Design Optimization of Renewable

Energy Systems Using Advanced

Optimization Algorithms

African Fermented Food Products- New

Trends

Bioeconomy and Sustainability

Perspectives from Natural and Social Sciences, Economics and Ethics

Circular Economy and Waste

Valorisation
Abstract

Food wastage is a serious issue worldwide and has been anticipated to

increase considerably in the subsequent 25 years because of the
growth in economy and population across the globe. The
biodegradable wastes discharged from several sources such as
households, food industries, and hospitality sector are known as food
wastes. Fresh fruits, vegetables, bakery products, meat, and dairy
products are the chief food items lost throughout the food supply
chain. In this chapter, we briefly discuss overall food wastage, focusing
mainly on food processing wastes (FPW), the residuals which are left
over after a primary product have been processed in the food
processing industry. And it generates large proportions of solid and
liquid wastes, resulting from the preparation, production, and finally
consumption of food. These varied wastes consist of worthwhile
different nutrients for valuable biomass generation and production.
However, if these wastes are left without any treatment and
management, their uncontrolled decomposition will in turn pollute the
environment. Therefore, proper planning, management, and utilization
of these food processing industry wastes in a more productive way are
the need of the hour to mitigate some of the issues of hunger and
undernourishment in India and around the world.

Abstract

Waste management is a complex activity which involves several

environmental, economic, and social issues. In the context of a circular
economy approach, life cycle assessment (LCA) could be an interesting
approach to support decision-making in waste management strategies.
Actually, LCA is a largely used tool to evaluate environmental impacts
of systems, activities, and processes considering the whole chain of
materials and energy involved in the case analyzed. Indeed, LCA allows
considering effects related to the full life cycle of a process from raw
material extraction and production to final disposal of waste. So, in the
field of waste management, LCA could provide a robust instrument to
support decision-making related to the investigation and selection of
waste management (WM) strategies allowing the comparison of
different scenarios using a holistic and quantitative tool. By the way, in
a circular economy, a pragmatic and systemic overview is required to
fulfil the requirements of this approach. So, in this chapter, applications
involving LCA applied to waste management in the light of circular
economy are provided. Firstly, an overview of practices and methods
normally used in LCA studies in WM context is presented. After,
perspectives for future works and applications involving circular
economy and waste management focusing on life cycle thinking are
discussed. Moreover, areas of research in this topic in which further
development is required are highlighted. Finally, a practical application
is performed, and results from a case study of LCA used to support
WM strategies for a Brazilian city are presented.

Abstract

In the past few decades, increasing environmental pollution and rapid

depletion of conventional fossil fuels has fueled the requirement of
alternative renewable sources of fuels. In this context, biomass-based
bio-oil has received much interest as a renewable and sustainable
alternative to crude petroleum. Thermochemical conversion processes
including direct combustion, pyrolysis, gasification, and liquefaction are
seen as promising to renewable energy sources. Pyrolysis is a
promising route with suitable reactors and a quick process to produce
liquid yield. In contrast to the first three options, which require dry
biomass, hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is suitable for handling wet
biomass with varying moisture contents, thus avoiding drying-related
throughput. Thermochemical conversion to produce liquid yield using
biomass as a feedstock still facing constraints to directly use the
produced bio-oil. High oxygenated compounds of bio-oil seek an
upgrading process to enhance the quality. However, a number of
upgrading processes can be considered to enhance the oil’s quality.
Solvolysis using hydrogen donor solvents, alcohols and water is also
the best option to explore to produce a good quality of bio-oil under
thermochemical conversion. Malaysia is blessed with an abundant
source of biomass due to agriculture activities, producing a massive
amount of waste every year. This gives the advantage of utilizing the
thermochemical conversion route as a promising process to convert
biomass into a valuable liquid product.

