2018. Selecting methods for ecosystem service assessment: a decision tree approach.Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.ukThe NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner. Highlights Guidance is needed for selecting ecosystem service assessment methods  Stakeholder participation was the key reason for selecting many methods  The decision context and ecosystem services at stake were also important reasons  Decision trees can help structure and rationalise the selection of ecosystem service assessment methods  Linking decision trees with other forms of guidance addresses a broader range of user needs

Abstract:The utilization rate of woody biomass in eastern Finland is high and expected to increase further in the near future as set out in several regional, national and European policies and strategies. The aim of this study was to assess the sustainability impacts of changes in fuel consumption patterns. We investigated fossil and woody biomass-based energy production chains in the region of North Karelia, focusing on some economic, environmental and social indicators. Indicators were selected based on stakeholder preferences and evaluated using the Tool for Sustainability Impact Assessment (ToSIA). The analysis was based on representative values from National Forest Inventory data, scientific publications, national and regional statistics, databases, published policy targets and expert opinion. From the results it became evident that shifting from fossil to wood-based energy production implies some trade-offs. Replacing oil with woody biomass in energy production would increase the local value added remaining in the region, create employment opportunities and would reduce total GHG emissions. However, firewood, wood chips from small-diameter trees from early thinning and wood pellets have high production costs. Moreover, large greenhouse gas emission resulted from wood pellet OPEN ACCESSEnergies 2012, 5 4871 production. The case study generated valuable reference data for future sustainability assessments and demonstrated the usefulness of ToSIA as a tool presenting existing knowledge on sustainability impacts of alternative energy supply chains to inform decision making.

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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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ToSIA (Tool for Sustainability Impact Assessment) offers a transparent and consistent methodological framework to assess impacts of changes (technological, policy, management, etc.) in the forest-based sector. This tool is able to facilitate the decision making process within and between diverse groups of stakeholders (e.g., forest managers and policymakers) as it provides a neutral, transparent and data-driven platform for stakeholder interaction and communication. To test these capabilities of ToSIA, a practical approach to test if a decision support system is suitable for participatory processes was developed based on a set of evaluation criteria for participatory processes. ToSIA’s performance was assessed and discussed in different categories against a selection of criteria for successful participatory processes: six criteria were fulfilled by ToSIA, in nine, ToSIA is potentially helpful, in two, criteria ToSIA has no influence, and for three criteria, no experiences exist until now. As a result, ToSIA’s conceptual suitability as a participatory decision support system was confirmed for two interlinked roles: as a decision support system to assess alternative scenarios, and as a communication platform for stakeholder interaction