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Horizon scanning for social sustainability in the bioenergy value chain

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The objective of our research was to scan the horizon of social sustainability issues in the bioenergy sector. Using horizon scanning, we aimed at creating a tool for biofuel production policy makers in order to provide them with a strategic instrument for anticipating future developments. Horizon-scanning allows the identification of challenges, trends, opportunities and constraints related to different sectors (Sutherland, 2009). We have further developed this method into a more generic approach to foresee the critical social sustainability issues on the horizon of bioenergy industry. Our research resulted in the Bioenergy Social Sustainability Tree, and identified three global tendencies in in terms of social sustainably and policy development in bioenergy. We reviewed more than 50 social sustainability indicators suggested by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI, 2014), and narrowed it down to 12 critical indicators, with six potential threats and six opportunities to bioenergy industry. Four major forces have been identified driving bioenergy business. These are: Bioenergy policy development and promotion, Economic development growth, Technology development and transfer and Stakeholder concern. Based on their impact, conservative, moderate and decentralized tendencies were identified. We concluded that horizon-scanning can be effectively integrated into the social sustainability reporting process. Moreover, using horizon scanning to identify potential social issues related to bioenergy sector will help to prioritise future research and inform policy developers and strategic planners about emerging critical issues.
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Original Research Article
Horizon scanning for social sustainability in the bioenergy value chain
Elena Fedorova* and Eva Pongrácz
Thule Institute, NorTech Oulu, FI-90014 University of Oulu, P.O.Box 7300, Finland
*Corresponding author, E-mail: elena.fedorova@oulu.fi
Abstract
This paper focuses on scanning and analyzing the horizon of social sustainability issues in order to provide a strategic
background for anticipating future developments and thereby gain lead time. While environmental and economic
impacts of bioenergy production have been studied and assessed for many years, the social aspects are still often
neglected. There are substantial challenges in identifying and understanding the social impacts associated with
bioenergy production activities. The increasing complexity of the bioenergy sector, uncertainty and the rise of hidden
social issues created the growing demand for tools which can be used for anticipatory intelligence, such as modelling ,
tendency analyses, scanning and simulation tools. Using horizon scanning to identify potential social issues related to
bioenergy sector will help to priorities future research and inform policy developers and strategic planners about
upcoming emerging issues.
Keywords: Social sustainability, biofuels, policy -making
Introduction
During the last decade, high demand and growing
potential for renewable energy exports from
developing countries to the EU have raised public and
private sector interest and attention to the issues
surrounding the production of renewable fuels.
Infrastructural and political factors in developing
countries, especially variety of accessible land and low
labour costs made biofuels production potentially
highly profitable sector.
In 2011, 83% of the biofuels consumed in the EU were
produced in the EU, one fifth of which was produced
from imported feedstock, which is the first and most
socially vulnerable stage of bioenergy value chain (EU
Biofuel Annual, 2012). Considering the fact that the
main countries exporting e.g. biodiesel to the EU are
Brazil, Argentina and USA for soy biodiesel and
bioethanol, and Indonesia and Malaysia for palm oil, it
was noticed that the most alerting case of social
injustice are coming from these regions.
While environmental and economic impacts of
bioenergy production have been studied and assessed
for many years, the social aspects are still often
neglected. There are substantial challenges in
identifying and understanding the social impacts
associated with bioenergy production activities.
The increasing complexity of bioenergy sector,
inherent uncertainty of supply and the rise of hidden
social issues created the obvious growing demand for
tools which can be used for anticipatory intelligence,
such as modelling , tendency analyses, scanning and
simulation tools.
Several European countries have initiated new horizon
scanning programs, which may help to identify
disruptive events which are not yet covered by policies.
The main goal of bioenergy social sustainability
horizon scanning is to develop an effective system for
early identification of emerging issues within the
bioenergy sector. Usage of effective horizon scanning
systems will help to identify challenges, trends,
opportunities and constraints, and dissemination of
outcome materials among decision makers. It will also
help to characterize the social impacts of bioenergy
production throughout the entire life cycle of a product.
