Industrial Ecology, LCA & Systems Sustainability (IELCASS) |
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About Us |
The natural resource and its related processing industries - forest, pulp & paper, chemicals, energy, pharmaceutical and the major utility sectors (electricity, gas, water) - all interact with the environment in dynamic ways. This affects everything starting from extraction of primary resources (cradle) to eventual disposal of wastes and residuals (grave). However, these interactions are affected by a set of societal concerns or demands. The Research Group for Industrial Ecology, LCA and Systems Sustainability (IELCASS) at the University of Maine undertakes multidisciplinary, integrative, innovative research to develop sustainable products from biomass resources and processes which maximize resource and energy efficiency and minimize life cycle environmental impacts. We focus on understanding the dynamic interactions fundamentally and holistically, drawing on elements of systems analysis, process simulation and optimization, network and complexity methods and models. Please refer to our research pages for more information. We are interested to work with industries. We are working with various partners nationally and internationally. Here is a selection of our research partners. Forest Bioproducts Research Initiative (FBRI), University of Maine, USA Advanced Structures and Composites Center (AEWC), University of Maine, USA Environmental Research Group, University of New Hampshire, USA Sustainable Technology Office, National Research Council, Canada Research Network for Business Sustainability, Canada Institute for Industrial Production, University of Karlsruhe, Germany Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Germany FONA (Research for Sustainability), Germany Research Center for Life Cycle Assessment, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan Environment and Sustainable Development Program, United Nations University, Japan Faculty of Science, Makere University, Uganda Forest Products Research and Development Institute, Philippines |
This project is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. EPS-0554545 |
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This project is supported by the Department of Energy EPSCoR program under award number DE-FG02-07ER46373 |