Main Researcher

Ricardo Rebolledo Leiva

Assistant Professor in the Department of Computing and Industries at Universidad Católica del Maule, Chile. He holds a PhD in Chemical and Environmental Engineering, European Mention, and was awarded the Cum Laude distinction by the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

His research focuses on the development of quantitative sustainability assessment methods for circular and bio-based systems, considering Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, Absolute Environmental Sustainability Assessment, prospective assessment, LCA + DEA method.

He has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles in international journals, two book chapters, and two conference papers (>1,260 citations, h-index 20). He currently serves as Associate Editor in the Journal Cleaner and Circular Bioeconomy (Elsevier), and achieved two cover images in journals such as Bioresource Technology and Agriculture, and a Editorial’s choice award in Resources jounal.

He has secured competitive research funding of about USD 900,000 as Principal Investigator in projects from the Research and Innovation Agency of Chile such as Anillo Temático 2025 «NbS-Waterry», FOVI 2025, and 2026 Fondecyt Regular.

Research Interests

  • Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment
  • Absolute Sustainability Assessment (i.e., Planetary boundaries)
  • Circular Bioeconomy (e.g., biorefinery design)
  • LCA + DEA

Scientific Publications

2025

«BioCalc: a novel life cycle-based tool for quantifying the carbon credits of solid biofuels in Brazil», Biomass and Bioenergy. Antonio Carlos Farrapo Junior, Leonardo Vásquez-Ibarra, Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, Diogo Lopes Silva. 2025.

«Absolute sustainability assessment of the power generation sector: a prospective insight towards the Chilean decarbonization targets», Sustainable Production and Consumption. Leonardo Vásquez-Ibarra, Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, Pedro Vargas-Ferrer, Antonio Carlos Farrapo Junior, Diogo Lopes Silva. 2025.

«Turning wine waste into value: A techno-economic and environmental study of phenolics, syngas and biochar production», Industrial Crops and Products. Adrián Agraso-Otero, Arsal Tehseen, Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, Sara González-García. 2025.

«Circular economy in a recently transitioned high-income country in Latin America and the Caribbean: Barriers, drivers, strengths, opportunities, key stakeholders and priorities in Chile», Journal of Cleaner Production. Alejandro Gallego-Schmid, Leonardo Vásquez-Ibarra, Ana Belén Guerrero, Claudia Henninger, Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva. 2025.

«Assessment of the environmental sustainability of the production of organic wine grapes with Qualified Designation of Origin in La Rioja, Spain», Agriculture. Adrián Agraso-Otero, Javier Cancela, Mar Vilanova, Javier Ugarte, Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, Sara González-García. 2025.

«Integrated process design, techno-economic and environmental analysis of chokeberry pomace biorefineries: phenolic compounds extraction with ethanol or energy production?», Environmental Technology and Innovation. Adrián Agraso-Otero, Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, Eduardo Entrena-Barbero, Sara González-García. 2025.

2024

«Environmental insights of bioethanol production and phenolic compounds extraction from apple pomace-based biorefinery», Cleaner and Circular Bioeconomy. Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, Sofia Estévez, Diógenes Hernández, Gumersindo Feijoo, María Teresa Moreira, Sara González-García. 2024.

«Boosting the transition to biorefineries in compliance with sustainability and circularity criteria», Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering. Ana Arias, Sofía Estévez-Rivadulla, Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, Gumersindo Feijoo, Sara González-García, Maria Teresa Moreira. 2024.

«Techno-economic and environmental assessment of dietary fibre extraction from soybean hulls», Cleaner Environmental Systems. Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, Maria Teresa Moreira, Sara González-García. 2024.

«Using olive and apple pomaces for fattening pig diets: Environmental impacts under an attributional and consequential perspective», Environmental Technology and Innovation. Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, Diógenes Hernández, María Teresa Moreira, Sara González-García. 2024.

«Monitoring the bioeconomy: Value chains under the framework of life cycle assessment indicators», Cleaner and Circular Bioeconomy. Sara Lago-Olveira, Ana Arias, Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, Gumersindo Feijoo, Sara González-García, Maria Teresa Moreira. 2024.

