THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
Faculty of Engineering
GSOE9340 – Life Cycle Engineering
Final Assignment - T2-2023
Assignment weight: 40%
Due date: Friday, 11 August 2023
Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to develop an understanding of the steps of
operationalizing the framework for LCE. As a result of completing this assignment, you will
familiarise yourself with how the environmental space is allocated to achieve the Science Based
Targets, and the relevant sector reduction pathway towards sectoral decarbonization, how the
environmental impact is assessed and measured for a relevant product within the selected
sector, and how to develop mitigation strategies for a selected product and to engineer
mitigation strategies along the entire life cycle to stay within the allocated environmental space,
hence become sustainable in an absolute sense. The assignment will be carried out in three
parts, which will require week 1 to 10 lectures. Therefore, you should attempt the following
tasks by using entire term’s lecture materials.
30% of the assignment will be assigned to group work and 10% will be based on individual
evaluation of results generated by the group work. Submissions will be made via Moodle
Turnitin. One group assignment submission will be made for each group and one individual
assignment submission for the individual task.
Before you attempt the following tasks, find an industry sector and a company that you want
to investigate, ideally from your technical background, e.g., chemical industry (BASF as a
company), cement industry (Lafarge Holcim as a company), food and beverage industry
(Nestle as a company) etc.
GROUP TASK (30%)
Task 1: Estimation of volume growth and target setting (7 points)
The purpose of task 1 will investigate operationalisation of the 1st step of Life Cycle
Engineering, which is target setting and estimating environmental emission budget. By using
the chosen industry sector and the company:
1. Determine the estimated volume growth / year of the chosen sector (e.g.,
transportation sector) from 2023 to 2050 by using the publicly available data. You
may use simple regression analysis to do this if the data is not available.
2. Determine the reported total environmental impact of the entire sector from 2023 to
2050, in terms of CO2eq, based on the volume growth determined in task 1 and by
using the publicly available data. Use a graph to show your impact distribution.
3. Select two SBT setting approaches to estimate the carbon budget and the emission
reduction required for the sector then for the chosen company. Use a graph to
demonstrate the impact reduction pathways for the sector and the company as well
as comparing the different reduction pathways.
4. By using the lowest % reduction pathway estimated in task 3, estimate how much
the company’s total environmental impact needs to shrink and show it by using a
graph. Estimate the annual environmental budget for each year as well as calculating
the total CO2eq budget of the organization by 2050.
Task 2: Environmental impact assessment of the selected organization product (7
points)
The purpose of this task is to develop an understanding of the second step of operationalizing
the framework of LCE, which is the Techno-environmental evaluation by using Life Cycle
Environmental Impact Assessment (LCA) of a representative product for the organisation you
have used in Assignment 1.
The assignment will require week 1, 2 and 3 lectures. Therefore, you should attempt the
following tasks by using these lecture materials. By using the company identified in your
Assignment 1, ideally from your technical background, e.g., chemical industry (BASF as a
company), cement industry (Lafarge Holcim as a company), food and beverage industry
(Nestle as a company) etc., find a representative product. For instance, if you are from a Food
Science/Engineering background, you may choose a simple food or food packaging item. It is
expected that you will search the internet for a relevant publication, which details the
environmental impact evaluation (LCA) of the selected product. You may search journals such
as International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, Journal of Industry Ecology, Journal of
Cleaner Production, etc. As part of the submission, you must provide the article details in your
submission. If you have already involved in a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a product in the
past, you may use the results with proper documentation as evidence. By using the information
gathered:
1. Map out the product life cycle, the process flow and their Input-outputs relation between
processes as extracted from the literature.
2. Map out foreground and background processes along to the product life cycle.
3. Based on the environmental impact assessment reference you have found, and the
information gathered in the previous steps:
a. Clearly detail the goal and scope of the study,
b. Functional unit,
c. Impact categories,
d. System boundaries.
4. Identify environmental impacts (EI) and environmental hotspots and provide relevant
figures and charts to show the environmental hotspots. You must make sure that the study
includes the CO2eq footprint to use for further analysis.
5. By using the emission intensity for the representative product obtained in step 4 (e.g.,
CO2eq/unit product), establish the environmental impact profile of the organisation from
2023-2050 and compare with the results obtained in Assignment 1. If the emission intensity
is less than the results obtained in Assignment 1, you need to normalise your results to
make to make sure your organisation footprint is equivalent to sectoral contribution.
6. By using the results from assignments 1 and this assignment, determine the total impact
reduction required (e.g., total impact for a given year minus the allocated budget for the
same year) for each life cycle stage to achieve the SBTs from 2023 until 2050.