Bioenergy stakeholders not only represent the
production sector, but also include consumers and
affected parties along the entire value chain and
particularly population groups whose living conditions
are changing rapidly due to biofuel production
expansion (Starick, 2013). As a result, both the
landscape and society are constantly changing. All
social impacts must be taken into account to ensure
sustainable development under growing demand for
new biofuel sources exploration.
Need for an effective social sustainability management
tool has appeared. This paper concentrates on the
horizon scanning methodology to define the most
important social issues. Using the horizon scanning
approach, we draw exploratory qualitative tendencies
on the global level for the potential development of
bioenergy industry in a social context.
Horizon Scanning
Usually, the word scanning is used in connection with
frequent and systematic observation of a space or a
body, in order to identify and differentiate phenomena
that for some reason need to be watched more carefully
in the nearest future. It is used not only for warfare
tactics to develop early warning for attacks (for
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example radar) but also in medicine, where it is used to
detect infected tissues (ultrasound, MRI etc).
In the dynamic and complex business world
environmental scanning is often performed by strategic
managers. Using systematic observation of
developments helps them to identify threats or
opportunities for the business earlier. Those threats and
opportunities may appear in the immediate business
environment, as well as can show other broader social
or regulatory trends. (Rij, 2008)
Based on the previous experiences and results derived
from UK Governmental Foresight Program, Professor
Bill Sutherland from the University of Cambridge,
together with other scientists and conservationists,
developed a methodology which allows 'scanning the
horizon' for potential issues that could become a
problem for life on Earth in the near future. His
methodical exercise helps to define what threats and
opportunities might appear in the immediate future.
Being surprised by unpredicted events can be costly
and threaten the well-being of next generations. That is
why the main idea behind horizon scanning is to spot
issues that need attention and deeper research before
they turn to major problems. (Sutherland, 2009)
Table 1 describes the scanning stages of successful
horizon scanning. It shows the methodology and
approaches of each stage.
Table 1 A taxonomy of horizon-scanning methods used in
identifying and prioritizing future possible issue (modified
from , Sutherland 2009)
Scanning stage
Method
Approach
Scoping
Screening
Identify issues and explore
important driving forces and
areas of uncertainty
Issue tree
Breaks down key question into a
mutually exclusive and
completely
exhaustive set of sub-questions
Gathering
information
Literature
searches and
state-of
science
reviews
Search for published threats and
Opportunities
Expert
workshops
Bring together team of experts
to suggest possible issues based
on their own experience and
knowledge of the literature
Watching
trends
Trend
analysis
Study historic performance to
identify future trends
Making
sense
Global
Tendency
Consider a range of possible
future states and then explore
the possible consequences of
each
Systems
maps
Show the relationships between
all factors influencing the
central issue, and whether their
effect is positive or negative
Agree the
response
Backcasting
Describe a vision of the
preferred future, then identify
the key steps needed to reach it
Scanning Social Sustainability for the Bioenergy
Sector
Although modern bioenergy represents only a small
share, about 10% in the global use of biomass for
energy, notwithstanding, it is rather diverse. On the
other hand, increasing bioenergy supplies and
bioenergy sources diversification is the main objective
in the EU, which is financially supported and
politically encouraged. This challenge of diversity of
bioenergy sources and high demand create risks and
undesirable developments if the expansion of
bioenergy development is unregulated.
The roots of these issues can be traced back to 2006,
when US president Bush declared a commitment to
promote biofuels and the EU also followed with a
similar commitment. Unfortunately, prior research on
the potential impact of biofuels had not been done.
This research was performed only after the strategic
policy decision had been approved. This research
revealed many negative environmental and
socioeconomic impacts of biofuel expansion, which
could have been prevented if the policy making was
based on prior scientific research. (Sutherland, 2009)
Using horizon scanning to identify potential social
issues related to bioenergy sector may help to prioritise
future research and inform policy developers and
strategic planners about upcoming emerging issues.
