Life Cycle Assessment Within Biological Production Systems Block

The objective of the course is to teach the students the theory behind, and to gain experience with applying life cycle assessment methodology. The course will teach the students the basic principles for conducting an life cycle assessments and give them experience with the methodology to allow them to compare the environmental performance of different alternative products.

Upon completion of the course, the students should be able to:

Knowledge:
- Identify major environmental impacts of biological production systems
- Show overview of the theory of life cycle assessment (LCA)
- Outline the definition of scope, goal, inventory analysis and impact assessment
- Describe how LCA can be used for improving production systems
- Summarize the transfer of LCA results to economic cost-benefit analysis (CBA)
- Describe alternative environmental assessment tools and their applicability

Skills:
- Use LCA software and apply it to practical cases
- Apply LCA on different kinds of products of biological production systems - Analyse factors that influence the environmental impact of biological systems directly or indirectly
- Assess and relate critically to the conclusions of LCA reports

Competences:
- Discuss environmental problems associated with biological production systems
- Present an understanding of potential consequences of the results of an LCA
- Suggest improvements to biological production systems in terms of environmental impact with the aid of LCA