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Reading: Good Scientific Practice in Industrial Ecology - A Factsheet. This document provides researchers and students with a condensed overview of three main aspects of good scientific practice in industrial ecology: research ethics, best practice for conducting and documenting research, and research tools.
The following topics are covered:
1) Research ethics overview. Core scientific principles and good scientific conduct.
2) Best practice for carrying out, documenting, and publishing research: including recommendations for report structure and scientific writing as well as reproducible research.
3) Some state-of-the art tools and infrastructure for IE research.
IEooc_Methods_Good_Scientific_Practice
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| Methodology 1: Basics of industrial ecology data and accounting. |
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Video lecture on the basic principles of industrial ecology data modelling and accounting: material and energy flow analysis:
IEooc_Methods1_Lecture1
In this lecture, the definitions and basic methodology for material and energy flow accounting are presented, including the basic elements of the quantitative system definition, the process balancing equations, indicator elements, units of measurement, multi-layer system descriptions, and a number of examples. Prerequisites: No advanced math is required at this stage. Level of difficulty: (+)
Link to the slide deck for IEooc_Methods1_Lecture1 (unzip to get the .pptx). The material can be freely used for all kinds of teaching purposes. Please acknowledge the IEooc when using this material. External copyrighted or CC-BY material in the slide decks (photos, figures, and tables) needs proper referencing in any derivatives.
Exercise: Locating data in a system definition and indicator development. Learn how to establish a system definition to allocate quantitative information that is given as text. Define and calculate indicators based on the system definition. Prerequisites: No advanced math is required at this stage. Level of difficulty: (+)
IEooc_Methods1_Exercise1.
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods1_Exercise1_Solution (pdf)
Exercise on energy and power definitions, salient measures/indicators, and the energy supply chain. Learn about the different energy and power definitions, units, and measures/indicators,
as well as the definitions of primary, final, and useful energy. Define and calculate energy measures based on the system definition. Prerequisites: Concepts of energy and power in physics. No advanced math is required at this stage. Level of difficulty: (+)
IEooc_Methods1_Exercise1a.
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods1_Exercise1a_Solution (pdf)
Reading: Data Organization in Spreadsheets, by Karl W. Broman & Kara H. Woo. Spreadsheets are widely used software tools for data entry, storage, analysis, and visualization. This article offers practical recommendations for organizing spreadsheet data to reduce errors and ease later analyses. Highly recommended! Level of difficulty: (+)
IEooc_Methods1_Reading0
Reading: The supporting documents of the material and energy flow analysis software STAN are a good reference for building proper system definitions and for data modelling in material and energy flow analysis and industrial in general. An overview of the different documents can be found here.
Recommended STAN reading 1: Glossary of basic systems analysis terms:
IEooc_Methods1_Reading1
Recommended STAN reading 2: Principles of establishing a system definition:
IEooc_Methods1_Reading2
Reading: A more theoretical paper explains the underlying system structure of material and energy flow analysis, life cycle assessment, and input-output analysis: Level of
difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods1_Reading3
Related video lecture (17 minutes)
IEooc_Methods1_Lecture2
Video lecture and reading on a general data model for socioeconomic metabolism:
IEooc_Methods1_Lecture2
In this lecture, a general data model for locating data in the systems context is presented. It allows researchers to format data describing stocks, flows, material composition of products, lifetimes, prices, life cycle inventories, IO tables, etc. in a common structure. The data model can be used to build databases that combine data that are commonly associated with specific methods, but which are of use to many researchers. It can also be used to develop data sharing infrastructure for research groups, institutions, and the entire community.
Link to the slide deck for IEooc_Methods1_Lecture2 (unzip to get the .pptx). The material can be freely used for all kinds of teaching purposes. Please acknowledge the IEooc when using this material. External copyrighted or CC-BY material in the slide decks (photos, figures, and tables) needs proper referencing in any derivatives.
IEooc_Methods1_Reading4 (related journal article)
Prerequisites: No advanced math is required at this stage. Level of difficulty: (++)
Exercise: Basic data reconciliation. You will learn about the principles of data reconciliation and apply data reconciliation to a simple system. You will make use of the mass balance to formulate constraints and to determine non-measured variables. You will understand the basics of the maximum entropy principle. Note: For this exercise a copy of "Data Reconciliation and Gross Error Detection. An Intelligent Use of Process Data" by Shankar Narasimhan and Cornelius Jordache, ISBN: 978-0-88415-255-2, is required. Prerequisites: Linear programming and its application in Excel. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods1_Exercise2 (pdf).
