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• 06 / 04 / 2009

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This method, employed primarily in developed countries, is becoming more popular in Latin America; lead by Cuba, Brazil and Mexico, said Elena Rosa Domínguez, director of the Center for Research of Applied Chemistry at the Las Villas University.

The Center for Research of Applied Chemistry administers the LCA program in Cuba.

LCA is an exhaustive evaluation that looks at several of the steps involved in a certain activity. For example, when looking at coffee, a LCA would take into account impacts during the planting, harvesting, transportation, and processing; the effects on people who consume it; and processes related to its packaging including where that packaging ends up.

The center presented 11 research projects during the Latin American Symposium on Life Cycle Analysis that recently concluded in Chile. The projects were well received by the participants and focused on the environmental impact of: the sugar industry, electricity generation, and milk and rice production, among others.

Elena Rosa said that the results from the Life Cycle Analysis studies are applied in new measures to reduce damages, although sometimes the adequate resources do not exist to make the necessary investments. Nevertheless, Rosa said that it is a great help to have an intimate knowledge of the existing problems and solutions.


(Juventud Rebelde)