ecoinvent 3.12 delivers a broad set of updates across agriculture, energy systems, materials, and industrial processes. The release focuses on improving regional specificity, refining existing datasets, correcting inconsistencies, and adding new technologies and market compositions. Below is a structured summary of key changes in ecoinvent 3.12.
For more information, check ecoinvent's version 3.12 report here.
Agriculture, Fishery & Animal Husbandry
Refinements to existing datasets, including:
Adjusted parameters for dry mass, water in wet mass, and water content
More complete yield information across agricultural datasets
Harmonized and corrected emissions to air and water
Updated market compositions (RER/GLO) for some product groups
Batteries
Substitution of certain inputs (e.g., latex → styrene-butadiene rubber)
Updated process properties and improved documentation
Clarified treatment and accounting of manufacturing scrap
Energy inputs revised to reflect more recent data sources
Introduction of new battery-relevant chemical compounds
Chemicals & Plastics
Significant expansion of regional coverage for ethylene/propylene derivatives, vinyl chloride monomers/polymers, acrylic acid, ethylene oxide, methanol, and industrial gases
Disaggregation of previously aggregated datasets: hydrogen cyanide, polystyrenes, polybutadiene
Updated or new technologies: styrene monomer production, propylene oxide
New bromine production datasets in additional major regions, including Israel
Addition of polymer processing datasets such as plastic bag production and blown-film extrusion
New “generic organic chemical” datasets to replace overly broad categories
Electricity
Updated electricity market datasets reflecting 2022 baseline, with some 2023 datasets; European residual mix represents 2024
Improved documentation and metadata for markets, transformation, and import flows
Forestry & Wood
Expanded geographies, introducing primary Finnish forestry datasets (pine, spruce, birch)
New naming system for forest products capturing bark presence and moisture state
Fuels
Updated datasets for crude oil and natural gas extraction/production in 40 onshore and 36 offshore regions (2023 data)
18 new geographies for natural gas liquids production and fractionation
Metals
Addition of 7 new steel alloys produced from 100% scrap
Comprehensive updates to aluminium production using 2019 data: improved regional coverage, updated electricity use, and refined market compositions across the full supply chain (bauxite → ingot)
European datasets added for Zamak production (primarily secondary zinc)
Corrections and refinements: metalworking energy inputs, zinc oxide exchanges, steel production documentation
Textiles
New hemp datasets based on primary French data (representing the majority of European/global hemp production)
Updated European flax datasets, including new by-products and improved documentation
Harmonized ISIC and CPC codes across textile activities
Minor corrections to cotton and polyester datasets
Transport
Inclusion of waste and waste-handling processes for tram tracks and railway infrastructure
Corrected brake-wear emissions for passenger cars and lorries
Updated sea transport datasets: emissions, fleet composition, and ship production/maintenance/use phases
Waste Management & Recycling
A series of minor corrections and consistency improvements