IEooc_Methods1_Exercise2 (data).
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods1_Exercise2_Solution (xlsx)
Reading: A dialogue with ChatGPT on stocks and flows. Read what one of the world's most advanced chat bots has to say on how we should model phenomena in the industrial system. Helps to clarify the own understanding of stocks vs. flows. Level of
difficulty: (+)
IEooc_Methods1_Reading5
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| Methodology 2: Basics of material and energy flow analysis. |
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Short reading on the research on socio-economic metabolism (SEM), the main methods used, and recent advances of the field. Prerequisites: Basic unterstanding of industial ecology principles. Level of difficulty: (+)
IEooc_Methods2_Reading0
Video lecture on MFA system models and their analytical and numerical solution. Prerequisites: Matrix algebra and its implementation in Excel. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods2_Lecture1
Link to the slide deck for IEooc_Methods2_Lecture1 (unzip to get the .pptx). The material can be freely used for all kinds of teaching purposes. Please acknowledge the IEooc when using this material. External copyrighted or CC-BY material in the slide decks (photos, figures, and tables) needs proper referencing in any derivatives.
Video lecture on data uncertainty and sensitivity of results in MFA system models. Prerequisites: Calculus. Random variables, discrete and continuous probability distributions. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods2_Lecture2
Link to the slide deck for IEooc_Methods2_Lecture2 (unzip to get the .pptx). The material can be freely used for all kinds of teaching purposes. Please acknowledge the IEooc when using this material. External copyrighted or CC-BY material in the slide decks (photos, figures, and tables) needs proper referencing in any derivatives.
Reading material: "Guidelines for Data Modeling and Data Integration for Material Flow Analysis and Socio-Metabolic Research", document with basic standards and best practice on data formats, system definition, indicator definition, use of common classifications, uncertainty treatment and sensitivity analysis, and data traceability and provenance. These guidelines were issued by the Board of the ISIE Section on Socioeconomic Metabolism (ISIE-SEM), and are a standard reference for all who are in the process of publishing, documenting, or archiving MFA research, either within a software such as STAN or in a custom modelling environment. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods2_Reading1
Exercise: Cement demand and production, efficiency strategies and related indicators: The goal of this exercise is to consolidate your understanding of the stock-flow-service nexus and of basic quantitative system analysis. Also, to get some detailed knowledge about energy use and greenhouse gas emissions of the cement industry. Prerequisites: No advanced math required. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods2_Exercise1.
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods2_Exercise1_Solution (pdf)
IEooc_Methods2_Exercise1_Solution (xlsx)
Exercise: Recycling systems: Efficiency strategies and uncertainty propagation: from a systems perspective, you will gain basic insights into material cycles
and recycling systems using the example of beverage cans in Germany. You will conduct a sensitivity analysis, error propagation and calculation of result
elasticities. Prerequisites: Calculus. Random variables and analytical error propagation. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods2_Exercise2.
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods2_Exercise2_Solution (pdf)
Exercise: Energy and buildings: The goal of this exercise is to get to know the orders of magnitude of scope 1+2 GHG, energy use, and services in the residential building sector in different countries; practice systems thinking and quantitative systems analysis; work with system definitions and scope 1-2 emissions; stock-flow-service nexus. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods2_Exercise3.
