Page 58 - Biofuels for a More Sustainable Future

52 Biofuels for a More Sustainable Future

identifying the problems affecting sustainability but to the actual transition
toward solutions adopting an integrated, comprehensive, and participatory
approach. This implies the coexistence of a scientific and a social paradigm
as basis to define any kind of assessment of sustainability as well as to design
of solutions and interventions (Sala et al., 2013a,b).
In order to offer guidance, principles for sustainability assessment
have been proposed over time. For example, the Bellagio STAMP (Sustain-
ability Assessment and Measurement Principles), first developed in 1996 and
then revisited in 2012 (Pinter et al., 2012) represents an attempt of delineat-
ing the principles and requirements of robust Sustainability Assessment.
Nowadays, most case studies assessing sustainability and adopting the com-
mon triple bottom-line approach (TBL) still end up comparing different
alternatives on the basis of indicators (more or less) randomly chosen from
among various alternatives in the three pillars of sustainability (namely, eco-
nomy, environment, and society), without deepening the analysis of poten-
tial interconnections between the pillars. Namely, selecting the indicators
depending more on information availability, rather than by the necessity
to represent one of the three pillars.
In the literature, a broad range of different appraisal processes is described
under the heading of sustainability assessment (SA). Nevertheless, current
SA practices need a robust framework to overcome concerns recognized
in the scientific community regarding whether the various available
examples of assessment are really comprehensive and robust, moving from
integrated assessment toward an SA. Increasing comprehensiveness and
robustness of assessment may fulfill the “transformational” role request to
sustainability science. Hence, SA could be seen as leverage for effectively
promoting sustainability and not only for evaluating its progress and/or
comparing options (Sala et al., 2015a).
Fig. 3.1 illustrate the key life cycle stages of biofuels production and
consumption, which requires sustainability assessment.
Biofuels sustainability pertains to the so-called wicked problems for
which a sustainability assessment is particularly challenging. Currently,
decision-making is facing multiple energy, development, and climate objec-
tives (Bhardwaj et al., 2019). Biofuels assessment is multifaceted. Specific
bioenergy options (such as biofuels produced from edible vs. nonedible
feedstocks) are not positive or negative per se. In fact, sustainability impacts
are context specific, both in terms of the location and management of feed-
stock production systems and the socioeconomic systems where their