Current topics for final thesis

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? 

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.