Climate impact and financial assessment of rural bioeconomy symbiosis

Abstract

The pressing issue of climate change is to be exacerbated as human activities on Earth continue to push the global mean annual temperature past the 1.5- and 2-degrees Celsius thresholds. The impact of global warming further aggravates the crossing of other planetary boundaries, causing irreversible threat to the planet’s life-support systems. In addition to draught and other environmental challenges, the impacts of climate change are also associated with increasing poverty and food insecurity, health concerns, loss of livelihoods, and decreased economic growth.

Agriculture and forestry sectors cause a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions and land use change impacts but are also enablers of natural carbon sinks, placing rural bioeconomy in an important position in designing sustainable business models. With the traditional view on the low emission level of bioenergy solutions that the sectors provide questioned, this dissertation aims to relief the concern regarding the sustainability of bioeconomy operations through integration of circular operational models within them. Through application of circular bioeconomy practices, establishment of new carbon sinks, and utilisation of by-products from other operators or industries, this dissertation presents completely new and modified operational models for more sustainable bioeconomy.

The environmental–economic assessment approach of the dissertation provides identification of viable low-emission practices for the development of sustainable business models for the rural bioeconomy context. The potentials of different type of rural operational models contributing to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions were quantified through empirical and theoretical case studies. Additionally, the results were further analysed to recognise multi-criteria optimal practices, synergies, and trade-off situations for rural bioeconomy operators from climate and financial perspective. The dissertation provides a theoretical case example for establishment of a symbiotic collaboration between common rural operators in Finland. In terms of contribution to theory, the dissertation presents the concept of rural bioeconomy symbiosis as an approach for lowemission operations, involving rural operators working together in mutually beneficial relationships.

Studied bioeconomy operational models achieved significant reductions in the climate impacts compared to traditional and fossil-based reference systems, however, while often experiencing a slight decrease in financial feasibility. Uncertainties related to the climate impacts of bioenergy, such as foregone carbon sequestration and nitrous oxide emissions, could undermine the credibility of bioeconomy solutions as a large-scale application for reducing emissions. However, pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion, especially as joint processes in co-creation of biofuels and organic fertilizers, was highly beneficial operations for treating agricultural sidestreams, and led to considerable emission reduction, even when taking these uncertainties into account. Regarding the practical advancements, this dissertation presents multiple low-emission operational actions, serving as inspiration for pursuing sustainable business through symbiotic designs and application of circular economy principles in the bioeconomy sector.