• Please log in or register to access this feature.

RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS

You have free access to this content

Methodological Challenges in Volumetric and Impact-Oriented Water Footprints

  1. Markus Berger*,
  2. Matthias Finkbeiner

Article first published online: 10 JUL 2012

DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-9290.2012.00495.x

Issue

Journal of Industrial Ecology

Journal of Industrial Ecology

Volume 17, Issue 1, pages 79–89, February 2013

Additional Information

How to Cite

Berger, M. and Finkbeiner, M. (2013), Methodological Challenges in Volumetric and Impact-Oriented Water Footprints. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 17: 79–89. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-9290.2012.00495.x

Author Information

*Address correspondence to: Markus Berger, Technische Universität Berlin, Department of Environmental Technology/Chair of Sustainable Engineering, Office Z1, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany. Email: markus.berger@tu-berlin.de

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 21 FEB 2013
  2. Article first published online: 10 JUL 2012

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (580K)

References

  • Alcamo, J., P. Doll, T. Heinrichs, F. Kaspar, B. Lehner, T. Rosch, and S. Siebert. 2003. Development and testing of the WaterGAP 2 global model of water use and availability. Hydrological Sciences Journal 48(3): 317–337.
  • Alcamo, J. and T. Henrichs. 2002. Critical regions: A model-based estimation of world water resources sensitive to global changes. Aquatic Sciences 64: 352–362.
  • Allan, J. A. 1998. Virtual water: A strategic resource, global solutions to regional deficits. Ground Water 36: 545–546.
    Direct Link:
  • Bayart, J. B., C. Bulle, A. Koehler, M. Margni, S. Pfister, F. Vince, and L. Deschenes. 2010. A framework for assessing off-stream freshwater use in LCA. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 15(5): 439–453.
  • Bayart, J. B., C. Bulle, M. Margni, F. Vince, L. Deschenes, and E. Aoustin. 2009. Operational characterisation method and factors for a new midpoint impact category: freshwater deprivation for human uses. Paper presented at SETAC Europe, 19th Annual Meeting, 31 May–4 June 2009, Gothenborg, Sweden.
  • Berger, M. and M. Finkbeiner. 2010. Water footprinting—How to address water use in life cycle assessment? Sustainability 2(4): 919–944.
  • Berger, M., J. Warsen, S. Krinke, V. Bach, and M. Finkbeiner. 2012. Water footprint of European cars: Potential impacts of water consumption along automobile life cycles. Environmental Science and Technology. doi: 10.1021/es2040043
  • Bösch, M. E., S. Hellweg, M. A. J. Huijbregts, and R. Frischknecht. 2007. Applying cumulative exergy demand (CExD) indicators to the Ecoinvent database. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 12: 181–190.
  • Boulay, A.-M., C. Bouchard, C. Bulle, L. Deschenes, and M. Margni. 2011a. Categorizing water for LCA inventory. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 16(7): 639–651.
  • Boulay, A.-M., C. Bulle, J.-B. Bayart, L. Deschenes, and M. Margni. 2011b. Regional characterization of freshwater use in LCA: Modelling direct impacts on human health. Environmental Science and Technology 45(20): 8948–8957.
  • Brent, A. C. 2004. A life cycle impact assessment procedure with resource groups as area of protection. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 9: 172–179.
  • Center for Sustainable Organizations. 2011. Corporate water gauge: A context-based solution for measuring the sustainability of organizational water use. www.sustainableorganizations.org/Corporate -Water-Gauge.pdf. Accessed 24 October 2011.
  • Dirmeyer, P. A. and K. L. Brubaker. 2007. Characterization of the global hydrologic cycle from a back-trajectory analysis of atmospheric water vapor. Journal of Hydrometeorology 8: 20–37.
  • Döll, P. and K. Fiedler. 2008. Global-scale modeling of groundwater recharge. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 12: 863–885.
  • Ecoinvent. 2011. Welcome to the Ecoinvent Centre portal. www.ecoinvent.org. Accessed 12 March 2011.
