Decision support system for insects production

Abstract

Insect value chains are complex systems with non-linear connections among various economic, environmental, and social variables. Industrial stakeholders often require clarity in potential environmental impacts, social issues and economic costs for efficient decision-making. This study employed a modular life cycle approach to analyze insect production chains, considering economic, environmental, and certain social aspects within the frameworks of the EU projects SUSINCHAIN, ADVAGROMED, CIPROMED and GiantLeaps. Integration of results from separate modules was based on developed scaling factors. These factors were further used to design multiple production scenarios, employed for multi-objective optimization (MOO) and the design of a decision-support system (DSS). The DSS accounted for a mix of sustainability relevant factors. The DSS functions as an online tool available in open access and could be further optimized and programmed in future research. Moreover, MOO allows for identifying a larger range of optimal scenarios with varying objectives. For example, for the companies producing Hermetia illucens and operating at large scale in Germany the optimal from sustainability perspectives will be 5 feed scenarios: (1) 98.3 % brewery spent grains, 1.3% chicken feed; (2) 81.5 % brewery spent grains, 18.5% vegetable rests; (3) 81.8 % brewery spent grains, 8.4% vegetable rests, 7.3% chicken feed, 2.5% milling rests; (4) 67.4 % brewery spent grains, 14.1% vegetable rests, 18.5% chicken feed; (5) 91.6 % brewery spent grains, 8.4% chicken feed. Further research is needed (and planned) to identify a broader spectrum of optimal scenarios for a range of alternative protein sources as well as to validate MOO results through the real-life development of sustainable insect chains and to assess its ‘optimality.’