CONTRIBUTIONS TO PROJECT

WI’s role in the project is to carry out specialist analysis of social and political assessment and impact of biorefinery development and implementation.
Innovative biorefinery concepts and technology routes will be assessed with regard to potential effects which may occur as a consequence of increased application and demand. The assessment will consider impacts involving land use change.
Social effects will be assessed with regard to existing approaches in the context of social life-cycle assessment and approaches applied in related projects at European level. Current approaches to integrate the social dimension besides the economic and environmental ones into a comprehensive sustainability assessment of feedstocks, processes, value chains and scenarios for biomass based products will be taken into account.
Another focus shall be on expected net gains of employment.
Policy based strategies for development of biorefineries in Europe will be analysed with regard to foster the use of biomass for biobased materials as opposed to bioenergy.

EXPERIENCE AND FACILITIES

The Wuppertal Institute is one of the largest think tanks for sustainability in Europe. Its work is dedicated to ecology and its relationship to economy and society. The institute supports the development of models, strategies and instruments to support a sustainable development at local, national and international levels. The research explores and initiates technological and social innovations aiming at decoupling the use of natural resources from economic growth. The Research Group on Material Flows and Resource Management develops (i) Integrated analysis and assessment of the industrial metabolism and land use; (ii) Resource use scenarios; (iii) Policy relevant indicators and targets; (iv) Guidelines and evaluation schemes of resource policies. The group has developed methods for analysis and assessment of the industrial metabolism, with a focus on options to increase resource efficiency, considering systems-wide, transboundary resource requirements at different levels of the economy. The research group has initiated and supported scientific networks such as the International Society for Industrial Ecology. It has contributed to official reporting of the EU on material flows, resource use and efficiency through EUROSTAT and the European Environment Agency (EEA). It is consortium member of the EEA Environmental Topic Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (ETC-SCP). Scientists of the research group are involved in several research projects for the European Commission and the European Parliament.

CONTACT

Dr. Stefan Bringezu
Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy
Research Group Material Flows and Resource Management
Doeppersberg 19
42103 Wuppertal
Germany
Tel: +49 202 2492 131
Fax: +49 202 2492 138
Email: stefan.bringezu@wupperinst
Web: www.wupperinst.org