For this exercise a workbook with data is available:
IEooc_Methods2_Exercise3_Buildings_Energy_Workbook (xlsx)
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods2_Exercise3_Buildings_Energy_Sample_Solution (xlsx)
Check also this exercise from the application section, which contains a Monte-Carlo Simulation: "Inclusion of Consumption of carbon intensive materials in emissions trading. You will gain a basic systems understanding of material markets, learn about the material content of merchandise groups, error propagation, and the application of Monte-Carlo-Simulation in material flow analysis." Prerequisites: Calculus. Random variables, discrete and continuous probability distributions, Monte-Carlo-Simulation. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Application3_Exercise1 (pdf)
IEooc_Application3_Exercise1 (data and workbook)
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Application3_Exercise1_Solution (pdf) and
IEooc_Application3_Exercise1_Solution (xlsx)
Video lecture on the concept 'urban metabolism' and how it can be useful to local governments. Urban metabolism studies help cities and city regions assess current resource use and identify pathways for improvement. (from UN Environment):
IEooc_Methods2_Lecture3
Reading material: "Concise description of application fields for different MFA approaches and indicators", deliverable D3.2 of the EU MinFuture project. This report describes the various methods of material flow analysis (MFA) that are applied to studying raw materials stocks and flows, and it lists the definitions of and reviews the major material system indicators. It also contains various case studies illustrating MFA methods and indicators. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods2_Reading2
Reading material: "Compilation of uncertainty approaches and recommendations for reporting data uncertainty", deliverable D3.3 of the EU MinFuture project. This report provides a systematic way to consider uncertainty in MFA and suggests a procedure for consistently communicating the uncertainty quantification approaches used in different MFA studies. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods2_Reading3
Reading material: "Visualising Material Systems", deliverable D3.4 of the EU MinFuture project. This report contains a detailed overview of the different visualisation principles for MFA systems. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods2_Reading4
Reading material: Blog entry on "Material flow acccounting and material footprint calculation" This piece introduces the method of economy-wide material flow accounting and defines its central flows and indicators in the system description language of material flow analysis. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods2_Reading5
Slide deck (without video recording): Process inventories, product systems, life cycle indicators, footprints, and emissions scopes, IEooc_Methods2_Lecture4:
Link to the slide deck for IEooc_Methods2_Lecture4 (unzip to get the .pptx). The material can be freely used for all kinds of teaching purposes. Please acknowledge the IEooc when using this material. External copyrighted or CC-BY material in the slide decks (photos, figures, and tables) needs proper referencing in any derivatives.
Slide deck (without video recording): PCarbon accounting and indicators, IEooc_Methods2_Lecture5:
Link to the slide deck for IEooc_Methods2_Lecture5 (unzip to get the .pptx). The material can be freely used for all kinds of teaching purposes. Please acknowledge the IEooc when using this material. External copyrighted or CC-BY material in the slide decks (photos, figures, and tables) needs proper referencing in any derivatives.
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| Methodology 3: Dynamic Material Flow Analysis. |
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Video lecture introducing the basic principles of dynamic material flow analysis, the main data sources for dynamic MFA models, some examples of dynamic MFA, and the most important approaches to solving mathematical models of dynamic MFA systems: Prerequisites: Calculus. Linear difference equations, simple differential equations. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods3_Lecture1
Link to the combined slide deck for IEooc_Methods3_Lecture1 -...4 (unzip to get the .pptx). The material can be freely used for all kinds of teaching purposes. Please acknowledge the IEooc when using this material. External copyrighted or CC-BY material in the slide decks (photos, figures, and tables) needs proper referencing in any derivatives.
Video lecture on dynamic stock models. The following concepts are introduced and explained: Population balance models, the leaching model, impulse response functions, age-cohorts, and the lifetime model. Prerequisites: Calculus. Simple differential equations. Discrete and continuous random variables. Convolution. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods3_Lecture2
Link to the combined slide deck for IEooc_Methods3_Lecture1 -...4 (unzip to get the .pptx). The material can be freely used for all kinds of teaching purposes. Please acknowledge the IEooc when using this material. External copyrighted or CC-BY material in the slide decks (photos, figures, and tables) needs proper referencing in any derivatives.
Video lecture on inflow-driven and stock-driven modelling: With inflow-driven modelling stocks can be determined from historic inflows using a convolution operation. With stock-driven modelling the inflow can be determined from a given stock scenario using inverse convolution. Prerequisites: Calculus. Simple differential equations. Discrete and continuous random variables. Convolution. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods3_Lecture3
Link to the combined slide deck for IEooc_Methods3_Lecture1 -...4 (unzip to get the .pptx). The material can be freely used for all kinds of teaching purposes. Please acknowledge the IEooc when using this material. External copyrighted or CC-BY material in the slide decks (photos, figures, and tables) needs proper referencing in any derivatives.
Slide deck (without video recording): Dynamic MFA - Multi-layer MEFA for modelling the stock-flow service nexus and its implementation in Python, IEooc_Methods3_Lecture4:
Link to the combined slide deck for IEooc_Methods3_Lecture1 -...4 (unzip to get the .pptx). The material can be freely used for all kinds of teaching purposes. Please acknowledge the IEooc when using this material. External copyrighted or CC-BY material in the slide decks (photos, figures, and tables) needs proper referencing in any derivatives.
