Standardized and simplified life-cycle assessment (LCA) as a driver for more sustainable biofuels

The assessment of environmental impacts along the life cycle of biofuels is a complex and resource-demanding task that cannot be afforded by small producers in developing countries. Therefore, certification schemes bear the risk that small and independent producers will be locked out and the market for sustainable biofuels will be dominated by international investors and large-scale plantations. However, many environmental impacts of various production chains of biofuels and feedstocks are already known. This knowledge has been used to create a web-based questionnaire for a “Sustainability Quick Check for Biofuels” (SQCB, http://www.sqcb.org). SQCB reduces the need for user entries to the most relevant and best-known parameters of the biofuel production chain. Based on this user input, a specific inventory is automatically modelled and linked to background data. SQCB then calculates the environmental impact assessment and checks the results against sustainability criteria. Since the results are calculated immediately, key environmental factors can be interactively analyzed. One major goal of the SQCB is to support the market entrance for local biofuel producers, given that strengthening local stakeholders is a key driver for empowering rural communities in development countries.     

Can we meet targets for biofuels and renewable energy in transport given the constraints imposed by policy in agriculture and energy?

The deployment of biofuels is significantly affected by policy in energy and agriculture. In the energy arena, concerns regarding the sustainability of biofuel systems and their impact on food prices led to a set of sustainability criteria in EU Directive 2009/28/EC on Renewable Energy. In addition, the 10% biofuels target by 2020 was replaced with a 10% renewable energy in transport target. This allows the share of renewable electricity used by electric vehicles to contribute to the mix in achieving the 2020 target. Furthermore, only biofuel systems that effect a 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared with the fuel they replace are allowed to contribute to meeting the target. In the agricultural arena, cross-compliance (which is part of EU Common Agricultural Policy) dictates the allowable ratio of grassland to total agricultural land, and has a significant impact on which biofuels may be supported. This paper outlines the impact of these policy areas and their implications for the production and use of biofuels in terms of the 2020 target for 10% renewable transport energy, focusing on Ireland. The policies effectively impose constraints on many conventional energy crop biofuels and reinforce the merits of using biomethane, a gaseous biofuel. The analysis shows that Ireland can potentially satisfy 15% of renewable energy in transport by 2020 (allowing for double credit for biofuels from residues and ligno-cellulosic materials, as per Directive 2009/28/EC) through the use of indigenous biofuels: grass biomethane, waste and residue derived biofuels, electric vehicles and rapeseed biodiesel.     

Modelling scenarios towards a sustainable use of natural resources in Europe

Issues related to the unsustainable use of natural resources are currently high on the policy agenda both in Europe and in other world regions. A large number of studies assessed past developments of material use and resource productivities. However, little effort has so far been devoted to forecasting future patterns of natural resource use and to provide ex-ante assessments of environmental and economic effects of different resource policies. This paper presents results from the international research project “MOSUS” (Modelling opportunities and limits for restructuring Europe towards sustainability), which was designed to fill some of these research gaps. In this project, a global economy–energy model system was extended by a worldwide database on material inputs, in order to run three scenarios for European development up to the year 2020: a baseline scenario without additional policy intervention and two so-called “sustainability scenarios”, simulating the implementation of six packages of policy measures geared towards decoupling economic activity from material and energy throughput. These measures included, amongst others, taxes on CO₂ emissions and transport, measures to increase metal recycling rates, and a consulting programme to raise material productivity of industrial production. This paper presents the evaluation of the three scenarios with regard to the extraction of natural resources on the European and global level. In the baseline scenario, used domestic extraction within the EU remains roughly constant until 2020, while unused domestic extraction decreases (particularly overburden from mining activities). The stabilisation of domestic extraction, however, is accompanied by growing imports of material intensive products. This indicates that the material requirements of the European economy will increasingly be met through imports from other world regions, causing shifts of environmental pressures related to material extraction and processing away from Europe towards resource-rich countries. The implementation of the six sustainability policy measures applied in the sustainability scenarios results in a slight absolute reduction of domestic extraction in all European countries and significantly increased resource productivities. The results suggest that policy instruments aimed at raising eco-efficiency on the micro level can be conducive to economic growth. To limit rebound effects on the macro level, these instruments must, however, be accompanied by other policies influencing the prices of energy and materials. With regard to global resource use trends, the baseline scenario forecasts a significant growth of resource extraction, particularly in developing countries, reflecting the growing demand for natural resources of emerging economies such as China and India.     

