Eppendorf

Project result: Poster (PDF)

Dimensions of carbon footprint reduction in the lifecycle of a thermomixer

Description of the company

Eppendorf is a leading life science company that develops and sells instruments, consumables, and services for liquid-, sample-, and cell handling in laboratories worldwide. Its product range includes pipettes and automated pipetting systems, dispensers, centrifuges, mixers, spectrometers, and DNA amplification equipment as well as ultra-low temperature freezers, fermentors, bioreactors, CO2 incubators, shakers, and cell manipulation systems. Consumables such as pipette tips, test tubes, microtiter plates, and single-use bioreactor vessels complement the range of highest-quality premium products.

Situation

Our claim at Eppendorf is to minimize the carbon footprint of our devices. In the past, we have focused on the energy consumption of the device at the customer site to achieve this goal. In comparison to most competitors, our devices show superior performance here.

Problem

However, energy consumption at the customer site is only one contribution to the carbon footprint of a device throughout its cradle-to-grave lifecycle. Carbon emissions also  originate from e.g., raw material extraction, part production, logistics and device assembly. The evaluation of the related carbon emissions might be much more cumbersome; however, only if quantitative figures are available, efficient and reliable measures can be taken to reduce carbon emission sustainably.

Aims of the project

Based on the carbon lifecycle assessment of an Eppendorf thermomixer, requirements shall be derived that serve as design input for the development of future Eppendorf products.

Scopes
•    Identify product lifecycle stages to be analyzed concerning their carbon footprint
•    Develop methodologies to derive carbon emission quantities during each lifecycle stage
•    Apply the methodology to our currently marketed thermomixer devices
•    Identify the most significant contributions to carbon emission
•    Derive requirements for future products that ensure a holisitic minimum carbon footprint

Target group (students)
For this project, we are looking for a highly motivated interdisciplinary team of future engineers (mainly electronics, mechanics & business functions. Software also possible) which combines an analytic mindset with commitment to sustainability.

Dates
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Registration
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