The need for horizon scanning of social sustainability
issues is illustrated by recent failure to predict the
widespread of diverse biofuels which lead to rise of
serious socioeconomic issues in developing countries
Social aspects of sustainable bioenergy involve
embracing long- term considerations on well-being in
order to safeguard affordable access to food and water,
guaranteed energy supply and ensuring the safety of
people, facilities, and regions. Also transparent
participatory processes such as active engagement of
stakeholders, establishing obligations to respect human
rights, and embrace a long-term sustainability plan
with periodic monitoring are helping are playing an
import role for improving social sustainability of
bioenergy sector.
Economic aspects of bioenergy sustainability include
keeping reasonable production, distribution and
consumption of goods and services. Marketing
communication and consumer behaviour change which
often affect rural economic development of bioenergy
production regions are also very important aspects of
sustainable bioenergy. Economic factors are influenced
by government policies, technology, energy and raw
material prices, demand resulting from diverse energy
uses, and environmental costs. (Dale, 2013)
Social Sustainability Issues Tree
The Horizon Scanning of social sustainability requires
clear understanding of issues which create the hihest
concern among experts and stakeholders. Interactions
and one-on-one interviews with major players of
industry help to identify issues. is the issues tree also
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reveals main driving forces and areas of biggest
uncertainty and risks.
The specific set of social sustainability indicators is
needed for socioeconomic assessment of bioenergy.
Selecting appropriate and effective socioeconomic
indicators may potentially help new bioenergy projects
and stakeholders to identify and measure sustainability
elements of their future developments. Each issue
should go through a range of stages before it becomes a
problem. A major challenge is to be ready at each stage
against the costs of preparing for issues that may never
become important. According to Sutherland’s horizon
scanning methodology, before setting an issue tree
following key questions must be addressed:
- How the issue might impact on the interests of the
organization
- If the issue does develop, how long would the
organization need to respond to, for example, carry out
research or national or regional develop policies?
- How much advance warning of developments is likely?
- What planning and preparation is appropriate considering
the uncertainty, the speed at which it might develop, and
the time required to act?
- What specific developments (such as extension of biofuel
production in the region) could change the potential
impacts or urgency?
- Is the current knowledge proportionate with the identified
impact and urgency, and how should gaps be filled?
Following the above methodology, the list of bioenergy
Social Sustainability (SS) indicator have been
identified and described. After discussions and
screening process, a large number of issues have been
scaled down to 13 most important and critical. Table 2
represents the Social Sustainability Issue Tree, where
these indicators are represented
Table 2 Bioenergy Social Sustainability Issue Tree
Threats
Opportunities
Labour
Labour rights
Training
Employment
Human rights
Indigenous
Rights
Empowering
Society
Land Use
Rights
Rural Development
(local economy)
Economy
Food
Security
Energy Security
Product
Development
Consumer
behavior
change
Marketing
Communication
Environment
Water Access
Diversity of Energy
sources
Threats
Among the selected the indicators, the following have
being identified as threats to future social
sustainability: Food Security, Access to Water, Labour
Rights, Indigenous Rights, Land Use Rights and
Consumer Behaviour. Those indicators may potentially
create many obstacles for biofuel production extension.
The concern about Food Security comes from the fact
that there is a growing tendency of using cropland to
grow biofuel feedstock. This generates the threat that
benefits of biofuel production may come at very high
expense of food security particularly in developing
countries where it will strongly affect the poorest part
of population.
Biofuel production is also threatening the
availabilityand fair distribution of other natural
resources such as land and water. Many alarming cases
are reported in third world countries, if large biofuel
production enterprises are not taking into consideration
the water needs of local population and, even worse,
are moving entire communities from the land of their
ancestors without any compensation. Recent conflicts
in Africa demonstrate how Water Access and Land
Rights Use is increasingly being politicized. Despite
the existence of international human rights laws to
regulate water and land use, the right of access to
resources in rural African communities have often been
compromised. (Mutopo 2014)
The threat of rising issues in diversity, equal
opportunities and bridging Labour and Indigenous
rights during bioenergy feedstock production are also
associated with large-scale bioenergy feedstock
production. The human costs of biofuels production are
often overlooked by international organizations,
focusing only on environmental and ecological effects.
