Single-Course Engelsk 5 ECTS

Life cycle impact assessment modelling in the context of planetary boundaries

Overall Course Objectives

This course is aimed at students with a good understanding of life cycle assessment (LCA) and will deepen their competences in LCA with a focus on how mathematical models for life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) are developed to translate life cycle inventories to environmental impact indicators through the computation of fate factors, exposure factors and effect factors. The course puts LCIA modelling in the context of planetary boundaries to enable absolute environmental sustainability assessments (AESA), which aims to determine what it takes for human activities to become environmentally sustainable, as opposed to merely having better environmental performance than a reference activity. The competences gained from this course are useful for advancing impact assessment and communicating the results of LCAs and AESAs to experts and non-experts, which is valuable for pursuing careers in both industry and research.

See course description in Danish

Explain the role of fate, exposure and effect factors in LCIA modelling to represent impact pathways considering specific areas of protection.
Calculate fate, exposure and effect factors for selected impact categories.
Compare and contrast the handling of fate, exposure and effect factors across both emission- and resource-related impact categories.
Quantify planetary boundaries and other carrying capacities using different techniques.
Develop LCIA models for linking elementary flows with indicators of planetary boundaries and other carrying capacities.
Argue for and against the use of specific principles for allocating carrying capacities to individual activities in AESA, considering fairness and practical applicability.
Develop your own impact assessment model for a chosen environmental problem and use it to calculate characterization factors and apply them in a defined emission scenario
Interpret the results of LCAs and AESAs considering uncertainties, methodological choices and value judgement, and communicate the results to both experts and non-experts.

The course is organized in three themes: 1) LCIA modelling, 2) Linking life cycle impacts to planetary boundaries, 3) Interpretation and decision- support. Each theme involves lectures by DTU staff and external guests, self-study and exercises. A written group case study assignment runs across the three themes.

12772/12104/12237/12238, Course 12772 is recommended for all students. Courses 12104, 12237 and 12238 are recommended for MSc Env Eng students. It may also be useful to refresh your linear algebra knowledge from course 01001/01002/01003/01004.