Adaptation and mitigation strategies in agriculture: an analysis of potential synergies

As climate changes due to rising concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, agriculture will be one of the key human activities affected. Projections show that while overall global food production in the coming decades may keep pace with the food requirements of a growing world population, climate change might worsen existing regional disparities because it will reduce crop yields mostly in lands located at lower latitudes where many developing countries are situated. Strategies to enhance local adaptation capacity are therefore needed to minimize climatic impacts and to maintain regional stability of food production. At the same time, agriculture as a sector offers several opportunities to mitigate the portion of global greenhouse gas emissions that are directly dependent upon land use, land-use change, and land-management techniques. This paper reviews issues of agriculture and climate change, with special attention to adaptation and mitigation. Specifically, as adaptation and mitigation strategies in agriculture are implemented to alleviate the potential negative effects of climate change, key synergies need to be identified, as mitigation practices may compete with modifications to local agricultural practices aimed at maintaining production and income. Under future climate and socio-economic pressures, land managers and farmers will be faced with challenges in regard to selecting those mitigation and adaptation strategies that together meet food, fiber and climate policy requirements.     

Linking analyses and environmental Kuznets curves for aggregated material flows in the EU

The relationship between economy and environmental impacts has been an essential topic in the discussion on environmental problems for a long time. From the 1990s, this relationship has gained a position in environmental policy as well. De-coupling the use of natural resources from economic growth has been set as one of the policy goals in the sixth Environmental Action Programme by the European Commission. In the scientific discussion, the concept of environmental Kuznets curve deals closely with the de-coupling or de-linking phenomenon. Aggregated material flows, on the other hand, have often been considered as a macro-level proxy of environmental degradation. Different methods or approaches have been designed for “sustainability” or “carrying capacity” evaluation as well. The objective of this article is (i) to discuss the possibilities and limitations of using environmental and economic indicators in the sustainability analysis at the macro level, (ii) to present a theoretical framework for the linking analysis including a classification of the degrees of de-linking/re-linking environmental impacts from/to economic growth, and (iii) to give an empirical example by using indicators of direct material flows as a proxy of environmental degradation and by applying the framework into the European Union and its 15 member countries. The results show that the trend in the European Union is a weak de-linking of material flows from economic growth during the years 1980–2000. In other words, material intensity of the economy has generally decreased due to increased efficiency, but the absolute amount of material use has increased, although at a lower rate of increase than economic growth. On the other hand, there is a quite large variation between different EU member countries. However, absolute decrease in the use of materials cannot be found as a continuous trend between the years 1980 and 2000 in any of the studied EU member countries.     

Constructing sustainable palm oil: how actors define sustainability

Biofuels as a renewable source of energy have gained considerable importance in recent years. The use of biofuels is expected to rise since national governments of developed nations like the US and European countries see it as one of the ways to fulfill climate targets and increase the security in their energy supply. Production of biofuels is also expected to rise as developing nations see in biofuels the opportunity for connecting to international markets through supplying a new demand in the energy market.Several studies report on the environmental, social and economic gains and detriments that can arise from increased biofuel production and consumption. However, research that provides insight into the way in which such issues are defined by actors within the product chain is scarce. In this article we analyse how the strategies and value definitions of actors involved in the production and consumption of biofuels lead to specific definitions of sustainability. The empirical material concerns the chain of palm oil production in Colombia and electricity generation in the Netherlands. It is analysed using the method of action-in-context, which allows us to uncover the level and source of diversity of sustainability definitions in the product chain.While the current growth in production of palm oil is definitely buyer driven, the analysis of various activities in the chain shows that several aspects of sustainability are defined in more complex actor fields throughout the product chain.     

