Sugarcane valorization: selection of process routes based on sustainability index

Area of Science:

• Biomass valorization
• Sustainable process assessment
• Renewable energy technologies

Background:

• Traditional sustainability assessment focused on economic feasibility.
• Growing emphasis on integrating environmental and social factors.
• Prior framework developed for biomass processing enterprise sustainability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To select optimal sugarcane valorization pathways using a sustainability index.
• To compare six alternative routes based on economic, environmental, and social criteria.
• To apply a previously established sustainability assessment framework.

Main Methods:

• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) following ISO 14040/44 for environmental evaluation.
• Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) using the Integrated Value Function method (MIVES).
• Comparative analysis of six distinct sugarcane valorization pathways.

Main Results:

• The 1G2G (first-generation, second-generation) ethanol route achieved the highest sustainability index (0.864).
• The 1GRS (first-generation butanol) route exhibited the lowest sustainability index (0.090).
• Sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of the ranking, with no significant changes observed.

Conclusions:

• The 1G2G ethanol pathway is the most sustainable option among those evaluated.
• The first-generation butanol route is the least sustainable due to lower yield and product output.
• The developed framework effectively ranks biomass valorization pathways based on comprehensive sustainability metrics.