Designing for a Carbon-Neutral Circular Economy using LCA and Optimization

As the world faces the challenges of climate change and resource depletion, the concepts of sustainable circular economy and achieving carbon neutrality have become increasingly important. The transition towards a circular economy requires the reduction of waste and the promotion of efficient resource use, with the ultimate goal of decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation. Carbon neutrality, on the other hand, involves balancing carbon emissions with carbon removal or reduction, resulting in a net-zero carbon footprint. The combination of these two concepts presents a promising opportunity for achieving a sustainable future.

Life-Cycle Assessment is a powerful tool to estimate environmental impact and guide strategic decision-making for meeting sustainability goals. However, complex value-chain networks and multiple competing objectives demand the use of optimization and data science, along with advanced LCA techniques to guide transitions towards a Sustainable Circular Economy.

This talk will describe the novel frameworks built using these tools to

- Design sustainable and circular life-cycle networks of products;

- Quantify trade-offs between environmental impact indicators;

- Integrate chemical reaction network synthesis with life-cycle and economic modeling;

- Guide the discovery of novel technology, policy and supply-chains for sustainability; and

- Identify optimal roadmaps for a carbon-neutral and circular future