We use systems analysis tools including life cycle assessment (LCA), techno-economic analysis (TEA), and materials flow analysis (MFA) to characterize the tradeoffs and synergies among productivity, financial feasibility, and environmental impacts across systems and materials development pipelines. The importance of this research is derived from the unintended environmental consequences and costs from emerging technologies and policies: impacts that result from interdependencies with natural and human systems. This concept can also be used to optimize the environmental performance of a single product or process (eco-design), following the ISO standards on Environmental Management. ****
Plastic production exceeds 300 million metric tons, and plastic waste makes up at least 10% of solid waste by mass world-wide. The currently available commercial processes for plastics upcycling are either operated at scale well below the large volume of plastic waste generated or are only applicable for specific plastic streams. We aim to address the critical barrier to the financial and environmental viability of plastic recycling. We work with reaction engineers, catalysis chemistry scientists, computational chemists, and industrial partners to design and operate efficient processes that reliably achieve target material, energy, and emissions benefits despite geo-temporal variation of composition and quality of plastic streams.
We focus on waste resource information, infrastructure considerations, techno-economic comparison of energy and resource recovery options. Chemical recycling pathways our group investigate
We conduct “cradle-to-cradle” life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) for bioprocesses to validate environmental impacts and economic feasibility. Agile LCA and TEA are used to identify the key drivers and set development targets during fermentation and downstream purification.
We are excited to work with synthetic biologist, bioprocess engineers, pilot facilities, and industrial partners to advance testbeds towards commercialization.
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We focus on national and regional system analysis, optimization, and sustainability assessments of biofuels and bioproducts, agricultural systems, and supply chain. These systematic investigations analyze various feedstock and cropping systems for co-production of food and fuel, and characterize the implications of these systems and potential improvements through frontier technologies across the entire value chain.
Modern computational power allows us to rapidly simulate the effects of individual parameters and predict the implications of changes (in design, technology innovation, policy, etc). We particularly interested in developing open source computational modeling interface and leveraging the modeling framework for rapid and robust LCA of various technologies, products, and processes.
<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/a94d343a-67cb-4852-a612-7a91af430385/star.svg" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/a94d343a-67cb-4852-a612-7a91af430385/star.svg" width="40px" /> Our lab develops decision-making tools and technologies that will enable engineers to design for sustainability.
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Besides the traditional “cradle to grave” industrial system, we integrate process design, simulation, LCA, life cycle costing for energy systems and materials. We analyze how individual design and operating decisions can influence industrial feasibility, and elucidate specific research needs to advance the economic and environmental sustainability of production systems. Uncertainty and sensitivity across dimensions of sustainability will be quantified, and explicit technology targets can be set. This systems analysis framework can be can be applied to many fields including carbon capture and separation, biorefineries, photovoltaics, etc.
<aside> 📎 As we envision sustainable futures and paths to their realization, innovation priorities should be connected to improvement goals with critical design decisions, technology improvements, and policies that govern industrial feasibility.
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