Exercise: "Dynamic model of the German steel cycle, 1800-2008." The goals of this exercise are twofold: first, to develop a systems understanding regarding the development of flows and stocks in material cycles, using the example of the steel cycle in Germany. Second, to estimate steel stocks using dynamic stock modelling. Prerequisites: Calculus. Simple differential equations. Discrete and continuous random variables. Convolution. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods3_Exercise1 (pdf)
IEooc_Methods3_Exercise1 (Data, xlsx)
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods3_Exercise1_Solution (pdf) and
IEooc_Methods3_Exercise1_Solution (xlsx)
Blog entry: "The lifetime of materials in the technosphere" introducing a simple dynamic MFA model of a material cycle to study the dispersion of materials in the technosphere. Prerequisites: Analytical solution of MFA systems, geometric series. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods3_Reading1
Exercise on estimating the number of life cycles of metals: Goal of this exercise is to develop and solve a basic model of the recycling loop, to define and calculate the lifetime of a material in the technosphere and the average number of life cycles. Prerequisites: Analytical solution of MFA systems, geometric series. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods3_Exercise2.
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods3_Exercise2_Solution (pdf)
Jupyter notebooks for basic dynamic MFA in Python This series of five Jupyter notebooks covers all core steps of building your own scenario models for the stock-flow-service nexus and link it to energy, materials, and emissions. The data handling and calculation steps are explained step by step. Level of difficulty: (++)
This Jupyter notebook series uses the European passenger vehicle fleet as example. It contains explanations on how to use the Python programming language for building a scenario model for the stock-flow-service nexus for passenger cars and for calculating energy use and emissions of the vehicle fleet for a future scenario.
IEooc_Methods3_Software001 (ipynb): Tutorial on basic data handling: Reading and inspecting data, performing basic time series calculations, plotting and saving results.
IEooc_Methods3_Software002 (ipynb): Tutorial and exercise on implementing a simple inflow-driven model to estimate the fleet by age-cohort from the time series of new vehicle registration.
IEooc_Methods3_Software003 (ipynb): Tutorial and exercise on implementing a simple stock-driven model to estimate the future fleet, new registration, and scrapping of passenger vehicles based on a given scenario for population and service (passenger-km) demand.
IEooc_Methods3_Software004 (ipynb): Tutorial and exercise on linking the vehicle flows and stocks to material flows and stocks. A simple material cycle model is programmed to estimate the recycled content of future vehicles.
IEooc_Methods3_Software005 (ipynb): Tutorial and exercise on linkink the vehicle fleet and material cycle model to energy demand and then to scope 1, 2, and 3 GHG.
This exercise series (as Jupyter notebooks in .ipynb files), the required input data, and the sample solutions are available as zipped folder:
IEooc_Methods3_Software_001 to _005, complete package (workbooks, data, solutions) as zip folder
Jupyter notebook with a tutorial on inflow-driven and stock-driven modelling, using the dynamic_stock_model class in Python and the Chinese steel stock as an example: In this workbook it is shown how inflow-driven and stock-driven modelling can be implemented in Python using the dynamic_stock_model class. Prerequisites: Calculus. Simple differential equations. Discrete and continuous random variables. Convolution. Basic programming and data visualisation in Python. Level of difficulty: (+++)
For this notebook, two versions exist:
for use together with the dynamic MFA library of the ODYM MFA software.
for use together with the stand-alone dynamic MFA library that is no longer maintained.
IEooc_Methods3_Software1 (data file for both versions of the notebook)
Jupyter notebook with a tutorial on stock-driven modelling for material stocks in products, using the dynamic_stock_model class in Python and the global passenger vehicle fleet as an example: In this workbook it is shown how stock-driven modelling can be implemented in Python using the dynamic_stock_model class and applied to calculate the material flows and stocks in the products that we use. Prerequisites: Calculus. Simple differential equations. Discrete and continuous random variables. Convolution. Basic programming and data visualisation in Python. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods3_Software2 (data file)
Jupyter notebooks containting tutorials and examples for conducting material flow analysis research with ODYM (Open Dynamic Material Systems Model), which is an open software library for dynamic material flow analysis (MFA) that contains a framework for modeling biophysical stock-flow relations in socioeconomic metabolism. ODYM is available and documented in a GitHub repo. Prerequisites: Calculus. Simple differential equations. Discrete and continuous random variables. Convolution. Good programming and data visualisation skills in Python. Note that in order to run some of the tutorials, you need to download and extract the zip archive IEooc_Methods3_Software3-8_ODYM_Tutorial_1-6_Material.zip linked below. Level of difficulty: (+++)
System with two processes, two parameters, one material.
Alloying elements in recycling.
