To hear more about research activities at the Division for Quantitative Sustainability Assessment you are welcome to join us for informal lunch-break presentations given by our students, faculty members and guest speakers. The presentations take place approximately once per month and range from halfway presentations of MSc students on their thesis projects, through keynote presentation rehearsals, to brainstorming presentations on research ideas exploring potential for scientific collaboration. If you want to get informed about upcoming presentations or if you are interested in presenting your research to the section please send us an .
2012
Global life cycle impact assessment on marine eutrophication
Henrik F. Larsen (MAN-QSA), Nuno Cosme, Gao Yang
May 16, 2012
A midpoint model for global marine eutrophication due to nitrogen emissions from different sources is being developed.
Including urgency in global warming assessment in LCA
Susanne V. Jørgensen (MAN-QSA), Michael Z. Hauschild, Per Henning Nielsen, Jesper Hedal Kløverpris
May 16, 2012
An additional impact category in life cycle assessment (LCA), called the climatic tipping point impact category, is proposed to address the urgency related to prevent the crossing of climatic tipping points. Poster presentation.
Communication of LCA results: How to support decision making
Alexandra Bonou (MAN-QSA), Stig I. Olsen, F. Walachovicz
May 16, 2012
Which of the LCA results are more important for decision makers and how does the technological geographical and temporal contexts of the specific case study affect the decision in question? Poster presentation.
Validation of PestLCI 2.0, an updated and expanded model to estimate pesticide emissions for use in LCI
Teunis J. Dijkman (MAN-QSA), Morten Birkved, Michael Z. Hauschild
May 16, 2012
PestLCI 2.0 is considered well-suited to estimate pesticide emissions for use in LCI. Poster presentation.
ENM fate in freshwater through adaption of USEtox(tm)
Mirko Miseljic (MAN-QSA), Stig I. Olsen, Morten Birkved
May 16, 2012
Can existing freshwater ecotoxicity characterization models, such as the USEtox, be applied for characterization modeling of ENMs? Poster presentation.
LCIA and fate of metal-oxide engineered nanomaterials in freshwater
Mirko Miseljic (MAN-QSA), Beatrice Salieri, Stig I. Olsen
May 16, 2012
Recent advances in modeling aggregation and dissolution of engineered nanomaterials for applications in life cycle impact assessment are presented. Poster presentation.
Modelling health effects from inhalation of nanoparticles
Alexis Laurent (MAN-QSA), Michael Z. Hauschild, Stig Irving Olsen, Dingsheng Li, Olivier Jolliet
May 16, 2012
A physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model is combined with organ-specific dose-response relationships to model the effects of TiO2 and Ag in the human body. Poster presentation.
Environmental assessment of agrochemical manufacturing
Morten Birkved (MAN-QSA)
January 26, 2012
The best environmental performance of pesticides is achieved by balancing impacts occurring in the manufacturing stage and impacts occurring in the use stage.
2011
Past, present and future of LCIA and how QSA is driving part of it
Ralph K. Rosenbaum (MAN-QSA)
December 13, 2011
The involvment of QSA is developing new life cycle impact assessment methods was discussed.
Can freshwater toxicity models (FIAM and BLM) be applicable to marine ecosystems?
Yan Dong (MAN-QSA), Mikolaj Owsianiak, Karen S. Christiansen, Michael Z. Hauschild
November 8, 2011
If differences in ionic composition between freshwater and saltwater are taken into account, freshwater ecotoxicity model parameters can predict toxicity of metal ions to marine organisms.
A methodology for inclusion of terrestrial ecotoxic impacts of metals in life cycle impact assessment
Mikolaj Owsianiak (MAN-QSA), Ralph K. Rosenbaum, Michael Z. Hauschild
November 8, 2011
The new methods highlights the need for taking into account variability of soil properties in deriving operational terrestrial ecotoxicity characterization factors of metals.
Terrestrial ecotoxicity assessment of metals: are free ion activity models sufficient alternatives to biotic ligand models?
Mikolaj Owsianiak (MAN-QSA), Ralph K. Rosenbaum, Michael Z. Hauschild
November 7, 2011
Free ion activity models can serve as sufficient alternatives to biotic ligand models for terrestrial ecotoxicity assessment of metals.
Influence of site-specific emission patterns on pesticide impact potential
Teunis J. Dijkman (MAN-QSA), Morten Birkved, Michael Z. Hauschild
September 13, 2011
Teunis and coauthors have demonstrated that pesticide impact potential to a large extent depends on the emission scenario.