  • Falkenmark, M. 1989. The massive water scarcity now threatening Africa: Why isn't it being addressed? Ambio 18(2): 112–118.
  • FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization). 2011. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations–Aquastat. www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/main/index.stm. Accessed 3 March 2011.
  • Frischknecht, R., R. Steiner, and N. Jungbluth. 2009. The ecological scarcity method — Eco-factors 2006 — A method for impact assessment in LCA. Bern, Switzerland: Federal Office for the Environment.
  • Gleick, P. H. 1996. Water resources. In Encyclopedia of climate and weather, edited by S. H. Schneider. New York, NY, USA: Oxford University Press.
  • Google Inc. 2011. Google Earth. http://earth.google.com. Accessed 7 January 2011.
  • Guinee, J. B., M. Gorree, R. Heijungs, G. Huppes, R. Kleijn, A. de Koning, L. van Oers, A. W. Sleeswijk, S. Suh, H. A. Udo de Haes, H. de Bruijn, R. van Duin, and M. A. J. Huijbregts. 2002. Life cycle assessment — An operational guide to the ISO standards. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  • Hauschild, M. and H. Wenzel. 1998. Environmental assessment of products, vol. 2. New York, NY, USA: Chapman & Hall, Thomson Science.
  • Hoekstra, A. Y., A. K. Chapagain, M. M. Aldaya, and M. M. Mekonnen. 2011. The water footprint assessment manual — Setting the global standard. Washington, DC, USA: Earthscan.
  • Hoekstra, A. Y., W. Gerbens-Leenes, and T. H. van der Meer. 2009. Reply to Pfister and Hellweg: Water footprint accounting, impact assessment, and life-cycle assessment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106: 114.
  • Hoekstra, A. Y. and P. Q. Hung. 2002. Virtual water trade: A quantification of virtual water flows between nations in relation to international crop trade. In Value of water. Research Report Series 11. Delft, the Netherlands: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Institute for Water Education (UNESCO-IHE).
  • Hoekstra, A. Y. and M. M. Mekonnen. 2011. Global water scarcity: The monthly blue water footprint compared to blue water availability for the world's major river basins. In Value of water. Research Report Series 53. Delft, the Netherlands: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Institute for Water Education (UNESCO-IHE).
  • IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). 2007. Climate change 2007 — The fourth assessment report. Geneva, Switzerland: IPCC.
  • ISO (International Organization for Standardization). 2006a. ISO 14040. Environmental management — Life cycle assessment — Principles and framework. Geneva, Switzerland: ISO.
  • ISO (International Organization for Standardization). 2006b. ISO 14044. Environmental management — Life cycle assessment — Requirements and guidelines. Geneva, Switzerland: ISO.
  • ISO (International Organization for Standardization). 2011. ISO 14046 working draft 2. Water footprint — Principles, requirements and guidance. Geneva, Switzerland: ISO.
  • IWMI (International Water Management Institute). 2011. Ecosystems for water and food security. Nairobi, Kenya: United Nations Environment Programme.
  • Kounina, A., M. Margni, J.-B. Bayart, A.-M. Boulay, M. Berger, C. Bulle, R. Frischknecht, A. Koehler, L. Mila-i-Canals, M. Motoshita, M. Núñez, G. Peters, S. Pfister, B. Ridoutt, R. v. Zelm, F. Verones, and S. Humbert. 2011. Review of methods addressing freshwater availability in life cycle inventory and impact assessment. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. Submitted for publication.
  • Maendly, R. and S. Humbert. 2011. Empirical characterization model and factors assessing aquatic biodiversity damages of hydropower water use. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. Submitted for publication.
  • Mekonnen, M. M. and A. Y. Hoekstra. 2012. The blue water footprint of electricity from hydropower. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 16: 179–187.
  • Mila i Canals, L., J. Chenoweth, A. Chapagain, S. Orr, A. Anton, and R. Clift. 2008. Assessing freshwater use in LCA: Part I — Inventory modelling and characterisation factors for the main impact pathways. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 14: 28–42.
