ALBERT

Description: The ongoing increase of the world population entails huge challenges for all countries' agro-food systems. Agriculture has to satisfy growing food requirements both in quantitative and qualitative terms, but the on hand natural resource stock is quickly depleting. Moreover, food production and energy production from biomass are competing for land. The thesis aims at measuring the environmental impact of nutrition in three agri-food systems. The study considers the amount of natural resources used in the production and consumption of food along its life-cycle. It is featured in two parts. In the first one the analysis is restricted to the supply chain of food, and provides a sustainability rating of thirty-seven products, grown through different agricultural practices. The second analysis takes into consideration all the value chain according to three paradigms of agri-food systems. They refers to different models of food production and consumption, observed in Italy. The first one is the dominant paradigm, including conventional and intensive farming practices, long and globalized food chains, retailing in supermarkets. The other models refer to Alternative Food Networks (AFN). The first is the GAS (Gruppi di Acquisto Solidali) initiative, i.e. solidarity purchasing groups, that manage collectively the purchasing of organic food and natural manufactured products mainly from local enterprises and farmers. They aim at accessing high quality and naturally grown food, avoiding the retailing passage and ensuring a fair price to the farmers. The third model refers to UPM (Un Punto Macrobiotico), an international association established in the Marche region in 1980. It manages and controls an entire food chain, since the agricultural production, based on the post-organic technique "Ma-Pi polyculture", till the food purchasing and catering, in sixty-three restaurants spread in the Italian territory. UPM is a very consumer-oriented food chain, in which a very exigent demand (in terms of food naturality and healthiness) drives the agricultural production towards the minimization of the external inputs employment. A further model concerns the reduction of the "Food Miles", i.e. the kilometres covered by food, since the dominant paradigm. Thus, in this model the distances are reduced by an average 90%, while the production practices do not change. The methodology used for assessing the sustainability of food is the Material Input Per Service unit (MIPS) indicator. It estimates the overall environmental pressure caused by products or services by indicating the life-cycle-wide consumption of natural resources in relation to the benefit provided. It includes five resource categories: abiotic and biotic materials (renewable resources), water, air and soil. Results of the first analysis provide a dataset of the material intensity of Italian agricultural products and foodstuffs, which can expedite future research on the topic of nutrition’s sustainability. The second analysis evaluates the natural resource demand for feeding one person during a week, in the paradigms under investigation. With respect to the dominant, the GAS model allows a 58% reduction in the abiotic resource demand, 53% in water and 71% in air. The UPM system, instead, permits a tenfold reduction in abiotic, biotic and water, and 82% decrease in the air category. The insight on the socio-economic features of the systems, together with the environmental sustainability measurement, allowed making some general conclusions and policy recommendations on the sustainability of the different food systems. The role of a low external input technology in agriculture is emphasized as a possible strategy for driving food system towards more sustainable patterns and empowering the small-scale farming.

Description: The importance of intact ecosystems for human-wellbeing as well as the dependence on functions and services they provide is undoubted. But still neither the costs of ecosystem degradation nor the benefits from ecosystem functions and services appear on socio-economic balance sheets when development takes place. Consequently overuse of natural resources is socio-economically promoted by conventional resource management policies and external effects (externalities), equally positives and negatives, remain unregarded. In this context the potential of payments for hydrological ecosystem services as a political instrument to foster sustainable natural resource use, and rural development shall be investigated. This paper introduces the principle concept of such payments, presents a case study from Nicaragua and highlights preliminary effects of the application of this instrument on natural resource use and development.

Description: The field of nutrition is facing numerous social, ecological and economic challenges in the coming decades. The food industry belongs to the most significant economic sectors worldwide and the increasing population of 9 billion in 2050 will cause a growing demand on food. So far, changing lifestyles, especially the global rising consumption of meat and dairy products are increasing environmental damage. Moreover our health and wellbeing are the direct result of healthy or unhealthy nourishment and influence follow-up indicators like individual and public health, the expense of the health sector and work productivity. The material footprint is a tool to measure and optimize the resource consumption of both products and their ingredients and the production processes along the whole value chain. It covers the whole life cycle of the products, from the extraction of raw materials to the processing industry, distribution, consumption, recycling, and disposal. In order to decrease resource consumption to a level in line with the planetary boundaries, the material footprint of household consumption should achieve a level of six to eight tonnes per capita in a year by 2050. This means a reduction in natural resource consumption by a factor of 5 to 10 in Western European countries. In order to ensure a decent lifestyle for all people in 2050, also the material footprint of nutrition has to be reduced significantly by 2050. The paper shows the relevance and role of nutrition in the overall material footprint of households on the basis of existing studies on the overall resource consumption caused by household consumption. Quantified meal and diet examples are given. It also discusses the causes of food waste and raises the question how a reduction of food waste is possible and can help decreasing the resource consumption in the food sector.