Dynamic stock modelling intro.
ODYM classification and database
Estimating the material content of the global vehicle fleet
MaTrace - Tracing material flows through different product lifecycles
IEooc_Methods3_Software3-8 (data file)
Journal article: "A general framework for stock dynamics of populations and built and natural environments" that introduces a general mathematical framework for dynamic stock models based on balance, intrinsic, and model-approach equations. The framework is used to classify a variety of stock models from different disciplines and discuss their applicability. The paper also introduces a matrix equation for solving stock-lifetime-driven models to determine inflows given the lifetime matrix and the evolution of the stock. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods3_Reading2
Excel workbook with the matrix equation implementation of stock-driven modelling for material stocks in products presented by Lauinger et al. (see IEooc_Methods3_Reading2) Full implementation is a 200x200 matrix with 200 model time steps (i.e., for a modelling period of 200 years, months, or days) for use in own case studies. Prerequisites: Dynamic stock modelling, stock-driven model, matrix algebra. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods3_Software9 (Excel workbook)
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| Methodology 4: Life cycle assessment. |
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For LCA some very good open teaching material exists. The list of open teaching material of the International Life Cycle Academy (ILCA) provides an overview of the available open content. In particular, the LCA text book is highly recommendable. It is developed by colleagues from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
The UN Environment Life Cycle Initiative also provides LCA training material on its homepage.
To help you get started with openLCA, GreenDelta provides free resources, including case studies, for modeling your own LCA study on their homepage.
Introductory material to LCA, no LCA software and database required:
Video on the thinking behind LCA: Prerequisites: None. Level of difficulty: (+)
IEooc_Methods4_Video1
Video on the methodology of LCA: Prerequisites: None. Level of difficulty: (+)
IEooc_Methods4_Video2
Exercise: Simple comparative LCA: Practice systems thinking and quantitative systems analysis, work with system definitions, apply life cycle thinking to electric vehicles and electric transportation. Prerequisites: No advanced math required. Level of difficulty: (+)
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise1.
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise1_Solution (pdf)
Exercise: Process-based LCA: Practice systems thinking and quantitative systems analysis, work with system definitions, apply life cycle thinking to solar power by conducting a quick process-based LCA of PV module production. Prerequisites: No advanced math required. Level of difficulty: (+)
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise2.
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise2 (data and workbook)
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise2_Solution (xlsx)
Video on the methodology of LCIA: Prerequisites: Introductory material as above. Level of difficulty: (+)
IEooc_Methods4_Video3
Training material on calculating the water footprint with the LCA framework Prerequisites: Introductory material as above. Level of difficulty: (+)
IEooc_Methods4_Reading1
The website https://www.lifecycleinitiative.org/resources/training/ contains more training material on the water footprint and on other topics as well.
Intermediate level LCA material and exercises, no LCA software and database required:
Video lecture on the computational structure of LCA: In this lecture the maths of LCA are explained, following the Leontief input-output model. First, the processes and flows that are modeled and calculated are defined and located in the system. Then, the different calculation steps are explained step by step. Prerequisites: Matrix algebra. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods4_Lecture1
Link to the slide deck for IEooc_Methods4_Lecture1 (unzip to get the .pptx). The material can be freely used for all kinds of teaching purposes. Please acknowledge the IEooc when using this material. External copyrighted or CC-BY material in the slide decks (photos, figures, and tables) needs proper referencing in any derivatives.
Exercise: Matrix algebra and the LCA master equation: Apply the life cycle perspective, understand the computational structure of LCA, understand and implement basic matrix algebra operations on paper. Prerequisites: Matrix algebra. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise3.
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise3_Solution (xlsx)
Exercise: LCA with matrix algebra in Excel: Understand the computational structure of LCA, understand and implement basic matrix algebra operations in Excel. Prerequisites: Matrix algebra. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise4.
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise4 (data and workbook)
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise4_Solution (xlsx)
Exercise: Life Cycle Impact Assessment: Practice life cycle thinking, work with the LCIA method LC impact, calculate regional endpoint indicators, understand and implement basic matrix algebra operations. Prerequisites: Matrix algebra. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise5.
