Social Life Cycle Assessment of a Concentrated Solar Power Plant in Spain: A Methodological Proposal

Abstract

SummaryMeasuring the sustainability of goods and services in a systematic and objective manner has become an issue of paramount importance. Life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) is a holistic methodology whose aim is to integrate into a compatible format the analysis of the three pillars of sustainability, namely, economy, environment, and society. Social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) is a novel methodology still under development, used to cover the social aspects of sustainability within LCSA. The aim of this article is to provide additional discussion on the practical application of S-LCA by suggesting a new classification and characterization model that builds upon previous methodological developments. The structure of the social analysis has been adapted to maintain coherence with that of standard LCA. The application of this methodology is demonstrated using a case study-the analysis of power generation in a concentrated solar power plant in Spain. The inventory phase was completed by using the indicators proposed by the United Nations Environment Program/Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (UNEP/SETAC) Guidelines on S-LCA. The impact assessment phase was approached by developing a social performance indicator that builds on performance reference points, an activity variable, and a numeric scale with positive and negative values. The social performance indicator obtained (+0.42 over a range of -2 to +2) shows that the deployment of the solar power plant increases the social welfare of Spain, especially in the impact categories of socioeconomic sustainability and fairness of relationships, whose results were 1.38 and 0.29, respectively. Keywords:industrial ecology life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) social hotspots social indicators social performance sustainability Supporting information is linked to this article on the JIE website

Indicators in Social Life Cycle Assessment: A Review of Frameworks, Theories, and Empirical Experience

“…Employing this deductive logic in this research, we chose the subcategories developed for the SLCA guidelines (UNEP and SETAC ) as the analytical lens since they are considered the “landmark in the field” (Corona et al. , 2). Consequently, we assigned the social indicators used in research to the SLCA subcategories.…”

“…Apart from these initiatives, the current main reference framework and “landmark in the field” (Corona et al. , 2) are the UNEP and SETAC guidelines for SLCA of products (UNEP and SETAC ) and the methodological sheets for subcategories in SLCA (2013). The guidelines and methodological sheets are the foundation for frontrunner companies and other institutions, such as the Roundtable for Product Social Metrics, to develop their own methodologies (Fontes et al.…”

“…Following frequent calls for a more complete understanding and generalization of SLCA indicators (e.g., Corona et al. ; Shuaib et al. ; Traverso et al.…”

Charting the Future of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: A Special Issue

“…Most efforts so far have focused on finding and developing ways to include social impacts using impact categories and indicators, similar to environmental LCA. In this special issue, Kühnen and Hahn (), Hardadi and Pizzol (), Corona and colleagues (), and Suckling and Lee () explore the challenges and options to further and practically apply S‐LCA.…”

“…; Plevin ; Kua ); developing appropriate, preferably quantitative and practical, approaches for S‐LCA (Kühnen and Hahn ; Hardadi and Pizzol ; Corona et al. ; Suckling and Lee ). We discuss each of the lines and the contributions to further development published in this special issue.…”