Life cycle inventory database for consumption in Québec – Food consumption

These inventory datasets are essential for calculating the carbon footprint of an individual’s consumption in Quebec.

Led by the CIRAIG, in collaboration with PolyCarbone and ESG-UQAM, this project aims to develop an inventory database of the life cycle of consumption in Quebec. These inventory datasets are essential for calculating the carbon footprint of an individual’s consumption in Quebec. The inventory is developed with a life cycle approach. Ultimately, it allows for evaluating carbon footprints at every step of the consumption life cycle (extraction of primary sources, transformation, transport, use of goods and services, end of life). The inventory is developed in a modular fashion for the different areas of individual consumption as Food; Transport; Housing; Clothing; Travel; Communications; Entertainment and Culture; Financial and Administrative Management; Health, Hygiene, and Beauty. These areas are developed and detailed as a priority, as they contribute most to an individual’s carbon footprint in Quebec. Other non-priority areas are roughly modelled in order to provide a complete (but more uncertain) portrait of individual consumption. The project is underway and the deliverables will be made available online as things progress. It is not, however, an objective of the project to create a carbon footprint calculation tool at the moment.

For any questions regarding the databse, please contact: laure.patouillard@polymtl.ca or elliot.muller@polymtl.ca

Recommended procedure for importing the database into Activity-Browser (AB):

Step 1: Open Activity-Browser (https://github.com/LCA-ActivityBrowser/activity-browser)
Step 2: Import ecoinvent

• Create a new blank project (without any database) with the name of your choice
• Click "Set up your project with default data" and select "ecoinvent and Biosphere3".
• Enter your ecoinvent credentials to download ecoinvent 3.11 cutoff (you need a valid ecoinvent licence to calculate impact scores for the activities included in the consumption database). You must install ecoinvent before installing the database, otherwise you will encounter compatibility issues.

Step 3: Import the database

• Click on "Import database...". Select "Import local data" then "Local brightway database file".
• Select the file "BDconsoQC_Food_v0.1.7.bw2package". Name the database as you wish and click on Import.
• The database is now available!

For any technical questions, please contact: greffe.titouan@uqam.ca