4 Conclusions
In this study, the existing tools to estimate the environmental, social and economic
performances were applied to a novel production process in the sector of blue
biotechnology. The results allowed evaluating the high influence of upscaling in the
environmental profile of microalgal production process, as well as identifying the
main contributors to the environmental impacts (electricity related to cultivation
stage). The results also indicate that the process may have remarkable societal
benefits (especially for workers and consumers) and the economic indicators suggest that the process could be feasible if operated under similar conditions as in the
case of the studied SMEs. The combined outcome of the environmental, social and
economic assessment of microalgal astaxanthin production constitutes a valuable
basis for the successful incorporation of sustainability criteria in the design of blue
biotechnology processes. The results may help to orient actions towards a more
eco-efficient microalgae-related industry as well as to feed the debate for the
development of appropriate environmental and socio-economic policies in the
sector.
Acknowledgements This research was financially supported by BAMMBO Project (FP7
KBBE-2010-4—265896). The authors belong to GRC 2013-032, co-funded by FEDER.
P. Pérez-López thanks the Spanish Ministry of Education for the grant AP2012-1605.
References
1. Woodley J.M, New opportunities for process systems engineering in industrial biotechnology,
Computer Aided Chemical Engineering, Vol. 27, 2009, pp 157–162.
2. Kim S, Jiménez-González C, Dale B, Enzymes for pharmaceutical applications—a
cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment,
Vol. 14, No. 5, 2009, pp 392–400.
3. Jiménez-González C, Woodley J.M, Bioprocesses: Modeling needs for process evaluation and
sustainability assessment, Computers & Chemical Engineering, Vol. 34, No. 7, 2010,
pp 1009–1017.
4. Pérez-López P, Ternon E, González-García S, Genta-Jouve G, Feijoo G, Thomas OP,
Moreira MT, Environmental solutions for the sustainable production of bioactive natural
products from the marine sponge Crambe crambe, Science of the Total Environment, Vol.
475, 2014, pp 71–82.
5. Collet P, Hélias A, Lardon L, Steyer J.P, Bernard O, Recommendations for Life Cycle
Assessment of algal fuels, Applied Energy, Vol. 154, 2015, pp 1089–1102.
6. Hutchins M.J, Sutherland J.W, An exploration of measures of social sustainability and their
application to supply chain decisions, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 16, No. 15, 2008,
pp 1688–1698.
7. Sala S, Farioli F, Zamagni A, Life cycle sustainability assessment in the context of
sustainability science progress (part 2), The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment,
Vol. 18, No. 9, 2013, pp 1686–1697.
484
P. Pérez-López et al.
In this study, the existing tools to estimate the environmental, social and economic
performances were applied to a novel production process in the sector of blue
biotechnology. The results allowed evaluating the high influence of upscaling in the
environmental profile of microalgal production process, as well as identifying the
main contributors to the environmental impacts (electricity related to cultivation
stage). The results also indicate that the process may have remarkable societal
benefits (especially for workers and consumers) and the economic indicators suggest that the process could be feasible if operated under similar conditions as in the
case of the studied SMEs. The combined outcome of the environmental, social and
economic assessment of microalgal astaxanthin production constitutes a valuable
basis for the successful incorporation of sustainability criteria in the design of blue
biotechnology processes. The results may help to orient actions towards a more
eco-efficient microalgae-related industry as well as to feed the debate for the
development of appropriate environmental and socio-economic policies in the
sector.
Acknowledgements This research was financially supported by BAMMBO Project (FP7
KBBE-2010-4—265896). The authors belong to GRC 2013-032, co-funded by FEDER.
P. Pérez-López thanks the Spanish Ministry of Education for the grant AP2012-1605.
References
1. Woodley J.M, New opportunities for process systems engineering in industrial biotechnology,
Computer Aided Chemical Engineering, Vol. 27, 2009, pp 157–162.
2. Kim S, Jiménez-González C, Dale B, Enzymes for pharmaceutical applications—a
cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment,
Vol. 14, No. 5, 2009, pp 392–400.
3. Jiménez-González C, Woodley J.M, Bioprocesses: Modeling needs for process evaluation and
sustainability assessment, Computers & Chemical Engineering, Vol. 34, No. 7, 2010,
pp 1009–1017.
4. Pérez-López P, Ternon E, González-García S, Genta-Jouve G, Feijoo G, Thomas OP,
Moreira MT, Environmental solutions for the sustainable production of bioactive natural
products from the marine sponge Crambe crambe, Science of the Total Environment, Vol.
475, 2014, pp 71–82.
5. Collet P, Hélias A, Lardon L, Steyer J.P, Bernard O, Recommendations for Life Cycle
Assessment of algal fuels, Applied Energy, Vol. 154, 2015, pp 1089–1102.
6. Hutchins M.J, Sutherland J.W, An exploration of measures of social sustainability and their
application to supply chain decisions, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 16, No. 15, 2008,
pp 1688–1698.
7. Sala S, Farioli F, Zamagni A, Life cycle sustainability assessment in the context of
sustainability science progress (part 2), The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment,
Vol. 18, No. 9, 2013, pp 1686–1697.
484
P. Pérez-López et al.