Early-stage evaluation of bio-based production chains (DESTINY project)

Developing the bioeconomy features high on the European policy agenda to tackle societal challenges such as climate change, the phasing out of fossil resources or the advent of the much needed ecological and energy transitions. The European Bioeconomy Universities’ joint doctoral network DESTINY is a Horizon Europe Marie SkłodowskaCurie Action and offers a total number of 15 fully funded PhD positions in an inter- and transdisciplinary research and education programme. DESTINY stands for DEsign and SusTainability Assessment of Innovative biomass production systems and value-chains in the BioecoNomY. In the joint doctoral network the transition from a fossil-based towards a biobased economy will be supported by developing novel methods and tools to optimise biomass production systems, developing novel biobased value chains and assessing their sustainability holistically.

A successful biobased production chain is cheap, resource use efficient, economically viable, environmentally and socially sustainable and has an optimal integrated biomass utilisation for a variety of different products. The overall sustainability depends greatly on the properties of biomass feedstock, the applied processing technology and supply chain design. Therefore, taking a systems perspective is essential, which can be done with the established environmental impact method Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). However, LCA requires detailed data to ensure a reliable evaluation. As a result, the chain design is either flexible to change but with insufficient or detailed data available for LCA evaluation or there is enough data for conducting a reliable evaluation, but the design is static.

In DESTINY subproject 4.4 the ORL group will develop a methodology for early assessment of biobased chains that integrates LCA with operations research methods. Available datasets of various biobased chains will be starting point. With this method, we can understand how biobased design variables, such as biomass feedstock, cultivation conditions, product choice, processing technology and supply chain design, influence the environmental sustainability. The method will be used to give a preliminary indication of the LCA results of integrated chains at an early stage of development. The method will be illustrated with biobased production chains studied in the DESTINY project, such as wood to textile fibers, hemp value chains and agricultural waste stream valorization. In a next step, the application of the methodology can be extended to define biobased design rules and to be used in an integrated sustainability assessment.

More information on the DESTINY consortium and related subprojects can be found on the project website: https://destiny-ebu.eu/