnitude and significance of the potential environmental impacts for the bitumen throughout its life cycle. The 38 environmental impact indicators accessible in the Eurobitume LCA 4.0 are aligned with the standard EN 15804+A2 and therefore are suitable for use in Environmental Production Declarations (EPDs) for construction products.

The full report is downloadable here.

The Bitumen LCA 4.0 FAQ is accessible here.

Changes compared with LCI 3.0/3.1

The 4^th edition of Eurobitume’s Life Cycle Assessment (LCA 4.0) replaces the 3^rd edition of the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) published in 2020 (LCI 3.0) and the updated LCI version 3.1 (2021).

Significant changes in the environmental indicators have been obtained due to a revision of key assumptions.

Three major factors are influencing the results:

• the change in crude oil database and crude oil basket.
• The Managed LCA Content (MLC) 2024.1 database from Sphera used in the LCA 4.0 improves the quality of crude oil modelling, particularly the methane emissions assessment and the geographic accuracy for the crude oil data averaging. The crude basket now refers to a 3-year average (2021-2023) based on primary data of crude oil by country of origin.
• the modification of the allocation method at the refinery.
• The LCA 4.0 relies on the energy allocation method based on primary data of 17 refineries in Europe.
• the change in bitumen storage model at the refinery, which is now based on primary data.

The LCA 4.0 assumptions are explained in detail in the full report An additional document summarises the results on the Global Warming Potential (GWP) indicator and a comparative analysis between the new LCA 4.0 and the previous LCI 3.1.   Documentation Full Life Cycle Assessment report (version 4.0) Summary and comparative analysis on the Global Warming Potential (GWP) indicator Life Cycle Inventory – ILCD format (Request form)