Assessing social sustainability for biofuel supply chains

Abstract

Aviation fuels derived from biomass are generally perceived as sustainable alternatives compared with their fossil counterparts. However, the production of jet biofuels will have impacts on environment, economy and society simultaneously. Despite that a large number of studies have evaluated environmental impacts or techno-economic feasibility of aviation biofuels, very few studies took social aspects into consideration. Thus, this study seeks to provide a social sustainability evaluation for aviation biofuels with a supply chain perspective. Three potential jet biofuel supply chains, based on different feedstocks, i.e. sugarcane, eucalyptus and macauba, were analyzed in the context of Brazil. The assessment is performed mainly with a process-based approach combined with input-output analysis. A set of social sustainability issues, including employment, working condition, labor right, gender equity and social development, were evaluated in a quantitative manner. The results show the three supply chains lead to differentiated levels of social effects. The macauba-based supply chain generates the highest number of jobs and highest GDP value, whereas the eucalyptus-based supply chain offers more employment opportunities for women. In comparison, the sugarcane-based supply chain has relatively moderate social effects. For future work, the assessment of social sustainability needs to cover a wider range of social issues, in order to extend the comprehension of social sustainability regarding biofuels. Additional research is suggested to bridge the methodological gaps in social sustainability assessment.