Abstract

Thermochemical conversion technologies have recently played a

significant role in converting energy from waste sources.
Thermochemical technologies have promising ways of recycling energy
from various waste materials while reducing the environmental impact.
This chapter primarily provides the collective information on waste
feedstocks used for the thermochemical conversion from the recent
review literature. Second, the numerous thermochemical conversion
methods are discussed, including direct combustion, pyrolysis,
gasification, and hydrothermal liquefaction using various reactors for
each technique. It assesses the conversion of multiple wastes to crude
bio-oil and the likelihood of converting syngas to bio-oil. Hydrothermal
conversions occur at moderate temperatures, but typically at high
pressure and in the presence of water. The thermochemical conversion
includes the accurate temperature, pressure, and heating rate, which
can be accomplished using various reactors. For the large-scale
industrialization of biofuels, a greater understanding of the mechanism
of conversion, reactors, and feedstock composition is crucial. Moreover,
this chapter discusses the various thermochemical conversions of
wastes and its bio-oil yield.
Waste to Energy Plant in Spain: A Case
Study Using Technoeconomic Analysis

Abstract

The population growth and the new consumption models contribute

significantly to a greater generation of waste, which is generally
incorrectly managed because a large percentage of the waste
generated is sent to landfills. Waste to energy (WtE) plants play a
fundamental role in managing and treating municipal waste because
they reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills and reduce
dependence on imported fossil fuels; however, these facilities can also
cause negative impacts. This case study evaluates the technical–
economic feasibility of an incineration plant by using a social cost–
benefit analysis, which considers economic, social, and environmental
impacts taking into account the 3 pillars of sustainability and allowing
policymakers to have a complete view of the impacts generated by the
facility. The WtE facility is in Barcelona (Spain). It produces energy from
municipal solid waste (MSW) with a total capacity of more than
350,000 tons of waste treated per year, which means the generation of
more than 180,000 MWh of electricity and 110,000 tons of steam per
year. The positive and negative impacts generated by this facility are
identified, discussed, and monetarily valued to carry out this economic
analysis. Some of the impacts considered are the sale of energy, the
decrease in waste disposal in landfills, the reduction of greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions, and the generation of dioxin emissions. The results
show that the facility is profitable from a private point of view
(BP = 15.97) and an economic, environmental, and social perspective
(BT = 37.48). Finally, the same impacts can be considered by
researchers in future economic analyzes of other WtE projects or waste
management systems.

Techno-Economic Analysis for

Evaluating Biorefinery Strategies
Abstract

Advanced biorefineries aiming to utilize all major components of

biomass to produce a wide spectrum of bioproducts and fuel are seen
to play a key role in implementing a biobased economy. However, due
to the low technology readiness levels, it is critical to assess the
commercial feasibility and economic competitiveness of these
biorefinery approaches using techno-economic analysis (TEA) before
making investment decisions and policy regulations. This chapter
discusses the basic concepts of TEA and summarizes the studies on
various advanced biorefinery concepts. Focus is given on three
approaches: (i) biorefineries processing cellulosic feedstocks where
sugars are converted to biofuel and part of the lignin is converted to
fuel or high-value biochemical products, (ii) biorefineries converting
hexose sugars to biofuel and pentose sugars to high-value chemicals,
and (iii) biorefineries processing engineered lipid-producing energy
crops.

