In February 2020, Sphera published the SP40 version of the GaBi databases 2020. We have now fully modified the databases for use in openLCA, including the updates from Sphera and some extra modifications.

Over 12.700 LCI datasets have been upgraded in the latest edition, that includes both changes in technology and in methodology, as well as error corrections, wherever applicable. A total of 330 new datasets have been added, while several outdated datasets have been discontinued, along with the expired EPD datasets. For all energy carrier supply mixes (e.g., hard coal, crude oil and natural gas) and energies, the reference year has been updated to 2016. Water flows (input: ground water, river water, lake water; output: processed water to groundwater, processed water to lake, processed water to river) have been regionalized further to include the country of the wastewater treatment plant. 

For further details on changes/updates in the 2020 edition of the GaBi databases please refer to this document on the GaBi website. 

GreenDelta added ILCD data quality system for the GaBi databases in openLCA. The system provides data quality of the processes, ranging from Very good to Very poor, for six indicators, namely, ‘Technological representativeness’, ‘Time representativeness’, ‘Geographical representativeness’, ‘Completeness’, ‘Precision’, ‘Methodological appropriateness and consistency’.

Figure 1: ILCD data quality System for GaBi processes

Furthermore, we implemented GaBi Impact Assessment methods in openLCA, which can be imported separately through the JSON-LD format. These methods are designed specifically for the new GaBi databases. Users should keep in mind that only the GaBi LCIA method package are compatible with the GaBi databases. Using any other methods from openLCA (e.g. the openLCA LCIA method package will lead to incorrect/ or no results. User advice: It is strongly recommended to create the product systems only linking the default providers for GaBi databases in openLCA. Further information is available in the detailed documentation sheet for the GaBi SP40 databases.

The GaBi SP40 database is now available for download via the openLCA Nexus store. In case you need support, you can use our forum ask.openlca.org. In addition, GreenDelta GmbH, developer of openLCA, offers openLCA users prioritised and guaranteed professional openLCA support via the GreenDelta helpdesk: /service-contracts/.