Track: Sustainability and Green Systems

Abstract

The growth of biofuels production and use in South Africa can play a major role in job creation and can help alleviate poverty, improving environmental protection and economic growth. Bio-fuels has the potential to contribute to job creation and skills development in both agricultural and production sectors. It can spur economic development in disadvantaged rural communities, provide energy security, assist to mitigate the shortage and high cost of energy and can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

According to most referred recent literature, SLCA is still mainly in the process of being developed and resolved to ensure comparability of results [2]. The methodology is more qualitative due to the existence of minimal numerical databases. Interpreting the meaning of data is also a bit problematic and difficult. The process is very expensive, challenging and creates subjective data. System boundaries are also more difficult to define through the entire product life cycle [4], but since social impacts of anthropogenic activities are a critical factor in determining sustainability of production and consumption systems there is hence a great need to explore and assess them according to Reference [1]. This paper examines the production and consumption of bio-fuels in South Africa, in relation or with a view to do an assessment of its life cycle social impacts.