General
Life Cycle Assessment (2020)
Life Cycle Assessment (2020)
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Life Cycle Assessment (2020)
Teaching Faculty Jonathan Albo Sánchez Antonio Domínguez Ramos María Margallo Blanco Javier Pinedo Alonso Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department
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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a well-known methodology applied to products, processes and services which considers its full life cycle: from the cradle (as natural resources) to the grave (as air emissions, liquid effluents and solid wastes).
The course covers all aspects about how to perform an LCA study: definition of the goal and scope as well as the target audience, gathering data on resource consumption and emissions, burdens to the environment, checking the robustness and significance of results and conclusions, and reporting and reviewing to ensure transparency and quality.
This LCA course includes LCA fundamentals as well as practical activities based on LCA projects. For project development, the students learn how to use openLCA, which is an open-source and free software for Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment.
KeywordsSustainable Development; LCA concept; Life cycle thinking; Goal and Scope definition, Inventory; Impact Assessment; Interpretation. |
Course Information
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Unit 1. Life Cycle Assessment fundamentals
Unit 2. Life Cycle Assessment methodology
Unit 3. Practical activities
Required reading list
R. Horne, T. Grant, K.Verghese, Life Cycle Assessment: Principles, Practice and Prospects. Ed. CSIRO Publishing, (2009).
A. Azapagic, R. Clift, S. Perdan, Sustainable Development in Practice: Case Studies for Engineers and Scientists. Ed. John Wiley and Sons, (2004).
H. Baumann, A.M. Tillman, The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to LCA, Ed. Studentlitteratur, (2004).
M.A. Curran, Life Cycle Assessment Handbook: A Guide for Environmentally Sustainable Products. Ed. Wiley-Scrivener, (2012).
A. Ciroth, C. Di Noi, T. Lohse, M. Srocka. OpenLCA 1.9 Comprehensive User Manual, (2019). http://www.openlca.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/openLCA-1-9_User-Manual.pdf
Additional reading
UNE-EN ISO 14040:2006, Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Principles and framework (ISO 14040:2006).
UNE-EN ISO 14044:2006, Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Requirements and guidelines (ISO 14044:2006
A. Aranda Usón, I. Zabalza Bribián. Ecodiseño y Analisis de Ciclo de Vida. Ed. Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza (2010).
Applied LCA problems
PR-F-001. Task 1. Goal and scope
PR-F-002. Task 1. Goal and scope (solution)
PR-F-003. Task 2. Cut-off
PR-F-004. Task 2. Cut-off (solution)
PR-F-005. Task 3. LCIA
PR-F-006. Task 3. LCIA (solution)
PR-F-007. Case study. Soya production
PR-F-008. Case study. Soya production (solution: .xls)
Project with openLCA
ASSESSMENT METHODS AND CRITERIA "LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT" |
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Description |
Typology |
Final assessment |
Reassessment |
% |
Exam. corresponding to the lectures |
Written exam |
No |
Yes |
50% |
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Final report of the group project |
Report |
No |
Yes |
20% |
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Final oral defense of the group project |
Oral exam |
No |
Yes |
25% |
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Intermediate oral defense of the group project |
Oral exam |
No |
Yes |
5% |
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TOTAL |
100% |
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COMMENTS:
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Part-time students COMMENTS:
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Jonathan Albo Sánchez Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department UNIVERSIDAD DE CANTABRIAMore information |
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Antonio Domínguez Ramos Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department UNIVERSIDAD DE CANTABRIAMore information |
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María Margallo Blanco Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department UNIVERSIDAD DE CANTABRIAMore information |
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Javier Pinedo Alonso Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department UNIVERSIDAD DE CANTABRIAMore information |
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