Integrating catalytic performance and life cycle assessment for a γ-valerolactone biorefinery design from biomass

γ-Valerolactone (GVL) is a renewable platform molecule with applications as a greener solvent and fuel additive. This study couples catalytic experiments, process simulation, and cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) to guide lower-impact GVL production from lignocellulosic residues via levulinic acid (LA) hydrogenation. Vapor-phase continuous tests over Cu–Ni/SiO₂ catalysts used LA diluted in isopropanol (IPA) with H₂ co-feed; under these conditions, IPA acts as a solvent and contributes as a hydrogen donor alongside molecular H₂ through transfer-hydrogenation pathways, improving conversion and stability versus IPA-free operation. The best formulation (6Cu–14Ni/SiO₂) sustained 79% average LA conversion and 91% GVL selectivity over 50 h. Experimental results parameterized an Aspen Plus model to generate mass and energy requirements for an attributional LCA with selective system expansion (functional unit: 1 kg GVL) across three Colombian residues. Baseline impacts (9.30 ± 1.55 –11.37 ± 2.14 kg CO₂-eq kg⁻¹ GVL) were dominated by fossil IPA and process heat. Switching to bio-based IPA, green H₂, and renewable heat reduced impacts by up to 87%. Sensitivity analysis showed a near-linear dependency of impacts on LA conversion (SR > 0.9), highlighting catalytic efficiency as the primary lever for environmental improvement. Overall, coupling catalytic performance with LCA enables early identification of hotspots and supports low-carbon design choices for bio-based chemical production.