Expanded regional coverage for major chemicals and polymers including PE, PP, PVC, methanol, and industrial gases. Added new bromine supply data, plastic processing datasets, and 40+ new chemical products.

Electricity market mixes updated mainly to 2022 data, with selected countries updated to 2023. European residual mixes now reflect 2024 statistics.

Updated oil and gas extraction datasets across 40+ countries with 2023 reference data. Added regionalized natural gas liquids and helium production datasets.

New datasets for steel alloys from 100% scrap-based EAF production. Updated aluminium supply chains and added European Zamak alloy datasets.

Improved Li-ion battery chemistries, updated energy inputs, refined cathode/anode modeling, and additional electrolyte and precursor materials.

New Finnish forestry datasets for pine, spruce, and birch. Harmonized product naming conventions and improved metadata clarity.

Technical refinements for crop datasets including harmonized emissions, improved metadata, and updated water content parameters.

New hemp fibre datasets based on French production data. Updated flax datasets and corrections for cotton and polyester datasets.

Improved plastic recycling integration, refined toxicity modeling, harmonized EN15804 waste indicators, and corrections to recycling inventories.

New version aligned with ISO 14067 and the Pathfinder Framework for Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs) calculations. The method automatically distinguishes between:

This enables you to prepare Product Carbon Footprint results according to these frameworks.

For customers performing LCAs for the North American market, Mobius and Helix now include the TRACI 2.2 impact assessment method developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

TRACI 2.2 includes impact categories such as:

One of the largest improvements in Ecoinvent 3.12 is the enhanced implementation of the EN15804+A2 calculation method. Many indicators and parameters that previously required manual calculations are now automatically generated within the platform. This reduces manual processing, improves consistency and makes LCA and EPD preparation significantly more efficient.

To reduce manual dataset adjustments, several indicators and parameters that previously defaulted to zero are now pre-calculated.

Mobius now automatically calculates all six EN15804+A2 primary energy parameters:

In previous database versions, PERM and PENRM had to be calculated manually, after which PERE and PENRE had to be corrected accordingly. These calculations are now performed automatically within Mobius. Mobius pulls lower heating values (LHVs) from either the database or a fallback source, checks the carbon content to determine if the material is renewable (non-fossil) or non-renewable (fossil), and assigns the material energy to the proper variant (PERM or PENRM). The calculated material energy component is subtracted from primary energy totals, separating primary energy materials and primary energy energy (PERE and PENRE). For more detail on datasourcing and calculation methods, ask our AI chatbot. We will update the chatbot with ecoinvent v3.12 information, and the background data sources used for these parameter calculations so that this information is also available for you as a user.

Several EN15804+A2 end-of-life indicators are also now automatically generated:

The calculation uses a complex formula that factors in the material's LHV, the specific electric and thermal efficiencies of the dataset, and subtracts any internal energy required to operate the incineration process itself. We will also add the background data used to calculate this to our AI Chatbot.

This parameter is now automatically included through integration of the EN15804+A2 add-on. Previously, this value had to be manually added to your model.

The biogenic CO₂ emissions and removals are automatically included for products containing more than 5% fossil carbon content, in line with the EN15804+A2. This has been done by first removing all CO2-emissions and removals from the dataset, and then re-adding these using the specific carbon contents of the products. We will also add the background data used to calculate this to our AI Chatbot.

Biogenic Disaggregation: In Mobius, users can select a method version that states "including parameters" to see a full disaggregation of GWP biogenic into:

This specific disaggregation is omitted from Helix for now.

If you perform Product Carbon Footprint studies according to ISO 14067 or the Pathfinder Framework, we strongly recommend upgrading. The new IPCC 2021 ISO 14067 calculation method supports the required reporting categories directly within Mobius, reducing manual calculations and simplifying reporting.

If you create LCAs and EPDs for construction products according to EN15804+A2, Ecoinvent 3.12 offers significant benefits.

Many indicators and parameters that previously required manual calculations are now generated automatically, including:

This substantially reduces manual post-processing while also reducing the likelihood of calculation or transcription errors.

Customers who want to benefit from the latest available background datasets, particularly for fuels, forestry & wood, and chemicals & plastics, should also consider upgrading.

If you perform studies for the North American market, Ecoinvent 3.12 introduces the TRACI 2.2 impact assessment method.

If your studies follow the Dutch Bepalingsmethode, upgrading is generally not recommended. The current methodology prescribes the use of Ecoinvent 3.9.1 (and Ecoinvent 3.6 for Set 1), meaning Ecoinvent 3.12 cannot be used for compliant calculations.

If you primarily perform ISO 14040/44 LCAs using the EF3.1 impact assessment method, the main advantage of upgrading is access to newer datasets. The enhanced EN15804+A2 functionality and new calculation methods generally do not provide additional benefits for these studies.

You can select the enhanced EN15804+A2 version including automatic parameter and indicator calculations, by selecting ‘EN15804+A2, based on EF3.1 (incl. parameters)’ . If you wish to use the non-enhanced version, you should selected the ‘EN15804+A2, based on EF3.1’ version.

To update an existing workspace to ecoinvent v3.12 in Mobius, you can either update the datasets manually yourself or reach out to our support or professional services teams to run an automated updater for you.

Before running any updates, we recommend preserving your original models by exporting your product inventories and importing them into a new workspace. You can either back up all products to keep a complete historical record for reference and reporting, or export only the specific products you plan to update to Ecoinvent 3.12. Either way, your original workspace remains untouched while you start fresh with the new database version.

For any workspace updates, the following caveats apply:

Figure 3: Viewing the new Ecoinvent v3.12 Cut-Off calculation method in Helix.

Figure 4: Searching for ecoinvent v3.12 datasets in Helix.

LCIA Methods Explained

Mobius: How to move data between workspaces

Mobius: How to manage workspaces