Admission requirements
Required course(s):
None.
Description
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a methodology used to assess the environmental footprint of products and services. It is widely used in science, industry, and policy making to guide decisions, e.g. on investments, policy instruments and technological development directions. LCA takes a lifecycle approach by covering the entire lifecycle of products and services, starting with raw material extraction and ending with recycling or end-of-life waste treatment. LCA is an increasingly important method to measure the actual contribution of technologies or business models for a circular economy. The Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) at Leiden University is one of the globally best known institutes in LCA method development.
Course Objectives
The goal of this course is to introduce students to the field of assessment of the impacts of economic systems, with a focus of life cycle assessment of products, and to develop related academic skills. More specifically, at the end of the course students are able to:
Get a good understanding of the LCA methodology.
Describe and discuss the main modeling choices in LCA that can determine LCA results or the ranking of alternatives in a comparative LCA.
Conduct a literature review, give a presentation and report on practical exercises regarding LCA using LCA software and data, thereby gaining practical experience in LCA and other scientific skills in general.
Perform basic LCA calculations.
Describe the position of LCA in the broader toolbox of Life cycle sustainability assessment, such as Material flow analysis, Environmental and economic input output analysis and Social LCA.
Timetable
Timetables for courses offered at Leiden University College in 2023-2024 will be published on this page of the e-Prospectus.
Mode of instruction
We use a number of instruction modes:
Lectures
Assignments (both group and individual)
Student presentations
Discussions / debate
Assessment Method
Individual assignment (15%), Week 2
Group assignment (15%), Week 3
LCA project: Report + Presentation (40%), Week 7
Exam (15%)
Participation (15%), Ongoing
Reading list
Guinée, J. (ed.) Handbook on Life Cycle Assessment – Operational Guide to the ISO Standards. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2002 (PDF of the non-typeset manuscript will be made available).
Heijungs. R. and S. Suh. The Computational Structure of Life Cycle Assessment. Springer, Dordrecht, 2002 (PDF of the non-typeset manuscript will be available).
ILCD Handbook. General guide for Life cycle assessment - Provisions and action steps, General guide for Life cycle assessment – Detailed guidance. EU DG JRC IES, 2010, http://eplca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/?page_id=86
Registration
Courses offered at Leiden University College (LUC) are usually only open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Leiden University students who participate in one of the university’s Honours tracks or programmes may register for one LUC course, if availability permits. Registration is coordinated by the Education Coordinator, course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.
Contact
Dr. Robert Istrate, i.r.istrate@cml.leidenuniv.nl
Dr. Bernhard Steubing, b.steubing@cml.leidenuniv.nl
Prof. Arnold Tukker, tukker@cml.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
For conducting LCAs we will use the CMLCA software (http://www.cmlca.eu/). This software only runs on Windows. Apple or Linux users should make sure they can run MS windows. For tips on this see for example: (www.howtogeek.com/187359/5-ways-to-run-windows-software-on-a-mac).