Search

Most algae cultivation systems can be described as either open or closed photobioreactors through which microalgae are able to take up CO2 as a carbon source during photosynthesis. This can be an example of carbon capture & utilization (CCU) technologies for which typically, the implications of CCU technologies are calculated in terms of economic and technical indices while social factors are usually neglected in the majority of impact evaluations in the past, as they are not easy to be quantitatively analyzed, although at the local scale the social impacts might be very remarkable. Given that, key gaps remain in terms of: first, how the social dimension is understood and second, how well it is integrated into sustainability assessments which are mainly focused on environmental performance and techno-economic assessments of such innovative technologies. This research aims to fill these gaps firstly through identifying the main social impacts of the CCU technologies in order to address the second gap by developing a suitable methodology for integrating this important dimension into a techno-economic assessment (TEA) model. There is only a limited perception of how companies understand the relevance of social performance concerns and what indicators they identify as specifically applicable in decision making. Using both quantitative and qualitative approaches, this study aims to assess social impacts of a Belgian case study working with algae cultivation systems. Firstly, a survey among European CCU experts were conducted to identify the social indicators of high importance. This was done using a modified- Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method, the relative importance of the social impact (sub)categories and their related indicators for measuring social impacts were identified based on the list of potential social impact categories suggested by 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. Afterwards, a quantitative approach was developed for measuring and developing the social model for the case study. In order to integrate the social model into the TEA, a semi-quantitative approach was developed to determine how changes in social indicators might affect the economic variables within the TEA model.The results of our study can enable companies to pay more attentions to the most important social areas when implementing such innovative technologies at higher TRLs. The proposed approach can be a useful decision making platform for decision-makers to develop more effective policies and guide the offering of incentives to the right domains for sustainable CCU activities from social and economic perspectives.

Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) technologies capture CO2 waste emissions and utilize them to generate new products (e.g., fuels, chemicals and materials) with various environmental, economic and social opportunities. However, as most of these CCU technologies are in the R&D stage, their technical and economic viability are examined with very little attention to the social aspects. Besides, the lack of systematic research into social impacts is mainly due to the difficulty in identifying as well as quantifying social aspects through the entire life cycle of CCU products. The first step within social life cycle assessment (SLCA) is to identify the relevant social indicators. Within SLCA it is common to involve stakeholders in indicating which social impact categories and related indicators are most relevant to them. As there are multiple social indicators and stakeholders’ opinions, the identification step is a multi-criteria decision making issue. To address this, in this study a Multi-Criteria Decision Making Technique called TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) is applied which is rarely utilized for the assessment of social performances within the biobased economy. TOPSIS is employed to empirically determine the relative importance of the indicators for measuring social impacts. To do so, first the relevant stakeholders, potential social impact categories and subcategories, and potential performance indicators are listed using UNEP/SETAC guidelines. Second, through an online questionnaire survey, CCU experts at international level provide linguistic instead of numerical ratings to the social sub-categories and their potential indicators. Afterwards, TOPSIS is used to generate aggregate scores for impact subcategories and to identify indicators of high importance. Finally, sensitivity analysis is performed to determine the influence of criteria weights on the decision making process. The final set of main social indicators resulting from our study provides the basis forthe next steps in the social sustainability assessment of CCU technologies, i.e. data collection and impact assessment. Furthermore, our outcomes can be also used to inform the producers regarding the most and least important social issues for CCU technologies so that the potential social impacts caused by their production activities can be improved or prevented.

The removal of 99% of metals is possible with standard physicochemical wastewater treatment systems. As a consequence of stricter legislation with regard to metal concentrations in industrial waste water, companies use ion exchangers to remove the residual metals. These ion exchangers are expensive and sometimes do not meet targeted metal concentrations in case of complex wastewater streams, e.g. wastewater containing both a high concentration in metals and organic matter. In this case, the best practice is to use an activated carbon filter to avoid fouling of the resin used in the ion exchanger. Companies are, therefore, on the lookout for alternative, cheaper, and more efficient technologies. At the same time pyrolysis allows transforming organic residue streams into valuable products. In this study this innovative research path will be further explored. Activated biochar will be produced by pyrolysis of biomass residue streams. In the next step, this activated biochar will be used to test its use in the removal of the remaining metals in real wastewater samples of different companies. A techno-economic analysis (TEA) will be performed which consists of four different steps (1) market analysis, (2) mass and energy balance, (3) economic analysis, and (4) sensitivity analysis. It allows verifying whether the process is economically feasible from an early phase. Moreover, a TEA assists in identifying the parameters that should be focused on to increase the chances of market success. This implies that the technical and economic calculations are directly linked. Using the technical analysis and the TEA, we will identify which biomass residue sources are most interesting to produce an activated carbon with a high quality that can be used for wastewater treatment. We closely collaborate with the industrial stakeholders (i.e. waste processing companies, manure processing companies, water treatment companies and technology suppliers) and Flemish government to identify the main problems and find solutions to overcome theremaining barriers.

