Search

Abstract The issue of sustainability assessment of biodiesel production has increasingly gained importance due to the interest of governments in drawing up sovereignty strategies, to diversify their energy matrix and to determine the impact of biofuels production. In this context, this work proposes a system dynamics model to assess biodiesel production in a specific context. A System Dynamics model was developed and applied to assess the sustainability of the conditions in the baseline scenario of biodiesel production in Colombia. Simulation of current biodiesel production showed that a strong support from government policies is required related to the promotion of an increase of the contents of biodiesel in the biodiesel-diesel blend, as well as of the production capacity. Certain dynamics were observed as a result of the modeling, the increase oil palm cultivation, can be related to a lesser rate of displacement of the population, of poverty and of emissions of pollutants affecting air quality (hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter). Results also predicted that the increase in oil palm cultivation under baseline scenario could boost inequitable distribution of land ownership and increase greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) in palm oil cultivation, and reduce food security. Highlights • System dynamics is presented as a methodological tool in sustainability assessment. • Technological efficiency and politics are relevant on biodiesel-sustainability. • Biodiesel production is limited by production capacity and production costs. • Using biodiesel have not a significant impact on air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Woody biomass is widely used as a renewable energy source to produce electricity and heat, with the goal of reducing CO 2 emissions, enhancing energy security, and rejuvenating rural economies. In Japan, the energy usage of woody biomass is currently incentivized by feed-in tariff (FIT) programs. However, a variety of unpredictable factors ( e.g ., a drastic change in national energy policy and feedstock supply) might undermine the sustainability of woody biomass energy businesses. In order to clarify conditions for designing sustainable woody biomass energy businesses from environmental and economic viewpoints, this paper proposes a method for undertaking scenario analyses where the influences of future uncertainties are analyzed. For quantitative assessment, a woody biomass energy business is modeled as a sequence of processes using a discrete event simulation technique. A case study is carried out with a particular focus on the energy business with a 10 MW woody biomass power generation plant in a Japanese rural community in the period of 2015–2034 (20 years). The results reveal that the business has potential to gain economic profit and halve CO 2 emissions when compared with the worst case scenario. Critical factors for enhancing the sustainability of the business include collecting the amount of wood residue used for electricity generation and keeping the selling price of electricity from woody biomass at over 35% of the current price. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biofuel as a promising pathway for substituting the traditional fossil fuels, mitigating environmental contaminations, and enhancing the energy security has attracted more and more attention in China. This study aims at identifying the critical success factors for promoting the sustainable development of biofuel industry and helping the stakeholders/decision-makers to draft the appropriate strategic measures for enhancing the sustainability of biofuel industry in China. A generic methodology in which the decision-makers are allowed to use linguistic terms to express their views and options, multiple decision-makers are allowed to participate in the decision-making, has been developed to prioritize the factors influencing the sustainability of biofuel industry and to identify the cause–effect relationships among these factors. The three factors, including government support degree, competitiveness, and local acceptability are identified as the most critical factors for promoting the sustainable development of biofuel industry in China, but they are all effects rather than the origins of the problems existed in the biofuel industry of China. In contrast, maturity, safety and reliability, complexity, conversion efficiency, and investment cost are the most important causes, and they are also the origins of the problems existed in the biofuel industry of China. Six effective strategic measures including popularizing the use of biofuels in large scales, subsidies and tax exemption policies, investing more on R&D on biofuel technologies, encouraging more private enterprises and joint ventures to participate in the biofuel industry, developing the integrated utilization manner of biofuels by further developing the byproducts of biofuels, and popularizing the use of biodiesel and bioethanol among the vehicle users through publicity and education have been proposed for promoting the sustainable development of China's biofuel industry according to the obtained results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As of 2012, the share of the Brazilian domestic energy supplied by renewable energy was 42.4%, the highest among all major economies in the world. Nonetheless, there are opportunities to increase this share even further. One such opportunity is the adoption of biorefineries that could represent a viable and sustainable alternative to replace the need for oil, coal, natural gas and other non-renewable energy sources with biomass. The fact that biomass has the flexibility to be converted into distinct outputs such as electricity, biofuels, charcoal and chemicals, along with the uncertainty regarding market prices, may allow the firm to create value from the optimal exercise of these embedded options. Thus, the objective of this study is to analyze if converting a biomass power plant based on Elephant grass into a biorefinery adds value to the project and if the proposed biorefinery is economically feasible. The analysis was conducted by adopting a hybrid commercialization model where part of the plant's power generation installed capacity was sold through a 20 year long-term fixed supply contract and the remainder was optimally negotiated in the short-term market in the form electricity, charcoal or ethanol. The results show that all option values are positive ranging from approximately 90–101 million dollars, which indicates that they add value to the project. In addition, the resulting NPVs of all biorefinery strategies were positive, which indicates that biorefineries using the commercialization scheme proposed in this study represent a feasible and interesting opportunity for a sustainable energy matrix diversification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In October 2018, the European Union (EU) launched an updated bioeconomy strategy with the aim of encouraging the substitution of fossil carbon with biomass feedstock in the industry and in energy production while preserving ecosystem services. The objective of the paper is to analyse the links between the EU bioeconomy strategy and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to assess what could be the main points of synergies and tensions between bioeconomy-related SDG targets. By semantically mapping the action plan of the 2018 EU bioeconomy strategy with the SDG targets, the paper finds that the bioeconomy strategy is aligned with 53 targets distributed in 12 of the 17 SDGs. Ex-post correlation analysis on bioeconomy-related SDGs indicators for 28 EU Member States (1990–2018) shows a predominance of synergies over trade-offs. More intense synergetic past developments (positive correlations) are found among clean energies (SDG 7), recycling (SDG 11), ecosystem preservation (SDG 15) and most of all other bioeconomy-related SDGs. Negative correlations are observed between agro-biodiversity (SDG 2), domestic material consumption of biomass (SDG 8 and 12), agriculture and industrial developments (SDG 2 and SDG 9) and a wide array of bioeconomy-related SDG indicators. The hotspots of strong correlations identified might be useful in further enrichment of ex-ante simulation models. From a policy coherence perspective, a wide range of policy instruments are already in place in the EU to foster synergies and may bring co-benefits. Policies oriented at preventing trade-offs are already in place but they have not overcome the antagonisms observed in this study yet. Change in practices, technical and technological innovations and the application of circular and 'cascading principles' are the most common fields of action. • The European bioeconomy strategy is aligned with 12 Sustainable Development Goals. • Synergies predominate over trade-offs in bioeconomy domains (period 1990–2018). • Main synergies are found with goals 7 (energy), 11 (recycling) and 15 (land). • Many co-benefits are thus expected from policy measures in these areas. • Trade-offs with Sustainable Development Goals 2, 8, 12 and 9 require policy attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]