| Looming scarcities and associated environmental, economic and social impacts of non-renewable fuels have focused attention on renewable energy sources, including biomass. The three components of bioenergy systems---feedstock supply, conversion technology, and energy allocation---are subject to complex interactions among social, economic, and ecological influences. This has been a major obstacle in implementing bioenergy systems. To multiply bioenergy use, there is a need for an integrated approach to assess these interactions with respect to bioenergy's sustainability.;This dissertation aimed to identify a sustainability assessment framework of bioenergy systems across a range of scales and locations, while actively involving a wide array of stakeholders. Specifically, the application value of Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA) in such a framework was explored. Applicability of results was further investigated by the analysis of a wood-to-power case study.;Outcomes indicate that the theoretical foundations of MCA are supportive of the inclusion of larger groups of stakeholders in bioenergy sustainability assessments. The MCA tools investigated (SuperDecisions, Decision Lab, DecideIT, and NAIADE) differed insofar as they accommodated different steps in a decision process and scored criteria and alternatives differently due to differing theoretical foundations. However, the simultaneous application of different MCA tools provides insight into the problem parameters and helps in structuring a decision.;A crucial step in sustainability assessments is the identification of criteria upon which stakeholders can evaluate whether a system meets their needs and values. This dissertation investigated the level of agreement amongst experts on a list of criteria that could be presented to stakeholders. In a survey, experts were asked to score a suite of sustainability criteria from the emerging literature. While some criteria were generally perceived as especially important (e.g. energy balance, greenhouse gas balance); in particular, the ranking of social and local criteria was disputed. These results supported the notion that retaining local context flexibility is necessary for a robust sustainability concept.;This dissertation contributed to the development of sustainability assessment frameworks for bioenergy systems, which may include certification schemes for international biomass trade or the planning and evaluation of individual bioenergy projects in a variety of contexts and scales. |
