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Original Article | Open Access

Carbon Footprints

François et al. Carbon Footprints 2026, 5, 22 DOI:10.20517/cf.2025.117

Revised dynamic climate change impact assessment
for life cycle assessment through delay factors
expressions

Cyrille François 1,2 , Fatima-Zahrae El-Amrani , Guillaume Batot , Anne Ventura 2
3
3
Keywords:
Dynamic life cycle impact
assessment, integration
time, environmental
regulation, carbon storage,
global warming potential,
global temperature potential

Citation: François, C.;
El-Amrani, F. Z.; Batot, G.;
Ventura, A. Revised dynamic
climate change impact
assessment for life cycle
assessment through delay
factors expressions. Carbon
Footprints 2026, 5, 22.
https://dx.doi.org/10.20517
/cf.2025.117
Abstract
Received: 13 Dec 2025
First Decision: 30 Jan Dynamic Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) ranges in temporal complexity, with fully dynamic
2026 approach requiring full life-cycle chronologies for both foreground and background
Revised: 13 Feb 2026 systems. For instance, LCAs based on Environmental Product Declaration (EPDs), required
Accepted: 17 Mar 2026
Published: 15 Apr 2026 by the French RE2020 regulation, are partially dynamic, since only the foreground timeline
is available. The goal of this research is to provide a user-friendly and rigorous method to
Academic Editor: conduct partially dynamic LCAs for climate change impact based on EPDs. Delay factors
Reinout Heijungs are built as coefficient depending on the time distribution of emissions, to define the
Copy Editor:
Ping Zhang dynamic characterization factor as a function of the static one. Compatibility constraints
Production Editor: between static and dynamic imposes an observation time T equal to the sum of the Life
Ping Zhang Cycle Duration (LCD) and the Time Horizon of the Impact (THI). Literal mathematical
expressions of delay factors and their behaviors are provided for Global Warming Potential
(GWP) and Global Temperature Potential (GTP). The application scope of these delay
factors covers all greenhouse gases (GHG) and large temporal range of LCD and THI. A
case study based on three background products and randomly generated foreground
emissions shows that the RE2020 regulation dynamic factors overestimate benefits
obtained by delaying emissions compared to present method. This happens because the

1 Transport Urban planning Economics Laboratory (LAET), ENTPE, Vaulx-en-Velin F-69518, France.
2 MAST-GPEM, University Gustave Eiffel, F-44344, Bouguenais, France.
3 Economics and Environmental Evaluation (D3E) Department, IFP Energies Nouvelles, Rueil-Malmaison F-92852, France.

Correspondence to: Prof. Anne Ventura, MAST-GPEM, University Gustave Eiffel, F-44344, Bouguenais, France. E-mail:
anne.ventura@univ-eiffel.fr

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