Rafael Mauricio Eufrasio Espinosa
Management School
Research Associate
- Profile
-
Rafael is an interdisciplinary researcher enthusiastic about sustainable supply chains for carbon removal, modelling, and mitigation. He holds a BA and MA from Mexico and a DPhil degree from the University of Sheffield in the UK.
His doctoral research focused on the Spatial-Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of building materials, considering bioregional approaches in Mexico. Traditional LCA results can be difficult to interpret and present limitations as communication tools for decision-making. To address this, Rafael developed Spatial Life Cycle Modelling based on Geographical Information Systems (GIS) as a communication tool to improve our understanding of environmental impacts by identifying hotspots in thematic maps.
Originally from Mexico, he previously worked as an architectural practitioner and urban planner.
- Research interests
-
Rafael also has broader interests in topics such as resource scarcity, supply chain resilience, circular economy, and their integration through new AI analysis techniques.
- Projects
Projects
Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW)
As a Research Associate at The Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation (LC3M), Rafael's activities involve Spatial, Techno-economic, and Life Cycle
analysis to study the suitability, economic cost, and impact of Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) as a technology for carbon dioxide removal. He evaluates the environmental impacts of the potential large-scale deployment of ERW, considering different energy policy scenarios and supply chains in each country. This includes forecasting energy systems and multimodal transport networks.