Monitoring system of the environmental and social sustainability and circularity of industrial bio-based systems

ongoing

A bio-based system covers all sectors that rely on biological resources (animals, plants, micro-organisms and derived biomass, organic waste), processes, and principles.The development of a bio-based economy has been emphasized in EU Green Deal to decrease dependency on non-renewable energy and material resources, maintain food security, and decarbonize the economy.However, considering limited land and biological resources in the EU,sustainable and just development of industrial bio-based systems calls for special attention to material circularity, carbon emission, & iLUC risks of bio-based systems, as well as social objectives. BioRadar takes a system perspective to fill the indicator gap in material circularity, environmental impacts, and social impacts of industrial bio-based systems and develop digital monitoring tools for policy-makers and investors. BioRadar identifies circularity opportunities in industrial bio-based systems through biological and technical loops.Material Circularity Indicators(MCIs) are required to assess how well a bio-based system performs in the context of a circular economy.MCIs will help to incorporate circularity as design criteria in developing new bio-based systems, from material choice to new business models.Such indicators will also allow policy-makers to investigate the transition of bio-based systems from linear to circular. Environmental impact assessment of industrial bio-based systems calls special attention to energy use, water consumption, carbon emission, and land use indicators.For this, BioRadar aims to develop frameworks and metrics to evaluate carbon emission and assess the carbon capture and utilization potential, develop methods to evaluate iLUC risks of bio-based systems, and explore climate change mitigation and adoption opportunities for the whole supply chain of industrial bio-based systems. Further,BioRadar aims to identify social development objectives, formulate action plans for social impact assessment.