Life Cycle Assessment is a complicated and controversial field when applied to environmental problems. Questions like "Paper or plastic?" are as ubiquitous as they are baffling. This book does little to clarify matters. It is at best an introduction to a subjective approach. It should not be surprising to the reader to find that the methods described in this book can be employed by separate analysts to reach entirely opposite conclusions.
In response to a critical review that appears in the Journal of Industrial Ecology v1:4, one of the authors of Environmental LCA defended the text with the argument that LCA is, and always will be a "soft science" and therefore may not satisfy readers that seek definitive answers, as no one methodology could be described as applicable to all problems. His defense is disingenuous. Despite its shortcomings, LCA is a promising tool worthy of further development. The goal of new books on the subject should be to advance towards a definitive methodology that results in consistent, interpretable conclusions. When faced with such an intractable, challenging problem as this, it does us all a disservice to suggest that we should just give up (and presumably settle for the kind of text this author has provided).
A definitive work on LCA would be a welcome addition to my library. This book is not it.
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