D11.2 Interim Life Cycle Report
Creators: name: Monteiro Souza, Alexandre
name: Pechsiri, Joseph
name: Shigwedha, Paulus
name: Sundberg, Cecilia
name: Ericsson, Niclas
Publisher: name: SteamBioAfrica
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Sustainability sciences

description: This document describes the life cycle studies in SteamBioAfrica (SBA) and the work that has been done within WP11 up until M18. It enables a more efficient communication of what the life cycle studies is to our project partners, and the needs and challenges associated with completing the life cycle studies as specified in the grant agreement. It also describes how WP11 engages with stakeholders and collaborates with other WPs in SBA to make sure that the life cycle studies are relevant and reflect the needs of the stakeholders and context within which they act.

During the first half of this project the goal scope of the life cycle studies has been set and the modelling of the unit processes making up the life cycle model has been initiated. This has been done based on input from a number of stakeholder engagements and interaction with project partners. Emphasis during the initial phase of the project has been on mapping and describing different alternative upstream processes, from the harvest of bush to the delivery of a solid fuel to be used in downstream applications. All future value chains will need to include these, regardless of end use application. The methodology used and select results from the initial cradle to gate model are presented in this report to help project partners understand how the life cycle studies are performed and what the results may look like.

Three main alternative harvest methods have been identified and defined in terms of unit operations: manual, semi-mechanised and mechanised. These are all based on existing operations in the biomass based industry in Southern Africa. During the second half of this project the developed system model will be modified and adapted to reflect local conditions in scenarios with many distributed SHS plants over a longer period of time. The optimal sizing and location of these will be determined in collaboration with other work packages (WP6-12). It depends, amongst other things on biomass availability, logistic conditions, target market and distance to uptakers.

The final end use and function of the products produced using the SHS technology are yet to be defined. These will determine the functional unit and guide the scenario modelling of the downstream value chains. They will be known once product placement trials have been carried out, both at the industrial and domestic/retail market. Once these have been completed the complete value chain from cradle to grave can be modelled and the sustainability of the entire SHS value chain assessed. 

Challenges arise when developing the life cycle model and populating it with data. The level of development of the commercial biomass sector is very different between the three countries, with low activity and engagement from public actors in Botswana to a tradition of systematic studies and governmental policies incentivising action based on a need to address the bush encroachment issue in Namibia. Land tenure and the access to fossil energy sources differ in the three countries, which also translates into different needs and challenges when it comes to address invasive bush encroachment and developing biomass-based value chains.

The approach used in WP11 is to base the model on existing systems in Namibia and South Africa, when necessary, and subsequently transfer and adapt these to the Botswanan context with the help of project partners in WP6-12 and other subject matter experts.