Room: Amazon
Date: Thursday, 21 May 2026
Time: 16:15 - 17:15 CEST
Session code 2CO.11
Sustainability frontiers in the bioeconomy: methods, gaps and global perspectives
Mind the Gap: The Methodological Issues in Biobased Product LCAs and their Relevance to European Policy. Main Findings of the ULTRA-BIO Project
Short Introductive summary
The circular bioeconomy plays an essential role in Europe’s climate and sustainability agenda, as reflected in numerous legislative developments and the forthcoming European Unions’ (EU) Bioeconomy Strategy. Biobased products are therefore increasingly promoted. To assess the environmental performance of biobased products, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a common tool. However, several methodological issues arise when applying LCA to biobased products, compromising the harmonization, transparency, and integrity of LCA results. This research aimed to identify the most relevant methodological challenges from stakeholders’ perspective, to map those issues to the core regulatory and standardization documents for biobased products and ultimately to propose a holistic framework to address these challenges in a consistent manner.
Presenter
Martin JUNGINGER
Utrecht University, Copernicus Institute, THE NETHERLANDS
Presenter's biography
Prof. Dr. Martin Junginger holds the chair Bio-Based Economy at Utrecht University. Research interests cover a.o. the use of (marine) biofuels, the implementation of sustainability frameworks for biomass for materials & energy, and the near-term implementation potential of BECCS
Biographies and Short introductive summaries are supplied directly by presenters and are published here unedited
Co-authors:
R.K. Padi, Utrecht University, THE NETHERLANDS
L. Shen, Utrecht University, THE NETHERLANDS
I. Vural Gursel, Stichting Wageningen Research, Instituut Wageningen Food & Biobased Research, THE NETHERLANDS
H. Ballemans, Stichting Wageningen Research, Instituut Wageningen Food & Biobased Research, THE NETHERLANDS
E. Bouwman, TNO, Utrecht, THE NETHERLANDS
M. van der Meer, Aachen Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials, THE NETHERLANDS
M. Junginger, Utrecht University, THE NETHERLANDS
Session reference: 2CO.11.2