The lack of regulations and accountability on the part
of the new biofuel production facilities allow them to
ignore national labour laws even if it designed to
protect the workers and local communities. Usage of
low-skilled seasonal workers, many of whom are
migrants or come from local indigenous communities
and often settle for low-paid jobs with harsh working
conditions.
The threats that have not been dealth with on the site of
biofuel production may have strong influence on the
future of biofuels due to international society
perception. Consumer Behaviour and perception of
biofuel production is already been influenced by mass
media and cases of social injustice during bioenergy
feedstock production in developing countries is starting
to attract a lot of attention. The increased amount of
such information will definitely influence future
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acceptability of bioenergy and may change consumer
behaviour toward it. Consumer demand is the strongest
argument for a company to change to a more
sustainable way (Belz & Schmidt-Riediger, 2010)
Opportunities
The number of opportunities related to expansion of
biofuels have also been identified. They have been
described in order of importance starting with the most
essential one Energy Security. Achieving energy
security thought well developed bioenergy industry has
a great potential in the future. Small scale projects as
well as large enterprises may bring energy security
benefits in a different way depending on geographical
location and overall energy strategy in particular
region. For many African countries a positive future
trend can be achieved by moving from global fuel
supply to local self-supply giving them energy security.
Regional policy objective will move forward local
biofuel production that increases rural access to energy,
and not just rural access to income-generating
activities.
Providing energy security will also lead to Rural
Development opportunity. Sustainable development
depends not only on a country or region's overall
economic performance; but social aspects need to be
incorporated at all levels as well. (Goldemberg 2010)
In addition, it has been defined that there is a direct
link between insufficient energy supply and poor
development. New biofuel productions projects
especially in developing countries tend to improve
correlation between those two factors.
In Europe, Sweden serves as an excellent example how
usage of small scale biofuel production enterprises
substantially improved rural communities’ well-being.
Many countries are already enjoying other benefits of
biofuel production expansion The Diversity of
Energy Sources. This diversity has a potential to
decrease the dependence from fossil fuel in many
countries. The economy of Brazil is has been using a
diversity of biofuels for almost 30 years. The future
development of diversity of biofuels may provide
benefits into both: improving the environment and
increasing the security of supply. Potential
developments of various feedstock sources and the use
of a wide range of feedstock will reduce the level of
risk across the biofuels value chain.
Marketing Communication is yet another opportunity
for the bioenergy sector. Successfully applied
marketing communications tools are able to provide
free promotional materials offering “socially
sustainable bioenergy” tips and advice on which
bioenergy sources use brings benefits to everybody.
What is especially important for managers in the
bioenergy sector is to develop good practices of
communicating specific technological and scientific
concept and features of biofuels to non-technical
audience.
Training and Employment are benefits that directly
improve personal well-being and a successful future of
bioenergy industry may boost the need for well-trained
personnel. Due to a rising interest in green products
and sustainability, and unstable oil prices, companies
will look for individuals with professional training and
education in bioenergy feedstock processing, biomass
based materials and issues related to sustainable
bioenergy development.
Empowering or transferring good practices, polices and
knowledge from well developed countries to third
world countries is another opportunity that biofuel
production companies should consider while launching
new business.
Bioenergy social sustainability global tendencies
Although the demand for biofuels grows globally,
bioenergy establishment is still open to different socio-
economic development opportunities as well as
potentials threats. Understanding causeeffect
relationships may potentially drive bioenergy
development and explore different opportunities and
threats and their effects on national, regional and local
development. Qualitative bioenergy social
sustainability global tendencies have been drafted
based on the results of initial screening, literature
review and establishment on issue tree, the possible
future developments and trends of separate issues were
identified and driving forces have been determined,
summarized in Table 3.
