Integrating Value Considerations in the Decision Making for the Design of Biorefineries

Biobased production has been promoted as a sustainable alternative to fossil resources. However, controversies over its impact on sustainability highlight societal concerns, value tensions and uncertainties that have not been taken into account during its development. In this work, the consideration of stakeholders’ values in a biorefinery...

Setting the design space of biorefineries through sustainability values, a practical approach

Sustainable development has become an outstanding aspiration in our society. However, the meaning of sustainability and how it should be operationalized is a complex issue that depends on subjective beliefs and values. To advance toward sustainable biobased production, we present an approach to delimit the design space of biorefineries by...

Conceptual design of sustainable integrated microalgae biorefineries: Parametric analysis of energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and techno-economics

This study covers four main aspects of the conceptual design of sustainable integrated microalgae-based biorefineries using flue gas from CO2-intensive industries (i.e. 100% CO2): i) screening of technologies (4 options for cultivation, 3 for culture dewatering, 3 for cell disruption, 4 for lipids extraction & purification, and 4 for...