Are recycled building materials more sustainable that the traditional ones?
Kossara Petrova Bozhilova-Kisheva (MAN-QSA)
September 12, 2011
Environmental and Social LCA are applied to assess sustainability of recycled building materials.
Metal impacts in marine ecosystems
Yan Dong (MAN-QSA)
September 9, 2011
Yan has presented recent advances in marine ecotoxicity characterization modelling of metals.
Cradle to Cradle and environmental sustainability - a critical assessment from a life cycle perspective
Anders Bjørn (MAN-QSA)
September 6, 2011
While Cradle to Cradle (C2C) offers an inspirational vision of a sustainable future, it should by no means be applied exclusively to sustainable product and system design.
Sustainability and life cycle assessment of algal biofuels
Anoop Singh (MAN-QSA) and Stig I. Olsen
June 6, 2011
Algal biofuels offer many advantages comparing to other biomass-based fuels. Are these advantages confirmed if life cycle approach is employed to assess sustainability algal biofuels?
Environmental assessment of biomass based materials
Susanne Vedel Jørgensen (MAN-QSA)
June 3, 2011
What should be included in the sustainability assessment of biomass based products? How much biomass is globally available at a sustainable level and what are the perspectives of a biomass based future? The presentation outlines the topic of Susanne’s PhD project.
Decision making and sustainability of biodiesel fuels
Ivan Tengbjerg Herrmann (MAN-QSA)
May 31, 2011
Ivan will present recent advances in decision making in the context of his PhD project on sustainability assessment of biodiesel fuels.
Recent developments in Social LCA
Louise C. Dreyer (MAN-QSA)
May 27, 2011
Report from the seminar on Social Life Cycle Assessment in Montpellier, France, 5-6 May 2011.
Follow-up on the sustainability discussions on offsite seminar
Andreas Jørgensen (MAN-QSA)
May 24, 2011
The idea for this presentation is to summarize the discussions on the QSA offsite seminar held in April 2011. Andreas will try to relate the views presented at the offsite seminar to discussions on sustainable development found in the literature.
Life cycle assessment and additives: state of knowledge
Henrik F. Larsen (MAN-QSA), Ester von der Voet, Lauran Van Oers, Gao Yang, Tomas Rydberg
May 13, 2011
Based on some ongoing research in the EU project RiskCycle Henrik will present the state of knowledge on life cycle assessment and additives/impurities with focus on paper/printed matter and plastic. This oral presentation is to be presented at the SETAC Europe 21st annual meeting in May, Milan, Italy.
Review of methodology for LCIA of marine eutrophication
Henrik F. Larsen (MAN-QSA)
May 13, 2011
Henrik will give a short presentation of a review of the very limited existing attempts on how to include marine eutrophication in LCA and discuss alternative methodologies on how to model the environmental mechanism of this impact category. Based on a poster to be presented at the SETAC Europe 21st annual meeting in May, Milan, Italy.
Comparison of metal toxic impacts between terrestrial and aquatic organisms: is the free ion concentration a sufficient descriptor?
Mikolaj Owsianiak (MAN-QSA), Ralph K. Rosenbaum, Henrik F. Larsen, Michael Z. Hauschild
May 10, 2011
Given the scarcity of terrestrial effect data compared to aquatic data, reliable and transparent, mechanistic-based predictions of terrestrial toxic impacts from aquatic effect data would be an important step ahead in the context of LCIA or comparative risk. Here, we demonstrated that the overall ability of the free metal ion to reflect toxicity of metals for aquatic and terrestrial organisms is limited. Rehearsal of platform presentation at SETAC Europe 21st annual meeting, Milano, Italy.
An improved model for estimating pesticide emissions for agricultural LCA
Teunis J. Dijkman (MAN-QSA), Morten Birkved, Michael Z. Hauschild
May 6, 2011
PestLCI was developed as a LCI-tool to estimate pesticide emissions to different environmental components: air, surface water, and ground water. In this presentation a reworked and updated version of the model that allows for spatial and temporal variation will be demonstrated on cases involving different climatic circumstances and locations, showing the resulting variations in pesticide emission patterns. Rehearsal of poster presentation at SETAC Europe 21st annual meeting, Milano, Italy.
