Abstract
Bioeconomy regions are a young concept representing emerging amalgamation points for the implementation of cross-sectoral value-added chains. When sustainable bioeconomy strategies are rolled out, their proof-of-concept implies that industrial R&D activities should lead to impact decoupling and that the valorization of locally available lignocellulosic biomass has to contribute to an increase in added value. Furthermore, regional co-benefits for society and a positive influence on local environmental and socioeconomic conditions are major factors. The fulfillment of these strategic goals would be a milestone achievement when progressing from the blueprint development and the road-mapping stage towards socially accepted and sustainable wood-based bioeconomy strategies. For regional industrial and science stakeholders who run pilot facilities for process upscaling and for energy and material flow integration, this requires well-orchestrated integrative processes, which go beyond conventional “Life Cycle Management” approaches. It is obvious that assessing and monitoring such integrative systems will have to account for different stakeholder perspectives and for detailed technology deployment and resource conversion scenarios. Applying a sustainability index methodology in a case study region must include an evaluation of the whole supply chain and the process networks associated with the characteristic products of the evaluated region. To date, no such integrative assessment methods exist in the literature. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to lay out, on the basis of a practical example in the case study region of Central Germany, an assessment of the sustainability level of wood-based bioeconomy networks by applying the Sustainability Monitoring Tool -SUMINISTRO”- to examine regional bio-based industry networks.
Highlights
The German bioeconomy strategy aims to realize sustainable and innovative conversion and utilization of biomass resources to produce sufficient and high-quality food and feed, as well as high-value-added products
The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the application of a sustainability index methodology—the SUMINISTRO framework (Figure 2), which applies a set of 55 calibrated sustainability indicators—for the assessment of three different scenarios involving existing and future wood-based value-added networks within a future bioeconomy region in Central Germany
To identify a basket of wood-based products that is representative of the innovation system of the bioeconomy region of Central Germany, all relevant topic areas of the Leading-Edge Cluster BioEconomy were screened to establish mature product innovations and cooperations of the accompanying research with the help of the material scientists and process engineers who test these product innovations [10,31,34,36,42,44]. The result of this procedure was that for the regional basket-of-products, three product groups, namely, (1) engineered wood products, panel boards, and composites; (2) polymer and resin products; and (3) energy carriers were identified to be representative of the innovation system of the bioeconomy region
Summary
The German bioeconomy strategy aims to realize sustainable and innovative conversion and utilization of biomass resources to produce sufficient and high-quality food and feed, as well as high-value-added products. The sectoral coupling between the wood and chemical industry value chains offers an array of effective and synergetic options to implement process and product innovations in order to minimize environmental impacts and generate social benefits; in a general sense, it does not lead per se to impact decoupling and resource use efficiency. To help promote and support such integrated innovation management activities, the bundling of competencies of wood and chemical industry stakeholders for setting up value-added clusters within bioeconomy regions has been proposed [2,9,10,11]. KbHG in CrienutLzbeuunrga ((WSaaarltebkurregisk);reaiss) w[1e0l,l33a,s42t–h4e4]p. roduction of veneer lumber (FSH/LVL) from Pollmeier MaFsusirvthhoerlzmGomreb, Hth&e fCooss. iKl-GbaisneCdrpeurotzdbuucrtgio(nWcaarptbaucrigtikerseifso)r[1b0u,3lk3,c4h2–e4m4i]c. als and polymer products, which aFruermthaernmufoarcet,uthreedfoinsseils-tbaabsleidshperdodinudcutisotnriacal ppaacriktise,ssfuocrhbauslkthcehecmraicckaelsr aanndd ppoollyymmeerrpprroodduucctsti,on plawnhtsicihnaBreömhlaennu, fSacchtukroepdaiun,eastnadbliLsehuednain[d1u9s,4tr5i–a4l 7p]a,rmksa, ysubchuialds ththeecrfaocuknedr aatnidonpofolyrmmeropreroidnutecgtiroanted hyphbylraibdnrtirsdeifirnenfBeinröeiherlsieeansn,adSncdfhufktuoutpruearuee,ceoacon-i-dnindLdueusustnrtriaaial[l1pp9aa,4rrk5k–ss4[[744]33,]]m.. ay build the foundation for more integrated
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