Life cycle assessment of a biomaterial (biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoate) production

Abstract

This project has carried out a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a degradable biomaterial

(polyhydroxyalkanoates) production. During the assessment, 3 scenarios are presented on the basis of 3 existing PHA production techniques for comparison, which are: i) Technique 1 - microbial PHA production with glucose as scenario 1; ii) Technique

2 - microbial PHA production with whey as scenario 2; iii) Technique 3 - PHA

production from transgenic plants as scenario 3. The objective of the project is to set up an initial working model by using LCA methodology as a comparison tool for selecting and optimizing PHA production techniques.