ALBERT

Description: Sustainable development is the globally embraced paradigm for integrating environment and development policies. Agreement ends with attempts at operationalizing the elusive notion of sustainability. A contentious debate among "environmentalists" and "environmental economists" has brought about a confusing proliferation of indicators and policy advice on sustainable development. Greening the monetary national accounts could moderate the debate by generating concepts and indicators which translate environmental concerns into the language of widely used economic variables. The implementation of sustainable growth and development requires more. "Eco-nomic" instruments of environmental cost internalization need to be combined with environmental legislation and regulation. Such reconciliation of environmental and economic policies should be supported by a "social compact" between government and civil society. The sustained implementation of sustainable development depends on it.

Description: In this paper the results of an analysis of the material intensity of advanced composite materials are presented. The analysis is based on the MIPS-concept of the Wuppertal Institute which allows the calculation of the overall material intensity of products and services. It can be shown that the production of one kg of E-Glass fibers is connected with the consumption of 6.2 kg materials, 95 kg water and 2.1 kg oxygen which is of similar size compared to the inputs required in steel production. Material inputs required to produce one kg of p-aramid are 37 kg of materials and 19.6 kg air. Values for carbon fibers are even higher yielding to 61.1 kg of abiotic materials and 33.1 kg of air. Similarly, the production of epoxy resins is connected with larger material flows than the production of polyester resins. Of core materials, inputs per kg for PVCfoam exceed those in PUR-foam production by a factor of 1.4 in water to 2.3 in abiotic material consumption. However, ecologically decisive are not the inputs per kg but the material input per service unit. Therefore, the material input per service unit computed for the body of a passenger ship and a robot arm are compared with alternative steel and aluminium versions. Both examples show that in the case of significant inputs during the user phase of products, even a more material intensive investment in the production phase can yield significant ecological benefits over the whole life-cycle compared to metal versions. Improvements can easily reach a factor of two albeit significant potential for engine optimizations have still been neglected. Results already include the actual recycling quota of metals whereas for composites only virgin material has been calculated as any form of real recycling does not actually exist but only certain types of downrecycling. Of those treatment options, first material recycling and second the use in blast furnaces would lead to better results in resource productivity than incineration and landfills. The paper finally draws some conclusions about the potential advantages of material substitution in the automotive industry. Due to the rather short real operation time of cars during their user phase - around six months - an investment in advanced composite materials in car production only results in a significant improvement of the overall eco-efficiency of cars if it allows a substantial weight reduction of the overall vehicle.

Description: Policies for Sustainable Use and economy-wide Management of natural Resources (SUMR) throughout the production and consumption system are faced with environmental and socio-economic requirements and regulatory constraints. Based on empirical findings of ongoing trends of resource use, decoupling from economic growth, and transregional problem shifting, the paper outlines a potentially sustainable biophysical basis for production and consumption in the EU. It discusses the main challenges for the major resource groups, describing the specific and the common tasks with regard to biomass, fossil fuels, metals, non-metallic minerals. Adopting a medical metaphor, it suggests that policies for SUMR should follow a dual approach reflecting the long-term need for a main cure of the socio-industrial metabolism in form of a "conditioning" towards a more mature, resource efficient, and renewables based constitution on the one hand, and a fine tuning of selected material flows (e.g. for optimized recycling and control of hazardous compounds) on the other hand. Both strategies are deemed complementary and necessary to reduce environmental impacts and increase the utility of material use. Action required is exemplified with regard to the three pillars of SUMR, i.e. improved orientation, information and incentives.

Description: In this brochure, WISIONS focuses on sustainable biofuel production and use. WISIONS presents successfully implemented projects from Ghana, India, Austria and Indonesia, with the intention of further promoting the particular approaches used by these projects. Using a key number of internationally accepted criteria, the main consideration for the selection of the projects was energy and resource efficiency, but social aspects were also of relevance. The assessment of the projects also included the consideration of regional factors acknowledging different needs and potentials.

Description: The role of hydrogen in long run sustainable energy scenarios for the world and for the case of Germany is analysed, based on key criteria for sustainable energy systems. The possible range of hydrogen within long-term energy scenarios is broad and uncertain depending on assumptions on used primary energy, technology mix, rate of energy efficiency increase and costs degression ("learning effects"). In any case, sustainable energy strategies must give energy efficiency highest priority combined with an accelerated market introduction of renewables ("integrated strategy"). Under these conditions hydrogen will play a major role not before 2030 using natural gas as a bridge to renewable hydrogen. Against the background of an ambitious CO2-reduction goal which is under discussion in Germany the potentials for efficiency increase, the necessary structural change of the power plant system (corresponding to the decision to phase out nuclear energy, the transformation of the transportation sector and the market implementation order of renewable energies ("following efficiency guidelines first for electricity generation purposes, than for heat generation and than for the transportation sector")) are analysed based on latest sustainable energy scenarios.