Can LCA be used to accelerate technology adoption? The case for the STEAR adoption risks evaluation framework
Dr. Taylor Uekert of the National Laboratory of the Rockies shows how pairing LCA with a qualitative adoption-risk screen helps R&D teams catch scale-up barriers, such as process scalability and materials availability, before they lock in.
Can LCA be used to accelerate technology adoption? The case for the STEAR adoption risks evaluation framework
Speaker:
Dr. Taylor Uekert. Senior Researcher at the National Laboratory of the Rockies
Date and Time: Thursday, October 29th, 2026 at 1PM ET
About the Webinar:
Decisions at the earliest stages of research and development often shape factors related to the eventual adoption readiness of a technology, such as process scalability or materials availability. However, conventional tools used for assessment at these stages, like life cycle assessment and techno-economic assessment, can miss critical aspects that inhibit adoption. This webinar will introduce the early-Stage Technology Evaluation for Adoption Risks (STEAR) framework as a method for qualitatively evaluating the risks that technologies may face upon scale-up, alongside a chemical sector case study and focus group feedback.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Taylor Uekert is a senior researcher at the National Laboratory of the Rockies. Her research explores the environmental, economic, and supply chain impacts of emerging manufacturing and recycling strategies in the plastic and chemical sectors through transparent and accessible modeling approaches.