Description: Sustainability policy in the early 2000s is based on and therefore influenced by scientific literature on "transition". The importance of this link has inspired the authors to explore the structure of cooperating authors and citation networks in the field. In order to understand "transition" literature, we compare it with an alternative term for change, "transformation", which is also used in the context of socio-technical shifts towards sustainability. We expose the different structures of these fields with an overview of keywords, key references, key authors, and the coherence between references and authors. By analysing co-author and citation networks, we find large differences in these groups of documents. The transition literature is characterised by a large network of directly and indirectly cooperating authors with clear clusters; transformation literature contains smaller author networks. Key transition authors are predominantly Dutch. They repeatedly write together and cite each other's work. The transition literature is tightly knit with high degrees of internal references and a clearly distinguishable core. Transformation literature has fewer connections between authors and articles. The connecting articles, each with many global citations, form its basis. This analysis can be used as a step to continue the debate on the role of transition and transformation literature in sustainability and renewable energy policy. The transformation literature teaches us that older streams of thought are still relevant and may be used as "glue" for linking change with respect to sustainable energy to wider developments. Rediscovering existing literature in new combinations may lead to promising new views on sustainable energy.

Description: The German government aims to obtain at least 40 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. One of the central steps to reach this target is the construction of deep sea offshore wind farms. The paper presents a material intensity analysis of the offshore wind farms "Alpha Ventus" and "Bard Offshore I" under consideration of the grid connection. An additional onshore scenario is considered for comparison. The results show that offshore wind farms have higher resource consumption than onshore farms. In general, and in respect to the resource use of other energy systems, both can be tagged as resource efficient.

Description: Shifting the resource base for chemical and energy production from fossil feedstocks to renewable raw materials is seen by many as one of the key strategies towards sustainable development. The utilization of biomass for the production of fuels and materials has been proposed as an alternative to the petroleum-based industry. Current research and policy initiatives focus mainly on the utilization of lignocellulose biomass, originating from agriculture and forestry, as second generation feedstocks for the production of biofuels and electricity. These activities act on the assumption that significant amounts of biomass for non-food purposes are available. However, given a certain productivity per area, the current massive growth in global biofuels demand may in the long term only be met through an expansion of global arable land at the expense of natural ecosystems and in direct competition with the food-sector. Although many studies have shown the potential of biofuels production to reduce both, greenhouse gas emissions and non-renewable energy consumption, these production routes are still linear processes which depend on significant amounts of agricultural or forestry production area. Cascading use, i.e. when biomass is used for material products first and the energy content is recovered at end-of-life, may provide a greater environmental benefit than primary use as fuel. Considering waste and production residues as alternative feedstocks could help to further reduce pressures on global arable land. This research focused on thermochemical and biochemical technologies capable of utilizing organic waste or forestry residuals for energy, chemical feedstock, and synthetic materials (polymers) generation. Routes towards synthetic materials allow a closer cycle of materials and can help to reduce dependence on either fossil or biobased raw materials. The system-wide environmental burdens of three different technologies, including (1) municipal solid waste (MSW) gasification followed by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS), (2) plasma gasification of construction and demolition (C&D) wood for syngas production with energy recovery, and (3) forest residuals use in a biorefinery for polyitaconic acid (PIA) production, were assessed using life-cycle assessment. The first two studies indicated that MSW gasification and subsequent ethylene and polyethylene production via FTS has lower environmental impacts than conventional landfilling. In the future, as societies may shift towards the use of renewable energy, power offset by conventional waste-to-energy systems would not be as significant and chemicals production routes may then become increasingly competitive (in terms of environmental burdens) also to waste incineration. While production cost of Fischer-Tropsch derived chemicals seems not yet competitive to fossil-based chemicals provision, future price increases in global oil prices as well as changes in waste tipping fees, and efficiency gains on site of the waste conversion systems, may alter the economics and allow carbon recycling routes to reach a price competitive to fossil-based production routes. The third study found that plasma gasification of C&D wood for energy recovery has roughly similar environmental impacts than conventional fossil-based power systems. However, process optimization with respect to coal co-gasified, coke used as gasifier bed material, and fuel oil co-combusted in the steam boiler, would allow to significantly lower the system-wide environmental burdens. The fourth study looked at PIA production from softwood hemicellulose in a stream integrated approach (with the partially macerated wood and lignin being used in other existing processes such as pulp & paper plants for conventional pulp and bioenergy production). The assessment indicated lower global warming potential, energy demand, and acidification, for the wood-based PIA polymer, when compared to corn-based PIA and fossil-based polyacrylic acid (PAA). However, water use associated with wood-derived PIA was found to be higher than for fossil-based PAA production and land occupation is highest for the wood-derived polymer. It is hoped that results of this dissertation will add to the current debate on sustainable waste and biomass utilization and to establish future supply chains for green and sustainable chemical products.

