EcoEngineers to host 2nd LCA Academy in Houston, Texas, Sept. 4-5

EcoEngineers (Eco), a clean energy consulting, auditing and advisory firm, is hosting its next Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA) Academy Sept. 4-5 at the Petroleum Club in Houston, Texas.

After a tremendous response to the inaugural LCA Academy held in June, this program continues to help the industry learn how LCAs function and their role in reducing environmental impact.

“Understanding and implementing LCAs is crucial for businesses to stay ahead of regulatory requirements, consumer expectations for sustainability and the competitive landscape shaped by environmental disclosures,” said Kristine Klavers, Eco’s managing director of petroleum and refining in Houston. “We created the LCA Academy to help our clients gain a deeper understanding of the drivers shaping the global marketplace and to create a community for learning and networking with industry experts.”

Participants in the LCA Academy will learn about LCA concepts, methodologies, and the role of LCA in environmental, social and governance (ESG), compliance and conservation.

The Houston program includes an interactive discussion with representatives from the U.S. DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and other regulators with the aim of creating a consistent LCA approach in policies.

The academy will host two immersive technical tracks.

The first track features case studies focused on renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), along with relevant hydrogen topics, using the Argonne National Laboratory’s GREET (Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies) model.

The second track focuses on CA-GREET Tier 1 dairy manure to renewable natural gas (RNG) case studies.

LCA required for tax credit

Following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Internal Revenue Service announced that, starting in 2025, clean-fuel tax-credit applicants will be required to perform an LCA to determine the amount of credit they can receive.

As part of the LCA Academy, participants will learn how to collect data, assess data quality, and interpret results from LCA modeling in GREET and its derivative tools, such as sections 45V and 45Z calculators.

Eco’s LCA Academy will help clean-fuel and hydrogen producers grasp the role of LCA in reducing environmental impact and to engage with key government officials who are determining how LCAs are incorporated into tax policies and other incentive programs.

“As climate regulations and tax credits evolve, consumer preferences shift and opportunities in voluntary carbon markets expand, LCAs are becoming essential for companies in the renewable energy and biofuels sectors,” Klavers said. “There’s an opportunity for companies in Houston’s energy landscape, particularly those involved in clean-fuel and clean-hydrogen production, to leverage LCAs for both compliance and competitive advantage.”

Use this link to register and learn more about this program.

Eco’s team of scientists has performed more than 1,000 carbon LCAs since 2015 on a variety of products, including grains, oils, fuels, plastics, farm products, supplements, lubricants, metals and more using LCA tools such as the Argonne National Laboratory’s GREET model and its derivatives, GHGenius, SimaPro, openLCA and more.

Eco is accredited by ANSI National Accreditation Board as a GHG verification body in accordance with ISO standards ISO/IEC 17029:2019, ISO 14065:2020 and ISO 14064-3:2019.