  • Motoshita, M., N. Itsubo, and A. Inaba. 2008. Development of impact assessment method on health damages of undernourishment related to agricultural water scarcity. Paper presented at the Eighth International Conference on EcoBalance, 10–12 December 2008, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Motoshita, M., N. Itsubo, and A. Inaba. 2011. Development of impact factors on damage to health by infectious diseases caused by domestic water scarcity. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 16(1): 65–73.
  • New, M., M. Todd, M. Hulme, and P. Jones. 2001. Precipitation measurements and trends in the twentieth century. International Journal of Climatology 21: 1899–1922.
    Direct Link:
  • Nunez, M., S. Pfister, A. Anton, P. Munoz, S. Hellweg, A. Koehler, and J. Rieradevall. 2010. Using geographic information systems and spatial data to assess water consumption of bioenergy. Paper presented at SETAC Europe, 20th Annual Meeting, 23–27 May 2010, Seville, Spain.
  • PE International. 2011. GaBi Software. www.gabi-software.com. Accessed 8 March 2011.
  • Pfister, S. and S. Hellweg. 2009. The water “shoesize” vs. footprint of bioenergy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106: E93–E94.
  • Pfister, S., A. Koehler, and S. Hellweg. 2009. Assessing the environmental impacts of freshwater consumption in LCA. Environmental Science and Technology 43: 4098–4104.
  • Quantis. 2012. Quantis water database. www.quantis-intl.com/waterdatabase.php. Accessed 10 February 2012.
  • Raskin, P. D., E. Hansen, and R. M. Margolis. 1996. Water and sustainability: Global patterns and long-range problems. Natural Resources Forum 20(1): 1–5.
    Direct Link:
  • Ridoutt, B. G. and S. Pfister. 2010. A revised approach to water footprinting to make transparent the impacts of consumption and production on global freshwater scarcity. Global Environmental Change 1: 113–120.
  • Rost, S., D. Gerten, and U. Heyder. 2008. Human alterations of the terrestrial water cycle through land management. Advances in Geosciences 18: 43–50.
  • SABMiller and WWF (World Wildlife Fund). 2009. Water footprinting: Identifying and addressing water risks in the value chain. Working and Godalming, UK: SABMiller Plc and WWF.
  • UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). 1997. World atlas of desertification, 2nd ed., edited by N. Middleton and D. Thomas. London, UK: Arnold.
  • UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). 2007. Global environmental outlook 4 — Environment for development. Nairobi, Kenya: UNEP.
  • UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). 2012. A glass half empty: Regions at risk due to groundwater depletion. UNEP Global Environmental Alert Service. http://na.unep.net/api/geas/articles/getArticleHtmlWithArticleIDScript.php?article _id=76. Accessed 10 February 2012.
  • United Nations. 2009. The United Nations world water development report 3: Water in a changing world. World Water Assessment Programme. Paris, France: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
  • Van der Ent, R. J. and H. H. G. Savenije. 2011. Length and time scales of atmospheric moisture recycling. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 11: 1853–1863.
  • Van der Ent, R. J., H. H. G. Savenije, S. Bettina, and S. C. Steele-Dunne. 2010. Origin and fate of atmospheric moisture over continents. Water Resources Research 46. doi:10.1029/2010WR009127
    Direct Link:
  • Van Zelm, R., A. M. Schipper, M. Rombouts, J. Snepvangers, and M. A. J. Huijbregts. 2011. Implementing groundwater extraction in life cycle impact assessment: Characterization factors based on plant species richness for the Netherlands. Environmental Science and Technology 45(2): 629–635.
  • Veolia. 2011. The water impact index and the first carbon-water analysis of a major metropolitan water cycle. www. veoliawaterna.com/north-america-water/ressources/documents/1/10975, Water_Impact_Index-White_Paper.pdf. Accessed 5 September 2011.
  • WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development). 2010. Global water tool 2011. www.wbcsd.org/web/watertool.htm. Accessed 30 June 2010.
  • WFN (Water Footprint Network). 2011. Water footprint. www.waterfootprint.org. Accessed 22 March 2011.
View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (580K)