Our current fossil-based society is not sustainable and a transition to a biobased economy is required. One major problem of the fossil-based society is the CO2 emitted to the atmosphere. Algae are a promising feedstock for the biobased economy and at the same time have potential to be used for carbon capture and usage (CCU). However, to avoid raising new problems, the true sustainable nature of using algae for CCU needs to be assessed. This study performs a techno-sustainability assessment (TSA) of the use of microalgae for food/feed applications. A generally accepted sustainability assessment, such as the TSA, should not only include technological, economic and environmental aspects, but also have a social dimension. However, this social dimension has too often been neglected. The TSA consists of four steps: (1) scoping phase with a market study and goal and scope definition; (2) technical phase with a process flow diagram and the mass and energy balance; (3) impact assessment phase with the parallel assessment of the economic, environmental and social feasibility; (4) interpretation phase with the identification of the crucial parameters. From the preliminary results of the TSA performed for the case study we can conclude that although microalgae have the ability to capture CO2, the cultivation and production process generates additional emissions and that the process is economically feasible. The main parameters influencing the economic and environmental feasibility are the price of the end product and the productivity. The proposed extended framework will be carried out in more detail and the social aspect will be added. This TSA can act as a guidance for technology development and shorten the time-to-market for new and innovative technologies within the biobased economy.

Biobased industries require to be assessed on their positive and negative impacts on sustainable development. However, social factors are usually neglected in the majority of impact assessments of biobased industries: they are mainly focused on environmental performance and (techno)-economic assessments. This review proposes a new systemic approach for assessing and integrating the social dimension into sustainability assessments of biobased industries. First the main methodologies for assessing social impacts in biobased industries are compared. Social Life Cycle Analysis (SLCA) is considered to have promising methodological attributes for biobased industries’ social sustainability assessment, although it is still in its early steps of development. Second, a new systemic framework was developed following the four main iterative steps of an SLCA framework and based on three useful SLCA-based approaches including Product Social Impact Assessment; Prosuite and the UNEP SETAC Guidelines for SLCA of Products. Theproposed framework allows incorporating the social impacts into a techno-economic assessments (TEA) model through providing both a final social score and separate scores for each indicator category and life cycle phase. The result of this study particularly highlights the importance of considering social issues in biobased industries’design and innovation. Using the proposed systemic approach, industry and policy makers gain a better insight into the full sustainability performance (i.e. including social aspects) of biobased industries.

Many market introductions fail due to economic reasons and not because of process performance. A techno-economic assessment (TEA) tool can help in making good choices during process development and raise the success rate of market introduction. In this paper more information is provided on the importance of performing a TEA in an early development stage of an innovative technology. Seeing the current state of biobased processes, a TEA can help to steer further research into the most interesting pathways. The paper, therefore, elaborates on the methodology that can be used to perform such a TEA and on the specific components which should be taken into account when applying a TEA on biobased processes. A techno-economic assessment is a rather new term which is more frequently used since 2010. Although the use of techno-economic assessments is significantly increasing, no clear accepted definition exists of what constitutes a TEA. However, some efforts have been made to provide a definition of the TEA methodology. In this paper, we will use the definition provided by Kuppens (2012) in which a TEA is defined as ‘The evaluation of the technic performance or potential and the economic feasibility of a new technology that aims to improve the social or environmental impact of a technology currently in practice, and which helps decision makers in directing research and development or investments.’. Although the definition provided by Kuppens (2012) can be used, clear methodological guidelines are still lacking. Taking into account the large interest in TEAs from many different research areas, it is important to know how to perform a proper TEA. For that reason, in this paper we will first provide a clear explanation of what a TEA is and how to perform a TEA in every step of the development process. Second, the methodology will be applied on several case studies. A TEA can be divided into four different phases. As information gathering is expensive, a TEA is performed in an iterative way with a go/no-go decision after every iteration. First, a market study is performed. Second, a simplified process flow diagram (PFD) and mass and energy balance is designed. Third, this information is directly integrated into a dynamic economic evaluation. Fourth, a risk analysis is performed to identify the potential barriers. Optionally, an environmental analysis can be added as a fifth phase to produce an extended TEA. Based on the results of this cycle, risk reduction strategies can be formulated and steps can be repeated when the results sound promising. It is advisable to carry out the evaluation with a multidisciplinary team, which provides more insight and helps to attain a broad picture of the innovation process. To conclude, a TEA can provide: (1) an initial assessment on the overall technical and operational barriers to overcome, (2) an optimal sizing for the project in terms of feedstock availability or plant capacity, (3) desirable product yields and waste management and (4) an indication of the (preliminary) economic feasibility or the main technical or financial factors that limit its feasibility.

Many residue streams from biomass are not or inefficiently used, although they are available in large quantities and can be converted into valuable materials, as well as energy, using thermochemical processes such as pyrolysis. One of these streams is pig manure, of which large quantities are available in the provinces of Limburg (both in Belgium and the Netherlands) and Brabant (the Netherlands). Due to legislation, this manure cannot be brought back to the agricultural land. However, farmers are obliged to process this residue stream. For that reason, we investigate the techno-economic feasibility of converting manure into valuable products by pyrolysis.