Recent discussions and debates of biomass utilization in Japan necessitate conducting life cycle assessment (LCA). There are no impact assessment methods suitable for the assessment of agricultural production and biomass utilization in Japan from a comprehensive perspective. In 2004 eco-factors for Japan (JEPIX) were calculated based on the former version of Swiss ecological scarcity 1998. Unfortunately, the adapted version did not take into account, for example, ammonium and nitrate emissions, which are crucial in assessing agricultural production and biomass utilization.

The existing Japanese eco-factors are completed and updated according to the method of ecological scarcity 2006. This work was in part supported by a grant from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (Rural Biomass Research Project, BUM-Ca2300).