doc. Ing. Jaroslav Bernas, Ph.D.

Area of interest: Agri-environmental sciences, ecology, sustainability, special crop production, environmental impact assessment

Field of study: Life Cycle Assessment; LCA

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies are used to determine the environmental impacts of products, services or organizations. The life cycle assessment method is also the basis for Environmental product declaration; Carbon footprint; Greenhouse gas report; Environmental footprint of the product and organization; Global Reporting Initiative; Ecodesign and Eco-innovation; Water footprint, and more.

LCA studies can serve as a tool for reducing the environmental impact of companies, as motivational aspects in communication with the customer, as motivational tools for environmental policy (e.g. agriculture), for increasing competitiveness, or for development and research. The benefit of the LCA method is its ability to interpret data into a clear set of environmental indicators or into an ecological footprint. With the help of LCA, it is possible to compare the environmental impacts of products with regard to their function or evaluate the environmental impacts with respect to the entire product life cycle. The LCA study generally has the ability to identify the transmission of environmental problems both in space and between different impact categories. It is, therefore, possible to detect the transfer of problems from place to place. The outputs of a particular LCA study are not valid in general but always under given and clearly specified conditions. The benefit of the LCA method is just a clear definition of the conditions of validity of studies, placing the knowledge about the interactions of technological processes and the environment into a specific technological, environmental, and socio-economic context.

Selected author's publications:

Bernas, J., Koppensteiner, L. J., Tichá, M., Kaul, H.-P., Klimek-Kopyra, A., Euteneuer, P., Moitzi, G., & Neugschwandtner, R. W. (2023). Optimal environmental design of nitrogen application rate for facultative wheat using life cycle assessment. European Journal of Agronomy, 146, 126813.

Bernas, J., Bernasová, T., Kaul, H.-P., Wagentristl, H., Moitzi, G., Neugschwandtner, R.W. (2021). Sustainability Estimation of Oat:Pea Intercrops from the Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment Perspective. Agronomy, 11, 2433.

Bernas, J., Bernasová, T., Gerstberger, P., Moudrý, J., & Konvalina, P. (2021). Cup plant, an alternative to conventional silage from a LCA perspective. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 1-16.

Bernas, J., Bernasová, T., Nedbal, V., Neugschwandtner, R.W. (2021). Agricultural LCA for Food Oil of Winter Rapeseed, Sunflower, and Hemp, Based on Czech Standard Cultivation Practices. Agronomy, 11, 2301.

Bernas, J., Konvalina, P., Burghila, D. V., Teodorescu, R. I., & Bucur, D. (2020). The Energy and Environmental  Potential of  Waste from the Processing of Hulled Wheat Species. Agriculture, 10(12), 592.

Bernas, J., Moudrý Jr, J., Kopecký, M., Konvalina, P., & Štěrba, Z. (2019). Szarvasi-1 and Its Potential to Become a Substitute for Maize Which Is Grown for the Purposes of Biogas Plants in the Czech Republic. Agronomy, 9(2), 98.