The Activity Browser (AB) is an open source software for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) that builds on Brightway2.
Video tutorials are available on youtube.
Please also read and cite our scientific paper.
- Fast LCA calculations: for multiple reference flows, impact categories, and scenarios
- A productivity tool for brightway: model in brightway (python) and see the results in the AB or vice-versa
- Advanced modeling: Use parameters, scenarios (including prospective LCI databases from premise), uncertainties and our Graph Explorer
- Advanced analyses: Contribution analyses, Sankey Diagrams, Monte Carlo, and Global Sensitivity Analysis
You can install and start the activity-browser like this:
conda create -n ab -c conda-forge activity-browser
conda activate ab
activity-browser
3.8 |
---|
You should re-install if you have an older installation of the activity browser which doesn't use python >= 3.8 (you can check with conda list or python --version in your conda environment). You can remove your existing environment with conda remove -n ab --all or choose a new environment name (instead of ab ). Re-installing will not affect your activity-browser/brightway projects. |
We recommend that you use conda to manage your python installation. You can install Anaconda or the more compact miniconda (Python 3 of course) for your operating system. Installation instructions for miniconda can be found here. See also the conda user guide or the Conda cheat sheet.
Skip this step if you already have a working installation of anaconda or miniconda, but make sure to keep your conda installation up-to-date: conda update conda
.
The activity-browser has many dependencies that are managed by the conda-forge channel. Open a cmd-window or terminal (in Windows you may have to use the Anaconda prompt) and type the following:
conda config --prepend channels conda-forge
After prepending the Conda-Forge channel the following line should be executed within the command prompt/terminal to install the AB and it's dependencies.
conda create -n ab activity-browser
This will install the Activity Browser with the latest version of the Brightway2 libraries (currently excluding Brightway2.5 libraries).
If you want to work with with older versions of ecoinvent (<3.9) in the AB, a different Biosphere3 database needs to be installed. This requires a different version of the bw2io library to be installed, see also here. Note that this version of bw2io can ONLY work with ecoinvent versions < 3.9. If you want to work with version > 3.9 AND < 3.9, the only solution currently available is to use two separate virtual environments (i.e. two AB installations).
To install a version of the AB that can handle ecoinvent versions <3.9, do the following: For a new installation from the conda-forge repository the same initial steps need to be made: Prepending the Conda-Forge repository in the channels, and installing the AB and dependencies. After the successful installation, the following two commands need to be executed before running the AB: 1) Remove the latest version of the Brightway2 Input-Output library, 2) Install an older version of the Brightway2 Input-Output library.
conda remove --force bw2io
conda install bw2io=0.8.7
At this point the activity-browser and all of its dependencies will be installed in a new conda environment called ab
. You can change the environment name ab
to whatever suits you.
We recommend to regularly update the AB to receive new features & bugfixes. These commands will update the activity-browser and all of its dependencies in the conda environment called ab
.
conda activate ab
conda update activity-browser
First activate the environment where the activity browser is installed:
conda activate ab
Then simply run activity-browser
and the application will open.
- In the
Project
-tab there is initially a button called "Add default data (biosphere flows and impact categories)". Click this button to add the default data. This is equivalent tobrightway2.bw2setup()
in python. - After adding the default data, you can import a database with the "Import Database"-Button. Follow the instructions of the database import wizard. Imports can be done in several ways:
- Directly from the ecoinvent homepage (ecoinvent login credentials required)
- From a 7zip archive
- From a directory with ecospold2 files (same as in brightway2)
- From Excel files using the brightway Excel format
- Youtube tutorials
- AB Wiki
- AB scientific article
- The AB has two mailing lists, for updates and user exchange
- Brightway2
- Global Sensitiviy Analysis paper describing GSA as implemented in the AB; see also our wiki
- Modular LCA paper; documentation modular LCA; re-implementation of modular LCA into the AB is ongoing
Plugins are not necessarily developed by Activity Browser maintainers. Below are listed plugins from people we trust but we do not check plugins code. Use them at your own risk. |
The plugin system is still in development so keep in mind that things may change at any point. |
Since the 2.8 release
a plugin system has been added to the AB. Plugins are a flexible way to add new functionalities to the AB without modifying the software itself.
The plugin code has been designed and written by Remy le Calloch (supported by G-SCOP laboratories) with revisions from the AB-team.
These are the plugins that we know about. To add your plugin to this list either open an issue, or a pull request. All submitted plugins will be reviewed, although all risks associated with their use shall be born by the user.
Name | Description | Links | Author |
---|---|---|---|
template | An empty plugin to start from | anaconda, github | Rémy Le Calloch |
Notebook | Use Jupyter notebooks from AB | anaconda, github | Rémy Le Calloch |
ReSICLED | Evaluating the recyclability of electr(on)ic product for improving product design | anaconda, github | G-SCOP Laboratory |
Every plugin's Github page (links are provided in the above table) should have a Get this plugin section with installation instructions.
Plugins are conda packages (like the Activity Browser). To add a plugin simply install it in your conda environment from the Anaconda repos.
Nb: add -c conda-forge
to the install command like below to avoid problems with dependencies.
Ex:
conda activate ab
conda install -c pan6ora -c conda-forge ab-plugin-notebook
Once a new plugin is installed restart the Activity Browser.
Plugins are enabled per-project. Simply open the plugin manager in the Tools > Plugins
menu.
Close the plugin manager. New tabs should have appeared in the AB (each plugin can spawn one tab on each left/right panel).
Disable a plugin the same way you activated it.
The best place to start to create new plugins is the plugin template. Its code and README will help you to understand how to create a plugin.
The Activity Browser is a community project. Your contribution counts!
If you have ideas for improvements to the code or documentation or want to propose new features, please take a look at our contributing guidelines and open issues and/or pull-requests.
If you experience problems or are suffering from a specific bug, please raise an issue here on github.
- Bernhard Steubing ([email protected]) (creator)
- Jonathan Kidner ([email protected]) (lead developer)
- Adrian Haas ([email protected])
- Chris Mutel ([email protected])
- Daniel de Koning ([email protected])
- Marc van der Meide ([email protected])
- Remy le Calloch
- 2016-2023: Bernhard Steubing (Leiden University)
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.