The examples of production processes are connected to Finland,
but it is emphasised that the examples are hypothetical scenarios
and not directly related to the actual situation in Finland. The raw
materials considered in the biodiesel production are palm oil, forest
biomass, and algae. Biodiesel production based on palm oil is taken
as a reference scenario (scenario A), and the latter two options
represent alternatives that could replace palm oil in biodiesel
production in the future. The general idea is to consider the change
from the reference scenario to two distinct alternative scenarios (as
in Impact Assessment, Vanclay, 2003). Other raw materials such as
algae (cultivated
3
in artificial pounds, co-located with a production
plant; scenario B) and forest biomass (scenario C) could be used in
biodiesel production. Here, we do not address the social performance
per se of a certain production system (as it could be done for
benchmarking purposes, for instance).
The biodiesel production scenario based on palm oil is described