Thermochemical Conversion of
Cellulose and Hemicellulose
Abstract

Thermochemical conversion process is an important and potential

route to transform biomass feedstocks into powers, fuels, and a variety
of chemical platforms. The chapter describes general characteristics of
thermochemical processes of biomass including combustion, pyrolysis,
liquefaction, and gasification, with the focus on the thermal
decomposition of individual biomass components such as cellulose
and hemicellulose. Thermochemical processes occur at a wide range of
temperatures and pressures with or without catalysts, in which cellulose
and hemicellulose undergo serial primary and secondary reactions to
form a variety of product types and yields. Primary reactions of
cellulose and hemicellulose are associated with the dehydration and
depolymerization process to smaller fragments, monosaccharides units,
and volatiles which further decompose to low molecular weight
compounds at severe conditions of temperature, times, pressures, and
catalysts. Thermochemical decomposition of cellulose and
hemicellulose typically produces various fuel sources including bio-
char, bio-oil, bio-crude, and syngas, along with diverse substances such
as anhydrosugars (levoglucosan, mannosan, galactosan), furans
(furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural), organic acids (acetic acid, formic
acid, levulinic acid), ketones, and aldehydes. Cellulose and
hemicellulose are the most abundant constituents in lignocellulosic
biomass. Understanding the mechanism of thermochemical conversion
of cellulose and hemicellulose leads to the choice of suitable biomass
feedstocks and the transformation process for targeted production.

Transforming Wastes into High Value-

Added Products: An Introduction
Abstract
Waste from various industries and human activities harms the environment, it is being
accumulated rapidly due to its slow and improper management. Disposal of waste in
landfills is a threat to the environment. Research interest in waste streams valorization is
stimulated because of the disposal problems. Researchers are focusing on transforming
the waste into useful products as it will help in waste management and also it will help
in reducing environmental pollution. Waste from food industries is a reservoir of
complex proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and can be used as raw material for the
production of valuable metabolites. Such waste can be transformed into various high-
value-added products such as biofuels, enzymes, biopolymers, biochemicals, and many
other molecules. For the production of biopolymers, waste from many industries such as
agriculture, dairy, meat, and seafood have great potential as primary and secondary
feedstocks. Although for biomaterials production, different types of wastes can be used
as substrates, currently, agro-industrial wastes are gaining more attention as it has a high
rate of production worldwide. As global environmental pollution is increasing day by
day due to synthetic plastics production, it has become essential to develop bio-based
polymers. The biopolymers production from inexhaustible resources and microbial
synthesis are facile, scalable, and are comparatively more eco-friendly than chemical
synthesis methods that depend upon acid and alkali treatment or blending of co-
polymer. In this review, we have discussed the transformation of waste into
biopolymers, technologies for extraction and production, and their further applications.

Food loss and waste (FLW) is becoming a general environmental and

societal problem as well as an opportunity for its valorisation to a
plethora of energy vectors, chemicals and bio-based materials. Food
loss is related to the primary and industrial sectors (i.e., farms and fish
farms, factories), while food waste is produced by retailers and
consumers. This leads not only to direct FLW but also indirect loss of
energy and resources devoted to food production. While societal and
political awareness is rising, with the subsequent actions resulting in an
efficiency boost along the food supply chain, unavoidable FLW
amounting to more than 1000 Mtons/year exists due to personal
preferences, safety issues and supply inefficiencies. Likewise, huge
amounts of plant biomass by-products (pomace, bagasse, straw, stover,
peels and pulp) over 5000 Mtons/year are generated. First, second and
third-generation biorefineries can be built based on such biomass as
well as that from forest, cattle, fish and algae. Biorefineries are based
on thermal, physical, chemical and biological treatments and can
produce a great variety of energy vectors, namely hydrogen, biogas,
bioethanol, biokerosene, biodiesel and biochar; chemicals (similar to
petrochemicals), materials (biomonomers and biopolymers) and energy
(heat). Even feed and food products could be considered as biorefinery
products, ultimately.

Focusing on the crucial sustainability challenge of reducing food loss at the

level of consumer society, this volume provides an in-depth, research-based
overview of this multifaceted problem. It considers the myriad
environmental, economic, social, and ethical factors associated with the
enormous amount of food waste, which also end up wasting water, air,
electricity, and fuel, which are necessary for food processing.