«Anaerobic co-digestion of agro-industrial waste mixtures for biogas production: an energetically sustainable solution», Sustainability. Diógenes Hernández, Fernando Pinilla, Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, Joaquín Aburto-Hole, Joaquín Díaz, Guillermo Quijano, Sara González-García, Claudio Tenreiro. 2024.

«Apple Pomace Integrated Biorefinery for Biofuels Production: A Techno-Economic and Environmental Sustainability Analysis», Resources. Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, Sofía Estévez, Diógenes Hernández, Gumersindo Feijoo, María Teresa Moreira, Sara González-García. 2024.

«A material flow or life cycle analysis perspective for the Water-Energy-Food nexus assessment of organisations? A comparative study», Future Foods. Leonardo Vásquez-Ibarra, Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, Eduardo Entrena-Barbero, Mario Fernández, Gumersindo Feijoo, Sara González-García, Maria Teresa Moreira. 2024.

«Embedding Water-Energy-Food nexus and circularity assessment for organization benchmarking: A case study for dairy farms», Waste Management. Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva, Murillo Barros, Eduardo Entrena-Barbero, Leonardo Vásquez-Ibarra, Mario Fernández, Gumersindo Feijoo, Maria Teresa Moreira, Sara González-García. 2024.

Projects

2026

“A multidimensional impact assessment of polyester and polyamide production by biodegradation of rubber blends – MAP-BioRub project”. Concurso Nacional de proyectos Fondecyt Regular 2026, ANID. Project Nº 1261696. 2026–2029. Ricardo Rebolledo (investigador principal).

2025

«Transición hacia un modelo de producción circular y sostenible en el sector agroalimentario del centro-sur de Chile» código FOVI250279, Fomento a la Vinculación Internacional, ANID. Ricardo Rebolledo (investigador principal).

«Validación de bio-packaging activo para fruta de exportación», Concurso de Investigación Tecnológica IDeA 2025, ANID. Ricardo Rebolledo (investigador asociado), Leonardo Vásquez (investigador asociado). 2025 – 2027.

«Nature-based solution strategies for developing new sustainable water sources in sweet cherry production under a scarcity context (NbS-Waterry)», código ATE250033, Proyecto Anillo de Investigación en Áreas Temáticas Específicas 2025, ANID. Rebolledo Ricardo (director alterno / investigador principal). 2025 – 2028.

2024

«Gestión sostenible en la cadena de suministro de la industria textil mediante herramientas de inteligencia artificial y circularidad de procesos”, Fomento a la Vinculación Internacional ANID. Ricardo Rebolledo (investigador asociado), Leonardo Vásquez (investigador asociado), Lixania Reyes (investigadora asociada). 2024 – 2025.

“Technological Innovation for Sustainable Recycling of Lithium-ion Batteries: Recovery of Critical Materials for the Safety of Energy Transition (RecLIBs)”, código ATE240011, Proyecto Anillo de Investigación en Áreas Temáticas Específicas 2024, ANID. Ricardo Rebolledo (investigador asociado). 2024 – 2027.

2023

“CAMINO: Circular economy in Latin America and the Caribbean: Barriers, drivers, opportunities and learned lessons”, UKRI Research England International Science Partnerships Fund Institutional Support Grant (ODA). Ricardo Rebolledo (investigador asociado), Leonardo Vásquez (investigador asociado). 2023 – 2025.

2022

“Transition to sustainable agri-food sector bundling life cycle assessment and ecosystem services approaches (ALISE)», Spanish National Research Agency. Ricardo Rebolledo (investigador colaborador). 2022 – 2025.

“Sustainability Transition Assessment Rules for Bio-Based Systems – STAR4BBS”, Unión Europea. Ricardo Rebolledo (investigador colaborador). 2022 – 2025.

2020

“Enhancing diversity in Mediterranean cereal farming systems (CerealMed)”, PRIMA Programme and FEDER/Ministry of Science and Innovation – Spanish National Research Agency. Ricardo Rebolledo (investigador colaborador). 2020 – 2022.