Assessing sustainability: The good, the bad, and the ugly of Life Cycle Assessment

Understanding the impact of our activities on the environment, from climate change, to ecotoxicity, to water and land use, is essential, but how can we quantify them? Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a technique used to assess environmental impacts of products and processes throughout their life. This SCITalk discusses the LCA framework from the goal and scope, data collection to the methodologies used. The aim is to give examples of where LCA has been done well, and where the results presented might be misleading - or lead to unintended consequences. Rachael is Professor of Sustainable Chemical Engineering, Director of the South Yorkshire Sustainability Centre, Co-Director of the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures, Co-Director of the UK Hub for Research Challenges in Hydrogen and Alternative Liquid Fuels and Academic Lead for Sustainability at the University of Sheffield. SCI’s SCItalks are given by the most prominent and influential academics, thinkers and industry leaders who are working to translate scientific innovation into societal impact. These talks form part of an SCI’s charitable outreach which seeks to create public conversations about science-based topics in a way that is accessible to all. This is the second event of the three-part SCItalks series on sustainability.