Social Life Cycle Approach as a Tool for Promoting the Market Uptake of Bio-Based Products from a Consumer Perspective

Falcone, Pasquale Marcello; Imbert, Enrica

doi:10.3390/su10041031

Cited by 70 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Last but not least, we realized that for any product or service, regular LCA practice does not take into account economic and social factors. In this context, researchers have been dedicated to the integration of economic models as well as ecological and social theories [31][32][33][34]. Nowadays life cycle sustainability assessment (LSCA) has been developed rapidly because of its comprehensiveness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessment of a Buoy-Rope-Drum Wave Energy Converter

Zhai

Zhu

2018

Energies

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This study presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) study for a buoy-rope-drum (BRD) wave energy converter (WEC), so as to understand the environmental performance of the BRD WEC by eco-labeling its life cycle stages and processes. The BRD WEC was developed by a research group at Shandong University (Weihai). The WEC consists of three main functional modules including buoy, generator and mooring modules. The designed rated power capacity is 10 kW. The LCA modeling is based on data collected from actual design, prototype manufacturing, installation and onsite sea test. Life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis and life cycle impact analysis (LCIA) were conducted. The analyses show that the most significant environmental impact contributor is identified to be the manufacturing stage of the BRD WEC due to consumption of energy and materials. Potential improvement approaches are proposed in the discussion. The LCI and LCIA assessment results are then benchmarked with results from reported LCA studies of other WECs, tidal energy converters, as well as offshore wind and solar PV systems. This study presents the energy and carbon intensities and paybacks with 387 kJ/kWh, 89 gCO 2 /kWh, 26 months and 23 months respectively. The results show that the energy and carbon intensities of the BRD WEC are slightly larger than, however comparable, in comparison with the referenced WECs, tidal, offshore wind and solar PV systems. A sensitivity analysis was carried out by varying the capacity factor from 20-50%. The energy and carbon intensities could reach as much as 968 kJ/kWh and 222 gCO 2 /kWh respectively while the capacity factor decreasing to 20%. Limitations for this study and scope of future work are discussed in the conclusion.Energies 2018, 11, 2432 2 of 15 to absorb wave energy and convert it to electricity or other forms of energy [4]. Since the beginning of the century, tidal stream technology and wave energy technology development have started to ramp up [5]. Although there no large-scale WEC installation has been reported in the U.S., the U.S. Department of Energy sponsored the Wave Energy Prize in 2015, an 18-month public design-build-test competition to increase the diversity of organizations involved in WEC technology development, while motivating and inspiring existing stakeholders [6]. The UK and Portugal have the vast majority of wave energy deployments in Europe [5]. The Carbon Trust estimates that a contribution of up to 20% of total UK energy generation could be provided by marine energy by 2050 [7,8]. China possesses a total marine area of 4,700,000 km 2 [9]. With annual mean wave power of up to 7.73 kW/m wave front, China has a wave power potential of 128.5 GW, nearly half of the electricity production of China [10,11]. However, the majority of China's wave energies are without any exploitation and thus far, most of the WECs in China are still in concept design or pre-commercial stages. Aiming to stimulate and encourage the marine renewable energy technology research and development, China National Oceanic Admini...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessment of a Buoy-Rope-Drum Wave Energy Converter

Zhai

Zhu

2018

Energies

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“…Specifically, the LCSA consists of (a) environmental LCA, (b) life cycle costing, and (c) social life cycle assessment (SLCA; Kloepffer, 2008). However, the framework is currently in development and subsequently lacks the required empirical evidence to validate it as an effective measure of the social performance of a bio-based product (Falcone & Imbert, 2018).…”

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Transitioning towards the bio‐economy: Assessing the social dimension through a stakeholder lens

Falcone

García

Imbert

et al. 2019

Corp Soc Responsibility Env

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International institutions are calling for a transition towards more sustainable systems of production and consumption. In this transition, sustainable innovations are expected to play an ever-increasing role. In particular, the production of innovative bio-based products-products wholly or partly derived from biological materials or from innovative production processes and/or innovative biomass such as food waste or forest residuals-will be part of this process. However, the sustainability of such products must be assured along their entire life cycle and across the three dimensions mentioned above. Against this background, our study aimed at identifying a social impact framework tailored to bio-based products. It employed a two-step methodological framework encompassing (a) identification of the relevant social impact categories, subcategories, and indicators and (b) validation of these factors, according to participatory stakeholder involvement. The validation exercise enabled us to consider a restricted number of social indicators so as to reduce the amount of data needed for assessing and decreasing related costs.

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“…Falcone el al. (2018) reported on the trend toward ethical investing and socially responsible projects [25], whereby financial institutions are now making access to capital easier while venture capitalists find that green projects add value to companies. They found that there has also been a trend toward funding radical green innovation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reflections on Service Learning for a Circular Economy Project in a Guatemalan Neighborhood, Central America

Kumble

2019

Sustainability

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The research presented in this paper explored multiple objectives. First, what are the requirements for establishing a new composting business that embraces the principles of circular economy? Second, how can employment opportunities for at-risk youths from the most impoverished neighborhood in Guatemala City be created, while adhering to the tenets of social sustainability, of which human rights is the corner stone? Third, what were the requirements involved in making compost in the challenging climatic conditions of Guatemala City? And finally, from an educational perspective, how can this be taught to university students incorporating community service learning in its pedagogy, coupled with the model of action research? What are the obstacles to overcome when initiating a startup business, balancing what appeared to be a mix of complex economic, environmental, and social elements? These three elements are the recognized pillars of sustainability, and as such, there existed a great opportunity to meld the principles of circular economy, community service learning, and action research within the context of putting theories into practice. This applied research attempted to explore how effectively this could be accomplished in Guatemala while overcoming complex cultural, environmental, and economic barriers.

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Social Life Cycle Approach as a Tool for Promoting the Market Uptake of Bio-Based Products from a Consumer Perspective

Cited by 70 publications

References 46 publications

Life Cycle Assessment of a Buoy-Rope-Drum Wave Energy Converter

Life Cycle Assessment of a Buoy-Rope-Drum Wave Energy Converter

Transitioning towards the bio‐economy: Assessing the social dimension through a stakeholder lens

Reflections on Service Learning for a Circular Economy Project in a Guatemalan Neighborhood, Central America

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