全球稀土贸易的资源环境净效益与公平性

为解决稀土资源贸易的资源环境不公平问题,结合生命周期评价方法与成本效益分析方法,核算了稀土资源产品国际贸易中所有国家的实际资源环境净效益,并判断未来国际制造业的三大主要发展趋势带来的影响.结果表明,2018年稀土资源产品国际贸易的实际资源环境净效益高达85亿美元,主要贡献来自于稀土原材料产品.未来国际制造业的发展格局下,尽管绿色发展与气候目标政策会降低17%的净效益,但依然是改善资源环境不公平问题的关键政策路径;产业链转移重构政策会减少11%的净效益,加剧经济水平较低国家的资源环境不公平问题;新兴制造业发展政策会增加76%的净效益,但经济水平较低国家的资源环境不公平问题依然较为严峻.     

Climate change and the growth of the livestock sector in developing countries

Livestock production systems will inevitably be affected as a result of changes in climate and climate variability, with impacts on peoples’ livelihoods. At the same time, livestock food chains are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Agriculture and livestock in particular will need to play a greater role than they have hitherto in reducing emissions in the future. Adaptation and mitigation may require significant changes in production technology and farming systems, which could affect productivity. Given what is currently known about the likely impacts on livestock systems, however, the costs of mitigating and adapting to climate change in the aggregate may not represent an enormous constraint to the growth of the global livestock sector, in its bid to meet increasing demand for livestock products. Different livestock systems have different capacities to adapt or to take on board the policy and regulatory changes that may be required in the future. Vulnerability of households dependent on livestock, particularly in the drier areas of developing countries, is likely to increase substantially, with concomitant impacts on poverty and inequity. The capacity of these systems to adapt and to yield up their carbon sequestration potential deserves considerable further study. Comprehensive frameworks need to be developed to assess impacts and trade-offs, in order to identify and target adaptation and mitigation options that are appropriate for specific contexts, and that can contribute to environmental sustainability as well as to poverty alleviation and economic development.     

气候变化对中国黄淮海农业区小麦生产影响模拟研究

研究首先利用1980-2000年黄淮海农业区10个站点的农业数据对CER ES-W heat动态机理作物模型进行详细的验证,然后将CERESW-heat模型与两个全球气候模式(G ISS和H adley)结合,同时考虑到CO2对小麦的直接施肥作用,模拟了黄淮海农业区10个站点在IPCC SR ES A 2和B2两个气候情景下雨养和灌溉小麦产量和水分利用的变化趋势。得到如下结论:在不考虑CO2直接肥效的情况下,黄淮海农业区雨养小麦全面减产,空间分布特点是西部减产幅度大,东部减产幅度小;在充分灌溉的情况下,灌溉小麦产量维持了现有水平,但灌溉水量增加。因此,在未来该地区水资源短缺的情况下,如何合理利用有限的水资源将成为黄淮海农业区主要面临的问题。在考虑CO2直接肥效的情况下,雨养和灌溉小麦产量都全面增产,雨养小麦的增产幅度明显偏高,灌溉小麦约增产10%～30%,但CO 2的肥效能否充分实现还需要进一步研究证明。     

Soy production and certification: the case of Argentinean soy-based biodiesel

With the rising emphasis on biofuels as a potential solution to climate change, this paper asks whether certification schemes, developed to promote sustainable feedstock production, are able to deliver genuine sustainability benefits. The Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) is a certification scheme that aims to promote responsible soy production through the development of principles and criteria. However, can and does this initiative address the negative impacts associated with the intensive production of soy? Taking the example of soy biodiesel produced in Argentina, this paper asks whether the social and environmental impacts of soybean production can be mitigated by the RTRS. It concludes that at present certification schemes are unlikely to be able to address either the institutional challenges associated with their implementation or the detrimental impacts of the additional demand generated by biofuels.     