This book uniquely examines the social and cultural views of food waste
management, shedding new light on the topic by emphasizing the
consumer/household perspective throughout. Drawing on a wide variety of
disciplines, the book presents philosophical reflections, practical examples
and case studies, and potential solutions to the problem of increasing food
waste.
Economía Circular
El presente modelo económico de "extraer, producir, desperdiciar"
está llegando ya al límite de su capacidad física. La economía circular
es una alternativa atractiva que busca redefinir qué es el crecimiento,
con énfasis en los beneficios para toda la sociedad. Esto implica
disociar la actividad económica del consumo de recursos finitos y
eliminar los residuos del sistema desde el diseño. Respaldada por una
transición a fuentes renovables de energía, el modelo circular crea
capital económico, natural y social y se basa en tres principios:

 Eliminar residuos y contaminación desde el diseño

 Mantener productos y materiales en uso
 Regenerar sistemas naturales

Diagrama Sistémico
Una economía circular busca reconstruir el capital financiero,
manufacturado, humano, social o natural. Esto garantiza flujos
mejorados de bienes y servicios. El diagrama sistémico presenta el
flujo continuado de materiales técnicos y biológicos mediante el
'círculo de valor'.

El concepto de una economía circular

La actividad económica de una economía circular contribuye para la
salud general del sistema. El concepto reconoce lo importante que es
el funcionamiento de la economía en cualquier nivel - grandes y
pequeños negocios, organizaciones e individuos, globalmente y
localmente.

La transición hacia una economía circular no se limita a ajustes que

reducen los impactos negativo de la economía circular, sino que
representa un cambio sistémico. Ella construye resiliencia a largo
plazo, genera oportunidades económicas y de negocios, proporciona
beneficios ambientales y sociales.

Ciclos técnicos e biológicos

El modelo hace una distinción entre ciclos técnicos y biológicos. El

consumo ocurre solamente en los ciclos biológicos, donde alimentos y
otros materiales de base biológica (por ejemplo, algodón y madera)
son diseñados para regresar al sistema mediante procesos de
compostaje y digestión anaerobia. Los ciclos regeneran sistemas
vivos, como el suelo, que ofrecen recursos renovables para la
economía.
Ciclos técnicos recuperan y restauran productos componentes y
materiales mediante estrategias de reutilización, reparación,
remanufactura o (en última instancia) reciclaje.

Orígenes del concepto de una economía circular

La noción de circularidad tiene importantes orígenes históricas y

filosóficas. La idea de retroalimentación y de ciclos en sistemas en el
mundo real es vieja y surge en varias escuelas filosóficas. Resurgió en
países industrializados después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial,
cuando estudios computarizados de sistemas no-lineales han revelado
la naturaleza compleja, conectada e imprevisible de nuestro mundo,
que se parece más a un metabolismo que a una máquina. Habido en
cuenta los avances recientes, las tecnologías digitales detienen en
poder de apoyar la transición hacia una economía circular mediante el
aumento radical de la virtualización, desmaterialización, transparencia
e inteligencia generada por ciclos de retroalimentación.

Escuelas de pensamiento de la economía circular

El modelo de economía circular sintetiza varias escuelas de

pensamiento, incluso la economía del rendimiento de Walter Stahel; la
filosofía del diseño Cradle to Cradle de William McDonough y Michael
Braungart; la idea de biomimética presentada por Janine Benyus; la
ecología industrial de Reid Lifset y Thomas Graedel; el capitalismo
natural de Amory y Hunter Lovins y Paul Hawkens; e el abordaje blue
economy, como el descrito por Gunter Pauli.

Professor Joachim Von Braun, Chair of the Scientific Group for the UN Food Systems
Summit, former Director of the International Food Policy Research Institute, and Professor
for Economic and Technological Change, University of Bonn delivering his presentation
Food Systems Thinking and the Role for Research and Innovation – the UN Food Systems
Summit and Follow up at the “Research and Innovation for Sustainable Food Systems:
Delivering on the Ambition of Food Vision 2030” event co-organised by Teagasc and the
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, at the Teagasc Conference Centre in
Ashtown Dublin on Friday, June 3, 2022.

