The findings of the BIO4Africa social life cycle assessments are in. Their conclusion? Bio-based technologies are a sustainable business investment.

Bio-based technologies can bring much-needed, long-term benefits to rural farming communities in Africa, the BIO4Africa social life cycle assessments (S-LCA) have shown. Along with the findings of environmental and cost analyses, the positive conclusions make a strong business case for future investment.

BIO4Africa partner DREVEN has conducted life cycle assessments at all pilot technology sites. The pelletisation line in Côte d’Ivoire, combined pyrolysis and densification line in Senegal and green biorefinery in Uganda were selected for the S-LCAs.

Favourable social conditions
Several similar observations of favourable social conditions were made across all sites, where new jobs were created and new skills developed.

“The sustainability potential is very good according to our results. We’re hopeful that this good performance will continue. But it’s important to understand that the social performance is dependent on the societal conditions of the countries,” says Giorgos Lanaras, circular economy project manager at DREVEN.

Competitive production costs
Both the pelletisation line in Côte d’Ivoire and green biorefinery in Uganda showed good potential for improving farmer incomes due to competitive production costs. Livestock and human health also gained from the use of these bio-based technologies for animal feed production.

Despite the comparatively high cost of the biochar briquettes produced by pyrolysis and densification in Senegal, DREVEN found opportunities to cut costs through efficiency improvements.

With good management practices to ensure a healthy environment during pyrolysis, the briquettes represent a sustainable alternative to wood-based household fuel – the widespread use of which is a major cause of deforestation.

Opportunities for technology transfer
In addition to the life cycle assessments, DREVEN investigated the possibilities to transfer the bio-based technologies to other countries and sectors.

This revealed that the technologies are well suited to the needs and bioresources of many other African countries and could also be of benefit to the food, energy, construction materials and mining sector.

Hear Giorgos talking about the S-LCAs and business model replication in the video above.