Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-19T12:46:00.006Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - LCA, LCC, and S-LCA Applied to the Bioeconomy

from Part III

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2023

Piergiuseppe Morone ,
Dalia D'Amato ,
Nicolas Befort  and
Gülşah Yilan
Piergiuseppe Morone
Affiliation:
Unitelma Sapienza
Dalia D'Amato
Affiliation:
Finnish Environment Institute (Suomen Ympäristökeskus - SYKE)
Nicolas Befort
Affiliation:
NEOMA BS
Gülşah Yilan
Affiliation:
Unitelma Sapienza University of Rome
Get access

Summary

This chapter presents tools that focus on products and processes. Specifically, the chapter moves from the assumption that a bioeconomy is unsustainable by definition. Its sustainability (and superiority with respect to the fossil-based economy) has to be proved in a rigorous way, making use of improved methodologies and scientifically sound assessment tools. To this end, this chapter provides an overview of a harmonised approach for an environmental (LCA), social (SLCA), and economic (LCC) assessment of the sustainability of bio-based products and processes – taking into due consideration elements like end-of-life options as well as indirect land use change associated with the market penetration of bio-based products.

Keywords

life cycle thinkinglife cycle assessmentenvironmental impactsocial impactlife cycle costingsustainability assessment
Type
Chapter
Information
The Circular Bioeconomy
Theories and Tools for Economists and Sustainability Scientists
 , pp. 125 - 149
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Antar, M., Lyu, D., Nazari, M., Shah, A., Zhou, X., & Smith, D. L. (2021). Biomass for a Sustainable Bioeconomy: An Overview of World Biomass Production and Utilization. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 139, 110691.Google Scholar
Baumann, H., & Tillman, A.-M. (2004). The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to LCA : An Orientation in Life Cycle Assessment Methodology and Application. Lund: Studentlitteratur, Print.Google Scholar
Benoît, C., Andrews, E., Barthel, L., … Manhart, A. (2009). Guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products social and socio-economic LCA guidelines complementing environmental LCA and life cycle costing, contributing to the full assessment of goods and services within the context of sustainable development.Google Scholar
Bouillass, G., Blanc, I., & Perez-Lopez, P. (2021). Step-by-Step Social Life Cycle Assessment Framework: A Participatory Approach for the Identification and Prioritization of Impact Subcategories Applied to Mobility Scenarios. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 26(12), 2408–2435.Google Scholar
Carus, M., & Dammer, L. (2018). The Circular Bioeconomy – Concepts, Opportunities, and Limitations. Industrial Biotechnology, 14(2), 83–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D’Adamo, I., Falcone, P. M., & Morone, P. (2020). A New Socio-economic Indicator to Measure the Performance of Bioeconomy Sectors in Europe. Ecological Economics, 176, 106724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D’Adamo, I., Gastaldi, M., Ioppolo, G., & Morone, P. (2022). An Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in Italian Cities: Performance Measurements and Policy Implications. Land Use Policy, 120, 106278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahiya, S., Katakojwala, R., Ramakrishna, S., & Mohan, S. V. (2020). Biobased Products and Life Cycle Assessment in the Context of Circular Economy and Sustainability. Materials Circular Economy, 2(1), 7.Google Scholar
de Besi, M., & McCormick, K. (2015). Towards a Bioeconomy in Europe: National, Regional and Industrial Strategies. Sustainability, 7(8), 10461–10478.Google Scholar
de Luca, A. I., Iofrida, N., Leskinen, P., … Gulisano, G. (2017). Life Cycle Tools Combined with Multi-Criteria and Participatory Methods for Agricultural Sustainability: Insights from a Systematic and Critical Review. Science of The Total Environment, 595, 352–370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
EC. (2018). A Sustainable Bioeconomy for Europe: Strengthening the Connection between Economy, Society and the Environment. Brussels: European Commission. Retrieved from https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/edace3e3-e189-11e8-b690-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-149755478Google Scholar
Falcone, G., de Luca, A., Stillitano, T., Strano, A., Romeo, G., & Gulisano, G. (2016). Assessment of Environmental and Economic Impacts of Vine-Growing Combining Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costing and Multicriterial Analysis. Sustainability, 8(8), 793.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fauzi, R. T., Lavoie, P., Sorelli, L., Heidari, M. D., & Amor, B. (2019). Exploring the Current Challenges and Opportunities of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment. Sustainability, 11(3), 636.Google Scholar
Finkbeiner, M., Schau, E. M., Lehmann, A., & Traverso, M. (2010). Towards Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment. Sustainability, 2(10), 3309–3322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gnansounou, E., & Pandey, A. (2016). Life-Cycle Assessment of Biorefineries, Elsevier.Google Scholar
Heinonen, T, Pukkala, T, Mehtätalo, L, Asikainen, A, Kangas, J, Peltola, H. (2017) Scenario Analyses for the Effects of Harvesting Intensity on Development of Forest Resources, Timber Supply, Carbon Balance and Biodiversity of Finnish Forestry. Forest Policy and Economics, 80, 80–98.Google Scholar
Huang, I. B., Keisler, J., & Linkov, I. (2011). Multi-criteria Decision Analysis in Environmental Sciences: Ten Years of Applications and Trends. Science of The Total Environment 409(19), 3578–3594.Google Scholar
Hunkeler, D., Lichtenvort, K., & Rebitzer, G. (2008). Environmental Life Cycle Costing, CRC press.Google Scholar
