Duration
12h Th, 16h Pr, 2h SEM
Number of credits
Lecturer
Coordinator
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the second semester
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
Sustainability: What does it mean? Future challenges for bioengineers
Environmental impact assessment methods
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment
Environmental communication
Beyond environmental analysis: Introduction to economic and social assessments for sustainability
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
- To understand the impending sustainability challenges that bioengineers will encounter in their career,
- To introduce the various environmental assessment methods,
- To initiate the students into the use of the methodology of Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA),
- To provide an overview of a full sustainability assessment, including economic and social aspects,
- Understand the challenges linked to sustainability, and identify the most suitable method of environmental assessment
- Perform an Environmental LCA
- Discuss the results of an Environmental LCA, and propose strategies to improve the environmental performances of products/processes.
- Understand the limitations of sustainability assessment
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
- Lectures,
- Training to LCA software
- Individual assignment (every two weeks)
- Final project on a practical case study (perform an LCA)
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Additional information:
Always in presence:
- 12h Theoretical classes,
- 16h Practical exercises,
- 2h Seminar.
Course materials and recommended or required readings
Presentations are available on eCampus.
H. Scott Matthews, Chris T. Hendrickson, and Deanna Matthews, Life Cycle Assessment:
Quantitative Approaches for Decisions that Matter, 2014. (Open access textbook, available from
https://www.lcatextbook.com/)
Guinée, J. B., Heijungs, R., Huppes, G., Zamagni, A., Masoni, P., Buonamici, R., Ekvall, T., & Rydberg, T. (2011). Life cycle assessment: Past, present, and future. Environmental Science and Technology, 45(1), 90-96. DOI: 10.1021/es101316v
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
oral exam
Written work / report
Further information:
The report consists of a group work, during which you must produce a complete environmental analysis using the software and the techniques learned during the course.
Although the report will be a single submission for the entire group, the oral examination and evaluation will be conducted individually. Each student's grade will depend on both the overall quality of the report and their responses to specific questions during the individual oral exam.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
The course is given on the Gembloux site, see CELCAT
Contacts
Dr. Andrea Di Maria
Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech - Université de Liège
TERRA Teaching and Research Centre : Biosystems Dynamics and Exchanges
Avenue de la Faculté d'Agronomie 8
5030 Gembloux, Belgium
andrea.dimaria@uliege.be
Prof. Angélique LEONARD
Chemical Engineering
PEPs - Products, Environment, and Processes
Quartier Agora
Institut de Physique, B5a, Bureau 1/51
Tél. 04/366.44.36
a.Leonard@uliege.be