Course syllabus

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Course-PM

ENM021 Applied industrial ecology lp4 VT20 (7.5 hp)

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen: Study plan

Course is offered by the department of Space, Earth and Environment

Contact details

Ulrika Lundqvist is the examiner and main teacher of the course:

E-mail: ulrika.lundqvist@chalmers.se, Phone: 031-772 3281

Course purpose and content

The aim of the course is that students should gain knowledge and skills about some analytical tools and methods applied in Industrial Ecology to support them to assess critical aspects of sustainability, focus on environmental impacts and resource constraints, and to suggest measures towards sustainable development. The focus is on technical systems and life cycles of resources and products. 

The course includes:

  • the concept of Industrial Ecology;
  • a set of analytical tools and methods applied in Industrial Ecology that apply a systems perspective to analyse and suggest measures for societal and industrial activities and their impact on nature: material flow analysis, indicators, technology assessment;
  • students’ presentations of the industrial metabolism of a set of materials from a sustainability perspective;
  • students’ presentations of the results of technology assessments of a set of technologies (products) from a sustainability perspective

Schedule

TimeEdit

OBS: You can find a detailed schedule in the document "course description" in the "Files".

Course literature

Here is a list of the main literature in the course. You can find information about additional literature in the document "course description" that you can find in the "Files". You can also find all this literature in the "Files".

  1. Ayres, R. and Ayres. L., 1996. Chapter 1: Introduction: materials perspective. In: Industrial Ecology: Towards Closing the Materials Cycle
  2. Harper, E.M. and Graedel, T.E., 2004. Industrial ecology: a teenager’s progress. Technology in Society 26
  3. Lifset, R. and Graedel, T., 2002. Industrial ecology: goals and definitions. In: Ayres, R. and Ayres, L. (Eds.), A Handbook of Industrial Ecology
  4. Bringezu, S. and Moriguchi, Y., 2002. Material flow analysis. In: Ayres, R. and Ayres, L. (Eds.), A Handbook of Industrial Ecology. pp. 79-90
  5. Brunner, P.H. and Rechberger, H., 2004. Material Flow Analysis (Selection of pages)
  6. Lundin, M., 2003. Sustainability indicators: state of the art. In: Indicators for Measuring the Sustainability of Urban Water Systems: A Life Cycle Approach. Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, pp.5-15
  7. Mitchell, G., May, A. and McDonald, A., 1995. PICABUE: a methodological framework for the development of indicators of sustainable development
  8. Andersson, B. and Råde, I., 2001. Material constraints on technology evolution: The case of scarce metals and emerging energy technologies
  9. van den Ende et al., 1998. Traditional and modern Technology Assessment: Toward a toolkit
  10. Mulder, K.F., 2013. Impact of new technologies: How to assess the intended and unintended effects of new technologies?
  11. Van de Poel, I. and Royakkers, I., 2007. The ethical cycle

 

Course design

The course includes two larger projects that are performed in groups of two or three students. The groups are formed by the students. The work load for project 1 is estimated to 50-70 hours per student, and for project 2 to 70-90 hours per student. The course includes lectures and literature that work as a base and support for both the projects and the written exam. The teacher gives supervision and feedback for the projects. The students write a planning report for each project. The students have presentations in 15-20 min per group and project and write a “work report” (see instructions below) for each project as a complement to the presentations. Each student write an individual reflection about the results and methodologies.

The descriptions of the projects can be found in the document "course description" in the "Files".

Learning objectives

After the course, you should be able to:

  • describe the concept of Industrial Ecology and explain different parts of the concept;
  • apply the tools and methods included in the course;
  • describe and explain the steps in the procedures or methodologies of the tools and methods included in the course;
  • describe and explain the main characteristics of the tools and methods included in the course (such as: purpose, intended users, system boundaries, dimensions);
  • choose relevant tools and methods for different purposes;
  • describe and explain strengths and weaknesses (possibilities and limitations) of the tools and methods included in the course;
  • describe which and explain how methodological choices and assumptions can have important influence on the results produced by the tools and methods included in the course;
  • explain, identify and assess critical aspects of sustainability for technical systems and life cycles of resources and products,
  • focus on environmental impacts and resource constraints;
  • make an evaluation of potential ethical consequences for technical systems and life cycles of resources and products, based on knowledge about ethics theory; make simple models of technical systems and life cycles of resources and products;
  • critically and independently be able to identify and formulate complex problems in relation to sustainable development;
  • simulate, predict and evaluate behaviour and events, also with limited or incomplete information;
  • describe the industrial metabolism for a set of materials from a sustainability perspective;
  • describe the results of technology assessments for a set of technologies (products) from a sustainability perspective;
  • clearly and unambiguously present (orally) conclusions, and the knowledge and rationale underpinning these.

Examination form

The course is divided into two assessments: 1) projects 4.5 credits, and 2) written exam 3.0 credits. The grading in the course is: 3, 4 or 5 and is based both on the results of the exam and on the performance of the projects. The written exam is based on the content of the course given in lectures, literature, and student presentations of the projects.

The requirements for passed projects include:

  • take an active part in the work of the group, which should correspond to an approximately equal distribution of work among the students in the group;
  • take part in the supervision and feed-back given by the teacher (see times in the schedule below);
  • participate in approved oral presentations of the group, and attend the presentations of the other groups (see times in the schedule below);
  • hand in approved planning reports (see specific instructions in each project description below, and deadline in the schedule below);
  • hand in the power point presentations (see specific instructions in each project description below, and deadline in the schedule below);
  • hand in approved “work reports” (see instructions below, and deadline in the schedule below);
  • hand in individual reflections of the results and methodologies (see specific instructions in each project description below, and deadline in the schedule below).

The “work report” for each project should include:

  • data collection/sources and assumptions, and a reference list connected to this;
  • description of the work division between the students in a group;
  • reflections about the project work (1-2 pages):
    • Fulfilment of aim and objectives: How well did you succeed? Why did it go: not as good/as planed/or better than you had expected?
    • Work division: Describe the final work division between the students in your group. Has it been an equal work load? Were there any changes from the original plan for work division and if so why were there changes?
    • Time plan: Were there any changes from the original time plan and if so why were there changes?
    • Summary: How would you have done it differently if you could start from the beginning? What can you learn from this for future project work?

Bonus points will be given to students in groups that perform well in the projects. The bonus points will be added to the points received at the exam, which can result in a higher grade. However, the bonus points cannot be used to pass the exam. The bonus points can only be used during the ordinary exam and the two following re-exams. Each project can get 0, 2, or 4 bonus points depending on whether they have been ok, well, or very well performed. The evaluation of performance is based on criteria that you can find in the document "course description" in the "Files". The oral presentations and the power-point slides are used for a preliminary evaluation and the “work reports” are included for the final evaluation.

Course summary:

Date Details Due