Current topics for final thesis
Hybrid life cycle assessment of biosolids processing technologies: Modelling processes and resource recovery at a national level
Master thesis in cooperation with the University of New South Wales (Sydney)
The following topic is suitable for MA students. For all the details, please refer to the full topic description.
If you are interested in the following topic, please get in touch with Dr. Sven Lundie(info"AT"sven-lundie.com) and Shamim Aryampa(s.aryampa"AT"unsw.edu.au)
Funding might be possible: https://universitiesaustralia.edu.au/policy-submissions/international/australia-germany-joint-research-co-operation-scheme/
Hybrid life cycle assessment of biosolids processing technologies: Modelling processes and resource recovery at a national level
Wastewater treatment processes remove contaminants, reduce water pollution and manage biosolids, but while doing so they also contribute to direct and indirect environmental impacts. Bottom-up methodologies are widely applied in wastewater studies to quantify its environmental impacts, but due to its need to define a system boundary, some upstream impacts are not considered, and the different assumptions and methods used render the results incomparable across studies.
To account for broader economy-wide life cycle impacts, this component will develop a hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA) model that combines bottom-up process data and top-down input-output data to represent the biosolids processing technologies utilised across Australia to evaluate the impacts of biosolids management options in multiple dimensions. Economy-wide sustainability impacts of current and emerging technologies will be evaluated at a city and national level. This research will present comprehensive sustainability information that can be used for decision-making considering the three dimensions of sustainability. Bottom-up process data from the ongoing Material Flow Analysis and life cycle analysis studies will be integrated into the hybrid LCA model.
Research Questions:
· What are the environmental, social and economic impacts of the main biosolids technologies currently utilised in Australia at the national/state level?
· What are the consequences of introducing emerging biosolids technologies at the national/state level?
Assessing physical climate risks
The following topic is suitable for MA students. Please keep in mind that it is best suited for candidates with excellent Excel skills and those who are familiar with GIS and scenario modelling. For all the details, please refer to the full topic description.
If you are interested in the following topic, please get in touch with Dr. Sven Lundie.
Assessing physical climate risks for Altana Management Services GmbH
The importance of sustainability continues to grow at Altana Management Services GmbH. Altana is currently dealing with CDP reporting. The EU taxonomy, CSRD and in particular the TCFD are further topics that Altana will increasingly address in the future.
The effects of climate change on the company's own production are to be investigated as part of the master's thesis, i.e. the physical risks will be qualitatively assessed for the 50 production sites. In addition, the availability of materials is an important topic for the company, as climate change will also have an impact on the supply chain (including delivery times and quantities). Sales markets will also be affected. For this reason, Altana wants to systematically address future scenarios (for different warming scenarios (1.5 as well as 2 degrees), two time horizons) at the production sites that identify the risks and opportunities for the company.
The TCFD will serve as a framework guideline for this project. In a first step, only physical risks and opportunities of climate change will be addressed (e.g. risk assessment regarding future availability of biogenic raw materials or cooling water for production). In a next step, transitory risks, for example, can be investigated, as TCFD reporting by Altana could take place from 2023 onwards (outside this project).
Sustainable investment by a listed insurance company - curse and/or blessing?
The following topic is suitable for MA students. Please be aware that basic knowledge of the German language is required. The thesis itself can be written in English or German. For all the details, please refer to the full topic description.
If you are interested in the following topic, please get in touch with Prof. Dr. Timo Busch.
Sustainable investment by a listed insurance company - curse and/or blessing?
In close cooperation with the Investment Division of HDI Germany, this thesis sets out to explore ways of integrating sustainability into the investment decisions of a listed insurance company. Among other things, a market and opinion analysis is to be carried out for this master thesis. Possible focus areas include how the insurance company can have a positive impact on biodiversity through their investments and how to deal with data issues in measuring the sustainability of investments and the disparity of definitions of what exactly falls under the term sustainable investment.
Development of a Scope 3 estimation method for industry sectors
Reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions, those under the direct ownership and operational control of the business is usually the first target in a company’s carbon reduction strategy. However, to become truly carbon neutral, Scope 3 emissions, which are indirect emissions released upstream and downstream in a company’s value chain, need to be prioritised too as scope 3 emission often contribute more than half of the total GHG emissions. With the introduction of the CSRD in the EU it will become compulsory for companies to report on their Scope 3 emission.
The GHG protocol has developed the framework for quantifying scope 3 emissions. Within the GHG protocol 15 sub-categories are further specified to cover all upstream and downstream emissions in detail. However, quantifying relevant scope 3 emissions can be very challenging in practice due to data availability, complexity of calculation and possibly lack of inhouse knowledge with companies.
In order to address corporate needs, the objective of this Master Thesis is to develop a Scope 3 estimation methodology according GHG protocol and to quantify the GHG hotspots along the value chains of industry sectors (following NACE and GICS codes).
Required activities of this desk top research are, e.g.
- Review and analysis of GHG protocol, GHG ISO standards, CSRD, NACE and GICS, …
- Development of a quantitative estimation methodology for industry sectors
- Research of LCA studies that are representative for industry sectors
- Development of an Excel-based tool for qualifying and/or quantifying GHG hotspots along the value chains of industry sectors
- The student should have an interest in Scope 1, 2 & 3 GHG emissions, LCA/PCF/EPDs, environmental regulation, statistics as well as in methods development.
The Master Student will gain highly relevant GHG accounting knowledge in due course of the work.
Start: as soon as possible
Supervisors: Prof Timo Busch and Dr. Sven Lundie
The student will have the opportunity to align with the supervisor on a bi-weekly basis. Please reach out to Sven Lundie(info"AT"sven-lundie.com) if you are interested in this topic.