Industrial Symbiosis for the Development of Biofuel Production

In recent years the popularity of biofuels has been transformed from a sustainable option for transportation to a questionable and criticized method. Many reports have therefore been produced to view biofuel production from a life cycle perspective; though results may be misleading. In a number of the reports, biofuel production is viewed in a linear manner, i.e. crops and energy in and biofuel out. However there is a large quantity of material and energy flows associated with biofuel production and these must be accounted for. Industrial symbiosis concepts have therefore been applied in this thesis to the biofuel industry to identify possibilities to improve the material and energy flows. This has been done by mapping the exchanges and thereafter identifying possible synergies between biofuel firms and with external industries. Examples from regional biofuel synergies and exchanges with industrial partners have been highlighted. Many of the concepts have led to the identification of methods for increased integration and improvements, including the use of a renewable energy provider and the cooperation with external industries. Biofuels have therefore been found to profit from wastes, and instead of competition, benefit from one another, contrary to belief. This leads to an expanded market of raw materials for biofuel production. Benefits do not only occur for the biofuel industry; from the application of biofuels, industrial symbiosis may gain further benefits. Several new concepts have been produced in this thesis to account for the unique material handling possibilities that biofuel production firms encompass. These include using biofuels as upcyclers of materials and the use of renewable energy as a way to improve environmental performance. Furthermore, a classification method has been produced to add more detail about individual exchanges for the industrial symbiosis literature in addition to viewing industrial symbiosis from an expanded system view to include exchanges beyond geographic proximity typical to the field.