Roadmap Towards a Bioenergy Model of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment

The emergent life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, techniques and models were punctuated by divergences concerning the system expansion, allocation rules and causation modeling. Moreover, the unification of the economic, social and ecological perspectives in the life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) should be addressed by abstract models providing coherence and normalization. The purpose of this study was to identify, in the context of biomass waste processing into biofuels, some of the most representative generic and specific issues and theoretical gaps encountered in LCA and LCSA modeling, and to synthesize a list of requirements by analyzing some of the most consistent state of the art solutions, in order to develop an abstract LCSA model. The literature review covered selected studies on LCSA and biomass to biofuels and lignocellulosic agricultural waste valorization LCA techniques. A list of requirements resulted from the significant approaches, in support of a formal model to be developed.