Normalization references for USEtox-based toxic impact categories: North American and European economic systems
Alexis Laurent (MAN-QSA), Anne Lautier, Ralph K. Rosenbaum, Stig Irving Olsen, Michael Zwicky Hauschild
May 3, 2011
Normalization references for application with USEtoxTM factors were calculated for Europe and North America, with the reference year 2004. Although associated with large uncertainties, the contribution analyses revealed the domination of a limited number of substances, particularly heavy metals. In the perspective of determination of normalization references for other regions than Europe and North America, this served as a basis to identify chemicals to prioritize when building emission inventories.
Importance of linkage between LCA methodology developments and their applications in practice
Alexis Laurent (MAN-QSA), Stig Irving Olsen, Michael Zwicky Hauschild
May 3, 2011
Methodological developments in LCA may not always be applied in practice, e.g. due to delays or improper implementation into LCA-software. Here, through two examples related to the update of normalization references for EDIP, we quantify the influence of such inconsistencies in typical LCA results. The resulting findings indicate a clear need for more frequent updates and checks on the proper application of the LCA methodology in practice.
Social LCA and technology assessment – experiences from the PROSUITE project
Arne Wangel (MAN-QSA)
April 26, 2011
Efforts to 'enrich' technology assessments of the PROSUITE project with Social LCA have met problems. However, this experience will help to clarify the scope and role of Social LCA in social impact assessment.
Climate change damage functions in LCA from global warming potential to natural environment damages
Ingeborg Callesen (MAN-QSA, and Risø-DTU, Biosystems Division), Hauschild, M.Z., Bagger Jørgensen R., Olsen, S.I. and Beier, C.
April 19, 2011
What is climate change damage to the area of protection ’natural environment’ ? How can it be quantified beyond GWP ? Comparison with other models. Rehearsal of oral presentation at SETAC Europe 21st annual meeting, Milan, Italy.
Simplified fate modeling in respect to ecotoxicological and human toxicological characterisation of emissions of chemical compounds
Morten Birkved (MAN-QSA), Reinout Heijungs
April 08, 2011
Is complex dynamic characterization modeling in terms of fate modeling the only way to go for LCIAs including assessment of chemical emissions, or should simpler characterization approaches also be considered for those chemical emissions on which we only can provide estimated and hence highly uncertain fate data on? If so, how do we simplify and what’s the catch? Rehearsal of oral presentation at SETAC Europe 21st annual meeting, Milan, Italy.
Institute of Green Design and Manufacturing Engineering of Hefei University of Technology, China
Gao Yang (MAN-QSA, and Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China)
Date: April 05, 12:00-12:30
Gao Yang will present research activities at the Hefei University of Technology (HUT) in relation to the scientific collaboration between HUT and MAN-QSA.
Improvement of methodological and data background for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of nano-metaloxides
Mirko Miseljic (MAN-QSA)
March 29, 2011
The EUFP7 MINANO project aims to develop an efficient synthesis of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) with functionalities of flame retardancy, UV protection and antimicrobial properties through functionalized Mg(OH)2, ZnO and Ag nanoparticles. To assure a sustainable and safe production of the ENM, a state of the art LCA has to be performed. Currently there is a large uncertainty related to the chemical and biological interactions and toxicological properties of ENM, as there is a lack of knowledge in the ENM exposure during their life cycle – ergo LCA needs improvements. The presentation outlines the topic of Mirko’s PhD project.
Nanoparticle release during nanoproducts life cycle
Guillermo González Sánchez (Centro de Investigación en Materiales Avanzados, Mexico)
March 15, 2011
Guillermo will present research activities at CIMAV in relation to Life Cycle Assesment of Nanoproducts and present the ongoing collaboration between CIMAV and MAN-QSA.
Spatial differentiation in LCA: terrestrial ecotoxicity with a specific focus on metals
Mikolaj Owsianiak (MAN-QSA)
January 21, 2011
Metal ecotoxicity in terrestrial environments depends on the bioavailability of free metal ion. In order to derive spatially explicit characterization factors for metals for applications in LCA, the bioavailability of copper was modeled for soil spatial units across Europe. Concentrations of free metal ion depended on soil parameters such as pH and organic carbon and varied 6-orders of magnitude depending on the location. This work indicates that it is necessary to consider spatial variation of soils properties in characterizing terrestrial ecotoxicity of metals. Rehearsal of the presentation to be given at the LC-IMPACT Workshop on Spatial Differentiation in LCA, Copenhagen.