Can biodiesel become a determinant Bioeconomy factor towards sustainability: Mixture physicochemical composition and Input-Output (I-O) indicators of biodiesel sector.
Description
Energy deployment owns an important role by introducing dynamic strategies, in order to achieve the long-term purpose of sustainability. The challenge of climate change and a potential increase in the energy demand, following the expected society development rebound after COVID-19 and war in Ukraine, could ideally lead central decision-making policies to produce technological, economic, social, environmental viable solutions. According to the EU, Bioeconomy involves the above decision-making policies, so as to produce renewable biological resources and convert them and their waste streams into value-added products, such as food, feed, organic-based products and bioenergy. The goal of Bioeconomy, through sustainable production and the rational use of biological resources (including waste), is to produce more from less. The purpose of this paper is to point out the beneficial effects of using biodiesel or mixtures of biodiesel, both as in the physicochemical composition of the mixture, and also as an indicator employed to reveal the potential of biodiesel to induce knock-on effects in the national economy of Greece. In order to analyze the composition of the mixture, extensive experimentation (about 3500) has been executed in the Laboratory of Chemical Engineering Department in the University of Western Macedonia under normal conditions (as it is defined by government protocols), providing significant information about the two mixture ingredients (diesel and biodiesel). Moreover, in order to assess the significance of biodiesel at national level, in terms of output, employment and income creation, an Input-Output (I-O) model and I-O multipliers were used.