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MSc Industrial Ecology that do an internship with a first supervisor from CML, Leiden University.

Analytical Methods and Tools (ANMT); basic knowledge of environmental science; basic knowledge of matrix algebra.

LCA, or environmental life cycle assessment of products, is a conceptual way of rethinking production and consumption activities in relation to the environmental problems with which they are associated. But it is also a scientifically based method for quantifying these environmental problems. Both as a concept and as a scientific method, it is used to analyse product systems, ranging from packaging materials to entire national energy scenarios, and from building materials to food products from genetically modified organisms.
Although the course basically starts from an applied perspective (how to do LCA?), there is much attention for the scientific foundation and developments. The course puts LCA in the perspective of integrated models, systems analysis, industrial ecology, and society’s metabolism of materials and energy.

This course aims to provide an insight into the various approaches that are somehow deal with LCA. The following aspect are treated:
* the policy and user’s context of LCA
* the methodological context of LCA
* an in-depth treatment of the scientifically-based methods for quantitative LCA
* examples of application of LCA
* application of LCA in a concrete case

This course will be organized as a distance (e-learning) course. The Delft Blackboard system will be used for distributing study material and assignments, and weekly assignments are expected to be posted through Blackboard.

The final grade consists of
* an exam (twice a year organized in Leiden)
* a paper
* weekly assignments