• Energy Research
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In early February, 48 participants from 23 countries gathered in Shonan Village, southeast of Tokyo, for a Pellston workshop to develop global guidance on principles to create, manage, and disseminate datasets through databases for the purpose of supporting life cycle assessments of globally produced products and services. Participants were organized into six topical tracks, based on responses to a series of eight stakeholder engagements held around the world over the past 18 months. The main topics for the work groups were: 1) unit process data development, 2) aggregated process data development, 3) data review and documentation, 4) adaptive LCI approaches, 5) integration and cross-fertilization, and 6) future knowledge management. The discussions, including both the consensus recommendations and the alternative views, where objectively supportable, are documented in the “Shonan Guidance Principles.” The week deepened the appreciation among the different approaches, schools and philosophies related to dataset development, modeling, reporting and review. The conclusions from controversial discussions were drawn in a spirit of inclusion rather than separation.

In early February, 48 participants from 23 countries gathered in Shonan Village, southeast of Tokyo, for a Pellston workshop to develop global guidance on principles to create, manage, and disseminate datasets through databases for the purpose of supporting life cycle assessments of globally produced products and services. Participants were organized into six topical tracks, based on responses to a series of eight stakeholder engagements held around the world over the past 18 months. The main topics for the work groups were: 1) unit process data development, 2) aggregated process data development, 3) data review and documentation, 4) adaptive LCI approaches, 5) integration and cross-fertilization, and 6) future knowledge management. The discussions, including both the consensus recommendations and the alternative views, where objectively supportable, are documented in the “Shonan Guidance Principles.” The week deepened the appreciation among the different approaches, schools and philosophies related to dataset development, modeling, reporting and review. The conclusions from controversial discussions were drawn in a spirit of inclusion rather than separation.

New technologies and emissions controls have been developed for the production of charcoal, but are not widely used in the industry. The present study seeks to evaluate the potential environmental impact of these new technologies as compared to traditional ones. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Brazilian charcoal produced with different technologies without and with the combustion of the gases in burners or furnaces was carried out. The inclusion of furnaces for the combustion of gases reduces all categories of potential environmental impacts by approximately 90% in both a circular masonry kiln and a rectangular masonry kiln with gas combustion. In the process of producing charcoal (gate-to-gate system boundary), in terms of climate change, the rectangular masonry kiln with gas combustion was approximately 63% less impactful than the circular masonry kiln with gas combustion. In the gate-to-gate analysis, the rectangular masonry kiln with gas combustion presented the best performance when not considering NO2 and SO2. Considering these emissions, there were changes in the impact categories of particulate matter emission and terrestrial acidification, and the circular masonry kiln with gas combustion presented better performance (for cradle-to-gate system boundary). The process in a rectangular masonry kiln without gas combustion presented a greater contribution to the categories of terrestrial impact ecotoxicity (98%), due to the emission of acetic acid especially.

New technologies and emissions controls have been developed for the production of charcoal, but are not widely used in the industry. The present study seeks to evaluate the potential environmental impact of these new technologies as compared to traditional ones. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Brazilian charcoal produced with different technologies without and with the combustion of the gases in burners or furnaces was carried out. The inclusion of furnaces for the combustion of gases reduces all categories of potential environmental impacts by approximately 90% in both a circular masonry kiln and a rectangular masonry kiln with gas combustion. In the process of producing charcoal (gate-to-gate system boundary), in terms of climate change, the rectangular masonry kiln with gas combustion was approximately 63% less impactful than the circular masonry kiln with gas combustion. In the gate-to-gate analysis, the rectangular masonry kiln with gas combustion presented the best performance when not considering NO2 and SO2. Considering these emissions, there were changes in the impact categories of particulate matter emission and terrestrial acidification, and the circular masonry kiln with gas combustion presented better performance (for cradle-to-gate system boundary). The process in a rectangular masonry kiln without gas combustion presented a greater contribution to the categories of terrestrial impact ecotoxicity (98%), due to the emission of acetic acid especially.

The main goal of this study is to suggest quantitative social metrics to evaluate different sugarcane biorefinery systems in Brazil by exploring a novel hybrid approach integrating social life cycle assessment and input-output analysis. Social life cycle assessment is the main methodology for evaluating social aspects based on a life-cycle approach. Using this framework, a hybrid model integrating social life cycle assessment and input-output analysis was introduced to evaluate different social effects of biorefinery scenarios considering workers as the stakeholder category. Job creation, occupational accidents, wage profile, education profile, and gender profile were selected as the main inventory indicators. A case study of three scenarios considering variations in agricultural and industrial technologies (including sugarcane straw recovery and second-generation ethanol production, for instance) was carried out for evaluating present first-generation (1G-basic, 1G-optimized) and future first- and second-generation ethanol production (1G2G). The 1G-basic scenario leads to higher job creation levels over the supply chain mainly because of the influence of agricultural stage whose workers are mostly employed in sugarcane manual operations. On the other hand, 1G-optimized and 1G2G present supply chains are more reliant on the manufacturing, trade, and services sectors whose workers are associated with a lower level of occupational accidents, higher average wages, higher education level, and more participation of women in the work force. The use of a novel hybrid approach integrating social life cycle assessment (SLCA) and input-output analysis (IOA) was useful to quantitatively distinguish the social effects over different present and future sugarcane biorefinery supply chains. As a consequence, this approach is very useful to support decision-making processes aiming to improve the sustainability of sugarcane biorefineries taking social aspects into account.