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Food production chains

Today, ever greater use is being made of agricultural and other renewable feedstocks. Besides traditional applications like food, textile, paper and timber we also see fossil feedstocks being increasingly replaced by renewable feedstocks for power generation, transport and chemicals production. This “battle for biomass” is putting ever more pressure on both land and nature. For these major developments to be given literally enough space, it is important that traditional applications are also examined from the angle of eco-efficiency.

Food and land use

Food production, including related transport operations, is the human activity making the single largest claim on land resources. At the global level, food production also makes a major contribution to climate change, both directly and indirectly, and is thus a key sector in the context of climate policy. Land use, with all its associated impacts, and climate change are often at the forefront of research at CE Delft. Our point of departure: responsibility for the entire supply chain, and particularly those elements beyond the remit of Dutch or European policy. Supply chain analysis is the method used to track down and understand potential problems, opportunities and priorities for improvement, the passing on of environmental impacts (external costs) and eco-efficiency.

Production and application of biofeedstocks

Besides sharing our expertise on product lifecycles with clients, since 2010 we also have in-house expertise on the ‘back end’ of the supply chain: biofeedstock production (land use aspects, socio-economic impacts, biodiversity). Biomass applications – for chemicals production, power generation and transport – is a theme on which CE Delft has already been providing consultancy for many years.

Supply chain management ever more important for industry

Supply chain management is becoming increasingly important for both policy-makers and corporate management. Packaging and biofeedstocks are examples of dossiers in which supply chain management today plays a pivotal role. In waste and materials policies as well as in the food industry, though, there is ever greater focus on entire chains and cycles.

Thinking in terms of supply chains is now common practice in both government and industry. This trend was reinforced by the emergence of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology in the 1990s, on which much progress has subsequently been made, enabling the environmental impact of production chains to be charted in ever more quantitative detail.

Clients

The Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM), SenterNovem, a range of industrial sectors (e.g. plastics, steel, aluminium, paper, dairy products), at both the national and international level, Greenpeace, the Netherlands Society for Nature and Environment and the Netherlands Soft Drinks Association (NFI).