Table 3 Driving forces
Forces
Conservative
Moderate
Decentralized
Policy
Development
and
Promotion
Aggressive
promotion,
little policy
development
Always in
continued
development
Well-
developed in
connection
with small-
scale bio
projects
Economic
Development
Growth
High in
developed
countries,
low in
developing
Moderate
growth
globally
Moderate in
developed
countries,
high in
developing
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Technology
Development
and
Transfer
Technology
development
and transfer
for large
facilities
Well-
balance
Good
technology
development
and transfer of
small plants
Stakeholders
Concern
Stakeholders
stay unaware
of social
issues
Moderate
involvement
Highly
concerned and
engaged
Three global tendencies for future development of
bioenergy in relationship with social sustainably and
policy development have been identified. These
tendencies make it possible to examine potential
developments, opportunities and threats and investigate
the possible future socio-economic consequences of
various development options. Defining such
tendencies can stimulate the social learning process
among stakeholders and inhabitants in general and
facilitate the decision-making process. (Sohl, 2010)
The main purpose for defining bioenergy social
sustainability tendencies is not forecasting future event
rather, but to present possible outcomes under specific
circumstances, show particular driving forces that may
potentially influence the path of bioenergy
development upcoming trends.
Many potential future tendencies and scenarios for
Bioenergy Sustainability have been published recently.
However, most of them concentrate only on
environmental and pure economic indicators and are
primary based on quantitative forecast methods. The
rise of public discussions on national, regional and
local levels and the increase in bioenergy production
calls for qualitative analyses that focus also on socio-
economic issues.
Conservative Tendency
In the Conservative Tendency, the demand for biofuels
across the regions is growing rapidly. The increase in
oil prices will push nations to extended research and
development (R&D) for new biofuel technologies that
may support the expansion of biofuels supply. At the
same time the productivity will be kept on the same
level. Sustainable increase in bioenergy systems
productively will be difficult to achieve since the focus
is kept on the big picture not on the small issues.
Conservative Tendency will lead to large profits for
biofuel production corporations, particularly in Europe,
where they already enjoy high subsidies from using
“green products” and consumers do not know the
hidden social cost of the product.
The biofuel industry will continue to stay capital-
intensive with large-scale enterprises, highly
centralised and high demand for year-round feedstock
supply to keep operations efficient. (Msangi, 2007)
As been projected by many studies, the biggest
increase in biofuel demand will come from
transportation needs. (Fulton, 2004) It means that
replacing liquid fuels for transport is the main priority.
As for today, the most efficient ethanol production can
be achieved only using dedicated energy crops, such as
corn and sugarcane. These dedicated ethanol crops
likely to have the greatest and in many cases negative
impact on social sustainably indicators including food
and water supply security, labour and land rights.
Many other social sustainability indicators may be
affected along the entire biofuel production value chain
especially, if the large biofuel production takes place
on prime agricultural land and constantly trying to
reduce transportation costs of both the feedstock and
biofuel products to and from, centralised biofuel
production facilities.
In this tendency willingness of farmers to sell land for
profit will increase. Small farmers will not survive
completion. Large-scale investors including main
global energy market players and big agricultural
enterprises are attracted by the land potential of
southern regions. Their main purpose is to supply
developed countries with biofuel products. The energy
provider establishes business relationships with these
agricultural and other biomass production enterprises.
They have no concern about social sustainability.
The Conservative Tendency does not require strict
policy development. The general policies are followed
but social sustainability issues still not revealed to the
consumer.
Driven by the progress in technological options,
technology research and EU policy on subsides for
green products the further enhancement of established
bioenergy production technologies takes place.
However technology development and transfer only
put its efforts into improvement of large production
facilities
Even though bioenergy production stakeholders groups
are identified along the value chain, there is little
cooperation on local or regional levels. Population
stays unconcerned by questions of bioenergy provision
and its effects on social sustainability, although big part
of global population expresses environmental and
economic concerns.
Moderate or Balanced Change Tendency
In a Moderate or Balanced Change Tendency, global
demand for biofuels is growing but is supported by
constantly updated EU policy on Social Sustainability.
Current concerns about food-versus energy issues in
developing countries and complexity of social issues
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control make decision-makers to move away from food
agricultural biomass products. Non-food agricultural
biomass, agricultural and food residues and waste are
the main sources for bioenergy feedstock production.
EU created internationally accepted policy instruments
for fair and sustainable land-use options for biofuel
crop production. The International Standardization
Organization (ISO) developed the ISO 13065 standard
for sustainable bioenergy. Socio-economic aspects of
bioenergy production, diverse value chains and use of
bioenergy defined and implemented in harmony with
sustainability criteria.
