Work In Progress
Select projects curranty in progress at the Makov lab
Cultured Blue Foods
Emerging research, though still limited, suggests that CM is associated with lower greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and water depletion compared to conventional animal-based products. However, whether these findings apply to cultured blue foods—fish and seafood, which are vital sources of proteins and nutrients—remains largely unknown. Building on industry data, we use LCA to provide one of the first robust assessments of GHG, water and land use impacts associated with cultured blue foods.
Sustainable Optimization of Cultured Meat Production
Lab-based meat, also known as cultured meat (CM hereafter in short), is a novel food type that is increasingly put forward as a more sustainable substitute to conventional animal-based products. In addition to energy demand, the growth medium used during cell cultivation emerges as a major environmental hotspot. in this project, we examine the potential to improve the environmental performance of CM by rejuvenating the spent medium, i.e., selectively extracting lactate and ammonium while maintaining all other essential components.
Apparel Impact Calculator
In the apparel sector, LCA is commonly used to quantify the environmental impacts associated with a particular product, and identify environmental hotspots along the full lifecycle. While LCA is an extremely useful tool, performing product-based analyses is often costly and time-consuming, even when the system boundaries are limited to cradle-to-gate (i.e. production stages). To address this gap, we develop an open-access apparel LCA-based tool and generate generalized cradle-to-gate impact factors for apparel products based on realistic market mixes.
Second Hand Market Rebound Effect
Reuse through second hand is widely recognized as one of the main cornerstones of sustainability and a key strategy in the much-needed circular economy transition. Yet the availability and expansion of second-hand markets often times triggers additional demand- a phenomenon typically studied under the construct of environmental rebound effect. Using data on second hand sales, surveys, econometric modeling and EEIO we estimate rebound effects from second hand apparel in the US.
