Environmental and socio-economic evaluation of a groundwater bioremediation technology using social Cost-Benefit Analysis: Application to an in-situ metal(loid) precipitation case study.

Autor: Ibáñez J; International Research Center in Critical Raw Materials for Advanced Industrial Technologies (ICCRAM), University of Burgos, Centro de I+D+I, Plaza Misael Bañuelos s/n, 09001 Burgos, Spain. Electronic address: jesusibanez@ubu.es., Pérez-de-Mora A; TAUW GmbH, Dept. of Soil & Groundwater, Landsbergerstr. 290, 80687 Munich, Germany., Santiago-Herrera M; International Research Center in Critical Raw Materials for Advanced Industrial Technologies (ICCRAM), University of Burgos, Centro de I+D+I, Plaza Misael Bañuelos s/n, 09001 Burgos, Spain., Belloncle B; Materia Nova, Avenue Copernic 3, 7000 Mons, Belgium., de Wilde H; TAUW België nv, Dept. of Soil & Groundwater, Waaslandlaan 8A3, 9160 Lokeren, Belgium., Martel-Martín S; International Research Center in Critical Raw Materials for Advanced Industrial Technologies (ICCRAM), University of Burgos, Centro de I+D+I, Plaza Misael Bañuelos s/n, 09001 Burgos, Spain., Blanco-Alcántara D; Department of Economics and Business Administration, Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences, University of Burgos, Calle Parralillos, s/n, 09001 Burgos, Spain., Barros R; International Research Center in Critical Raw Materials for Advanced Industrial Technologies (ICCRAM), University of Burgos, Centro de I+D+I, Plaza Misael Bañuelos s/n, 09001 Burgos, Spain. Electronic address: rbarros@ubu.es.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2024 Dec 01; Vol. 954, pp. 176720. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Oct 07.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176720
Abstrakt: Bioremediation can be an alternative or complementary approach to conventional soil and water treatment technologies. Determining the environmental and socio-economic impacts of bioremediation is important but rarely addressed. This work presents a comprehensive sustainability assessment for a specific groundwater bioremediation case study based on In-situ Metal(loid) Precipitation (ISMP) by conducting a social Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) using two different approaches: environmental Life Cycle Costing (eLCC) and Impact Pathway Approach (IPA). Externalities are calculated in two ways: i) using Environmental Prices (EP) to monetize Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results and metal(loid)s removed at field scale, and ii) following the IPA steps to determine the social costs avoided by removing arsenic contamination at full scale. The results show that, in the baseline scenario, the project is not socio-economically viable in both cases as the Net Present Value (NPV) is -129,512.61 € and - 415,185,140 € respectively. Sensitivity and scenario analyses are performed to identify the key parameters and actions needed to reach a positive NPV. For instance, increasing the amount of water treated per year to 90 m 3 and assuming a 20 % increase in operation costs and a 60 % increase in construction costs can make the project socio-economically viable at the field scale, while a reduction in the social discount rate from a 4 % to a 2 % can lead to a positive NPV at the full scale. The approaches proposed in this work may be useful for practitioners and policymakers when evaluating the environmental and socio-economic impacts of bioremediation technologies at different scales and regions, as well as human health impacts caused by contaminants at the current legal limits.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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