Abstract
Africa has launched a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) network in conjunction with the Society of Environment Toxicology and
Chemistry (SETAC), and this points to a recognised gap in LCA initiatives between developed and developing countries.
Although South Africa does not have legislation on carrying-out LCA initiatives, there is a huge drive on preserving our
environment, and that is evidenced through the carbon tax bill already proposed. It is due to such developments that the authors
initiated an LCA initiative in the design phase of a Biogas Plant for domestic applications. Thorough LCA initiatives are
notorious for being time consuming and often manipulated by organisations to “greenwash” their products. These challenges
have been a stumbling block for the acceptance of LCA initiatives. The paper looked at the operation of a biogas digester
process, for a biogas digester that has been developed in the University of Johannesburg. From the aforementioned process
fundamental Life Cycle computation was carried out to identify the environmental impact of the product. The study seeks to
encourage the concept of Design for Environment (DfE), and in addition raise awareness on the ever increasing demand of
eco-friendly engineering solutions.