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Lehrstuhl für Operations Management Prof. Dr. Grit Walther

Project module Operations Management: Climate-neutral and circular supply chains – challenges and opportunities

SoSe 2023

Content and aim of the project module

The transition to a climate-neutral and circular supply chain paradigm is crucial for sustainable systems in the near future. The EU aims to be climate neutral by 2050. For this proposed system to succeed, it is necessary to take into account not only multiple sectors such as transport and energy, but also subsectors such as plastic chains and carbon capture pathways. In order to investigate these sustainable supply chains, it is essential to identify the challenges and bottlenecks that hinder their development and to determine potential solutions.

In the project module, students will work in groups to analyze the challenges of achieving climate neutrality and circularity in the aforementioned supply networks. Based on this general analysis, specific measures for the individual sectors will be selected, analyzed and evaluated. Herein, the analysis and evaluations should consider techno-economic aspects, but also aspects of ecological (and, if applicable, social) sustainability. The analysis and evaluation should be done using methods like life cycle assessment (LCA), multi-criteria evaluation or (math.) multi-objective optimization (e.g., linear programming, heuristics). The selection of case studies and methods will be done together with supervisors.

Group work titles could be:

1. Renewable hydrogen infrastructure (optimal location of electrolysers, storage decision, demand calculation, PV and Wind power plant location, etc.)

2. Transition to a climate-neutral transportation sector (evaluation of policy frameworks related to the transportation sector, assessment of existing policies related to a climate-neutral transportation sector, etc.)

3. Sustainable biochar supply chains (environmental impact assessments, carbon sequestration potential analysis, economic evaluation, biochar supply chain development in coherence with current policies, etc.)

4. Infrastructure for carbon capture and storage (optimal pipeline network, evaluation of applications, uncertain policies, decarbonization techniques vs CO2 storage, etc.)

5. Circular supply chains for plastics/bioplastics (environmental impact assessment, techno-economic assessment, carbon sequestration potential analysis, life cycle approach, material flow analysis, end-of-life pathways, circular economy and bioeconomy perspective, etc.)

Link: https://online.rwth-aachen.de/RWTHonline/pl/ui/$ctx/wbLv.wbShowLVDetail?pStpSpNr=470843

Participants and Requirements

- Participants : Master BWL, Master WiWi, Master Wirt.-Ing.
- Max. Number of participants : 20
- Teaching language : English
- Is previous knowledge required? None
- [Specializations: ORM, Sustainability and Corporations]

Organizational Information

- 10 CP

- Teaching language : English

- Sommer term

- Group Work (65%), Presentations (35%)

Ansprechpartner

Mohammad Zardoshti