Biofuel as a Renewable Energy: Potential, Technology, and Challenges Towards a Sustainable Energy Transition

Energy transition towards CO2 neutral energy systems is challenging as the national energy policy depends on numerous factors. In system dynamics approach these factors are identified as causal and feedback loops with lock-ins, as a result constituting stock-and-flow structure. Such a kind of structure is used in different simulation tools. This study analyses the use of the Latvian national climate and energy policy simulation tool in the policy making process. As a hypothesis of the study was set that the simulation tool, which is based on the principles of systemic thinking (explaining causal relationships) and an easy-to-use user interface, significantly improves the national energy and climate policy making process. Accordingly, to verify the hypothesis the task was to evaluate the use of the national climate and energy policy simulation tool in the policy-making process. For the evaluation the relevant literature was reviewed: climate and energy policy goals, policies and legislation in the European Union and Latvia; approaches to modeling national climate and energy policies, including optimization models, simulation models; the use of simulation models in the modeling of national climate and energy policies; the use of system dynamics models in the modeling of national climate and energy policies. Besides using the systemic thinking approach in the process of creating national climate and energy policies, the user experience in building simulation tools was used. Based on the literature analysis, improvements to the interface of the national climate and energy simulation tool developed by Riga Technical University, Institute of Energy Systems and Environment were made and developed training material for the use of the simulation tool, based on explaining the causal relationships built into the model.

Addressing the social life cycle inventory analysis data gap: Insights from a case study of cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

With the increasing urgency for sustainable development and energy transition, decision-makers face complex challenges in evaluating and prioritizing viable alternatives. Traditional decision-making techniques often struggle to capture the inherent uncertainty and imprecision associated with the latest sustainable energy transition issues. This paper presents a research framework based on fuzzy set theory and the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method to address these complexities and uncertainties. Our proposed approach offers a comprehensive evaluation and ranking of alternatives for sustainable energy transition. To demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability of this system, we employ a case study in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). As a global leader in fossil fuel production and export, particularly oil, the KSA has recognized the need to address climate change and diversify its energy sector. By leveraging the fuzzy TOPSIS-based framework, we provide decision-makers with a powerful tool to navigate the challenges and uncertainties involved in the energy transition process. This research yields promising results, demonstrating the superior capabilities of the proposed fuzzy TOPSIS-based framework compared to traditional decision-making techniques. The case study in the KSA highlights how our approach effectively captures and addresses the uncertainties and complexities involved in sustainable energy transition decision making. Through comprehensive evaluations and rankings, decision-makers gain valuable insights into alternative solutions, facilitating informed and strategic decision-making processes. Our research contributes to sustainable energy transitions by introducing a robust decision-making framework that integrates fuzzy set theory and the TOPSIS method. Based on the fuzzy TOPSIS-based evaluation, the research findings indicate that solar energy (EA1) ranked as the most favourable alternative among the evaluated options for the sustainable energy transition in the KSA. Using our framework, stakeholders in the KSA and similar contexts can make informed decisions to accelerate their energy transition efforts and achieve sustainable development goals.

Background: The pressing necessity to address climate change has positioned energy decarbonization at the forefront of global sustainability initiatives. Decarbonization entails diminishing carbon intensity throughout the energy value chain by transitioning from fossil fuels to low- or zero-carbon alternatives, including renewable energy, green hydrogen, and bioenergy. Nigeria, despite its abundant fossil fuel resources, experiences persistent energy instability marked by inconsistent electricity delivery, low access rates, and excessive reliance on petroleum goods. The incorporation of renewable energy sources, including solar, wind, biomass, and small hydropower, has become an essential strategy for attaining energy security, sustainability, and climate resilience. Investing in renewable energy diminishes reliance on fossil fuels while fostering job development, energy fairness, and environmental conservation. Objectives: The main objective of the current study is to comparison of environmental impacts through life cycle assessment (LCA) of two energy systems in Nigeria, namely bioenergy systems using locally available biomass as agricultural waste and traditional fossil fuel-based systems. It is expected that the study will identify key features of the two energy production approaches and provide a scientifically sound basis for the selection of cleaner energy sources, thereby facilitating Nigeria's transition to a low-carbon economy. Methods: The following databases were used in searching for secondary data used for this study: Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, African Journals Online (AJOL). The keywords used for this search were: "Lifecycle Assessment", "LCA", "bioenergy", "biomass", "fossil fuels", "Nigeria", "sustainable energy", "greenhouse gas emissions", "renewable energy Nigeria". The inclusion criteria were considered in the course of this review: Studies focused on Nigeria or similar Sub-Saharan African contexts, Peer-reviewed articles, LCA studies, government and NGO reports, Publications in English from 2000 to 2024. The following exclusion criteria were used for this review: Non-peer-reviewed blogs, editorials, and news articles, Studies lacking clear LCA methodology. Results: The findings underscore the critical role of lifecycle thinking in guiding energy policy and project implementation in developing countries facing the dual challenge of expanding energy access and combating climate change. Conclusion: The lifecycle assessment of bioenergy systems compared to fossil fuel alternatives provides critical insights for shaping sustainable energy transitions in Nigeria. While fossil fuels have historically powered the nation's economy, their environmental and health impacts underscore the urgent need for cleaner alternatives. Bioenergy, with its potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote rural development, and utilize locally available biomass resources, presents a promising pathway toward sustainability.

