Environmental and socioeconomic indicators of bioenergy sustainability

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.