| Economic input-output analysis-based life-cycle assessment (e.g., the EIO-LCA model by Carnegie Mellon University) has been used by academia, industry and government to estimate the energy and fuel use, toxic and non-toxic emissions and wastes associated with products and services in the United States (www.eiolca.net). Since its introduction in the mid-1990s, I-O based LCA has been adopted by other countries as well, and the development of national, monetary and physical I-O tables-based models is under way. However, the EIO-LCA model uses national average economic and environmental data and many decisions would be wise to take into account local or regional characteristics. Thus regionalized models would be useful for decision-making on regional and local levels. This dissertation introduces a regional economic input-output analysis-based LCA (REIO-LCA) model which is based on the Gross State Product (GSP) and state level environmental data. The national input-output matrix is modified by using regional economic multipliers and the regional matrices are linked to energy (electricity and fuels), emission factors, and hazardous waste generation factors. The use of the model is demonstrated through case studies. |
