A few weeks ago, we informed many users of the ecoinvent database that version 3.7 includes an error affecting the results calculated using mineral resource, or human health and ecotoxicity indicators depending on the methods used.
We now proceed with the release of ecoinvent 3.7.1, which corrects the issue and incorporates a further significant improvement.
Specifically, version 3.7.1 of the ecoinvent database updates,
the iron sinter production dataset, correcting the issue in the order of magnitude of the estimated emissions for dioxins and particulate matter (PM), and
the modelling of the zinc mining dataset with newer information received from the International Zinc Association.
In case you are using ecoinvent v3.6 or earlier, either online (ecoQuery) or in a software tool, the error in version 3.7 of the ecoinvent database does not affect your work in any way. Once you decide to start working with a latest version, we strongly recommend to start directly with version 3.7.1 of the ecoinvent database.
In case you already work with ecoinvent v3.7, please see below more information that will support your judgement on how to proceed with your work.
Impact categories not affected by the issue:
climate change, water depletion, cumulative energy demand, land use and land use change, fossil depletion, acidification, eutrophication, ionising radiation, renewable resources, stratospheric ozone depletion, photochemical oxidant formation, radioactive substances, ozone layer depletion
Indicators affected by the issue, depending on the methods used:
mineral resource or human health and ecotoxicity
Please refer to our technical report, for detailed information about the impact of the issue and updates per the system model.
We strongly recommend that all ecoinvent users work with ecoinvent v3.7.1 from its release onwards. However, for ecoinvent users working with impact categories that are not affected by the changes, ecoinvent v3.7 will remain available.
Not all software tools have implemented ecoinvent v3.7.
The software tools that have not already implemented ecoinvent v3.7 will directly proceed with the implementation of ecoinvent v3.7.1.
If you are working with ecoinvent v3.7 in a software tool, please contact your software tool provider.
We remain at your disposal for any questions you may have, and we wish you a healthy, wonderful holiday season.
kind regards,
the ecoinvent team.