The integration of UM and LCA to develop an environmental impact assessment framework for regional and urban areas, with a cradle-to-grave perspective, was the most significant novelty and scientific advancement expected in the project, which was not completed in the reporting period. A UM model was performed for the Autonomous Province of Trento and its capital city, Trento, specifically developed for integration with LCA. Building on the UM model results, and in the domestic material consumption (DMC), a life-cycle model started being developed, to estimate environmental impacts associated with urban consumption.
To account for electricity use, the environmental impacts of electricity generation and supply in Italy were assessed in detail with a novel LCA framework that addressed a wide range of environmental impacts, with an average and marginal demand perspectives, for current and future energy generation, with an hourly resolution. A scientific article in a highly journal was published presenting this new framework and the application to Italy. The framework advances several relevant issues that are useful to support decision-making and research, in assessing environmental impacts of electricity use: it has high temporal resolution (hourly), includes current mix and future scenarios, and it provides average and marginal demand impacts for a wide range of environmental impacts.
The work addressed issues related to climate change and environmental sustainability. The research findings, data and results are accessible (with open access) and applicable to other projects, geographical areas and urban systems, to support the design and implementation of environmentally sustainable regional and urban development strategies. Communication and dissemination activities across different groups fostered the exploitation of results, and the fellowship enhanced cooperation and established a productive research network involving globally recognized institutions, improving communication, international and trans-disciplinary collaboration, which contributed to the EU’s competitiveness and growth in research and innovation.