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Did you know social factors are usually not prioritized when assessing sustainability of bioenergy systems? Or would you like to follow up a project for a full-scale CCS plant in Norway?
LITERATURE REVIEW OF SOCIAL LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (S-LCA)
Holistic sustainability assessment of any system, process or product, including bioenergy, includes the consideration of environmental, economic and social factors. However, the social dimension, in comparison to environmental and economic ones, is the least analyzed one. The focus of this report was to review the literature on social life cycle assessment of bioenergy.
The findings from the review highlight the need for interdisciplinary approaches to improve S-LCA by addressing data gaps, methodological limitations, and stakeholder inclusion. Social acceptance remains a key barrier to bioenergy expansion and thus ensuring that all key stakeholders are included in the social impact assessment is essential. Incorporating qualitative data and improving result interpretation are critical for advancing S-LCA. With the growing research interest in utilizing S-LCA and importance of inclusion of social impacts into the overall sustainability assessment, it is expected that S-LCA will continue evolve and strengthen.
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LITERATURE REVIEW ON SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY INDISCATORS OG BIOENERGY SYSTEMS
This stock-taking report has been carried out by IEA Bioenergy with the contribution of different Tasks, including Task 36. A literature review of 148 recent publications (2016 and newer) examined indicators to measure social, economic, and environmental benefits associated with bioenergy production. A virtual workshop, held 17 September 2024, engaged 40+ experts in assessing bioenergy sustainability. The goal of this report was to update the current state of knowledge regarding the benefits and trade-offs associated with bioenergy; determine which indicators are most widely used to track various social, economic, and environmental impacts, and relate indicators to specific indicators associated with Sustainable Development Goals.
Main highlights of the report:
- No single indicator captures the breadth of social or economic sustainability.
- It is important that indicators include pragmatic measures such as the financial viability of a bioenergy project and the cost of CO2mitigation/abatement.
- A wide range of methodologies are observed in the literature, which means that assessments of bioenergy sustainability are often difficult to compare
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SOCIAL AND ENVIORNMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY OF MSW IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SDGs
The report touches upon several potential solutions that exist to address the negative environmental and social impacts relating to MSW generation and management, thereby contributing to the achievement of the SDGs reviewed in this report, including 1) waste reduction; 2) recycling and circular economy and 3) proper waste disoposal and treatement.
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Image: UN (2025). Note: the content of this publication has not been approved by the United Nations and does not reflect the views of the United Nations or its officials or Member States.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF WASTE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES CASE STUDIES COMPILATION
This report provides two case studies of waste management strategies employed in two IEA Bioenergy Task 36 countries, Ireland, an EU member state, and the U.S. The case study report considers waste management strategies, applied to tackle particular waste challenges in each location, and the technical and environmental aspects of the strategies in relation to energy valorisation within the framework of IEA Bioenergy Task 36. The case studies included in this compilation are:
- Waste-to-Energy facility (Indaver Ltd.) in Meath, Ireland: The incinerator was the first of its kind to operate in Ireland (2011). The waste-to-energy facility has capacity to divert up to 235,000 tonnes of MSW from landfill per year and generates 18MW of electricity with 41.5% considered renewable due to combustion of waste of biological origin.
- Renewable Energy & Urban Agriculture Campus (Green Era) in Illinois: A local hub for renewable energy generation, urban farming, and community programming and education in Illinois. The campus’ anaerobic digester system can process approximately 80,000 tons of food waste per year. The food waste is collected from restaurants, food companies, manufacturers, and residents, providing an alternative to the current practice of landfilling and prevents 42,500 tons of CO2-equivalent emissions every year. Further social benefits arise from the community focus, for example by providing an onsite Education Center which will offer workshops and trainings across a variety of topics led by community practitioners.
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FULL-SCALE WASTE-TO-ENERGY CCS IN NORWAY
This short case study is about the latest developments regarding the Hafslund Celsio full-scale CCS project at their Klemetsrud WtE plant in Oslo, Norway, and its purpose is to present the different stages and challenges and to derive lessons learnt of developing this kind of BECCS project. This report presents the developments over the past 4 years by presenting the events in chronological order and helps to understand what it takes to implement first-of-its-kind BECCUS projects.
This work is part of the Inter-Task Project (ITP) Management of biogenic CO2: BECCUS Phase 2 that addresses the following questions: Which technologies/concepts are (potentially) available? What are the requirements for the deployment of BECCUS? In a given situation should biogenic CO2 be sequestered, or utilised? How to monetise the carbon negative products that bioenergy can deliver? How is the GHG.
The report builds on the presentations within the case study report by the Norwegian Task 36 leader, Michaël Becidan in 2021 as part of the BECCUS Inter-Task Project Phase. The overall description of the concept and involved technologies can be found in Phase I report.
Read more: access to the report here