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise5 (data and workbook)
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise5_Solution (pdf)
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise5_Solution (xlsx)
Exercise on extracting data from the literature and using them in your own LCA in openLCA Goal: Learn about the standard procedure for extracting data from the literature and using them in your own LCA in openLCA. This exercise follows four steps: (1) Convert raw data to a material and energy flow analysis diagram. (2) Scale down stocks down to represent them as consumption of fixed capital flows. (3) Convert process descriptions to unit process inventories. (4) Add unit process inventories as foreground processes to the ecoinvent database. Prerequisites: Basic MEFA and handling of ecoinvent in openLCA. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise6a (pdf)
For this exercise, a journal article with data and a sample solution are available:
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise6a Input data (open access journal publication)
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise6a Sample Solution (pdf)
Advanced LCA exercises with openLCA. For these exercises, an ecoinvent license is required (if not indicated otherwise):
A list of openLCA tutorials and info videos can be found on GreenDelta's
Youtube channel.
Getting started with openLCA: The goal of this tutorial is to install and learn how to use the openLCA software for life cycle assessments using ecoinvent v3.2
and several impact assessment methods. The use of parameters, choice of electricity mix, sensitivity analysis, export of data, and a small test case are described. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise6.
Modifying processes in openLCA: Copy processes, modify processes, change the electricity source, and conduct a comparative LCA of different steel recycling routes. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise7.
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise7_Solution (pdf)
Allocation and recycling in ecoinvent: Learn how waste treatment, recycling, and allocation are handled in ecoinvent and openLCA. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise8.
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise8_Solution (pdf)
Advanced tutorials and LCA exercises with Brightway2LCA. An ecoinvent license is required:
A list of Brightway2LCA tutorials and more info on this versatile and highly computationally efficient modular and open-source LCA software in Python can be found on the Brightway2LCA homepage. Brightway2LCA is developed by Chris Mutel from PSI and other contributors.
Brightway2LCA tutorial 1: A basic tutorial for learning Brightway2LCA is available from a 2017 seminar. Level of difficulty: (+++)
Brightway2LCA seminar.
Brightway2LCA tutorial 2: A comprehensive introductory tutorial for learning Brightway2LCA was developed by Maximilian Koslowski from Uni Freiburg. Level of difficulty: (+++)
New Brightway2 tutorial | Run externally in nbviewer.
Other advanced LCA exercises:
Reading exercise on a comparative LCA of electric and conventional passenger vehicles: Understand the content and policy relevance of a recent LCA research article on electric transportation.
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise9.
Material for reading exercise:
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise9_Reading.
The matrix method for LCA: Equivalence of two approaches: Learn more about the two matrix approaches to LCA: The Heijungs and Suh (2002) technology matrix and the Leontief input-output model. Show that both approaches are equivalent. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise10.
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise10_MatrixMethods_Solution (pdf)
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise10_MatrixMethods_Solution (xlsx)
Related journal paper on the topic by Heijungs et al. (2022): "A or I-A? Unifying the computational structures of process- and IO-based LCA for clarity and consistency.
Link to paper (open access).
Advanced Life Cycle Impact Assessment: Considering time in life cycle inventories: dynamic characterization factors for greenhouse gases. Goal: Get familiar with the global warming potential of greenhouse gases and the computation of global warming impacts of emissions from a system at different times. (‘dynamic GHG accounting’). Apply dynamic GHG accounting to different test cases. Prerequisites: Calculus, global warming potential (see IEooc_Background2_Exercise2). Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise11.
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise11 (data and workbook)
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods4_Exercise11_Solution (xlsx)
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| Methodology 5: Input-output analysis. |
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Lecture on the basics of input-output analysis, IO tables and the Leontief IO model, part I: Prerequisites: Matrix algebra. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods5_Lecture1_Part1
Lecture on the basics of input-output analysis, IO tables and the Leontief IO model, part II: Prerequisites: Matrix algebra. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods5_Lecture1_Part2
Lecture on the basics of input-output analysis, IO tables and the Leontief IO model, part III: Prerequisites: Matrix algebra. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods5_Lecture1_Part3
Lecture on the basics of input-output analysis, IO tables and the Leontief IO model, part IV: Prerequisites: Matrix algebra. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods5_Lecture1_Part4
Lecture (no video recording available) on the foundations of input-output analysis (IOA), covering (1) the industrial network or "Why nobody knows how a pencil is made.“ (2) Input-output tables and models (IO models), (3) IO models with environmental extension, (4) Relationship between IOA and other economic theories. Prerequisites: Matrix algebra. Level of difficulty: (++)
Link to the slide deck for IEooc_Methods5_Lecture1a (unzip to get the .pptx). The material can be freely used for all kinds of teaching purposes. Please acknowledge the IEooc when using this material. External copyrighted or CC-BY material in the slide decks (photos, figures, and tables) needs proper referencing in any derivatives.