Stakeholders’ involvement is moderate; however,
growing interest from main players on local and
regional levels in using biomass for energy provision
prevails. Farmers, local business and local
communities become key players for decision making
on launching new bioenergy feedstock enterprises in
the area. The size of enterprises is varying. Local
power companies and municipalities play an important
role in bioenergy providing. In general, the
stakeholders’ activities are selective but their overall
commitment increases.
Large-scale foreign investors are faced with scepticism.
Large enterprises are not welcome if they do not
present structured and legally supported social
programs complimenting new developments. The rate
of social acceptability in the regions and consumer
behaviour of the end-user will be the main driving
force to sustain bioenergy production
New facilities are installed on the basis of existing
local infrastructure and logistics, bringing new
technological and knowledge- based developments and
involving local labour forces. Transfer of new
technologies improves energy storage practices that
allow energy supply to be based on demand. These
new technologies are efficient.
Due to diversity and complexity of technological
development stakeholders have to face new options and
challenges. Small farmers and medium size companies
in particular must choose among various economic
opportunities, partnerships with various interested
parties and social perception of feedstock production.
As a result of rapid bioenergy technologies
development, bioenergy training and educational needs
are high.
Small-scale Projects Shift Tendency
The number of negative cases of large-scale biofuel
production is increased, EU policy development is
pushed to its limits, biofuel production stakeholders are
not happy and the consumers are concerned about
social sustainability impacts from biofuel production.
This could be a milestone where Small-scale Projects
Shift tendency can become a solution for continuous
sustainable development. EU develops strict policy into
favour of decentralized bioenergy production.
Even now many scholars suggest that small-scale
decentralized bioenergy production enterprises may
have higher potential for social, economic and
environmental sustainably development. Large
centralized production systems are driven by
production efficiency benefits with high commercial
validity and have been criticized for hiding social cost
of production and increasing risks of unsustainable
practices. Small-scale decentralized projects support
local and rural development, create employment,
provide energy security, and contribute to climate
change control. They could be better controlled by
local governments.
The main constraint for Small-scale Projects Shift
Tendency is the economic validity. However, there are
many opportunities for combined benefits generated
through value chains of integrating small-scale
decentralized bioenergy projects with other production
systems. Integrated bioenergy production, that includes
closed loop models, allows waste materials from one
process to be consumed as inputs in other production
processes, increasing economic, social and
environmental benefits. Synergies may create many
opportunities along the bioenergy production chain,
including feedstock production and bioenergy
marketing and distribution. Those opportunities could
be exploited by communities and other investors to
minimize risk from decentralized bioenergy
production. (Mangoyana, 2011)
Some examples of decentralized bioenergy production
are seen in the small- to medium-scale biomass based
heat and power plants in Europe, particularly in
Sweden where number of small bioenergy enterprises
successfully operate already for years. An important
element of Small-scale Projects Shift Tendency is
localization of ownership, overall management,
production, and well-developed marketing
communications system of bioenergy production
organization.
Another positive outcome this Tendency can deliver is
combination of right policy implementation at place
and effective technology transfer practices. It becomes
applicable not only to developed countries such as
Sweden, but also to developing countries.
This tendency has a great potential if implemented
properly. New investments into R&D of biofuel
industry and knowledge based technology and
practices transfers into agricultural sector from
countries with proficient experience in biofuel
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production can lead to more favourable outcome, and
enhance consumer-level impacts. Moreover, Small-
scale Projects Shift Tendency seems to be the most
acceptable from social sustainably development point
of view. Issues like labour rights abuse including child
labour are easier to tackle on the small-scale.
Small-scale Projects Shift Tendency is possible if only
current debates on Bioenergy Sustainability Policies
and Certifications Systems will address the importance
of expansion rate for biofuels and relate it to particular
biofuel source, level of economic development, set-up
of farming or industrial systems and available
technologies of each country.
