This book has shown that sustainability assessment of renewables-based technology is still at an early stage. It has been shown in particular that there are a large number of metrics available, being quite diverse in nature, presented by academics, public and private financed research institutes, and industry. The question may be raised if, in the […]

Chapters 11-19 show applications of different sustainability metrics for different sectors. Since biomass is a predominant renewable resource and since its production requires substantial land area, effects on land use are discussed in the first chapter of this part of the book. Chapter 12 focuses on a rather traditional renewable resource-based sector: forestry. An assessment […]

Chapters 5-10 show six different metrics that can be put into practice as sustainability metrics. Chapter 5 focuses on metrics especially designed to assess renewables-based energy: biofuels. The presented net energy balancing method may be the preferred method in systems where the input of renewables versus non-renewables is so obvious. Chapter 6 presents the typical […]

With respect to the question ‘What technology has to be assessed?’, two major definitions have to be considered. First, there is the definition of the functional unit. If one aims, for example, at comparing a fossil resource-based technology with a renewable resource-based technology, one needs to define a functional unit allowing comparison. In the past, […]

Looking at the available metrics, it turns out that indicators are often limited to one or two dimensions of sustainability, predominantly environment and economics. Economic metrics are available in the market economy and are typically integrated in company and national reports. With respect to environmental sustainability, the predominant metric that was developed in the 1980s […]

Measuring sustainability of technology is complex. One reason for this has to do with sustainability itself: it is a broad holistic issue with environmental, economic and social dimensions. A second reason for the complexity is the large number of levels at which the sustainability concept can be applied, and thus the definition of the technology […]

Jo Dewulf and Herman Van Langenhove 19.3 Introduction Although the word did not exist as such, renewables have been the main sources for energy and material supply in societies for many centuries, and this roughly until 1850. With the start of the era of power machines based on coal and other fossil fuels (first coal, […]

This aggregated parameter constitutes waste (90% reduction in landfill waste), emissions to water (reduced by 52%) and emissions to air. The latter are quantified in terms of contribution to global warming potential (reduced by 83%), photochemical ozone creation potential (reduced by 50%) and acidification potential (reduced by 55% in the bio-route). For example, halogenated solvents […]