Find a dataset

Once you have set up your Authentication, you're ready to use the API for accessing the ecoinvent database.

How to use the ecoinvent API

Follow these 4 steps to get the dataset(s) you need:

1. Decide what Version and System model you want to use

2. Find the dataset id using Search

3. Select the indicator id from the Indicators

4. Use both IDs in Datasets to extract metadata & impact scores for your selected datasets*

*For retrieving scores, you need to report your users. Read more about that at User limits & reporting

Best practices for selecting a dataset

To select the best match for your dataset, we recommend the following:

• Make your search precise, using a good query and filters

• Verify that these 3 key identifiers match your search:

  • Activity name

  • Reference product

  • Geography

• Read the full documentation on ecoQuery, if you're still not sure about the selection (a link to the corresponding documentation will be provided with the metadata)