Description: The paper suggests a sustainable material footprint of eight tons, per person, in a year as a resource cap target for household consumption in Finland. This means an 80% (factor 5) reduction from the present Finnish average. The material footprint is used as a synonym to the Total Material Requirement (TMR) calculated for products and activities. The paper suggests how to allocate the sustainable material footprint to different consumption components on the basis of earlier household studies, as well as other studies, on the material intensity of products, services, and infrastructures. It analyzes requirements, opportunities, and challenges for future developments in technology and lifestyle, also taking into account that future lifestyles are supposed to show a high degree of diversity. The targets and approaches are discussed for the consumption components of nutrition, housing, household goods, mobility, leisure activities, and other purposes. The paper states that a sustainable level of natural resource use by households is achievable and it can be roughly allocated to different consumption components in order to illustrate the need for a change in lifestyles. While the absolute material footprint of all the consumption components will have to decrease, the relative share of nutrition, the most basic human need, in the total material footprint is expected to rise, whereas much smaller shares than at present are proposed for housing and especially mobility. For reducing material resource use to the sustainable level suggested, both social innovations, and technological developments are required.

Description: This brochure summarises key findings on energy solutions for the preparation and processing of food using local and renewable energy resources. More data, examples and information are available on the internet platform: www.wisions.net

Description: Purpose - Iran as an energy-rich country faces many challenges in the optimal utilization of its vast resources. High rates of population and economic growth, a generous subsidies program, and poor resource management have contributed to rapidly growing energy consumption and high energy intensity over the past decades. The continuing trend of rising energy consumption will bring about new challenges as it will shrink oil export revenues, restraining economic activities. This calls for a study to explore alternative scenarios for the utilization of energy resources in Iran. The purpose of this paper is to model demand for energy in Iran and develop two business-as-usual and efficiency scenarios for the period 2005-2030. Design/methodology/approach - The authors use a techno-economic or end-use approach to model energy demand in Iran for different types of energy uses and energy carriers in all sectors of the economy and forecast it under two scenarios: business as usual (BAU) and efficiency. Findings - Iran has a huge potential for energy savings. Specifically, under the efficiency scenario, Iran will be able to reduce its energy consumption 40 percent by 2030. The energy intensity can also be reduced by about 60 percent to a level lower than the world average today. Originality/value - The paper presents a comprehensive study that models the Iranian energy demand in different sectors of the economy, using data at different aggregation levels and a techno-economic end-use approach to illuminate the future of energy demand under alternative scenarios.

Description: Despite rising prices for natural resources during the past 30 years, global consumption of natural resources is still growing. This leads to ecological, economical and social problems. So far, however, limited effort has been made to decrease the natural resource use of goods and services. While resource efficiency is already on the political agenda (EU and national resource strategies), there are still substantial knowledge gaps on the effectiveness of resource efficiency improvement strategies in different fields. In this context and within the project "Material Efficiency and Resource Conservation", the natural resource use of 22 technologies, products and strategies was calculated and their resource efficiency potential analysed. In a preliminary literature- and expert-based identification process, over 250 technologies, strategies, and products, which are regarded as resource efficient, were identified. Out of these, 22 subjects with high resource efficiency potential were selected. They cover a wide range of relevant technologies, products and strategies, such as energy supply and storage, Green IT, transportation, foodstuffs, agricultural engineering, design strategies, lightweight construction, as well as the concept "Using Instead of Owning". To assess the life-cycle-wide resource use of the selected subjects, the material footprint has been applied as a reliable indicator. In addition, sustainability criteria on a qualitative basis were considered. The results presented in this paper show significant resource efficiency potential for many technologies, products and strategies.

Description: The general conditions for local authorities in Germany have changed fundamentally during the last decades. Not only do municipalities compete with each other for employment, prestige and competitive advantages, they also face increasingly higher demands by their citizens, for instance in the area of climate protection. Therefore, every municipality has to consider various economic, social and ecological determinants in its decision-making processes. With respect to public buildings, an economically-oriented cost-benefit-analysis alone is not adequate due to a municipality's role as "consumer and role model". To identify measures with a broader benefit, a multicriteria analysis (MCA) has been used to analyze energy efficiency measures in public buildings for the city of Dortmund. For several years Dortmund has committed itself to implement energy efficiency measures and improve the energy performance of its building stock. Nevertheless, a benchmark analysis still shows a high energy saving potential that cannot be tapped with the existing measures and instruments. Therefore, a package of measures has been developed in close cooperation with the city of Dortmund, ranging broadly from measures of energetic retrofitting and green IT to behavioral change of building occupants. In the MCA these measures have been assessed according to ten different criteria such as innovativeness, cost effectiveness, external costs, CO2 reduction potential, local value or effort of implementation. Three different scenarios ("City as Role Model", "City as Homo Oeconomicus", "City as Climate Protector") show different municipal perspectives. The analysis has shown that the greatest benefit for municipalities, regardless of the municipal perspective, is yielded by measures such as voluntarily enhanced minimum standards for new or for energetic retrofitting of public buildings, the procurement of energy-efficient office equipment, the expansion of heat generation from renewable energies and the usage of private capital in participatory projects like "Solar&Save".

