Definition, assessment and prioritisation of strategies to mitigate social life-cycle impacts across the supply chain of bioelectricity: A case study in Portugal

Abstract

A key goal in sustainable supply chain management is the minimisation of risk across supply chains. However, this is jeopardised by underdeveloped aspects such as social risk management, especially in the case of energy systems as they involve complex supply chains. This article constitutes the first time that Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) is used to lay the foundation for a methodological framework to define, assess and prioritise strategies oriented towards the minimisation of social life-cycle impacts across the supply chain of energy products. This framework combines S-LCA, a novel approach to the definition of alternative supply chain strategies, and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). It was demonstrated through a case study of bioelectricity in Portugal by defining and assessing fifteen strategies on the specific supply chains of oil and fertilisers to check their suitability to enhance the system's social life-cycle performance. The weighted sum method (WSM) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) were used as MCDA tools to further support decision-making by prioritising strategies. According to the results for a set of six social indicators, the strategies proposed on the supply of oil and nitrogen-based fertilisers were deemed suitable trade-off solutions to mitigate the social life-cycle impact of the bioelectricity system.