Different accounting approaches to harvested wood products in national greenhouse gas inventories: their incentives to achievement of major policy goals

The 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories provide four accounting approaches to harvested wood products (HWP). These differ in the way they define system boundaries. Therefore, reported national carbon emissions differ according to the accounting approach used, and the implications of each accounting approach differ for different countries. This paper investigates four IPCC accounting approaches, as well as the 1996 IPCC default approach, to determine whether they provide incentives to achievement of major policy goals related to climate, forest, trade, and waste, taking into account indirect effects of wood use change (i.e., the effects on forest carbon stocks and on carbon emissions from the use of other fuels and materials). Conclusions are as follows: (1) The analyses produced many different results from those of previous studies. These differences appear to be attributable to whether or not the indirect effects of wood use change are taken into account and the reference scenarios that are assumed; (2) The best approaches for achieving each policy goal differ, and the best approaches for particular policy goals might pose problems for other policy goals; (3) Overall, the IPCC default approach is the best accounting approach from the viewpoint of greater compatibility with, or integration across, the array of policy goals, although it does not address the issue of an increasing global carbon stock in HWP.     

多晶硅光伏组件生产可持续性评价

分别采用了全生命周期评价软件、全生命周期成本法、社会性指数评价法,对我国多晶硅光伏组件生产阶段的环境影响、经济性和社会性影响进行了定量评估.结果表明:多晶硅生产、多晶硅电池片生产、电池组装3个阶段的环境影响相对较大,其中多晶硅生产阶段对气候变化的贡献率在50%以上.经济成本分析显示,原料和劳动力的成本占总成本的70%以上.多晶硅电池片生产阶段的成本在光伏组件生产过程的5个阶段中所占的比重最大.社会性影响分析结果显示,在光伏组件生产中,劳动岗位增加的贡献指数值为0.72,劳动力就业贡献较大,而生产能力提高的贡献指数值仅为0.18,显示生产能力提高的贡献较小.研究显示,为提高多晶硅光伏组件的可持续性,在生产过程中需寻找清洁能源、寻找环保替代材料以降低环境影响;积极鼓励支持企业进行技术研发创新,着力提高电池转换效率以降低生产成本;通过市场良性竞争提高多晶硅光伏行业的社会贡献.      

Shorter fries? An alternative policy to support a reduction of nitrogen contamination from agricultural crop production

Feeding the growing population of the world poses significant policy challenges for the sustainability of global ecosystems. A prime example is the degradation of water quality due to the growing imbalance in the terrestrial nitrogen (N) cycle linked to increasing production of reactive N (Nr). Environmental impacts such as groundwater quality degradation and eutrophication of coastal estuaries tend to be local in nature but may be closely connected to global economic factors. Environmental accounting of the N fluxes entering, leaving or remaining in Prince Edward Island (PEI), a small agricultural region, demonstrate the importance of a single industry (potato production) in controlling the local N cycle. The resulting burden of Nr has its most profound effect on groundwater, the sole source of drinking water and the primary pathway of N to the Province's economically and ecologically important estuaries. At the same time, agriculture is a vital part of the local economy, and regulators are faced with the challenge of meeting environmental goals and still maintaining an industry that is competitive and responsive to global market trends. New, innovative policy alternatives are needed to foster more effective implementation of sustainable agricultural practices. An approach that focuses on influencing consumer choices toward more environmentally responsible production practices at the point of origin may help remove some of the important, non-technical barriers to sustainable food production practices. In practice, a system that documents the environmental performance throughout the full supply chain from producer to retailer would have to be implemented.     

