How to socially assess biofuels:
a case study of the UNEP/SETAC Code of Practice for social-
economical LCA

Abstract: Due to the escalating environmental debate, the interest and investments in
new and green fuel alternatives have never been larger. However, concerns
have increased over the effects that the production of biofuels might have,
both on the environment and on social issues. For example, there are
reports of slave-like working conditions in the Brazilian sugarcane fields
and the link between biofuel production and increasing world food prices
are given much space in the media. The question now is how to get a full
picture of the effects and to be able to compare different fuel
alternatives. There are methods for analyzing and comparing the life cycles
of products, both environmentally and economically, but until now there has
not been a proper methodology to perform a social assessment. However, a
task force initiated under the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative has now
developed a code of practice for guidance in this area that was planned to
be released in January 2009.

The purpose of this master’s thesis is to describe the UNEP/SETAC Code of
Practice for social and socio-economical LCA and to investigate how to use
the Code of Practice when assessing ethanol, biodiesel and biogas. The aim
of the thesis is to decide upon the applicability of the UNEP/SETAC Code of
Practice in its current state when conducted on biofuels by an outside
practitioner.

The research presented in this thesis consists of an initial literature
review in order to increase the knowledge of sustainability, biofuels and
life cycle assessment in general, and to analyse the UNEP/SETAC Code of
Practice in particular. This thorough review is followed by a case study
based on the knowledge and results from the preceding chapters. In this
case study, the guidelines in the Code of Practice were followed and a
hotspot assessment of the three biofuels was performed in order to gain a
deeper understanding on how the code works and to get a perception of the
user friendliness.

The case study investigated the social implications surrounding the
production of ethanol, biodiesel and biogas and, after extensive data
collection, assessment and interpretation, it was concluded that the
biofuel with the least social impact is biogas. During the social life
cycle assessment it was clear that even though there was a successful
assessment with an evident result, the Code of Practice needs more fine
tuning in order to be successful when comparing different products.
Furthermore, it was concluded that a company-specific assessment would be
easier to conduct, instead of this type of generic study, since social
issues are strongly linked to the performance of the company management.
The thesis also provides suggestions on how to enhance the usefulness of
the Code of Practice. Means must be found to circumvent the large influence
of the practitioners’ subjectivity. Suggestions for achieving this are, for
example, developing a universal set of indicators, databases for social
aspects, and well functioning characterization models.