Exercise on IO basics: This is an introductory exercise to IO analysis, covering the mathematical basics of IO modelling and the system structure of IO models. Prerequisites: Matrix algebra on paper and Excel. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods5_Exercise1.
IEooc_Methods5_Exercise1 (data and workbook)
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods5_Exercise1_Solution (pdf)
IEooc_Methods5_Exercise1_Solution (xlsx)
Lecture on multiregional input-output analysis. Prerequisites: Matrix algebra on paper and Excel. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods5_Lecture2
Link to the slide deck for IEooc_Methods5_Lecture2 (unzip to get the .pptx). The material can be freely used for all kinds of teaching purposes. Please acknowledge the IEooc when using this material. External copyrighted or CC-BY material in the slide decks (photos, figures, and tables) needs proper referencing in any derivatives.
Exercise: "Multiregional input-output analysis (Excel-based)." This exercise contains a simple application of the MRIO analysis: construction of supply chains, carbon footprint calculations of final consumers in the EU, investigation of fine particulate matter and mercury emissions along the supply chain. Prerequisites: Matrix algebra on paper and Excel. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods5_Exercise2 (pdf)
IEooc_Methods5_Exercise2 (data and workbook)
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods5_Exercise2_Solution (pdf) and
IEooc_Methods5_Exercise2_Solution (xls)
Jupyter notebook with a tutorial for calculating consumption-based emissions and breaking them down into products, region, and industry. Prerequisites: Matrix algebra, basic Python programming. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods5_Software1 (data file)
Jupyter notebook with functions and a tutorial for aggregating MRIO results along the products, region, and industry dimensions. A 163 products x 48 regions x 163 industries footprint result is aggregated to 11 product groups, six regions, and five industrial sectors. Prerequisites: Matrix algebra, Python programming. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods5_Software2 (data file (.mat) and aggregation table (.xlsx))
Software tutorial from the application section: Efficient calculation of consumption-based environmental accounts with MRIO. This software tutorial has three goals: 1) Learn how to break down environmental footprints into subcategories: category of consumption, region where emissions occur, industries where emissions occur, etc. 2) Learn how to extract territorial and consumption-based emissions from footprint account, and 3) Learn how to use two of the most versatile Python functions for working with table data: numpy.reshape and numpy.einsum. This tutorial contains all the steps needed to extract footprint accounts from the EXIOBASE MRIO tables and produce overview graphs such as the ones shown in the related reading material IEooc_Application3_Reading5. Prerequisites: Good understanding of MRIO, sufficient experience in working with Python. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Application3_Software1 (data file)
Exercise: "Determining Sector Impact in IO Models With the Hypothetical Extraction Method – Hypothetical Extraction Method with Projection Matrices" This exercise shows how to determine the impact or contribution of individual industrial sectors to the total enviromental footprint, an analysis that is increasingly applied in the literature. Topics covered: Understand the power series expansion of the L-matrix. Understand how the contribution of an individual industrial sector to the supply chain of a good or service can be identified by filtering out certain paths in the A matrix power series. Understand how the impact of several industrial sectors in the supply chain of a good or service can be determined without double-counting contribution, using projection matrices. Prerequisites: Matrix algebra on paper and Excel. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods5_Exercise3 (pdf)
IEooc_Methods5_Exercise3 (data and workbook)
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods5_Exercise3_Solution (xlsx)
Exercise: "Calculating income specific footprints for Germany" Learn how to use pymrio with a new final demand matrix to calculate footprints for that final demand. Learn how to analyze and plot the results. Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of Input-Output Analysis (completed part Methodology 5: Input-output analysis of the IEooc). Basic knowledge on Python, and the Python MRIO package pmrio, in particular. Level of difficulty: (++ to +++)
IEooc_Methods5_Exercise4a_income_specific_footprints_germany (pdf)
EXIOBASE for the year 2013 in the product by product variant (pxp)
IEooc_Methods5_Exercise4ab_Final_demand_by_income_avg (data file, xlsx)
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
Exercise: "Uncertainty Analysis of the income-specific footprints" Learn how to use Monte-Carlo simulations to estimate the uncertainty of income specific footprints for Germany. Learn how to visualize uncertainties. . Prerequisites: Good understanding of MRIO, sufficient experience in working with Python. Completed “IEooc_Methods5_Exercise4a: Calculating income specific footprints for Germany” Basic knowledge on error propagation and sensitivity analysis. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods5_Exercise4b_uncertainty_analysis (pdf)
EXIOBASE for the year 2013 in the product by product variant (pxp)
IEooc_Methods5_Exercise4ab_Final_demand_by_income_avg (data file, xlsx)
IEooc_Methods5_Exercise4ab_Final_demand_by_income_std (data file, xlsx)
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
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| Methodology 6: Method integration. |
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Reading material (blog entry) on the differences between process-based LCA and monetary MRIO. Knowing about these differences is important when comparing MRIO and LCA results and when combining the two methods.