Hurmekoski, E., Myllyviita, T., Seppälä, J., Heinonen, T., Kilpeläinen, A., Pukkala, T., et al. (2020) Impact of Structural Changes in Wood-using Industries on Net Carbon Emissions in Finland. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 24(4), 899–912.Google Scholar
Imbert, E., & Falcone, P. M. (2020). Chapter 6. Social Assessment, pp. 166–191.Google Scholar
ISO. Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Principles and framework. ISO 14040., Pub. L. No. ISO 14040. (2006a).Google Scholar
ISO. Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Requirements and guidelines. ISO 14044., Pub. L. No. ISO 14044. (2006b).Google Scholar
Ladu, L., & Morone, P. (2021). Holistic Approach in the Evaluation of the Sustainability of Bio-Based Products: An Integrated Assessment Tool. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 28, 911–924e6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lokesh, K., Matharu, A. S., Kookos, I. K., … Clark, J. (2020). Hybridised Sustainability Metrics for Use in Life Cycle Assessment of Bio-based Products: Resource Efficiency and Circularity. Green Chemistry, 22(3), 803–813.Google Scholar
Marazza, D., Merloni, E., & Balugani, E. (2020). Chapter 7. Indirect Land Use Change and Bio-based Products, pp. 192–222.Google Scholar
Martin, M., Røyne, F., Ekvall, T., & Moberg, Å. (2018). Life Cycle Sustainability Evaluations of Bio-based Value Chains: Reviewing the Indicators from A Swedish Perspective. Sustainability, 10(2), 547.Google Scholar
Martínez-Blanco, J., Lehmann, A., Chang, Y. J., & Finkbeiner, M. (2015). Social Organizational LCA (SOLCA) – A New Approach for Implementing Social LCA. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 20(11), 1586–1599.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miah, J. H., Koh, S. C. L., & Stone, D. (2017). A Hybridised Framework Combining Integrated Methods for Environmental Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing. Journal of Cleaner Production, 168, 846–866.Google Scholar
Morone, P., & Yilan, G. (2020). A Paradigm Shift in Sustainability: From Lines to Circles. Acta Innovations, (36), 5–16.Google Scholar
Mukherjee, S., Sharma, P. K., & Kumar, M. (2020). Bioeconomy and Environmental Sustainability. In Current Developments in Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Elsevier, pp. 373–397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norris, G. A. (2006). Social Impacts in Product Life Cycles – Towards Life Cycle Attribute Assessment. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 11(S1), 97–104.Google Scholar
Popovic, T., & Kraslawski, A. (2015). Social Sustainability of Complex Systems, pp. 605–614.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sijtsema, S. J., Onwezen, M. C., Reinders, M. J., Dagevos, H., Partanen, A., & Meeusen, M. (2016). Consumer Perception of Bio-Based Products – An Exploratory Study in 5 European Countries. NJAS: Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences, 77(1), 61–69.Google Scholar
Soimakallio, S, Saikku, L, Valsta, L, Pingoud, K. (2016). Climate Change Mitigation Challenge for Wood Utilization: The Case of Finland. Environmental Science & Technology, 50(10):5127–34.Google Scholar
Statistics Finland, 2021. Greenhouse gas emissions in Finland 1990 to 2019. National Inventory Report under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. Submission to the European Union, p. 581.Google Scholar
Swarr, T. E., Hunkeler, D., Klöpffer, W., … Pagan, R. (2011). Environmental Life-Cycle Costing: A Code of Practice. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 16(5), 389–391.Google Scholar
UNEP. (2020). Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products and Organizations. Retrieved from www.lifecycleinitiative.org/library/guidelines-for-social-life-cycle-assessment-of-products-and-organisations-2020/Google Scholar
UNEP/SETAC. (2011). Towards a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment.Google Scholar
Vance, C., Sweeney, J., & Murphy, F. (2022). Space, Time, and Sustainability: The Status and Future of Life Cycle Assessment Frameworks for Novel Biorefinery Systems. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 159, 112259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vera, I., Wicke, B., Lamers, P., … van der Hilst, F. (2022). Land Use for Bioenergy: Synergies and Trade-offs Between Sustainable Development Goals. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 161, 112409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiss, M., Haufe, J., Carus, M., … Patel, M. K. (2012). A Review of the Environmental Impacts of Biobased Materials. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 16, S169–S181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yilan, G., Cordella, M., & Morone, P. (2023). Evaluating and Managing the Sustainability Performance of Investments in Green and Sustainable Chemistry: Development and Application of an Approach to Assess Bio-Based and Biodegradable Plastics. Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, 6, 100353.Google Scholar
Yilan, G., Kadirgan, M. A. N., & Çiftçioğlu, G. A. (2020). Analysis of Electricity Generation Options for Sustainable Energy Decision Making: The Case of Turkey. Renewable Energy, 146, 519–529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yıldız-Geyhan, E., Yılan, G., Altun-Çiftçioğlu, G. A., & Kadırgan, M. A. N. (2019). Environmental and Social Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Different Packaging Waste Collection Systems. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 143, 119–132.Google Scholar
Yu, D., Tan, H., & Ruan, Y. (2011). A Future Bamboo-Structure Residential Building Prototype in China: Life Cycle Assessment of Energy Use and Carbon Emission. Energy and Buildings, 43(10), 2638–2646.Google Scholar
Zeug, W., Bezama, A., & Thrän, D. (2020). Towards a Holistic and Integrated Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of the Bioeconomy: Background on Concepts, Visions and Measurements, UFZ Discussion Paper.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×