With emphasis on engineering tools that can support Sustainable Development, the student is expected to: • gather basic knowledge about the socio-economic-environmental characterisation of energy and mineral resources; • gain a basic understanding of resource management issues, as well as the analytical tools and evaluation techniques used in environmental, economic, and social assessments related to natural resources and engineering works; • understand what is meant by sustainable development and how sustainability concepts are applied to energy, minerals and in engineering projects; • conduct a life cycle assessment and interpret the results in the context of a more circular and resource efficient economy; • (Geoenergy students) evaluate the possible impact load on soil, water and groundwater that is originated from the oil industry a and to fix the instruments that must be adopted for the remediation of soil, water and groundwater, by considering performances, applicability, project criteria, costs, results.

Basic Principles of Economics. Powerpoints covering basic economic concepts will be posted on the class website. This topic is highly recommended to understanding subsequent materials.

•Role of natural resources in the economy and man’s efforts to modify the earth to his needs. Role and evolution of energy and minerals in the economy: past, present and future perspectives. From the birth of the “Environmental debate” to Net-Zero by 2050 pledges. •Sustainable engineering. Engineers need to solve problems in the real world, one that is fast changing, complex, and interconnected. Because the challenges engineers must face today differ from those of prior generations, and because societies are looking for solutions that are consistent with a sustainable future, the course will address how the practice of engineering is fundamentally changing. Basic concepts of sustainable development, from societal and intergovernmental perspectives, and linkage of industrial ecology to sustainability. •Sustainable development as applied to energy and mineral resources and engineering projects. Sustainability and business management in the energy and mineral industries. Recent SD thinking, sustainability assessments, indicators of sustainability, corporate reporting, and codes of conduct. •Mineral economics and policy. Basic microeconomic theory as applied to non-renewable resources. Economic significance of mineral raw materials and the resource industry, including minerals and energy in GDP and national income and product accounts. Principles of minerals economics, including scarcity and resource depletion, the nature of economic rent. Market structure, international aspects, and trade of minerals. EU Raw Materials Policy. Critical Raw Materials and criticality assessments. •Energy resources economics and policy. Primary and secondary energy sources. Demand and supply of energy. Conventional energy sources: oil, gas and coal. Renewable energies. Evolution of the international energy strategies from the birth of OPEC to present days (Net-Zero C). Energy Management and Industrial Energy Analysis. •Environmental economics. Progression from environmental to ecological economic theory; core concepts, including public goods, common property resources, pollution, and externalities. Market and non-market valuation of damages. The internalization of externalities. Environmental policies and public/private instruments. Applications to energy, mineral, and engineering projects. •Circular economy. Core CE concepts and strategies to achieve a higher resource efficiency. The EC COM/2015/0614 final: Closing the loop - An EU action plan for the Circular Economy. The EU Circular Economy monitoring framework. Circular economy indicators. •Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA methodology to evaluate the environmental profile of production and consumption systems. Origin and basic principles of LCA according to ISO 14040 standards. Use of LCA software applications. Basics of green communication and green labelling schemes, with focus on EU Product Environmental Footprint (PEF). Elements of Social LCA. •(Geonergy students) A particular attention will be devoted to cases concerning oil spill contaminations description and analysis. On the grounds of the assessed contamination the characterization and risk analysis procedures will be developed . The main remediation technologies will be presented concerning the engineering, the potential applicability conditions (kind of pollutants, different geological conditions, kind of pollution source, and so on), the hypothesized efficiency according to the established remediation targets. The treatment of produced water will be examined too.

This is a demanding and time consuming course. For many students, this is a first introduction to economic theory and so requires learning a new ‘language’ and way of thinking about information. Successful students come to class regularly, take notes, read the class materials, complete the practice exercises, ask questions in class or during office hours, and work diligently with their team to create a comprehensive and well written project report.

The course is structured in (A) theoretical lessons, (B) Life Cycle Assessment laboratories and (C) a teamproject. The IT laboratory will be used in order to carry out those practice exercises which require the use of the software packages SimaPro, GaBi and openLCA. Teamprojects must be carried out by teams of 4 to 5 students. Student teams must have members representing at least 2 countries and up to 5. All team project topics must be approved by the Professors. Students can choose any of the following: *Plan A. Report dealing with the industrial-economic-sustainability overview of a mineral product, including issues of mine and product life cycle, and sustainability assessment. *Plan B. Report on the Life Cycle Assessment of a product or process, including discussion of environmental and sustainability implications. Detailed guidelines will be distributed.

Powerpoint Slides available at the Politecnico web site. References: Field, Environmental Economics, Chapters 5 and 6, McGraw-Hill, Irwin, 2009. Gibson, et al., Sustainability Assessment, Chapter 3, Earthscan, 2005. Hacket, Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, Chapters 3 and 4, M.E. Sharpe, 2006. IEA, World Energy Outlook, International Energy Agency. IEA, Renewables Information. International Energy Agency. Tilton, Mineral Economics: an overview of the discipline, 2007. Turner, Pearce and Bateman, 1993, Chapters 5 and 8, Johns Hopkins, 1993. Additional supplementary articles and materials (uploaded in the Politecnico web site)

Exam: Written test; Group project;

The final exam consists of a written test (1,5 hours) made of open (essay) questions and short exercises (oral examination not allowed). Examples of written tests from previous years will be distributed via Portale della didattica. The final mark is given 60% according to the mark obtained in the written examination (passmark 16/30) and 40% according to the mark obtained in the Team Project report. In order to attend the final exam it is necessary: -to register via web site of the Politecnico within the deadline; -to submit the Team Project report any time, but not later than 5 days before the written examination. The written examination must be in legible English. The use of teaching material during the exam is not allowed.

In addition to the message sent by the online system, students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) are invited to directly inform the professor in charge of the course about the special arrangements for the exam that have been agreed with the Special Needs Unit. The professor has to be informed at least one week before the beginning of the examination session in order to provide students with the most suitable arrangements for each specific type of exam.