Life cycle assessments of oilsands greenhouse gas emissions: a checklist for robust analysis

In: Backgrounder

Open Access

Abstract

Life cycle assessment (LCA) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has been promoted as a tool to inform numerous decisions related to Canadian oilsands development, including low-carbon fuel standards, the proposed TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline, and the development of the European Fuel Quality Directive. While life cycle assessments of transportation fuels have been performed for over two decades, not until recently has LCA been used as a basis for fuel policies such as low-carbon fuel standards and renewable fuel standards