Conclusion
The objective of this research was to perform a horizon
scanning of social sustainability issues in the bioenergy
industry and its sectors. Bioenergy social sustainability
reflects how production of biomass for energy impacts
national, regional and local development. In particular,
it shows how social sustainability aims to ensure food
and energy security and addresses any issues in respect
with labour, land and water rights.
Our study was inspired by the research of Professor
Bill Sutherland from the University of Cambridge and
his conservationists colleagues, who developed
methodology which allows 'scanning the horizon' for
potential issues that could become a problem in the
near future. Bill Sutherland’s horizon-scanning system
allows the identification of challenges, trends,
opportunities and constraints related to different sectors
of bioenergy globally. We applied and developed his
taxonomy of horizon-scanning methods into more
generic approach for studying impact of social
sustainability issues on future development of the
bioenergy industry. Our research contributes with the
Bioenergy Social Sustainability Tree and identified
Three Global Tendencies for future development of
bioenergy in relationship with social sustainably and
policy development.
In the process of building the Issue Tree, we reviewed
more than 50 social sustainability indicators suggested
by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and narrowed it
down to 12 indicators, with six potential threats and six
opportunities related to bioenergy industry, which, in
our opinion, will have the most influence on future
development on the industry. The Tree can be further
used for defining social impact of bioenergy production
throughout the entire bioenergy industry’s value chain.
The complexity and diversity of bioenergy value chains
shows that social impacts occur almost at every stage
of the chain from the level of feedstock production to
the level of end user. That is why there is a need for
developing an effective instrument to assess those
impacts. Moreover, all social impacts must be taken
into account to ensure sustainable development in light
of growing demand for new biofuel sources and their
exploration.
The identified bioenergy social sustainability global
tendencies reflect the socio-economic and
technological reaction on four major forces within the
bioenergy development driving forces. The four major
forces are Bioenergy Policy Development and
Promotion, Economic development Growth,
Technology Development and Transfer and
Stakeholders Concern. Their effect was categorized
into three categories, thus giving us Conservative,
Moderate and Decentralized tendencies with a
considerate impact on the future development of the
global bioenergy social sustainability phenomenon.
Therefore, after we performed our research and
identified the global tendency, we concluded that more
focused case studies of bioenergy companies and/or
institution in one or several countries and/or regions
should be performed for better comprehension of the
bioenergy social sustainability phenomenon.
Potentially, the horizon-scanning results can be
effectively integrated into the social sustainability
reporting process. Horizon scanning is not just about
looking for alarming signals, but it is more about
grasping the societal contexts behind the entire
scanning process of identifying, evaluating and
disseminating signals. That is why the diverse
information on emerging issues may give an advantage
to policy-makers, investors and stakeholder in
preventing harmful issues before they arise.
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Over the past decade, horizon scanning has been recognised as part of forward-looking government processes in a number of industrialised countries. It helps policy-makers in addressing the diversity of future societal and environmental challenges and in addressing the potential of emerging areas of science and technology in an integrated way. This paper discusses the usefulness of horizon scanning as an additional tool for future-oriented technology analysis activities, such as technology foresight and scenario building. Analysing the national horizon scans of the UK, the Netherlands and Denmark in a joint horizon pilot project initiated under the ERA-Net ForSociety, this paper makes a series of recommendations regarding horizon scanning processes at the national level and the construction of common future-oriented policies.
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Conference Paper
Background/Question/Methods Indicators are needed to support assessment of both environmental and socioeconomic sustainability of bioenergy systems. Effective choice and application of indicators can assist in both identifying and quantifying the sustainability characteristics of bioenergy options. Our team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has worked from existing literature and other sustainability efforts to identify and define the measurement units for a set of environmental and socioeconomic indicators that is essential to characterize sustainability of bioenergy systems. The set included 19 environmental indicators for soil quality, water quality and quantity, greenhouse gases, biodiversity, air quality and productivity and 15 socioeconomic indicators that fall into the categories of social well being, energy security, external trade, resource conservation, profitability and asocial acceptability. Results/Conclusions A framework for identifying selection criteria for assessing bioenergy sustainability is also presented. This framework is designed to facilitate making decisions about that indicators are useful to assess sustainability of bioenergy systems and to support their deployment. The first steps of the framework for indicator selection include defining the sustainability goals and other goals for a bioenergy project or program, understanding the context, and identifying the values of stakeholders. From these steps, the objectives for analysis and criteria for indicator selection can be developed. After identifying and ranking indicators, the user of the framework should evaluate their effectiveness, including identifying gaps that prevent goals from being met and assessing lessons learned. Appropriate criteria and indicators depend upon the specific purpose of an analysis. Realistic goals, measures and best management practices for bioenergy sustainability can be developed systematically with the help of such a framework. A case study is presented on ways to combine analysis of effects on water quality with profit considering switchgrass grown in East Tennessee to support the Genera demonstration biorefinery. The model results show that choice of location to plant switchgrass can provide improvements in nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment concentration compared to business as usual as well as be profitable to farmers in the Little Tennessee River watershed.