Description: CCS is discussed in a broad sense throughout Europe. In this paper a cautious, conservative estimate of CO2 storage capacity for Germany and its neighbouring countries where CO2 emissions from Germany could possibly be stored (Netherlands, France, Denmark, Norway, UK and Poland) is presented. Such a lower limit calculation is necessary for orientation purposes for potential investors and political decision-makers. Conservative CO2 sequestration capacity in deep saline aquifers for Germany is derived by the volumetric approach where parameters such as efficiency factor, CO2 density, porosity of the geological formation are of interest. It is assumed that every geological system is closed and thus an efficiency factor of 0.1 per cent (based on maximum pressure increase and total compressibility) for saline aquifers is applied. The capacity of German depleted oil and gas fields is based on cumulative recovery data and a sweep efficiency of 75 per cent. The storage capacity in the other considered countries, adjacent to Germany, are based on a critical review and adjustment of the results of the European reports JOULE II, GESTCO and GeoCapacity. The conservative capacities for all countries together amount to 49 Gt CO2, from which Norway and the UK provide 36 Gt, all offshore in the North Sea. Compared to the emissions from large point sources in these countries during 40 years (47.6 Gt of CO2), a virtual balance is achieved. This can only be reached, if a large scale CO2 pipeline system is installed to connect these countries, especially Germany, to the large sinks in the North Sea. If additional restrictions like source-sink matching, acceptance issues and injection rates constraints are taken into account, the available storage space gets increasingly scarce.

Description: The article estimates the natural resource consumption due to nutrition from the supply and demand sides. Using the MIPS (Material Input per Service Unit) methodology, we analyzed the use of natural resources along the supply chains of three Italian foodstuffs: wheat, rice and orange-based products. These figures were then applied for evaluating the sustainability of diets in 13 European countries. The results outline which phases in food production are more natural resource demanding than others. We also observed different levels of sustainability in the European diets and the effect of different foodstuffs in the materials, water and air consumption.

Description: This paper analyses drivers for resource use and material productivity acrosscountries. This is not only relevant in light of soaring raw material prices but also because EU policies, such as the "Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources" (COM [2005] 670), the EU Raw Materials Initiative (COM [2008] 699) and various similar policies internationally, seek to better manage materials along their life-cycle and across economies. In order to better understand the system dynamics of material use, our paper applies methodologies of material flow analysis and regression analysis to identify the major drivers for resource use and decoupling from GDP. Drivers are understood as those factors that exert influence on human activities to use resources. A panel data set is taken for the European Union for the years 1980–2000 (EU-15) and 1992–2000 (EU-25). The main drivers of resource use were found to be energy efficiency, new dwellings and roads construction activities. Shortcomings of the methodology are also discussed.

Description: As illustrated by the case studies of end-of-life vehicles and waste electric and electronic equipment, the approach of an extended producer responsibility is undermined by the exports of used and waste products. This fact causes severe deficits regarding circular flows, especially of critical raw materials such as platinum group metals. With regard to global recycling there seems to be a responsibility gap which leads somehow to open ends of waste flows and a loss or down-cycling of potential secondary resources. Existing product-orientated extended producer responsibility (EPR) approaches with mass-based recycling quotas do not create adequate incentives to supply waste materials containing precious metals to a high-quality recycling and should be amended by aspects of a material stewardship. The paper analyses incentive effects on EPR for the mentioned product groups and metals, resulting from existing regulations in Germany. It develops a proposal for an international covenant on metal recycling as a policy instrument for a governance-oriented framework to initiate systemic innovations along the complete value chain taking into account product group- and resource group-specific aspects on different spatial levels. It aims at the effective implementation of a central idea of EPR, the transition of a waste regime still focusing on safe disposal towards a sustainable management of resources for the complete lifecycle of products.

