Abstract:
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can quantitatively assess the environmental impact caused by products or technologies and identify key links to optimize processes. It is an important tool for resource utilization, energy consumption and sustainable assessment. This study systematically analyzed the research status and development trend of LCA at home and abroad, discussed the content of LCA standards, databases, models and calculation tools, and detailed the research progress of LCA in the field of soil remediation in China. LCA has gone through four stages: germination, exploration, rapid development and improvement, and has been integrated into various industries and fields. The number of publications on LCA in the Web of Science database increased rapidly after 1990. By the end of 2021, a total of 33,114 papers had been published, among which 26,254 papers were published in the field of environment, accounting for 79.3% of the total publications. China has made preliminary progress in LCA research, with the annual number of articles increasing from 5 in 2000 to 935 in 2021. However, a localized and complete LCA database and research model have not yet been constructed in China. At present, it is necessary to establish a LCA system with Chinese characteristics as soon as possible. Soil remediation is an important part of carbon emissions reduction in China. Strengthening the research and application of LCA will promote the development of low-carbon sustainable remediation technologies and equipment. LCA research in soil remediation field in China mainly involves ex-situ remediation technologies. In-situ remediation technology has gradually become the mainstream of soil remediation. In the future, LCA research on in-situ remediation technology should be strengthened to promote green and sustainable remediation technology development and carbon emission reduction.