Just because a product is produced using renewable raw materials and with biotechnological methods, it does not make it automatically more environmentally friendly. Using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), we can attempt to quantify the total environmental impact resulting from the entire life cycle of a product – from production of raw material, via processing, use of final product, and finally to waste management. Via LCA, different products and production systems can be compared with regard to environmental sustainability, and critical steps in the life cycle, where considerable environmental improvements can be made, are identified. Assessments of new biobased production systems are often more complex than those of traditional production systems since many more effects must be taken into account, such as the effect of using land to grow the crops. This demands a development in LCA methods and broader environmental systems studies.

Researchers in this field at Lund University