Description: The study presents the results of an integrated assessment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the power plant sector in Germany, with special emphasis on the competition with renewable energy technologies. Assessment dimensions comprise technical, economic and environmental aspects, long-term scenario analysis, the role of stakeholders and public acceptance and regulatory issues. The results lead to the overall conclusion that there might not necessarily be a need to focus additionally on CCS in the power plant sector. Even in case of ambitious climate protection targets, current energy policy priorities (expansion of renewable energies and combined heat and power plants as well as enhanced energy productivity) result in a limited demand for CCS. In case that the large energy saving potential aimed for can only partly be implemented, the rising gap in CO2 reduction could only be closed by setting up a CCS-maximum strategy. In this case, up to 22% (41 GW) of the totally installed load in 2050 could be based on CCS. Assuming a more realistic scenario variant applying CCS to only 20 GW or lower would not be sufficient to reach the envisaged climate targets in the electricity sector. Furthermore, the growing public opposition against CO2 storage projects appears as a key barrier, supplemented by major uncertainties concerning the estimation of storage potentials, the long-term cost development as well as the environmental burdens which abound when applying a life-cycle approach. However, recently, alternative applications are being increasingly considered–that is the capture of CO2 at industrial point sources and biomass based energy production (electricity, heat and fuels) where assessment studies for exploring the potentials, limits and requirements for commercial use are missing so far. Globally, CCS at power plants might be an important climate protection technology: coal-consuming countries such as China and India are increasingly moving centre stage into the debate. Here, similar investigations on the development and the integration of both, CCS and renewable energies, into the individual energy system structures of such countries would be reasonable.

Description: In the light of the tremendous challenges facing the energy systems of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), a number of concepts, roadmaps and scenario studies have emerged, describing potential transformation pathways towards a more sustainable, renewable-based, energy supply future in the region. Our article uses the scientific approach of "transition research" to analyze the most pertinent publications and concepts in this field to identify the key drivers and barriers for the transformation of the regional energy systems. The analysis likewise includes an assessment of possible indicators and indexes that can be used to monitor the sustainability of the transformation process of MENA energy systems.

Description: In many developing countries large parts of the population are negatively affected by the lack of access to clean and affordable energy. Providing sustainable energy services to these people has been acknowledged as a key component to reduce poverty. One form of development assistance to address the needs of the energy-poor at the local level are small-scale renewable energy projects. Like all development interventions, these energy projects are not intended to produce short-term outputs, but to create long-term impacts. Thus, it has become increasingly important to evaluate and accurately assess their sustainability. But despite the widely recognized need to identify successes factors and explain failure only few studies exist that address the sustainability of small-scale of energy development efforts post implementation. Against this background the paper presents the results of a post-evaluation of 23 projects supported via the Sustainable Energy Project Support (SEPS) scheme of the WISIONS initiative run by the Wuppertal Institute. The analysis provides insights on the influence that socio-economic, environmental, geographic and gender factors can have on the sustainability of small-scale renewable energy projects in developing countries.

Description: A key challenge of the 21st century is to transform society into one that features sustainable patterns of production and consumption. To achieve this, transition processes need to be designed in key areas such as housing, mobility and nutrition. The design and large-scale implementation of sustainable product service systems (PSS) is regarded a promising approach for sustainability transitions. Real-life socio-technical experiments are an important infrastructure for designing PSS in collaboration with stakeholders and users. In this paper, we argue that transdisciplinary and action research methods are required for institutionalising an experimental set-up and developing PSS within such infrastructures. We present the Sustainable LivingLabs (SLL) research infrastructure and its methodology as an example of such experimental settings. It was collaboratively developed with key stakeholders in three consecutive research projects and applied to e.g. heating and space heating. We show new qualities of SLL in relation to existing LivingLabs and approaches for PSS design and present its methodological three-phase model (insight research, prototyping, field testing) of research. Our article contributes to knowledge on a methodological framework and tool-kit for PSS development in SLL with a clear focus on socio-ecological sustainability. Intermediate findings confirm the high influence of user practices on heating energy consumption and show starting points for PSS development: e.g. transformational products, home-automation combined with consulting along value chains. We hypothesise that developing PSS in user- and stakeholder-integrated settings supports acceptance and diffusion and, by taking into account users' social practices of utilising novelties, reduces rebound effects caused by incorrect application.

Description: Several energy scenario studies consider concentrated solar power (CSP) plants as an important technology option to reduce the world's CO2 emissions to a level required for not letting the global average temperature exceed a threshold of 2–2.4 °C. A global ramp up of CSP technologies offers great economic opportunities for technology providers as CSP technologies include highly specialised components. This paper analyses possible value creation effects resulting from a global deployment of CSP until 2050 as projected in scenarios of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Greenpeace International. The analysis focuses on the economic opportunities of German technology providers since companies such as Schott Solar, Flabeg or Solar Millennium are among the leading suppliers of CSP technologies on the global market.