The natural advantage of regions: linking sustainability,innovation, and regional development in Australia

The combined impacts of the financial crisis and climate change are driving the evolution of sustainable business and changing the way that governments plan for development. Markets are emerging for a range of environmentally orientated products and services as societies move (or lurch) towards reducing impacts and adapt to changing conditions. National governments are actively formulating policy and providing investment to develop green economies as one of the responses to the global financial crisis. Many of the political and economic drivers have been focused at the international and national scale, and while critical for setting the national framework for development, it often neglects the key role that regions and localities can play in ecological modernization. This paper explores two regional case studies in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, that are initiating shifts towards networks of sustainable businesses and communities and offers recommendations for further policy development. The focus of this paper is on the evolving regional sustainability market and its relationship to other social institutions including governments, communities and the individual. The unifying concept is the idea of the ‘natural advantage’, a model that integrates innovation and sustainability as a part of the regional development policy agenda.     

Sustainability criteria for bioenergy systems: results from an expert survey

Environmental impacts associated with the use of fossil fuels, rising prices, potential limitations in supply and concerns about regional and national security are driving the development and use of biomass for bioenergy, biofuels and bioproducts. However, the use of biomass does not automatically imply that its production, conversion and use are sustainable. In order to operationalize sustainability assessments of biomass systems, it is crucial to identify critical criteria, but keep their number and measurement at a manageable level. The selection of these criteria can vary depending on individual's expertise, geographical region where they work, and spatial scale they are focused on. No clear consensus has yet emerged on what experts consider as critical indicators of sustainability. Objectives of this paper were to analyze how key experts perceive the 35 sustainability criteria for bioenergy found in emerging sustainability assessment frameworks and to identify levels of agreement and uncertainty. Experts were asked to rate the criteria for attributes of relevance, practicality, reliability, and importance.Perceptions of the importance of the 35 criteria varied among the experts surveyed. Only two criteria, energy balance and greenhouse gas balance, were perceived as critical by more than half of the respondents. Social criteria and locally applied criteria were generally ranked low for all four attributes. Seven of the 12 criteria scored as most important focused on environmental issues, four were social and only one was economic. Of the 12 most important criteria, seven were ranked low in practicality and reliability indicating that mechanisms to assess a number of important criteria need to be developed. The spatial scale the experts worked at and their profession explained most of the differences in importance ranking between experts, while regional focus had minimal effect. Criteria that were ranked low for importance, were characterized by a lack of consensus, suggesting the need for further debate regarding their inclusion in sustainability assessments.Outcomes of the survey provide a foundation for further discussions and development of sustainability assessments for bioenergy systems and may also provide a basis for assessing individual bioenergy projects within their specific geographic, ecological, societal, and technological context and scale.     

LCA of environmental and socio-economic impacts related to wood energy production in alpine conditions: Valle di Fiemme (Italy)

An extended Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is performed for evaluating the impacts of a woody biomass supply chain for heating plants in the alpine region. Three main aspects of sustainability are assessed: greenhouse gas emissions, represented by global warming potential (GWP) impact category, costs and direct employment potential. We investigate a whole tree system (innovative logging system) where the harvest of logging residues is integrated into the harvest of conventional wood products. The case study is performed in Valle di Fiemme in Trentino region (North Italy) and includes theoretical and practical elements. The system boundary is the alpine forest fuel system, from logging operations at the forest stand to combustion of woody biofuels at the heating plant. The functional unit is 1 m³ solid over bark of woody biomass, delivered to the district heating plant in Cavalese (Trento). The relative sustainability of traditional and innovative systems is compared and energy use is estimated. Results show that the overall GWP and costs are about 13 kg CO_2equivalent and 42 euro per functional unit respectively for the innovative system. Along the product supply chain, chipping contributes the greatest share of GWP and energy use, while extraction by yarder has the highest financial costs. The GWP is reduced by 2.3 ton CO_2equivalent when bioenergy substitutes fuel oil and 1.7 ton CO_2equivalent when it substitutes natural gas. The sensitivity analysis illustrates that variations in fuel consumption and hourly rates of costs have a great influence on chipping operation and extraction by cable yarder concerning GWP and financial analysis, respectively. This is confirmed by sensitivity analysis. Better technologies, the use of biofuels along the product supply chain and more efficient systems might reduce these impacts. Replacing the traditional system with the innovative one reduces emissions and costs. A low energy input ratio is required for harvesting logging residues. The direct employment potential is a conflicting aspect and needs further investigations.     

