Dr Tarpani is a Research Assistant (RA) specialising in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), and Circular Economy (CE). His work applies these methodologies and its principles to evaluate the environmental, economic, and social implications of technologies and strategies across critical sectors, including water, energy, food, materials, and digitalisation.
His early research focused on the use of biopolymers to remove aluminium residues from drinking water, identifying them as low-cost and effective treatment agents. He later advanced to evaluating the sustainability of innovative wastewater and sewage sludge treatment processes for removing pharmaceuticals and personal care products. His work also addresses global water scarcity through comparative LCAs of potable water alternatives, including seawater desalination by reverse osmosis, indirect potable wastewater reuse, and rainwater harvesting – with particular emphasis on applications in the Global South. In addition, he has explored renewable energy integration for water supply, such as coupling solar fields with grid electricity for multi-effect distillation of brackish water in isolated communities.
Dr Tarpani has publications in the last years on the life cycle impacts of graphene applications in cement and desalination. His most recent research has developed the framework Circular Strategy Assessment for Digital Services (CADiS), designed to assess the circularity and environmental performance of digital services. His current research interests include sustainable and sufficiency-oriented cities, as well as the environmental implications of artificial intelligence (AI).