Description: Considering global warming, increasing commodity prices, and the dramatic consequences of the over-exploitation and overuse of resources, a transition to a renewable energy supply is necessary. This requires an (resource) efficient and renewable supply of operating reserve. In this article, a possible solution to this problem is analysed: the Desertec concept. It is meant to convert solar energy in areas with high solar irradiation into electrical energy by means of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) transferring this energy by High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) lines into the whole European Union Middle East and North Africa (EU-MENA) area. In order to assess the resource efficiency potential of Desertec, three different kinds of CSP plants (parabolic trough, Fresnel collector and central receiver of the building classes Inditep, Novatec and Solar Tres) including heat storage systems (Molten Salt and Phase-Changing-Material) and the necessary HVDC are analysed using the Material Input per Service Unit (MIPS) methodology. The assessment is accomplished for three different locations (Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt) and two points of time (2025 and 2050). With these results, a scenario of electricity supply in Germany in 2050 with a 20% share of solar power import is calculated. Central receivers are the most resource efficient ones: their consumption of abiotic materials is only half of parabolic trough plants and two thirds of Fresnel trough plants. Water and air consumption is the lowest of all analyzed CSP plants as well. The scenario for Germany's fuel mix in 2050 shows that a predominantly renewable fuel mix reduces the consumption of abiotic materials by 75%, of water by 60% and of air by 45%. Only the consumption of biotic materials rises due to the higher share of biomass conversion.

Description: Wind energy that can neither be fed into the grid nor be used regionally must be curtailed. This paper proposes different options to deal with such surplus wind energy amounts in a time horizon until 2020. It assesses their ability to handle the surplus energy in a sustainable way using a multi criteria analysis. The paper bases on a study that was prepared for the Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Consumer Protection of North Rhine-Westphalia between 2010 and 2012.

Description: The final report of the research project "Power Sector Decarbonisation: Metastudy" contains the various reports prepared by Öko-Institut and Wuppertal Institute during the course of the SEFEP funded project. A key objective of the project was to make a contribution to the debates within the European Union (EU) and Member States on the EU's Energy Roadmap 2050 publication, which was released in December 2011. This objective was achieved by systematically analysing and comparing recently published scenarios on the European electricity sector commissioned by a range of different stakeholders (environmental NGOs, industry and government agencies).

Description: This brochure summarises key findings on technical options for meeting diverse everyday lighting needs by the rational use of energy. More data, examples and information are available on the internet platform: www.wisions.net

Description: The role of cities in mitigating GHG emissions and thus tackling global warming has gained importance over the last years.Many cities have developed climate action plans, primarily to achieve long-term "low-carbon" mitigation goals set by national governments or (inter)national agreements. A mere adoption of high level targets, however, raises the question whether these targets are applicable for cities with very different framework conditions. We argue that it is crucial to understand the socio-economic, geophysical, spatial, infrastructural and political framework of a city - a broad approach, which is generally missing in climate action plans. Thus, determining drivers and barriers for future development paths is neglected by local policies, which leads to a gap between ambition (target) and reality (implementation). We exemplarily examine this hypothesis for the shrinking city of Oberhausen (Germany). Oberhausen, located in the Ruhr area,is a typical old industrial region, which has seen a decline of its industrial basis over the last decades. We analysed historical data and developed scenarios until 2030. Both show a significant decrease in CO2 emissions. A closer look, however, reveals that the reduction is primarily due to the economic transformation (less manufacturing, more service industry, accompanied by a decrease in population) and general energy efficiency developments following the implementation of national and EU policies. Although the city has implemented–and will further implement - many instruments and policies to reduce CO2 emissions, local barriers such as unemployment, low rents, low income, high per capita debts, etc. dramatically reduce the city's capacity for action. The results show that Oberhausen's emission reductions do not reflect active energy policies but are mainly driven by an economic decline. To reach ambitious reduction targets, however, the city needs to be enabled to take action in achieving appropriate and reasonable targets.

Description: Conventional new buildings in OECD countries with a history of building codes save about 50 % of energy compared to average buildings in the building stock. This improvement, however, is not enough to create a building standard with low lifetime costs nor to reach long-term climate protection targets. Much higher energy savings can already be achieved through proven high-efficiency building concepts bringing net economic benefits among other advantages. A strategic approach to integrated building design is the key to achieving these high-energy savings at low or no extra cost in residential buildings. In our paper we describe the "Easy Efficiency Approach", which can reduce primary energy consumption by 40 to 60 % compared to conventional new building standards, or by 70% to 80% when compared to the primary energy consumption of the existing building stock, and should be regarded as the minimum. This strategy focuses on low-cost options, mainly passive options. Although it can already significantly reduce energy consumption, this first step will not be sufficient to reach long-term climate protection goals. It is thus necessary to implement and support what we call an "Advanced Efficiency Approach", with savings up to 90% , as compared to new building standards, as soon as possible to avoid lock-in effects. Further improvements, especially through the active use of renewable energies, reduce the net primary energy demand to 0 % and beyond. According to the chosen strategy clearly defined energy performance ranges, with reference to possible savings, for different climate zones worldwide are given. In verifying this approach simulations with BAT (Best Available Technologies) buildings of different types (single family, multi family, high rise) were carried out in close cooperation with project partners. This data has also been verified through an empirical database of built examples both for energy consumption as well their economic soundness.

