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© Thünen-Institut
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Institute of

AT Agricultural Technology

Sustainability Assessment and Life Cycle Assessment

What is to be sustainably maintained, for whom, where, and for how long? The answer to this question is context specific and depends on the spatial and temporal context as well as the cultural values where we are working.

What is to be sustainably maintained, for whom, where, and for how long? The answer to this question is context specific and depends on the spatial and temporal context as well as the cultural values where we are working.

The Brundtland report entitled, “Our Common Future", was published in 1987 by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). The publication of the Brundtland report is considered to be the beginning of the global discourse on sustainability and sustainable development.

  1. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
  2. In essence, sustainable development is a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development; and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.

Due to the multi-dimensionality of sustainability and sustainable development, there are a variety of methods that can be used to quantify and evaluate sustainability. These assessment methods are based on different theoretical or conceptual approaches. Some valuations cover all sustainability dimensions, while others can combined to form a sustainability rating scheme. Guidelines, standards and certification procedures help ensure a common basis for the evaluation of bio-based systems. We cooperate with partners worldwide and participate in the development of standards and industry guidelines.

Contact

Dr. rer. nat. Heinz Stichnothe

Projects

Towards a bio-based economy

Renewables are the centre piece of the bioeconomy. Sustainably produced biomass and innovative conversion routes are prerequisites for the efficient use of resources. Utilisation of organic residues is of particular importance due to the growing demand for food and feed. It is important to identify and consider trade-offs between different utilisation paths for biomass. Efficient use of resources helps to reduce the dependency on fossil resources in the long-term.

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Towards a bio-based economy

Sustainability assessment of bio-based systems

A successful transition to a bio-economy depends on a number of technological, economic, environmental and social factors. Each step needed to be assessed with respect to sustainability goals in order to frame that transition efficiently.

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Sustainability assessment of bio-based systems

Biorefining in a Circular Economy

Biorefining is one of the key strategies of the circular economy, which helps to close raw material cycles. The international platform IEA Bioenergy Task 42 offers actors a network for the exchange of information.

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Biorefining in a Circular Economy

Gallery

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

LCAs are frequently part of the sustainability assessment. LCA is a holistic technique used to evaluate the environmental impacts of a product’s life cycle, and well as to identify the stages of product’s life cycle with the most significant impacts.  Results from a LCA can be used to integrate environmentally friendly design into products development and manufacturing and into industrial processes. We conduct regional-specific LCAs to evaluate the cultivation of renewable raw materials and conduct attributional LCAs of biotechnological/biochemical and chemical-catalytic processes and derived products. We use LCA in order to integrate environmental aspects at an early stage in the development of manufacturing processes and products.

Projects

Site-specific life cycle assessment of energy crops

A controversial debate is on-going about the conversion of maize for energy. The debate about food-feed-and food for biofuels is based on the same arguments and very emotional. Within our project we would like to measure and model environmental impacts in order to support figures and facts for that debate.

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Site-specific life cycle assessment of energy crops

Comparative life cycle assessment of anaerobic digestion

The project involves the construction and assessment of scenarios for farm scale AD biogas production, in comparison to other bioenergy options, and compare these with two baseline reference farm systems: a large dairy unit in southwest England and a mixed arable farm in east England.

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Comparative life cycle assessment of anaerobic digestion

GHG-calculation of rapeseed cultivation

As of 2017, biofuels must achieve greenhouse gas savings of 50%. For the production of rapeseed biodiesel, reducing GHG emissions from rapeseed cultivation is a particular challenge. Regional differences are to be examined in the project. The regional GHG emissions and other environmental impacts of rapeseed cultivation are to be quantified on the basis of a life cycle-based analysis for five locations in Germany.

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GHG-calculation of rapeseed cultivation

Nitrogen Stabilization and Subsurface Placement as Innovative Technologies Enhancing the Resource Efficiency of Fertilized Urea

The project deals with two frequently mentioned options for NH3 mitigation following urea fertilization: (1) Stabilization: A combined use of urease and nitrification inhibitors is seen to reduce N- losses significantly avoiding pollution swapping and providing further agronomic benefit. (2). Subsurface placement: A special side dressing technology injecting granular urea in combination with a mechanic weed control is seen to reduce NH3 emissions and, in addition, to improve soil properties and crop development.

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Nitrogen Stabilization and Subsurface Placement as Innovative Technologies Enhancing the Resource Efficiency of Fertilized Urea

Legumes Translated

The aim of EU Thematic Network Legumes Translated is to promote innovation in grain legume cultivation systems and related value chains through the synthesis of existing knowledge and transfer to practice. The Thünen Institutes of Biodiversity and Agricultural Technology are involved in this project together with questions on biodiversity, ecosystem services and environmental impacts.

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Legumes Translated

Region-specific measures for the cost-efficient reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the cultivation of raw material crops

If the Federal Government wants to achieve the climate protection targets for 2030, there is an urgent need for action on the part of agricultural enterprises. In this project, region-specific measures are to be identified with which greenhouse gas emissions from the cultivation of crops can be reduced.

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Region-specific measures for the cost-efficient reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the cultivation of raw material crops

Reduction of the environmental and climate impact of the cultivation of raw material plants by using the benefits of partial deep tillage (PDT)

How can the cultivation of crops be made more climate-friendly? The "Krumensenke" project, a joint project of the Thünen Institute for Agricultural Technology (TI-AT) and the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), will investigate the potential of partial deep tillage.

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Reduction of the environmental and climate impact of the cultivation of raw material plants by using the benefits of partial deep tillage (PDT)

Expertise

International collaboration

Renewable resources are increasingly used for the industrial production of raw materials and products. The general public requests sustainably produced and processed products.

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International collaboration

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