Social sustainability assessment in the biobased economy

Abstract

Social sustainability is an important part of sustainable development, although it has been broadly neglected in sustainability assessment analysis in comparison with the economic and environmental pillars. This is specially the case when limiting the scope of the analysis to the biobased economy. One of the examples of innovative technologies in the biobased economy is algae cultivation system through which microalgae are able to take up CO2 as a carbon source during photosynthesis. Algae are seen as breakthroughs in CO2 capture and utilizations (CCUs) due to the metabolic capability to absorb inorganic carbon. CCUs are at low technology readiness levels (TRLs) and mainly in the research and development phase through which the implications of CCU are evaluated in terms In order to effectively conduct the S-LCA, first, a systemic approach tailored to the biobased economy was developed through which the steps for conducting the social impact assessment along the life cycle were defined. Following the developed systemic approach, a survey among European CCU experts was conducted to determine the most relevant social assessment topics and indicators. This was done using modified-multi-criteria decision making (MCDM), and based on the list of potential social impact categories suggested by the UNEP/SETAC guidelines (2009). Three relevant stakeholders (workers, consumers and local community) were considered as the main social impact categories through the life cycle phases of CCU activities. The results for the indicator set covers the following main criteria: for the workers group: µFair Salary¶; µHealth and Safety¶; and µEqual Opportunities/Discrimination¶; for Whe conVXmer groXp µEnd of Life Responsibility¶, µTransparency¶, and µHealth and Safety¶; and for the local community group µSafe and Healthy Living Conditions¶, µSecure Living Conditions¶ and µLocal Employment¶. The identified social topics were used in response to the question of relevance and feasibility of the S-LCA at company level in the biobased economy. Accordingly, a CO2-based algae cultivation system is used as a case study example through Zhich Whe compan\¶V performance on Whe idenWified Vocial impacW caWegorieV are considered using both quantitative and semi-quantitative impact assessment approaches for the S-LCA. By doing so, needs for improvements and the limitations of the S-LCA at company level within the biobased economy were underlined. The possibility of the incorporation of social impacts into a TEA model, was tested using an illustrative exercise on the algae case. The calculation parameters for accidents at the workplace were used as a measure of µhealth and safety of workers¶ which was identified as an important social indicator. Accordingly, a costrelated model was constructed linked to the technical and economic models of the TEA. By doing so, the feasibility of an alternative innovative technology was highlighted from a social perspective in comparison with an existing conventional system. The accidents cost at the workplace was demonstrated for both cultivation systems and its effect was later reflected in the main economic outcome of the TEA. The contribution of the total internal accident costs in the final economic outcome of the model was not large in the case study and by itself might not be encouraging for companies to invest in (further) prevention plans and safety measures. Existence of policies to control the current accident rates will be of importance in case of measuring both the internal and external cost of accidents to society to reach a total social cost to be incorporated into the TEA. By doing so, the need for any additional accident prevention plan with major external benefits is underlined. Nevertheless, the illustrative exercise can be a starting point towards a comprehensive sustainability analysis in feasibility studies of innovative technologies while the social pillar is taken into account for developing a technology from the sustainability perspective. The outcome of this dissertation enables companies to pay more attention to the social domain when implementing innovative technologies at higher TRLs. Besides, it contributes to the development of a suitable and clear S-LCA approach and provide insights on the possibilities of incorporating the social impacts into TEAs when a company is considered as the unit of analysis. of environmental, economic and technical indices while social concerns are usually neglected in the majority of impact evaluations in the past. A comprehensive literature review on the existing methodologies for social sustainability assessments in this research demonstrated that social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) is a promising approach for evaluating the social impacts of biobased products and processes along their life cycles. However, its applicability is questionable when a company is considered as the functional unit of analysis. Besides, the difficulty of linking social values with an integrated sustainability assessment model arises when an efficient transition towards sustainability matters. Using two case study examples (i.e., algae cultivations and CCUs), the binary focus of this dissertation is on the assessment of the possibilities and challenges of; i) conducting the S-LCA at company level in the biobased economy in terms of existing research needs for improving sustainability assessment approaches and methodologies, and ii) testing the possibility of the incorporation of the social impacts into a techno-economic assessment (TEA) concentrating on Whe compan\¶V performance along the life cycle.