A systematic review of the sustainability assessment of bioenergy: The case of gaseous biofuels

Abstract

In recent years, achieving sustainability in renewable energy systems has become important for achieving future economic prosperity and energy security all over the world; therefore, multiple attempts have been made to assess their sustainability. This means that in addition to considering the technological and economic factors, environmental and social aspects should also be considered. However, the wide-ranging concept of sustainability and the various methodological frameworks presented make their interpretation and correct implementation difficult. In this research, through a systematic literature review, we summarize and analyze the current research on the sustainability assessment of bioenergy production/use (also referred as gaseous biofuels) for electricity and heat generation. Sustainability approaches and their underlying factors from the three dimensions of sustainability were consolidated and structured in this systematic review. In addition, a set of indicators (environmental, social and economic) is provided based on the literature analyzed that decision makers can use to evaluate the sustainability performance of bioenergy systems. The main finding indicates that although there are various international efforts on measuring sustainability, only 32 of studies of the 8542 works initially screened (less than 1%) have an integrated approach that considers all three aspects of sustainability, i.e., environmental, economic and social aspects. In most cases, the focus is on one of the three aspects. Additionally, 50% of the studies evaluated included another dimension, i.e., a cultural, institutional or technical dimension. These results support the idea that a multidimensional sustainability assessment is feasible and facilitates decision-making processes towards a sustainable energy future.