ReviewChemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)2025
Looking to the Future: Prospective Life Cycle Assessment of Emerging Technologies.
Review in Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Prospective Characterization Factors for Assessing Climate Change Impacts in Life Cycle Assessments.Environmental science & technology · 2026Article
- Projecting environmental improvements in mineral processing pathways: the case of cathode active material production.The international journal of life cycle assessment · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Emerging technologies are expected to contribute to sustainable development, but assessing their future environmental impacts compared to current technologies remains challenging. Prospective life cycle assessment (pLCA) provides a systematic approach to evaluating emerging technologies throughout their life cycle and projecting impacts at future industrial scales. This review aims to identify critical aspects of pLCA methodologies and examine their implementation in recent case studies. Key aspects are highlighted: assessment of initial technology maturity, upscaling methods to model data at higher technology readiness levels, and development of future scenarios to contextualize the scaled-up systems. Specific upscaling techniques such as process simulation, engineering calculations and technology learning curves are discussed. Approaches to generating future scenarios in line with integrated assessment models and common socio-economic pathways are also analyzed. An in-depth literature review covering 2021-2024 publications categorizes 79 articles into literature reviews, methodological papers and pLCA case studies. The identified critical issues serve as a benchmark to assess the completeness and robustness of 20 case studies. Notable contributions, limitations and the need for comprehensive guidelines that integrate scenario development with upscaling methods are highlighted. This review provides valuable insights for researchers conducting pLCA studies of emerging technologies and materials.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.