PurposeIt is challenging for practitioners to navigate through the multitude of life cycle assessment (LCA) approaches due to the rich literature and a lack of systematisation. The LCA flexibility allowed by standards results in a multitude of applications and, as referred to in previous works, as an “alphabet soup”. This paper proposes a scheme for a clearer classification of currently used LCA approaches, with consideration of the 4-stage framework coming from standards.MethodsThis systematisation was first established through literature research serving as a preliminary tentative framework. A text mining task was carried out in a second stage, involving 2044 published articles among 7558 of the last 10 years. For text mining, a dictionary collected keywords and synonyms of the LCA approaches. Such keywords were then extracted from the text together with their context (multiword). The final multiword analysis allowed the association of each keyword (i.e. each LCA approach) with a specific LCA stage (Goal and Scope, Life Cycle Inventory, Life Cycle Impact Assessment, Interpretation). The preliminary framework was adapted, further enriched and validated based on the text mining results.ResultsAs a result of the text mining activities, the preliminary tentative framework was partially confirmed and enriched with new insights, especially in the field of “explorative” LCA approaches, which also include “prospective” and “scenario-based” LCA. For most of the currently used LCA approaches, a link to a unique LCA stage was not recorded. However, clear trends were detected. The text mining task also highlighted a high number of works in which different approaches are compared or counterposed, especially in the field of attributional and consequential LCA. Some issues were found with the connotations of “traditional” approaches, which could be defined more specifically as “non-explorative”.ConclusionsUnlike other works focused on notions from selected literature, text mining activities can provide bottom-up feedback on a larger scale more automatically. In addition, this work brought out novel LCA approaches, for which future developments will confirm a final definition and systematisation. As an additional advantage, the presented methodology is easily replicable. Hence, the presented framework can be updated along with developments in LCA approaches.

Energy transition is a national agenda, prioritised in many countries, to ensure public safety and achieve climate goals. Although enacting laws is a critical means of realising energy transition policy, legal scholarship has paid little to no attention to the role of law in a sustainable energy transition. Countries are currently experimenting with their legal frameworks to achieve sustainable and smooth energy transition policies that are most beneficial. The pivotal role of law in energy transition has led researchers to place a growing emphasis on introducing and analysing the recently enacted domestic laws in various countries, seeking implications and insights in this regard. This study draws on the example of Korea’s legal framework for energy transition to argue that the voluntary nature of this agreement between the government and operator would have policy implications for many countries striving towards sustainable energy transitions. Unlike numerous other countries (eg Germany) that unilaterally force early closure of nuclear power plants by law, Korea tries to innovatively establish legal grounds that enable a voluntary agreement between the government and operators and the considerable efforts on just transition, while the government commits to contributex to bearing the costs of energy transition.

Sustainable energy transitions in developing countries are critical for balancing economic growth and environmental sustainability. Transitioning to renewable energy sources alleviates energy poverty and reduces reliance on fossil fuels. Information and communication technology (ICT) plays an important role in advancing the energy transition and achieving low-carbon energy utilization by facilitating the transition of power sectors to renewable energy sources. This paper provides an overview of the role of ICT in achieving sustainable energy transition in developing countries and jurisdictions. It emphasises the significance of SDG 7 and other sustainable energy transition indices for energy access and transition, as well as presenting their status and progress in various regions, including developing countries. This paper also discusses several types of available ICT tools and methods that enable digitalization in the power sector, such as smart grids, smart metres, energy management systems, Internet of Things (IoT) for energy, and renewable energy monitoring systems, as well as the opportunities and challenges of incorporating ICT into the context of developing countries' sustainable power sector.