全球主要国家环境可持续性综合评估——基于碳、水、土地的足迹-边界整合分析

随着地球生态系统的交互性、复杂性与整体性特征日益显现,综合分析和比较各类人为环境影响及其最大安全阈值,对于从整体上判断人类活动的可持续性、揭示承载力的超载程度具有重要意义.基于环境足迹和行星边界两项新概念,运用极差法和目标距离法对全球30 个主要国家的碳、水和土地赤字数据进行了标准化与权重化处理,得到一个复合的国家环境可持续性压力指数,并结合3 项环境赤字的实际分布状况,将所有国家划分为4 类:环境强可持续性(3 国)、环境弱可持续性(8 国)、环境弱不可持续性(9 国)、环境强不可持续性(10 国).总体上,环境可持续性压力呈现南美洲国家低、亚洲和非洲国家居中、欧美发达国家高的地域格局,亚洲是4 类国家并存的唯一大洲.全球的碳、水和土地足迹-边界比分别为3.0、0.6、0.7,表明就全球尺度而言,温室气体排放已处于严重超载状态,水资源消费和土地利用尚处于盈余状态,这与现有文献结果相吻合,从而在一定程度上验证了本研究结论的可靠性.     

Ecosystem services in global sustainability policies

Global sustainability policies, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or the Aichi Targets, aim to ensure sustainable development, including improved human well-being and the conservation of nature. Although not yet explicitly used to evaluate the progress towards sustainable development, the ecosystem service concept implies a direct link between biodiversity and human well-being. This study explores how and which ecosystem services are currently considered in the SDGs and the Aichi Targets. We also identify which information might be already available for monitoring the progress towards their goals by reviewing national ecosystem assessments. This allows the identification of the main knowledge gaps for monitoring progress towards these global sustainability targets.There is a wealth of information on all major ecosystem services categories which is directly relevant for the Aichi Targets and the SDGs. The top 25% most cited ecosystem services across both policy documents are: Natural heritage and diversity, Capture fisheries, Aquaculture, Water purification, Crops, Cultural heritage & diversity and Livestock. Most monitoring information recommended for the global sustainability goals, as well as in the information available from national assessments, is biased towards supply related aspects of ecosystem services flows. In contrast, there is much less information on social behaviour, use, demand and governance measures. Indicators are rarely available for all aspects of a specific ecosystem service.The national statistical bureaus currently in charge of providing observations for reporting on SDGs, could be well placed to address this bias, by integrating ecological observations with socio-economic statistics into socio-ecological indicators for ecosystem services flows. IPBES can potentially address the gaps identified in this paper by improving coverage of the different dimensions of ecosystem services flows.     

Brazilian biofuels and social exclusion: established and concentrated ethanol versus emerging and dispersed biodiesel

Increasing interest in biofuels trade between developed and developing countries has spurred worldwide discussions on issues such as subsidies and the ‘food for fuel’ crisis. One issue missing in recent discourse is the pressure exerted on developing countries to adopt large-scale mechanized farming practices to increase economic efficiencies. Such approaches often exclude small-scale farmers from participating in the emerging biofuels market, thus exacerbating poverty and social exclusion. Drawing on both qualitative and technical data, we discuss such pressures using Brazilian ethanol and biodiesel production. Pressure from international markets to become more economically efficient may contribute towards the erosion of recent schemes to encourage social benefits for small farmers in biodiesel production. We conclude with trade and policy implications.