Description: Carbon recycling, in which organic waste is recycled into chemical feedstock for material production, may provide benefits in resource efficiency and a more cyclical economy - but may also create "trade-offs" in increased impacts elsewhere. We investigate the system-wide environmental burdens and cost associated with carbon recycling routes capable of converting municipal solid waste (MSW) by gasification and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis into ethylene. Results are compared to business-as-usual (BAU) cases in which ethylene is derived from fossil resources and waste is either landfilled with methane and energy recovery (BAU#1) or incinerated (BAU#2) with energy recovery. Monte Carlo and sensitivity analysis is used to assess uncertainties of the results. Results indicate that carbon recycling may lead to a reduction in cumulative energy demand (CED), total material requirement (TMR), and acidification, when compared to BAU#1. Global warming potential is found to be similar or slightly lower than BAU#1 and BAU#2. In comparison to BAU#2, carbon recycling results in higher CED, TMR, acidification, and smog potential, mainly as a result of larger (fossil-based) energy offsets from energy recovery. However, if a renewable power mix (envisioned for the future) is assumed to be offset, BAU#2 impacts may be similar or higher than carbon recycling routes. Production cost per kilogram (kg) MSW-derived ethylene range between US$1.85 and US$2.06 (Jan 2011 US$). This compares to US$1.17 per kg for fossil-based ethylene. Waste-derived ethylene breaks even with its fossil-based counterpart at a tipping fee of roughly US$42 per metric ton of waste feedstock.

Description: The main objective of this article is to evaluate CO2 mitigation potential and to calculate costs avoided by the use of different CO2 mitigation technologies in China's cement sector, namely energy efficiency improvements, use of alternative fuels, clinker substitution and carbon capture and storage (CCS). Three scenarios are designed based on the projection of cement output and technology development over the next 40 years (2010–2050). 2.5, 4.7 and 4.3 Gt tonnes of CO2 will be saved totally in basic scenario and two low carbon scenarios up to 2050. By comparing these technologies along the scenarios, it can be concluded that CO2 emissions can mainly be reduced by energy efficiency improvements and use of alternative fuels. Clinker substitution, which reduces the clinker-to-cement ratio as well as energy intensity, results in significant cost advantages. CCS, including post-combustion capture and oxy-fuel combustion capture, could play an important role in the capture of CO2 in the cement industry, and is expected to be in commercial use by 2030.

Description: In this manual, the consortium wants to share the key lessons we have learnt throughout this three-year project and, by doing so, to contribute to the scaling-up of low carbon city development in emerging economies, especially in China. This manual targets organisations from the scientific and civil society sectors that are involved in international low carbon city projects, especially those with a focus on Chinese cities, as well as local govern-ments that are eager to develop a comprehensive low carbon strategy.

Description: If the current energy policy priorities are retained, there may be no need to focus additionally on carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the power plant sector of Germany. This applies even in the case of ambitious climate protection targets, according to the results of the presented integrated assessment study. These cover a variety of aspects: Firstly, the technology is not expected to become available on a large scale in Germany before 2025. Secondly, if renewable energies and combined heat and power are expanded further and energy productivity is enhanced, there is likely to be only a limited demand for CCS power plants, as a scenario analysis of CCS deployment in Germany shows. Thirdly, cost analysis using the learning curve approach shows that the electricity generation costs of renewable electricity approach those of CCS power plants. This leads to the consequence that, from 2020, several renewable technologies may well be in a position to offer electricity at a cheaper rate than CCS power plants. In addition, a review of new life cycle assessments for CO2 separation in the power plant sector indicates that the greenhouse gas emissions from 1 kW h of electricity generated by first-generation CCS power plants could only be reduced by 68 % to 87 % (95 % in individual cases). Finally, a cautious, conservative estimate of the effective German CO2 storage capacity of approximately 5 billion tonnes of CO2 is calculated, including a fluctuation range yielding values between 4 and 15 billion tonnes of CO2. Therefore, the total CO2 emissions caused by large point sources in Germany could be stored for 12 years (basic value) or for 8 or 33 years (sensitivity values).

Description: This paper examines the effects of an increased integration of concentrated solar power (CSP) into the conventional electricity systems of Morocco and Algeria. A cost-minimizing linear optimization tool was used to calculate the best CSP plant configuration for Morocco's coal-dominated power system as well as for Algeria, where flexible gas-fired power plants prevail. The results demonstrate that in both North African countries, storage-based CSP plants offer significant economic advantages over non-storage, low-dispatchable CSP configurations. However, in a generalized renewable integration scenario, where CSP has to compete with other renewable generation technologies, like wind or photovoltaic (PV) power, it was found that the cost advantages of dispatchability only justify CSP investments when a relatively high renewable penetration is targeted in the electricity mix.

