Global evolution of research on life cycle assessment: A data-driven visualization of collaboration, frontier identification, and future trend

Abstract

This study presents a systematic bibliometric analysis of 10,430 publications with “Life Cycle Assessment” or “LCA” in their titles, retrieved from the Web of Science database covering 2000–2024. Results reveal that LCA research has expanded at a near-exponential pace, with annual outputs growing from 35 papers in 2000 to 1882 in 2024—corresponding to a compound annual growth rate of 18 %. By 2024, China had become the leading contributor (10.61 % of publications), while the Netherlands recorded the highest citation impact (Citations Per Publication, CPP = 63.65). Keyword co-occurrence analysis identified four dominant thematic domains: environmental impact metrics, uncertainty assessment, renewable energy systems, and circular economy. Temporal trend analysis of 8904 terms highlighted surging interest in “sustainability assessment,” “residential buildings,” and “food waste,” alongside declining attention to “allocation” and first-generation biofuels (e.g., bioethanol, biodiesel). These shifts mirror persistent methodological challenges, particularly in data quality, standardization, and uncertainty handling. Together, the findings illustrate LCA's transformation into a dynamic platform at the intersection of environmental modeling and decision support, offering strategic potential to advance integrated sustainability research, innovation, and governance.