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74 Refining Biomass Residues for Sustainable Energy and Bioproducts

bioactive compounds (such as vitamins, probiotics or prebiotics, and antioxidants)
can be encapsulated to protect bioactive compounds and to control their release
(Freitas et al., 2011).

3.6 Life cycle analysis of biopolymers

Life-cycle assessment is an analytical and decision-making tool that quantifies the
environmental impact and performance of a product or process throughout its life start-
ing from the extraction of raw materials from the earth and ending as waste products
being returned to the earth. It has been adapted as a well-known sustainable develop-
ment concept that might help to ensure a social economical environmental equilib-
rium. LCA methodology has been widely used by government institutions, in
academics and industrial companies, to acknowledge the environmental sustainability
of a product or a process. The journey of LCA began in the 1960s and later to standard-
ize the methodologies led to the development of LCA standards in the International
Standards Organization (ISO) 14040 series. The four ISO standards address the entire
LCA framework and the interlinking of the four main phases as given in the following
subsections (Fig. 3.4)(Shen and Patel, 2008; Hottle et al., 2013).

3.6.1 Principles of LCA methodology (ISO 14040)
1. Goal and scope definition and inventory analysis (ISO 14041): Addresses the objective,
context, and the limitations of the research and to which audience the results need to be
communicated. The functional unit and system boundaries are also included. The data col-
lection section of LCA is involved in the inventory stage. The background information,
such as chemical production process, glasswares, plasticwares, and electricity generation
systems, is usually provided by the life-cycle inventory database known as the Ecoinvent
(Ecoinvent, 2010).

Figure 3.4 LCA framework consisting of the four main phases. LCA, Life-cycle assessment.