Task 3: Development of LCE mitigation strategies and evaluation of target fulfillment
(16 points)
The purpose of this task is to develop an understanding of the fourth and sixth steps of
operationalizing the framework of LCE, which are selection of mitigation strategy(s),
developing potential engineering solutions and evaluation of target fulfilment. This assignment
will further build on the results on the assignment 2. For the organisation and the product, you
have used in assignment 1 and 2.
Before you attempt the following tasks, use the product you identified in your Assignment 1
and 2 as a representative for your industry sector.
1. First, clearly describe your system boundary by using your previous assignments
(e.g., cradle to grave). Then, provide one mitigation strategy for each product life
cycle stage and explain with reason if they are in the foreground and background
system.
2. For each mitigation strategy, determine the total impact reduction that can be
achieved and compare it to the reduction required for the results obtained in step 6 of
task 2. Show results with a graph to evaluate if the target is fulfilled. You must cite
the information source to estimate the impact reduction potential of the technology
solution. For instance, increasing energy and resource efficiency is a mitigation
strategy for the manufacturing stage. You may use the impact value for the life cycle
manufacturing stage and estimate percent reduction that can be achieved by providing
a potential engineering solution such a reduction. The percent reduction provided
must be based on scientific evidence and referenced.
3. By considering combined mitigation strategies, determine the total impact reduction
that can be achieved by implementing the suggested mitigation strategies. Show
results with a graph to evaluate if the target is fulfilled.
INDIVIDUAL TASK (10%)
This task needs to be attempted individually and submitted separately. The aim of this
task is to analyze the results generated in tasks 1 to 3 and to discuss them with respect
to the lecture content from week 1-10, assumptions made throughout the assignment and
the potentials and limitations of the mitigations strategies in meeting the SBTs.
 Discuss the SBT setting approaches and their suitability for the selected sector and
the organization.
 Elaborate on the techno-environmental evaluation and the shortcomings of life cycle
environmental impact assessment, if any.
 Comment on the most probable and realistic mitigation strategy or strategies, which
provide the required reduction for the company to allow target fulfillment.
 If the chosen company is able to fulfill the set targe, what would be the uncertainty
around the decarbonization pathway. If not, comment on reasons, and alternative
mitigation strategies, potential technology solutions and their implications for the
organization.
Note:
 You may make assumptions if you need one after clearly stating them.
 You may allocate individual tasks to group members for reducing the workload however it
is each group member’s responsibility to learn how to do the whole assignment.
 All tasks are not equal value.
Assessment Criteria:
NOTE: Everything needs to be clearly documented. If it is not in your report, it does
NOT exist. Your intention is not evidence for the task.
Task 1:
 Providing a detailed references for the background data used and demonstrating rigorous data
analysis.
 Providing a formula for volume prediction, predicted volumes for each year and estimation of
 volume growth annually.
 Providing all calculations, in addition to graphs, so that the results can be replicated.
 Providing Total Emission Intensity of the sector and the organisation annually
 Showing the distribution of the consumed and remaining budget to years from 2023 to 2050 and
calculation of required reduction year by year based on targets from 2023 to 2050.
 Showing the total emission reduction requirement and reduction requirement for each year
Task 2:
 Clearly providing and citing the used references.
 Demonstrating the selected product life cycle, and the process flow and their Input-
outputs relation between processes.
 Showing foreground and background processes along to the product life cycle.
 Explaining clearly by detailing the goal and scope of the LCA, Functional unit, Impact
 categories, and the system boundaries.
 Showing environmental impact and providing relevant figures and charts to show the
environmental hotspots.
 In each step, clearly showing the calculations, if any, and explaining your thought
process.
Task 3:
 Demonstrating the budget allocation and impact reduction requirement along the product
life cycle.
 Determining of mitigation strategies for product, product life cycle stages, foreground,
and background systems.
 Determining the total impact reduction that can be achieved by using the suggested
mitigation strategies and compare it to the reduction requirement.
 Clearly referencing the environmental impact reduction potential of mitigation strategies.
 Clear discussions about the selected mitigation strategies and their potential impact on
meeting the 2050 target.
Individual Task:
 Demonstrating breadth and depth of understanding of concepts explained in the lecture as
well as their limitations.
 Using principles to formulate an argument and articulating the shortcomings of your
argument and can challenge to boundaries of disciplinary understanding.
 Analysing with a balance of theory and personal reflection.
 Generalising from personal reflection on theoretical ideas discussed in the lecture and its
implications in relevant discipline to formulate principles and evaluate the efficacy of
ideas from a number of standpoints.