IEooc_Methods6_Reading1
Reading material (book chapter) on prospective (forward-looking) assessment of sustainable development strategies using industrial ecology tools. In this text the general principles of prospective modeling are lined out and the current development status of two prospective model types is described: extended dynamic material flow analysis and THEMIS (Technology-Hybridized Environmental-Economic Model with Integrated Scenarios). These models combine the high level of technological detail known from life-cycle assessment (LCA) and material flow analysis (MFA) with the comprehensiveness of, respectively, dynamic stock models and input/output analysis (I/O). These models are dynamic; they build future scenarios with a time horizon until 2050 and beyond. They were applied to study the potential effect of a wide spectrum of sustainable development strategies, including renewable energy supply, home weatherization, material efficiency, and light-weighting.
IEooc_Methods6_Reading2
Reading material: "Linking economy-wide material flow accounting to product-level life cycle assessment." This report first explains the methods of material flow acccounting and material footprint calculations and then defines these methods and their central flows and indicators in the system description language of material flow analysis. Finally and mainly, it explains and documents an implementation of the material footprint calculation methodology for life cycle assessment (LCA) studies. With this new characterisation method, all material inflows into LCA product systems can be converted to their respective raw material equivalents and added up to the total extracted or processed material in the supply chain of goods or services. Level of difficulty: (++)
IEooc_Methods6_Reading3
Exercise: "Passenger vehicle light-weighting. A quantitative analysis of the coupling between the transportation and material production sectors. Application of material flow analysis and life cycle assessment in a common framework." Estimate the system-wide impact of a climate change mitigation strategy in a specific sector. Learn about light-weighting of vehicle as a strategy to reduce GHG emissions on the medium scale. Prerequisites: No advanced math required. Level of difficulty: (+)
IEooc_Methods6_Exercise1 (pdf)
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods6_Exercise1_Solution (pdf) and
IEooc_Methods6_Exercise1_Solution (xlsx)
Reading material: Resource tracing with input output (IO) models – an overview. This reading material explains how to trace resources through input-output tables. First, the differences between Leontief input-output (IO), Leontief price, Ghosh IO and absorbing Markov Chain models are explained. Then, it is shown how they all can be used to determine the distribution of natural resource or value added input into different final demand sectors (so-called end-use shares). This reading material is the supplement of a review, conceptual work, and empirical analysis on estimating end-use shares for material flows (how many % of total steel production go into vehicles, etc.) with monetary input-output tables.
This material is taken from a 2023 publication in the Journal of Industrial Ecology by Streeck et al.
IEooc_Methods6_Reading4_Resource_Tracing_IO.
Tracing resources through input-output tables. Goal: Understand the differences between Leontief input-output (IO), Leontief price, Ghosh IO and absorbing Markov Chain models. Learn how they all can be used to determine the distribution of natural resource or value added input into different final demand sectors (so-called end-use shares). Apply the resulting equations to a test IO table. Prerequisites: Input-Output table and model equations, matrix algebra. Level of difficulty: (+++)
IEooc_Methods6_Exercise2.
IEooc_Methods6_Exercise2_Resource_tracing_IO_Workbook (data and workbook)
For this exercise a sample solution is available:
IEooc_Methods6_Exercise2_Resource_tracing_IO_Solution (xlsx)
Reading material (blog entry) on the material implications of low-carbon energy supply and use. The text explains the relation between the transition to low-carbon energy and what it means for material consumption. It argues that all forms of energy supply have major downsides, and that the high material consumption of renewables is one potential problem. It quantifies the material footprint of different technologies for the energy transition and shows that while the fossil component of the material footprint declines, the metal ore component sharply rises, largely driven by the increased copper demand of electrification of end-use sectors. See IEooc_Methods2_Reading5 for the methodology of the material footprint applied here.
IEooc_Methods6_Reading5
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