Environmental life cycle assessment for a cheese production plant towards sustainable energy transition: Natural gas to biomass vs. natural gas to geothermal

Energy and the environment: Striking a balance.

PurposeLow carbon repair epitomises sustainable maintenance management for heritage buildings. However, there is little recognition of this aspect, coupled with impractical assessment of repair impact strategies. This paper aims to present a decision-making process based on life cycle assessment (LCA) approach of lime plaster repair options for heritage buildings.Design/methodology/approachCalculation procedures of LCA were carried out to enable sustainable maintenance management appraisal for heritage buildings upon embodied carbon expenditure expended from lime plaster repair during the maintenance phase.FindingsCalculation procedures could be understood as a carbon LCA of lime plaster repair and recognised in reducing CO2 emissions. This underpins low carbon of lime plaster repair in achieving sustainable maintenance management of heritage buildings.Practical implicationsIt must be emphasised that the LCA approach is not limited to heritage buildings and can be applied to any repair types, materials used and building forms. This supports environmentally focused economies and promotes sustainable maintenance management solutions.Social implicationsThe LCA approach highlights the efficiency of repair impact strategies through evaluation of low carbon repairs options.Originality/valueThe LCA approach results show that low carbon repair, contextualised within maintenance management, relays the “true” embodied carbon expenditure and stimulates sustainable development of heritage buildings.

Multiscalar governance of urban energy transitions in Australia: The cases of Sydney and Melbourne

Applied life cycle assessment (LCA) studies often lead to a comparison of rather few alternatives; we call this the “ad hoc LCA approach.” This can seem surprising since applied LCAs normally cover countless options for variations and derived potentials for improvements in a product life cycle. In this paper, we will suggest an alternative approach to the ad hoc approach, which more systematically addresses the many possible variations to identify the most promising. We call it the “structural LCA approach.” The goals of this paper are (1) to provide basic guidelines for the structural approach, including an easy expansion of the LCA space; (2) to show that the structural LCA approach can be used for different types of optimization in LCA; and (3) to improve the transparency of the LCA work. The structural approach is based on the methodology “design of experiments” (Montgomery 2005). Through a biodiesel well-to-wheel study, we demonstrate a generic approach of applying explanatory variables and corresponding impact categories within the LCA methodology. Explanatory variables are product system variables that can influence the environmental impacts from the system. Furthermore, using the structural approach enables two different possibilities for optimization: (1) single-objective optimization (SO) based on response surface methodology (Montgomery 2005) and (2) multiobjective optimization (MO) by the hypervolume estimation taboo search (HETS) method. HETS enables MO for more than two or three objectives. Using SO, the explanatory variable “use of residual straw from fields” is, by far, the explanatory variable that can contribute with the highest decrease of climate change potential. For the respiratory inorganics impact category, the most influencing explanatory variable is found to be the use of different alcohol types (bioethanol or petrochemical methanol) in biodiesel production. Using MO, we found the Pareto front based on 5 different life cycle pathways which are nondominated solutions out of 66 different analyzed solutions. Given that there is a fixed amount of resources available for the LCA practitioner, it becomes a prioritizing problem whether to apply the structural LCA approach or not. If the decision maker only has power to change a single explanatory variable, it might not be beneficial to apply the structural LCA approach. However, if the decision maker (such as decision makers at the societal level) has power to change more explanatory variables, then the structural LCA approach seems beneficial for quantifying and comparing the potentials for environmental improvement between the different explanatory variables in an LCA system and identifying the overall most promising product system configurations among the chosen PWs. The implementation of the structural LCA approach and the derived use of SO and MO have been successfully achieved and demonstrated in the present paper. In addition, it is demonstrated that the structural LCA approach can lead to more transparent LCAs since the potentially most important explanatory variables which are used to model the LCAs are explicitly presented through the structural LCA approach. The suggested structural approach is a new approach to LCA and it seems to be a promising approach for searching or screening product systems for environmental optimization potentials. In the presented case, the design has been a rather simple full factorial design. More complicated problems or designs, such as fractional designs, nested designs, split plot designs, and/or unbalanced data, in the context of LCA could be investigated further using the structural approach.

