Social life cycle assessment methodology for evaluating production process design: Biorefinery case study

Abstract

Abstract Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) is a methodological approach to evaluating the positive and negative social impacts of a product or a service throughout its life cycle. The scope of conducting an S-LCA is to promote social conditions and the overall socio-economic performance of a product for all its stakeholders; leading to a holistic approach, where different stakeholders, with diverse interests are involved. At production process design, the stakeholders’ knowledge and engagement in the system are very limited, and data is not available to assess social aspects. Therefore, S-LCA applied to the early stage of production process design is a highly complicated task, but at the same time, it is a top priority to ensure proper social conditions when the process is implemented. There is a lack of systematic and quantitative methodologies that guide practitioners in the S-LCA appliance. This work aims to propose a new methodology to S-LCA for production process design assessment. As an example of application, the suggested approach was applied to a production process design of a biorefinery project located in the Netherlands. This case study reflects the actual worldwide concern regarding the social distress, environmental impacts of dependence on fossil-based fuels, development and the promotion of bio-based processes across supply chains. Biorefineries appear as a cornerstone in the field promoting the replacement of fossil-based resources by biomass raw materials, which are then transformed into a different bio-based product, namely chemicals, fuels and power. As a result, the methodology provided a preliminary overview of the potential social hotspots found along the biorefinery life-cycle, which should be considered when implementing the project.