Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, Alliance Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, Booth Street West, Manchester, M15 6PB, UK.
School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, The University of Manchester, The Mill, Sackville Street, Manchester, M1 3AL, UK.
Sci Rep. 2019 Dec 13;9(1):19033. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-54331-7.
Tackling the pressing sustainability needs of society will require the development and application of new technologies. Biotechnology, emboldened by recent advances in synthetic biology, offers to generate sustainable biologically-based routes to chemicals and materials as alternatives to fossil-derived incumbents. Yet, the sustainability potential of biotechnology is not without trade-offs. Here, we probe this capacity for sustainability for the case of bio-based nylon using both deliberative and analytical approaches within a framework of Constructive Sustainability Assessment. We highlight the potential for life cycle CO and NO savings with bio-based processes, but report mixed results in other environmental and social impact categories. Importantly, we demonstrate how this knowledge can be generated collaboratively and constructively within companies at an early stage to anticipate consequences and to inform the modification of designs and applications. Application of the approach demonstrated here provides an avenue for technological actors to better understand and become responsive to the sustainability implications of their products, systems and actions.
解决社会紧迫的可持续性需求将需要开发和应用新技术。生物技术在合成生物学的最新进展的鼓舞下，提供了可持续的生物基途径来制造化学品和材料，以替代传统的化石衍生产品。然而，生物技术的可持续性潜力并非没有权衡。在这里，我们使用建构性可持续性评估框架内的审议和分析方法，针对生物基尼龙案例来探究这种可持续性能力。我们强调了生物基工艺在生命周期 CO 和 NO 节约方面的潜力，但在其他环境和社会影响类别中报告了混合结果。重要的是，我们展示了如何在早期阶段在公司内以协作和建设性的方式生成这种知识，以预测后果并为设计和应用的修改提供信息。这里展示的方法的应用为技术参与者提供了一种途径，使其更好地理解并对其产品、系统和行动的可持续性影响做出响应。