A substantial and rapid decarbonisation of the global economy is required to limit anthropogenic climate change to well below 2°C average global heating by 2050. Yet, emissions from fossil fuel energy generation—which dominate global greenhouse gas emissions—are at an all-time high. Progress and action for an energy transition to net zero carbon is critical, and one in which geoscience sectors and geoscientists will play multiple roles. Here, we outline the landscape of the geosciences and the energy transition in the context of the climate crisis, and intergovernmental policies on climate and social justice. We show how geoscience sectors, skills, knowledge, data, and infrastructure, both directly and indirectly, will play a key role in the energy transition. This may be in the responsible sourcing of raw materials for low carbon energy technologies; in the decarbonisation of heating; and in the near-permanent geological capture and storage of carbon through novel technology development. A new and unprecedented challenge is to reach Geological Net Zero, where zero carbon emissions from geological resource production and consumption are achieved via permanent geological storage. We identify overarching and cross-cutting issues for a sustainable and fair net zero carbon energy transition, and the associated geoscience challenges and opportunities. Finally, we call for geoscience professionals to recognise and take responsibility for their role in ensuring a fair and sustainable energy transition at the pace and scale required.

The imperative to decarbonize global energy systems and enhance energy security necessitates a transition towards ecofuels, broadly classified as biofuels, waste-derived fuels, and electrofuels (e-Fuels). The primary goal of this review is to provide a holistic and comparative evaluation of these three pivotal ecofuel pillars under a unified framework, identifying their strategic niches in the energy transition by critically assessing their interconnected technical, economic, and policy challenges. It offers a comparative dissection of inherent resource constraints, spanning biomass availability, the immense scale of renewable electricity required for e-Fuels, sustainable carbon dioxide (CO2) sourcing, and the complexities of utilizing non-biodegradable wastes, identifying that true feedstock sustainability and holistic lifecycle management are paramount, cross-cutting limitations for all pathways. This review critically highlights how the current global reliance on fossil fuels for electricity production (approx. 60%) and the upstream emissions embodied in renewable energy infrastructure challenge the climate neutrality claims of ecofuels, particularly e-Fuels, underscoring the necessity for comprehensive well-to-wheels (WtW) lifecycle assessments (LCAs) over simpler tank-to-wheels (TtW) approaches. This perspective is crucial as emerging regulations demand significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions (70–100%) compared to fossil fuels. Ultimately, this synthesis argues for a nuanced, technologically neutral deployment strategy, prioritizing specific ecofuels for hard-to-abate sectors, and underscores the urgent need for stable, long-term policies coupled with robust and transparent LCA methodologies to guide a truly sustainable energy transition.

Cleanroom garments serve a critical role in such industries as pharmaceuticals, life sciences, and semiconductor manufacturing. These textiles are available in reusable and disposable alternatives. In this report, the environmental sustainability of cleanroom coveralls is examined using life cycle assessment technology. The complete supply chain, manufacture, use, and end-of-life phases for reusable and disposable cleanroom coveralls are compared on a cradle-to-end-of-life cycle basis. Three industry representative coveralls are examined: a reusable woven polyethylene terephthalate (PET) coverall, a disposable flash spunbonded high-density polyethylene (HDPE) coverall, and a disposable spunbond-meltblown-spunbond polypropylene (SMS PP) coverall. The reusable cleanroom coverall system shows substantial improvements over both disposable cleanroom coverall systems in all environmental impact categories. The improvements over the disposable HDPE coverall were 34% lower process energy (PE), 23% lower natural resource energy (NRE), 27% lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and 73% lower blue water consumption. The improvements over the disposable SMS PP coverall were 59% lower PE, 56% lower NRE, 57% lower GHG emissions, and 77% lower blue water consumption. In addition, the reusable system shows a 94-96% reduction in solid waste to the landfill from the cleanroom facility. Between the two disposable cleanroom coveralls, the flash spunbonded HDPE coverall shows a measurable environmental improvement over the SMS PP coverall.LAY ABSTRACT: Pharmaceutical drugs are manufactured and handled in controlled environments called cleanrooms to ensure the safety and quality of products. In order to maintain strict levels of cleanliness, cleanroom personnel are required to wear garments such as coveralls, hoods, and gloves that restrict the transfer of particles from the person to the environment. These garments are available in reusable and disposable types. Cleanroom operators consider a number of factors when selecting between reusable and disposable garments, including price, comfort, and environmental sustainability.In this report, the environmental sustainability of reusable and disposable cleanroom coveralls is examined using a technique called life cycle assessment. With this technique, environmental parameters such as energy use and greenhouse gas emissions are quantified and compared for three market representative cleanroom coveralls, from raw material extraction through manufacturing, use, and final disposal. Reusable coveralls were found to substantially outperform disposable coveralls in all environmental parameters examined. This is an important conclusion that supports cleanroom companies that select reusable coveralls to be more sustainable.