Bo P. Weidema contributed eight entries to the Elgar Encyclopedia of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, a reference work of 192 entries providing concise and authoritative information on the methods, standards, and best practices of life cycle sustainability assessment. His entries cover core life cycle inventory and impact assessment concepts:
The publisher presents the encyclopedia as a reference for researchers, students, practitioners and policymakers working with sustainability assessment. Its 192 entries define both fundamental and advanced terms, with the aim of supporting consistent use across sectors, regions and disciplines. The focus on shared terminology matters because life cycle sustainability assessment brings together environmental, social and economic perspectives, and clear definitions help readers interpret methods and communicate results transparently. The publisher also highlights thematic depth and further reading for subject specialists.
The entries listed above span several parts of assessment practice. Characterisation factors, classification and impact pathways are concepts associated with organising and interpreting impact assessment. Weighting is another impact assessment topic. The remaining entries address ways to handle multiple outputs or model alternatives in a product system: co-product handling, economic allocation, physical allocation and substitution. The publisher’s contents list places each entry within the wider encyclopedia, alongside topics such as life cycle inventory, life cycle impact assessment, functional units, system boundaries, uncertainty and interpretation. This gives readers a way to connect Weidema’s entries to related concepts without treating the eight topics as a single method.
The wider encyclopedia also includes entries on environmental and social assessment, life cycle costing, data quality, decision support, and sustainability indicators. This range places the eight entries in a broader methodological and applied context, rather than presenting them as a complete guide to every stage of an assessment.
Each DOI below links to an individual entry in the encyclopedia. Together, the entries provide concise reference points for readers who need to check terminology or identify a concept relevant to an LCA or LCSA. They can support clearer discussion of modelling and impact assessment choices, but the encyclopedia entry list alone does not establish which method is appropriate for a particular study. That decision depends on the study’s goal, scope, data and modelling assumptions. Readers should consult the full entry and the cited sources when they need a detailed explanation or guidance for applying a method.
