Threefold sustainability impact assessment method comparison for renewable energy value chains

Tuomasjukka, Diana; Athanassiadis, Dimitris; Vis, Martijn

doi:10.1080/14942119.2017.1318549

Cited by 10 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…In this study we used three relevant methods to calculate and comparie economic, environmental and social impacts of alternative bioenergy chains in an extension of indicators for the ToSIA method as described in Tuomasjukka et al (2017). The methods were:…”

Section: Economic Environmental and Social Impact Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, the potential impact of modern technologies was compared. For better transparency, three impact assessment methods were used in comparison to calculate energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and savings as explained as a method in Tuomasjukka et al (2017): Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) , Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) (International Organization for Standardization 2006) and Emission Saving Criteria (ESC) 3 .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Sustainability impacts of increased forest biomass feedstock supply – a comparative assessment of technological solutions

Tuomasjukka

Martire

Lindner

et al. 2018

International Journal of Forest Engineering

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Undertaking under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 20757 "TECH4EFFECT". Special thanks to Olalla Díaz-Yáñez for providing the background data of her paper and Hans Verkerk for EFISCEN runs. 3 Sustainability impacts of increased forest biomass feedstock supply-a comparative assessment of technological solutions Sustainably managed forests provide renewable raw material, which can be used for primary/secondary conversion products and as biomass for energy generation. The potentially available amounts of timber, which are still lower than annual increments, have been published earlier. Access to this timber can be challenging for smalldimensioned assortments, however, technologically improved value chains can make them accessible while fulfilling economic and environment criteria. This paper evaluates the economic, environmental and social sustainability impacts of making the potentially available timber available with current and with technologically improved value chains. This paper focusses on increasing the biomass feedstock supply for energy generation. Quantified impact assessments show which improvements in terms of costs, employment, fuel and energy use, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions can be expected if better mechanized machines than before are provided. Comparative results for current and innovative machine solutions in terms of fuel use, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions have been calculated using three different methods. This was done in order to quantify not only the impact of the technology choice but also the effect of the choice of the assessment method. Absolute stand-alone values can be misleading in analyses and the use of different impact calculation approaches in parallel is clarifying the limits of using LCA-based approaches. Impacts are calculated using three methods: Sustainability Impacts Assessment (SIA), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Emission Saving Criteria (ESC). The ESC has been discussed for the recast of the Renewable Energy Directive. Potential EU-wide results are presented.

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Section: Economic Environmental and Social Impact Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability impacts of increased forest biomass feedstock supply – a comparative assessment of technological solutions

Tuomasjukka

Martire

Lindner

et al. 2018

International Journal of Forest Engineering

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“…Whether a forest biomass management plan is sustainable or not depends on multiple factors and determinants [29]. Due to this reason, multiple tools have been developed to estimate the sustainability of forest biomass management [30]. Some of them are forest management guidelines [31], administrative tools based on monitoring and indicators (e.g., certification schemes) [32], tools based on experience (empirical models) [33], and other tools based on the best available knowledge (process-based models) [6].…”

Section: Tools For Monitoring Ecological Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The reality is that there is not a single model that can do everything, and if there was, it would be so complex and cumbersome to use that it would be useless [33]. Using different methods to estimate sustainability of forest biomass use for energy production ensures that different aspects are taken into account [30]. Hence, it is worth to remember that the aforementioned tools do not exclude each other, and they can be combined in the modern forester's toolkit.…”

Section: Ecological Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants and Tools to Evaluate the Ecological Sustainability of Using Forest Biomass as an Alternative Energy Source

Blanco¹,

Candel-Pérez²,

Lo³

2018

Forest Biomass and Carbon

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Forest biomass, the most ancient of fuels, is again in the center of renewable energy production. This chapter provides an introductory view of the main factors that condition the ecological sustainability of this energy source. The basic concepts of ecological sustainability, ecological rotation, and ecological thresholds (among others) are presented. The state of the art on approaches to assess the sustainability of forest biomass production for heat and electricity is discussed, and tools available for decision-makers to evaluate the sustainability of forest biomass production and management are described. This chapter then describes the main advantages and drawbacks of forest certification, growth and yield tables, and ecological models in relationship to their use in sustainable forest management for biomass and energy production.

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“…The analysis of environmental impacts (GWP, EP, AP, POPC) focused on technical aspects of the alternative operations and followed the ISO 14040 guidelines [20], which prescribe the inclusion of indirect impacts (e.g., machinery used, material transportation; cf. [11]). The database Ecoinvent (vs. 2.3) developed by the Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories [21] was used to determine the impacts of the different thinning operations.…”

Section: Indicator Calculationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability Assessment of Alternative Thinning Operations in Mediterranean Softwood Plantations

Schweier

Spinelli

Magagnotti

et al. 2018

Forests

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Abstract:Mediterranean pines account for 14,000 ha in Tuscany alone, where they form large and homogeneous stands and represent an important resource for the forest economy. Among the harvesting systems applied to thinning operations, the most popular are whole-tree and cut-to-length harvestings. Both systems can be deployed with different levels of mechanization. The decision about which system might be the best option in a specific case possibly leads to conflicts due to different management goals, for instance when the shift from cut-to-length to whole-tree harvesting systems results in a decrease of costs and an increase of environmental burdens. Thus, an accurate determination of economic, environmental and social indicators is crucial to make balanced decisions. With that in mind, we carried out a sustainability impact assessment of typical forest-wood chain alternatives applied to young Mediterranean pine plantations and made a comparative evaluation by means of multi-criteria analyses. Trials were carried out in umbrella pine (Pinus pinea L.) plantations in Tuscany. The analyzed cases considered four thinning operations and included the processes of harvesting, extraction and chipping. In the analysis, 12 indicators were considered (e.g., global warming potential, fatal accidents). Results of the investigation allow quantifying possible sustainability impacts and, thus, supporting management decisions.

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Threefold sustainability impact assessment method comparison for renewable energy value chains

Cited by 10 publications

References 19 publications

Sustainability impacts of increased forest biomass feedstock supply – a comparative assessment of technological solutions

Sustainability impacts of increased forest biomass feedstock supply – a comparative assessment of technological solutions

Determinants and Tools to Evaluate the Ecological Sustainability of Using Forest Biomass as an Alternative Energy Source

Sustainability Assessment of Alternative Thinning Operations in Mediterranean Softwood Plantations

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