Lecture

Life Cycle Assessment: Environmental Impact Evaluation

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In course

MATH-212: Analyse numérique et optimisation

L'étudiant apprendra à résoudre numériquement divers problèmes mathématiques. Les propriétés théoriques de ces méthodes seront discutées. ...

Description

This lecture focuses on the principles and methodologies of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a systematic approach to evaluating the environmental impacts of products and services throughout their life cycle. The instructor discusses the importance of defining the functional unit, which serves as a basis for comparison between different products. The lecture covers the various stages of LCA, including goal definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment, and interpretation. The instructor emphasizes the need for a comprehensive view of the product life cycle, from resource extraction to end-of-life disposal. The discussion includes the significance of multi-criteria evaluation, highlighting the various environmental impacts that must be considered, such as greenhouse gas emissions and resource consumption. The instructor also addresses the challenges of data availability and the importance of using standardized methods to ensure consistency in assessments. By the end of the lecture, students gain insights into how to apply LCA in real-world scenarios, enabling them to make informed decisions regarding product sustainability.

Instructor

Marco Picasso

Expertise Computational Science and Engineering Mission I am teaching analysis and numerical analysis for engineers and mathematicians at bachelor and master levels.My research pertains to the numerical simulation of complex physical systems with partial differential equations.Here is some bibliometry: Google Scholar, Research Gate, Orcid, here is my most recent CV. Ongoing research projects: - Numerical simulation of aluminium electrolysis, collaboration with RioTinto LRF lab, Ycoorsystems SA and Jacques

Official source

Related concepts (32)

Sustainability

Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long time. Specific definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Experts often describe sustainability as having three dimensions (or pillars): environmental, economic, and social, and many publications emphasize the environmental dimension. In everyday use, sustainability often focuses on countering major environmental problems, including climate change, loss of biodiversity, loss of ecosystem services, land degradation, and air and water pollution.

Environmental impact assessment

Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental impact assessment" is usually used when applied to actual projects by individuals or companies and the term "strategic environmental assessment" (SEA) applies to policies, plans and programmes most often proposed by organs of state.

Greenhouse gas emissions

Greenhouse gas emissions (abbreviated as GHG emissions) from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas, is one of the most important factors in causing climate change. The largest emitters are China followed by the US, although the United States has higher emissions per capita. The main producers fueling the emissions globally are large oil and gas companies.

Sustainability measurement

Sustainability measurement is a set of frameworks or indicators to measure how sustainable something is. This includes processes, products, services and businesses. Sustainability is difficult to quantify. It may even be impossible to measure. To measure sustainability, the indicators consider environmental, social and economic domains. The metrics are still evolving. They include indicators, benchmarks and audits. They include sustainability standards and certification systems like Fairtrade and Organic.

Resource consumption

Resource consumption is about the consumption of non-renewable, or less often, renewable resources. Specifically, it may refer to: water consumption energy consumption electric energy consumption world energy consumption natural gas consumption/gas depletion oil consumption/oil depletion logging/deforestation fishing/overfishing land use/land loss or resource depletion and general exploitation and associated environmental degradation Measures of resource consumption are resource intensity and resource efficiency.

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