Integrating Value Considerations in the Decision Making for the Design of Biorefineries

Abstract

Biobased production has been promoted as a sustainable alternative to fossil resources. However, controversies over its impact on sustainability highlight societal concerns, value tensions and uncertainties that have not been taken into account during its development. In this work, the consideration of stakeholders' values in a biorefinery design project is investigated. Value sensitive design (VSD) is a promising approach to the design of technologies with consideration of stakeholders' values, however, it is not directly applicable for complex systems like biorefineries. Therefore, some elements of VSD, such as the identification of relevant values and their connection to a technology's features, are brought into biorefinery design practice. Midstream modulation (MM), an approach to promoting the consideration of societal aspects during research and development activities, is applied to promote reflection and value considerations during the design decision making. As result, it is shown that MM interventions during the design process led to new design alternatives in support of stakeholders' values, and allowed to recognize and respond to emerging value tensions within the scope of the project. In this way, the present work shows a novel approach for the technical investigation of VSD, especially for biorefineries. Also, based on this work it is argued that not only reflection, but also flexibility and openness are important for the application of VSD in the context of biorefinery design.

Conceptualizing controversies in the EU circular bioeconomy transition

“…Understanding changes of controversies in the context of a transition helps to illuminate the discursive dimension of responsible research and innovation, as is recently called for (Jakobsen et al 2019 ). A good example of the inclusion of value-based aspects in technology design is to co-design biorefinery technologies in value sensitive design processes (Palmeros Parada et al 2020 ). Analyzing value-based aspects could be key in finding out why some controversies are gridlocked or smoulder under the surface only to pop up repeatedly during a transition.…”

Contribution of Enzyme Catalysis to the Achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals

“…As already mentioned, achieving the SDGs requires collaboration between different actors in government, industry, and civil society, as well as scientists from different disciplines. Therefore, in biotechnology, approaches such as Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI, [ 36 , 37 ]), Value-Sensitive Design (VSD, [ 38 , 39 ]), and Safe (and sustainable)-by-Design (SbD, [ 40 ]) have been developed and implemented.…”

A Collaborative, Systems Approach for the Development of Biomass-Based Value Webs: The Case of the Acrocomia Palm

“…The conceptualized acrocomia value web is considered a territorially embedded social-ecological system, additionally suggesting the need for territorial approaches to the governance of these systems [129,130,132,141]. Context-dependent factors and territorial settings (e.g., biophysical, socio-economic, stakeholders' norms, and values) require active consideration in the design and development of acrocomia value webs as there are no 'one-size-fits-all' solutions [5,108,132,[142][143][144].…”

“…This innovation model can contribute to put environmental protection at the core of knowledge production activities. In addition, it could serve to the imperative of incorporating stakeholders' multiple value perspectives, conditions and needs (e.g., conservation strategies, ecological boundaries, smallholder farmer inclusiveness, provision of livelihood options, and intrinsic value of native plants for local communities in terms of food, feed, and energy self-sufficiency) for responsible and inclusive research and innovation on acrocomia [36,108,143,144,[159][160][161].…”

“…Possible uses differ according to region and geographical distribution, biomass quality and availability, targeted market, technology access, and processing scales. For a holistic design of sustainable biorefineries tailored to the context, the application of multi-criteria, process optimization, and participatory approaches are essential [103,[106][107][108]. Additionally, it is necessary for the development of logistic systems and decentralized production structures, according to biomass availability and optimal processing scales, to ensure economic viability.…”