energies Review Blockchain Technology in Life Cycle Assessment— New Research Trends Robert Karaszewski 1 , Pawel Modrzy ´ nski 2, *, Gözde Türkmen Müldür 3 and Jacek Wójcik 4   Citation: Karaszewski, R.; Modrzy ´ nski, P.; Müldür,G.T.; Wójcik, J. Blockchain Technology in Life Cycle Assessment—New Research Trends. Energies 2021, 14, 8292. https://doi.org/10.3390/ en14248292 Academic Editor: Manolis Souliotis Received: 30 October 2021 Accepted: 6 December 2021 Published: 9 December 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). 1 College of Business Administration, American University in the Emirates, Dubai P.O. Box 503000, United Arab Emirates; robkara@umk.pl 2 Faculty of Management Poland, Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology, 85-796 Bydgoszcz, Poland 3 Business Administration Department, Adana Alparslan Türke¸ s Science and Technology University, Adana 01250, Turkey; gturkmen@atu.edu.tr 4 Faculty of Finance and Management, WSB University in Torun, 87-100 Toru´ n, Poland; jacek.wojcik@wsb.torun.pl * Correspondence: pawel.modrzynski@pbs.edu.pl Abstract: Environmental protection is currently one of the key priority areas of the European Union (EU). The search for precise tools to assess the impact of the economy, industry, or the production of individual products or services is crucial for an effective and efficient policy in environmental protection. Blockchain technology, originally related to the financial sector and cryptocurrencies, is an innovative solution that is increasingly being implemented by other areas of the economy and industry sectors. The authors reviewed the literature and based on it presented the possibilities and effects of using blockchain technology in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which is in line with the current development trends of this method. The analysis of the research conducted in this area also allowed to present not only the advantages of blockchain in LCA, but also the limitations of this technology and the potential directions of further research. Keywords: life cycle assessment (LCA); blockchain; management; Internet of Things (IoT); Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 1. Introduction Environmental protection, rational management of natural resources, and inclusion of the ecological account in the economic account are among the contemporary priorities of the European Union in implementing the sustainable development policy. On 14 July 2021, the European Commission (EC) adopted a set of proposals to make the EU’s climate, energy, transport, and taxation policies fit for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. Achieving these emission reductions in the next decade is crucial to Europe becoming the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and making the European Green Deal a reality [1]. One of the answers to the priorities of environmental protection contained in the EU documents is the remodelling of the rules for determining the actual cost of production or services, including calculations of all costs related to the production of goods and services along with their disposal—which corresponds to the ISO 14001: 2015 standard [2]. The guidelines of ISO 14001: 2015 are the basis for a methodology for assessing environmental impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service, known as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) [3]. Estimating the costs of production and use of a product based on the LCA method means taking into account the impact on the environment, society, and economy throughout the entire life cycle of the product. The LCA method considers the costs of using raw materials, the costs of material processing, maintenance, use, and final disposal or recycling [4]. Linking the LCA assessment with the ISO 14,040 series standards allows for the recognition of the cost of item production according to the following methods: Energies 2021, 14, 8292. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14248292 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies