Towards Sustainable Fuels & Chemicals. Assessment for the development of biobased production processes

Abstract

Fuels and chemicals play an important role in our society by meeting a range of mobility and material needs. However, their production requires large amounts of energy and, together with the use phase and with waste management, they cause a large environmental footprint. It is therefore paramount that we move towards a more sustainable system for the production and use of fuels and chemicals. The development of new biobased production routes for fuels and chemicals presents an interesting opportunity to usher in this transformation. Tapping this opportunity has been the central goal of this Phd research that was conducted within the CatchBio program in the Netherlands. The approach followed involved connecting system level sustainability assessment (involving economics, environmental impacts, hazards, risks etc.) with early research and development (R&D) of chemical production routes. In this thesis, assessment methods (e.g. 5-pillar) and techniques (e.g. life cycle assessment) are explored, evaluated and applied using case studies that include novel biobased production routes being developed within the CatchBio program. The results demonstrate exciting new insights to couple early R&D for chemical processes with sustainability assessment. These insights can be used to design and develop chemical processes that are inherently more sustainable. Large scale implementation of such chemical processes will ensure that we continue to meet our mobility and material needs in the long run without causing any adverse effects on our natural ecosystem.