Lifecycle Assessment

A study of the total environmental impact a product has throughout its full lifecycle (i.e., raw materials -> production -> consumption).

In terms of biofuels, a lifecycle assessment would include an analysis of feedstocks and biomass (including the global impact of land use change), transportation of biomass to the biofuels production facility, byproducts and coproducts from production of biofuels, greenhouse gas emissions from burning or using the fuel by the consumer.