LCA of current and novel seawater treatments in the Mediterranean region

Master thesis work, Fall semester 2025

Description

The European research project ASTERISK aims to integrate seawater treatment and green hydrogen production using a Platinum Group Metal (PGM)-free anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyser. The seawater treatment, integrated before the stack, will remove biological, organic and suspended solids with minimal energy requirements and operating costs, leaving the ions naturally present in seawater to enter the stack.

HES-SO is supporting this project, by performing the life cycle assessment (LCA) of the overall system investigated by the ASTERISK consortium. In this initial phase of the project, the focus is on the quantification of the environmental performance of seawater treatment processes in the Mediterranean region.

Objectives

The objective of the master project is to apply the LCA framework to quantify and compare the environmental performance of current and, if information is available, novel seawater treatments.

The main tasks are:

  • Identifying seawater treatment technologies and performing a literature review of the existing life cycle studies.
  • Collecting data from literature and from project partners, and developing an up-to-date life cycle inventory.
  • Computing the impact profiles (i) to identify the main hotspots of impacts in terms of life cycle stages, processes, and materials, where more attention should be directed to reduce the environmental footprint and (ii) to compare the different seawater treatments.
  • Performing sensitivity analyses on main modeling choices (life cycle impact assessment methods, allocation choices) and input parameters.

Skills

We’re seeking students with:

  • Ability to gather and process information and interpret results to support robust recommendations.
  • Basic knowledge of LCA. Coding skills and previous knowledge of hydrogen technology systems are a plus.

Supervision

The project is supervised by:

  • Prof. Manuele Margni, professor at HES-SO Valais Wallis at Energypolis (Sion, Switzerland) and at Polytechnique Montréal (Montréal, Canada).
  • Coaching: Eleonora Crenna, experienced LCA analyst at HES-SO / CIRAIG.
  • An official EPFL main supervisor needs to be identified; Prof. François Maréchal or Prof. Jan van Herle are knowledgeable professors that could take this role.

Practical information

The IPESE laboratory is located in the Sion EPFL campus. Working in Sion office or remotely is possible.

Application

Interested students must send an application file including a CV, a transcript (bachelor and master) and a brief cover letter to Manuele Margni and Eleonora Crenna. The position remains open until a suitable candidate is found.