How to use our Life Cycle Assessment models
Our extensive and growing libraries of environmental models are designed to help you gain a deeper understanding of the environmental performance of farms, food processors, and food products. They are free and open-source. Our models run automatically on data that follows our schema and glossary, making scaling up the modelling process to thousands or millions of farms fast and easy. We offer models which:
- Gap fill climate and soil data (e.g., using satellite data).
- Gap fill farm activity data (e.g., the quantity of crop residue produced).
- Quantify land use change, on-farm resource use, and on-farm emissions.
- Quantify the life cycle impacts of products from input production to the farm or processor gate.
- Quantify indicators like greenhouse gas emissions, eutrophication, and biodiversity impact.
To date, we have coded up 1158 models. They are structed using an orchestrator which determines which models should run in which order. Combined, the models provide comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment modelling.
LCA Toolfinder
Our models can be accessed and use in different ways. Use our toolfinder to determine the most suitable approach for your needs.
Community Edition
A simplified version of HESTIA that you can install on your own servers. It provides all of our models but gives you control over when you update to newer models and control over which models you run and when ("orchestration"). All data are hosted on your own servers and you maintain data confidentiality. The Community Edition comes with its own API.Python
All of our models are available on an open-source basis. You can access them directly through PyPi and use them as you wish. You can also contribute to our code via GitLab.HESTIA Platform API
You can upload to the main HESTIA platform through our open API as well. Again, you can mark the data as private meaning the data will not be made public (but will be visible to administrators). The models that run are determined by our defaults. Consider using the platform API for testing, and then move over to the Community Edition later.Support
We are a small academic team providing software on a free and open-source basis and can only provide limited support. We work closely with organisations which provide software to farmers and food businesses, so please consider working with our integration partners if you would like to use our models. For questions, please email community@hestia.earth .Modelling Approach
This can help you better understand the default modelling choices used on the HESTIA platform, and help you customise your own modelling in the Community Edition.
Documentation
This documentation can help you understand which data are required for each model and how the models work. The documentation can also help you understand how to use the platform and Community Edition APIs.