Temporal discounting for life cycle assessment: Differences between environmental discounting and economic discounting

One of the major problems existing in current LCA is the temporal homogeneity issue in the compiled life cycle inventory data [1-2]. In current practice, the life cycle inventory data are aggregated along a product's life cycle without considering the data's temporal differences. The aggregating approach introduces temporal uncertainties in LCA and may cause inaccurate estimates of the environmental impact and lead to improper decision-making in the sustainability management and environmental practices, in particular on those long-lived products and systems [3].