Bioeconomy is the knowledge-based production and utilization of biological resources,

innovative biological processes and principles to sustainably provide goods and services
across all economic sectors. It employs biomimicry, and utilizes biosciences to transform
established economic sectors, such as chemical industries, pharmaceuticals, food, and
construction industries into sustainable ones. The bioeconomy has been rapidly expanding
during the past ten years, driven by increased prices of natural resources, by new
technological opportunities, and by changed consumer preferences.

Bioeconomy is as old as mankind: for almost 2 million years, people lived off raw materials
that plants, animals and microorganisms provided them. It was only 200 years ago that
Bioeconomy was interrupted by the petroleum age. Now it is time for a new, modern and
knowledge-based bioeconomy. This will not only replace conventionally produced
products. It also creates new, sustainably produced products and holds great opportunities
for growth and employment.

Life cycle assessment methods are used to monitor and predict environmental impacts at
all stages of a system’s life cycle. They can support policymaking and help ensure a
sustainable and circular Bioeconomy.

The bioeconomy includes the production of food, materials and energy from
renewable biological resources. These economic sectors depend upon healthy
ecosystems. It is vital to monitor and predict environmental impacts of the
bioeconomy. Life Cycle Assessment, known as LCA is a standardised
methodology that assesses the environmental impacts of a system’s life cycle,
from the extraction of raw materials to end of life management.
The life cycle of a bio-based product includes: primary production,
manufacturing and processing, retail and use, end of life management,
and the associated distribution and transport.
LCA quantifies different environmental and human health impacts that happen
in different stages of the life cycle.
LCA methods can be used to support policymaking in two main ways. The
regulatory approach supports the implementation of specific legislative
instruments.
It should be exact, well defined and easy to calculate. Why?
To allow for comparisons.
The strategic approach assesses large-scale impacts across economic sectors,
geographic areas and ecological processes to avoid any unintended
consequences of policy decisions.
However, results of both approaches could be misinterpreted and misused.
To avoid this, LCA practitioners must communicate clearly on: the scope,
assumptions, and limitations of each study and the importance of applying the
right approach to assess sustainability and highlight trade-offs.
The use of LCA methods helps to ensure a sustainable and circular bioeconomy
where socioeconomic benefits go hand in hand with healthy ecosystems.

Download the full brief and discover more at the Knowledge Centre for
Bioeconomy website.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate environmental impacts of Bioeconomy

 It is vital to monitor and predict environmental impacts of the bioeconomy

to ensure that it operates within safe ecological limits.
 Life Cycle Assessment, known as LCA, is a standardised methodology
that looks at the impacts of a system’s life cycle, from the extraction of
raw materials to waste management.
  The regulatory approach supports the implementation of specific
legislative instruments. It should be exact, well defined and easy to
calculate.
 The strategic approach assesses large-scale impacts across economic
sectors, geographic areas and ecological processes to avoid any
unintended consequences of policy decisions.
 To avoid misinterpretation and misuse of results of those approaches,
LCA practitioners must communicate clearly on the scope, assumptions
and limitations of each study.

("Life Cycle Assessment" OR "LCA" OR "life cycle analysis" OR "Life Cycle

Sustainability Assessment") AND topic:(bioeconomy OR bio-economy OR biobased
OR bio-based) AND topic: (environmental OR "environmental impact")

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a well-known methodology applied to

products, processes and services which considers its full life cycle:
from the cradle (as natural resources) to the grave (as air emissions,
liquid effluents and solid wastes).
The course covers all aspects about how to perform an LCA study:
definition of the goal and scope as well as the target audience,
gathering data on resource consumption and emissions, burdens to
the environment, checking the robustness and significance of results
and conclusions, and reporting and reviewing to ensure transparency
and quality.
This LCA course includes LCA fundamentals as well as practical
activities based on LCA projects. For project development, the
students learn how to use openLCA, which is an open-source and free
software for Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment.