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Book
The relationship between energy and the environment has been the basis of many studies over the years, as has the relationship between energy and development, yet both of these approaches may produce distortions. In the first edition of this book, Professor Goldemberg pioneered the study of all three elements in relation to one another. With contributions from Oswaldo Lucon, this second edition has been expanded and updated to cover how energy is related to the major challenges of sustainability faced by the world today. The book starts by conceptualizing energy, and then relates it to human activities, to existing natural resources and to development indicators. It then covers the main environmental problems, their causes and possible solutions. Disaggregating national populations by income and by how different income groups consume energy, the authors identify the differences between local, regional and global environmental impacts, and can thus ascertain who is responsible for them. Finally, they discuss general and specific policies to promote sustainable development in energy. New coverage is included of today's pressing issues, including security, environmental impact assessment and future climate change/renewable energy regimes. The authors also cover all major new international agreements and technological developments. Energy, Environment and Development is the result of many years of study and practical experience in policy formulation, discussion and implementation in these fields by the authors. Written in a technical yet accessible style, the book is aimed at students on a range of courses, as well as non-energy specialists who desire an overview of recent thought in the area. © Professor José Goldemberg and Oswaldo Lucon, 2010 First edition published in 1996. All rights reserved.
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In this paper we investigate characteristics and drivers of sustainability marketing strategies. Based on an empirical study in the food industry, we identify four sustainability marketing strategy types with distinctive characteristics (performers, followers, indecisives and passives). Consumers are one of the main drivers of sustainability marketing strategies. Depending on the sensitization of consumers to socio-ecological problems, the perceptibility of socio-ecological qualities, the individually perceived net benefits and the availability of sustainable alternatives, we argue that the typology and drivers apply to non-food industries as well. Furthermore, we find that the incorporation of social and ecological aspects into marketing strategies also depends on the market segment in which the company competes: companies that are positioned in the premium or quality segment are more inclined to take an active stance on sustainability marketing than companies that compete in the price segment. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
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Decentralised bioenergy systems are receiving increasing attention due to the potential ability to support local development, create local employment, and contribute to climate change mitigation. These issues, along with other bioenergy sustainability issues, are reviewed through eighteen international case studies with the objective of identifying opportunities and threats to decentralised bioenergy systems. The case studies were selected based on feedstock type, bioenergy type, production capacity, synergistic alliances, ownership structure and physical locations. This variation was used to provide a basis for evaluating opportunities and threats from different contexts. Commercial viability remains the primary concern for the sustainability of decentralised bioenergy systems. There are, however, opportunities for compounding benefits through integrating small scale decentralised bioenergy systems with other production systems. Integrated production, including closed loop models, allow waste materials from one process to be used as inputs in other production processes, and thereby increasing economic, social and environmental outcomes. Synergistic opportunities along the bioenergy production chain, which include feedstock production, bioenergy marketing and distribution could also be exploited by communities and other investors to minimise decentralised production risk.
Biofuels for Transport: An International Perspective
  • L Fulton
  • T Howes
  • J Hardy
Fulton, L., T. Howes, and J. Hardy. 2004 " Biofuels for Transport: An International Perspective ". International Energy Agency, Paris. Available at PDF: http://www.cti2000.it/Bionett/All-2004- 004%20IEA%20biofuels%20report.pdf