GWAT-LCA

Revising the Role of Groundwater in Life Cycle Assessment

Coordinatore	EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZURICH    more  Organization address address: Raemistrasse 101 city: ZUERICH postcode: 8092 contact info Titolo: Prof. Nome: Stefanie Cognome: Hellweg Email: send email Telefono: +41 44 633 43 37 Fax: -+41 44 633 10 61
Nazionalità Coordinatore	Switzerland [CH]
Totale costo	178˙927 €
EC contributo	178˙927 €
Programma	FP7-PEOPLE Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)
Code Call	FP7-PEOPLE-2007-2-1-IEF
Funding Scheme	MC-IEF
Anno di inizio	2008
Periodo (anno-mese-giorno)	2008-02-15   -   2010-02-14

 Partecipanti

#	participant	country	role	EC contrib. [€]
1	EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZURICH  Organization address address: Raemistrasse 101 city: ZUERICH postcode: 8092 contact info Titolo: Prof. Nome: Stefanie Cognome: Hellweg Email: send email Telefono: +41 44 633 43 37 Fax: -+41 44 633 10 61	CH (ZUERICH)	coordinator	0.00

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the standardised method for assessing the environmental impacts of any product or service. After quantifying all associated emissions and the consumption of resources, this impact is expressed with respect to a few common impact categories. These are supposed to reflect major societal and environmental priorities. Although groundwater is the most extracted raw material in the world, and extraordinarily important for most parts of the EU, it is virtually ignored in LCA. To overcome this deficiency, an interdisciplinary approach is needed. The proposed fellowship integrates a hydrogeologist into a prominent group of LCA experts, in order to develop the initial steps for tackling groundwater quality and quantity issues within an LCA framework. The fellow is offered extensive training on LCA concepts to combine the perspectives of both LCA expert and hydrogeologist. The research work includes a general gradation of threats to groundwater and the development of a competent modelling framework. The latter task is dedicated to the improvement and consistent development of modelling tools. This is to enable a balanced simulation of different hydrogeological threats, and to uniformly account for the spatial variability of environmental conditions. A major focus is placed on the issues of whether, and how, groundwater can be considered a safeguard object within impact assessment, assumed that it represents a separate receptor. The scientific results of this project are expected to be fundamental but still incomplete in achieving a generally valid methodology, which complies with the holistic requirements of LCA practice. However, it will be a necessary starting point for revealing the principal relationships between LCA and hydrogeology and ultimately defining the research needs in this highly timely subject. For the fellow, the profound thematic and social expertise gained will be ideally suited to a novel and ambitious field of science.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

The importance of safeguarding our groundwater supplies, both in terms of quality and quantity, cannot be overestimated. The full incorporation of groundwater into life cycle analysis represents a step in the right direction.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Life cycle analysis (LCA) is a common tool used to determine the environmental impact of a product or service. Several different aspects, ranging from land use to climate change, are evaluated. A 'cradle-to-grave' scope is employed which takes raw materials, transport and even recycling into account.

To date, groundwater - a natural resource of critical importance - has not been properly addressed by LCA. The 'Revising the role of groundwater in life cycle assessment' (GWAT-LCA) project sought to resolve this by encouraging co-operation between hydrogeology and LCA experts.

A special approach was required since groundwater differs from other 'products'. While it is renewable, it is not evenly distributed. Similarly, negative impacts are more local than global in nature. The answer required digging deeper than previous superficial screenings and evaluating groundwater's multiple roles and users.

The resulting conceptual framework has been transferred to a common GIS software tool. This has been applied during GWAT-LCA to the largest consumer of groundwater worldwide - the agricultural industry, specifically wheat farming. An LCA was also performed on ground-source heat pumps used in geothermal applications, which revealed a surprisingly significant impact related to powering such equipment. More interesting findings are expected as the framework becomes more widely used.