Time to tear down the pyramids? A critique of cascading hierarchies as a policy tool

Abstract

Cascading, or cascade use, is concept that has many different definitions, but a common theme is a sequential use of resources for different purposes. The cascading concept was first presented in the early 1990s but has become an intensively debated topic primarily in the most recent decade. In the available literature on cascading of wood, there are few studies that discuss policy implementation. As this is currently heavily debated, there is an important gap here that we aim to fill. In this paper, we (a) critically review the conceptual history of cascading and (b) highlight the complexities involved in its implementation in policy frameworks. Originally, cascading was discussed as a broad framework for how society better should manage natural resource flows. In more recent debates on woody biomass however, cascading is often presented as simply a hierarchy, wherein material use of wood should hold priority over energy use of wood. This is partly based on an idea that certain forms of wood utilization are inherently more valuable than others, an assumption that becomes problematic when implemented in policy. In reality, how and for what a certain wood resource is used varies with time and place and historical examples of implementation of hierarchical policy frameworks indicate a high risk of unwanted consequences, such as unstable policy structures and tendencies toward a negotiation economy. Cascading of woody biomass can have benefits from both an economical and environmental perspective. However, cascading systems should emerge bottom‐up, not be imposed top‐down through politically determined hierarchies. WIREs Energy Environ 2018, 7:e279. doi: 10.1002/wene.279 This article is categorized under: Energy and Climate > Economics and Policy Energy Policy and Planning > Economics and Policy

Cascade utilization of lignocellulosic biomass to high-value products

“…and effects on the international trade of woody biomass cascade utilization; 46 (4) from theory to practice of increasing resource efficiency by biomass cascade utilization. 47 However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no review articles that summarize the research work from the angle of cascade utilization with "green" technologies covering the whole chain from biomass pretreatment to high-value products.…”

Circular Bio-economy—Paradigm for the Future: Systematic Review of Scientific Journal Publications from 2015 to 2021

“…It is defined in Bezama (2016) [270] as the 'qualitative and quantitative measurement of the temporary material stocks associated with characteristic individual products in a system during their use phase, and used to estimate the potential types and quantities of materials that are available for the recycling infrastructures at a certain time'. Introduced and popularised by the Europeans (Germans especially) as a policy matter, it has been, by default, applied to bio-based materials, especially wood from the forestry sector [203,204,318,332], with the primary goal being the creation of profitable business opportunities from the versatility of wood-based resources [210,289]. However, the large-scale cascading of wood from forests can only be enabled by the sustained presence of inducements, legislative obligations or demand from end-use sectors [205,219].…”

Methods for the valorisation of agri-food waste according to the circular bioeconomy concept

“…The proper utilisation of AFW should be cascaded (Olsson et al, 2018), i.e. according to the order of priority, enabling the highest value-added from it.…”