Course structure
 

Unit 1. Life Cycle Assessment

fundamentals
 1.1. Sustainable Development
 1.2. Development of the LCA concept
 1.3. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment
 1.4. Europe 2020
 1.5. Life Cycle Thinking
 

Unit 2. Life Cycle Assessment

methodology
 2.1. Goal and Scope definition
 2.2. Life Cycle Inventory
 2.3. Life Cycle Impact Assessment
 2.4. Interpretation
 

Unit 3. Practical activities

 3.1. Applied LCA problems
 3.2. Project with openLCA

    Required reading list    

 

 R. Horne, T. Grant, K.Verghese, Life Cycle Assessment:

Principles, Practice and Prospects. Ed. CSIRO Publishing,
(2009).
 A. Azapagic, R. Clift, S. Perdan, Sustainable Development in
Practice: Case Studies for Engineers and Scientists. Ed. John
Wiley and Sons, (2004).
 H. Baumann, A.M. Tillman, The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to LCA,
Ed. Studentlitteratur, (2004).
 M.A. Curran, Life Cycle Assessment Handbook: A Guide for
Environmentally Sustainable Products. Ed. Wiley-Scrivener,
(2012).
 A. Ciroth, C. Di Noi, T. Lohse, M. Srocka. OpenLCA 1.9
Comprehensive User Manual,
(2019). http://www.openlca.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/o
penLCA-1-9_User-Manual.pdf
  
   

    Additional reading    
 

 UNE-EN ISO 14040:2006, Environmental management - Life

cycle assessment - Principles and framework (ISO
14040:2006).
  UNE-EN ISO 14044:2006, Environmental management - Life
cycle assessment - Requirements and guidelines (ISO
14044:2006
 A. Aranda Usón, I. Zabalza Bribián. Ecodiseño y Analisis de
Ciclo de Vida. Ed. Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza
(2010).

ASSESSMENT METHODS AND

CRITERIA "LIFE CYCLE
ASSESSMENT"
  
Description
Typology
Final assessment
Reassessment
%
Exam. corresponding to the lectures
Written exam
No
Yes
50%
 Minimum mark: 5,00.
 Duration: 2 hours
 Date: After completing the lectures 1 & 2
 Retake conditions: Final exam in June and/or September
 Comments: The september retake exam is only for those
students who did not pass the June exam
Final report of the group project
Report
No
Yes
20%
 Minimum mark: 0,00.
 Duration:
  Date: At the end of the course
 Retake conditions: Final exam in June and/or September
 Comments: The september retake exam is only for those
students who did not pass the June exam
Final oral defense of the group project
Oral exam
No
Yes
25%
 Minimum mark: 0,00.
 Duration: To be determined
 Date: At the end of the course
 Retake conditions: Final exam in June and/or September
 Comments: The september retake exam is only for those
students who did not pass the June exam
Intermediate oral defense of the group project
Oral exam
No
Yes
5%
 Minimum mark: 0,00.
 Duration: To be determined
 Date: During the course
 Retake conditions: Final exam in June and/or September
 Comments: The september retake exam is only for those
students who did not pass the June exam
  TOTAL
100%
COMMENTS:
 Attendance is strongly recommended to the students. The
individual contribution of each student to the group project will
be checked in the oral defense of the project during the
practical activities.
If the final mark from the test and the group project is below
the minimum mark (5.00), the student can pass a retake
exam in June (date determined by the ETSIIyT board). An
 additional retake exam is possible in September (date
determined by the ETSIIyT board).
Part-time students COMMENTS:
 Partial time students can pass the course thanks to the exam
corresponding to the lectures that will be taken place before
the start of the group projects. A retake exam is possible in
June in a date to be determined . A second retake exam is
possible in September in a date to be determined.

Sandra Zapata
Agroindustrial Production Engineer, PhD in Engineering with Emphasis on Natural Products
Valuation. Experience in formulation, management and execution of projects on issues related to
research, innovation, technological development, product development and adaptation of new
technologies with an emphasis on products obtained from biodiversity in a sustainable way, in
companies associated with the agri-food sector.