Client: ReNU+ Centre for Doctoral Training, Newcastle University
Programme: Four-day intensive LCA and openLCA training
Cohort: 15 first-year doctoral researchers
Delivered by: Below280 Limited
The Challenge
The EPSRC-funded ReNU+ Centre for Doctoral Training trains doctoral researchers across Northumbria, Newcastle and Durham Universities in renewable energy and Net Zero. Its first cohort of 15 PhD students began in October 2025, working across energy research disciplines ranging from offshore wind to energy storage and net zero systems. ReNU+ runs alongside the original ReNU CDT, which has been training doctoral researchers across the same three universities since 2019.
LCA is increasingly central to that work. UKRI and Horizon Europe both place growing weight on environmental assessment in funding applications, and commercial pathways for sustainability researchers require working familiarity with LCA, EPDs, and Product Environmental Footprints. The cohort needed practical LCA capability: the ability to build, run, and interpret models independently for their own research.
What Below280 Delivered
Below280 delivered a four-day programme at Newcastle University.
Day 1: LCA Fundamentals
The course opened with a full-day methodological foundation, covering the ISO 14040/14044 framework, functional units, system boundary definition, impact categories, characterisation methods, and the landscape of LCA databases and software. This ensured consistent grounding across a cohort whose backgrounds ranged from engineering to environmental science before any software work began.
Days 2–4: Hands-On openLCA Training
The remaining three days moved into intensive practical work using openLCA, the open-source LCA software developed by GreenDelta. Participants worked through:
- Installation, setup, and database acquisition, with a focus on the US Federal LCA Commons and TianGong databases, both open-source and free to use. The methodology transfers directly to commercial databases including ecoinvent.
- Building a complete LCA model from scratch, step by step
- Advanced functionality: waste flows, switches, parameterisation, and scenario development
- Comparative analysis techniques for assessing alternative systems
- Pedigree matrices for data quality assessment
- Sensitivity analysis for identifying critical model parameters
- IPC connectivity for integration with external tools
- Python integration for automated analysis workflows, led by Gladys Castillo
- Collaboration server use for team-based LCA work and version control
Day 4 applied this capability to each participant’s own research area. Individual project exercises were tailored in advance using each student’s PhD topic, so the final day produced models directly relevant to their own work.
Each participant left with a complete example model, database installation guides, and comprehensive training notes, all available via a secure download area for continued reference.
The Delivery Team
The programme was led by Dr Tom Bradley. Gladys Castillo led the Python integration training, with hands-on support from Jonathan Forbes and Tia Morgan throughout the practical workshops.
Dr Tom Bradley holds a PhD in LCA of microalgae-based biodiesel and has nearly two decades of LCA experience. He co-authored the European Commission’s LCA4CCU guidelines, the first methodological framework for LCA of carbon capture and utilisation systems, and has led LCA work across FP7, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programmes. He has delivered LCA training in the UK and internationally, including to researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
Gladys Castillo holds a Master’s with Distinction in Renewable Energy, Enterprise and Management from Newcastle University and a Master’s in Business Management with Logistics from Universidad TECMilenio. She led the Python integration training on the programme and brings GIS and environmental engineering expertise from work in the Mexican Caribbean.
Jonathan Forbes is a GreenDelta-certified openLCA trainer and Chemical Engineer with an MSc in Sustainable Chemical Engineering from Newcastle University, currently undertaking a part-time PhD in LCA of microalgae-based carbon capture systems at Wageningen University. He has led LCA projects across carbon dioxide removal, microalgae systems, and EPD development.
Tia Morgan holds a First Class Master’s in Environmental Science from Newcastle University and is also a GreenDelta-certified openLCA trainer. Her LCA work spans medical waste, microalgae food systems, and construction materials, alongside EPD development published on EPD International.
Outcomes
Below280 delivered the programme in person at Newcastle University in December 2025, working with the first cohort of the ReNU+ CDT. All 15 doctoral researchers completed the four-day programme. Participant feedback was positive across the cohort. Below280 is engaged to deliver the equivalent programme to the next ReNU+ cohort in December 2026.
What Participants Said
The ReNU+ CDT aims to train a new generation of Doctoral Carbon Champions, and LCA training is one of the key components for us to do so. As such, we were particularly keen to introduce this training to our PhD researchers in their first year so that LCA can be built into each their projects from early on in their studies. We were delighted that Tom and his team were able to deliver an intensive and interactive 4-day training programme for our students. We were particularly impressed by the level of individual support each student received, with Tom ably assisted by Tia, Jonathan, and Gladys, which was hugely beneficial when delivering training to a cohort with a diverse range of research topics and LCA experience. The session received positive feedback from our first cohort, and we look forward to seeing how the new knowledge, skills, and awareness acquired through the LCA training is expressed in their research. We will be very glad to continue working with Below280 to deliver LCA training to our future cohorts.
Craig Hinds, CDT Manager, Newcastle University, EPSRC ReNU+ CDT
About Below280
Below280 is a specialist LCA, EPD and CBAM consultancy based in Cramlington, Northumberland, and the official UK partner of GreenDelta, developers of openLCA. The team has been delivering LCA work since the discipline’s early adoption in the UK, beginning within the National Renewable Energy Centre and continuing through more than a decade of research, commercial, and policy work.
Below280 delivers LCA training to academic institutions and industry, including doctoral training programmes, university research groups, and sector organisations.
Contact Below280 about LCA training
Frequently Asked Questions
The training uses openLCA, the open-source LCA software developed by GreenDelta. It is free with no licence costs. Below280 is the official UK GreenDelta partner, and the delivery team includes GreenDelta-accredited openLCA trainers.
Yes. Day 1 is built around the ISO 14040/14044 methodological framework, covering goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory, life cycle impact assessment, and interpretation. Participants work through the standards before applying them in software on days 2 through 4.
Yes. Below280 requests each participant’s research topic in advance and builds tailored exercises for Day 4. Doctoral researchers in renewable energy, carbon capture, energy storage, and related fields work on models relevant to their own PhD.
No prior LCA knowledge is needed. Basic computer literacy and the ability to install software is all that is required
Each participant receives a completion certificate, a complete example openLCA model, database installation guides, and comprehensive PDF training notes. All materials remain accessible via a secure download area for at least four weeks after the course.
The programme runs over four consecutive days, 9:00–16:30 each day, delivered in-person at the client’s premises. Newcastle University provided the training facilities for the ReNU+ cohort. Below280 delivers at any suitable UK venue with individual workstations and reliable Wi-Fi for 15 participants.
Yes. Below280 delivers LCA training to academic institutions and industry organisations, including doctoral training programmes and sector bodies such as Composites UK. Content and case studies are adapted to the audience.
openLCA is developed and maintained by GreenDelta, one of the leading LCA software developers globally. It is fully ISO 14040/14044 compliant, supports all major LCA databases, and is used in peer-reviewed research and commercial EPD development worldwide. For PhD researchers, the absence of licence costs and the ability to share models freely with supervisors and collaborators makes it the practical choice. Additionally, thought the IPC feature on openLCA, models can be automated with Python, or whichever language you prefer.
Email support for technical questions is included during the initial implementation period following the course. Below280 also offers follow-on LCA consultancy, EPD development, and advanced training for researchers whose work requires deeper engagement with specific methodological areas.
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