Description: Global trade is increasingly being challenged by observations of growing burden shifting, in particular of environmental problems. This paper presents the first worldwide calculations of shifted burden based on material flow indicators, in particular direct and indirect physical trade balances. This study covers the period between 1962 and 2005 and includes between 82 and 173 countries per year. The results show that indirect trade flow volumes have increased to around 41 billion tonnes in 2005. The traded resources with the highest share of associated indirect flows are iron, hard coal, copper, tin and increasingly palm oil. Regarding the burden balance between regions, Europe is the biggest shifter whereas Australia and Latin America are the largest takers of environmental burden due to resource extraction. To evaluate the findings from a global perspective, the results are analysed in terms of resource flow induced environmental pressure related to a country's land area in terms of total and per capita area. Resource endowment and population density seem to be more relevant in determining the physical trade balance, including indirect flows, than income level.

Description: Multinational mining companies operating in Latin America increasingly publish sustainability reports which outline their contributions to sustainable development. Companies argue that reports help communities better understand the importance of the benefits created by mining. However, we argue that sustainabilityreporting can only play a role in improving a company's performance and reputation if the quality of the reported data is good enough to answer community-raised contentious issues and if such are tackled through a stakeholder engagement process which includes "anti-mining" groups. The paper examines a miningconflict in Argentina's Bajo de la Alumbrera open pit mine. The assessment is based on a content analysis of Alumbrera's Sustainability Report (SR), primarily from 2009, complemented with insights from the 2010 and 2011 reports. The study reveals that environmental and economic indicators are the most contentious and least reported. The reports examined only briefly acknowledge these issues, and fail to detail the procedures followed to identify and engage stakeholders.

Description: The cement industry is one of the major energy consuming and CO2 emitting sectors in China. In 2010, 1,868 million tons of cement has been produced, which accounted for 56.1% of the world's total cement production. The 11th Five-Year Plan (FYP) (2006-2010) included policy measures for CO2 emission abatement in cement production. Based on the main governmental framework of CO2 mitigation policies at national level in the cement sector, key policies and technologies used during this period are identified and their effects on CO2 reduction are assessed. This paper calculates the reduction of CO2 emissions related to four main policies and technologies for efficient cement production in the 11th and the 12th FYP (2011-2015) with 2005 as a reference year. These are waste heat recovery, closing outdated facilities, substitution for clinker production and other technologies aiming to increase energy efficiency. Due to these measures, we estimate that a total CO2 emission reduction during the 11th FYP of 397 million tonnes could be saved, which is considerably different to 185.75 million tonnes estimated by Zeng (2008) and 303 million tonnes by the NDRC by using different calculation methods. Of the four technologies, the 4th group of energy efficiency increasing techniques was the most important policy and avoided the largest amount of CO2 emissions. Previous energy intensity reduction was mainly due to the outdated production closing and energy efficiency improving. Based on the assessment of technology performance, it appears that there is still a large emission reduction potential in cement production processes. The paper calculates this potential for the 12th FYP period (2011-2015) based on these four identified policy measures. The result is compared to the Chinese government targets in the 12th FYP and promising future CO2 mitigation policies and technologies are proposed, such as the use of alternative energy.

Description: In the past few decades, geochemically scarce metals have become increasingly relevant for emerging technologies in domains such as energy supply and storage, information and communication, lighting or transportation, which are regarded as cornerstones in the transition towards a sustainable post-fossil society. Accordingly, the supply risks of scarce metals and possible interventions towards their more sustainable use have been subject to an intense debate in recent studies. In this article, we integrate proposed intervention options into a generic life cycle framework, taking into account issues related to knowledge provision and to the institutional setting. As a result, we obtain a landscape of intervention fields that will have to be further specified to more specific intervention profiles for scarce metals or metals families. The envisioned profiles are expected to have the potential to reduce action contingency and to contribute to meeting the sustainability claims often associated with emerging technol ogies.

Description: Greenhouse gas emission reductions are at the centre of national and international efforts to mitigate climate change. In road transportation, many politically incentivised measures focus on increasing the energy efficiency of established technologies, or promoting electric or hybrid vehicles. The abatement potential of the former approach is limited, electric mobility technologies are not yet market-ready. In a case study for Germany, this paper focuses on natural gas powered vehicles as a bridging technology in road transportation. Scenario analyses with a low level of aggregation show that natural gas-based road transportation in Germany can accumulate up to 464 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent emission reductions until 2030 depending on the speed of the diffusion process. If similar policies were adopted EU-wide, the emission reduction potential could reach a maximum of about 2.5 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent. Efforts to promote natural gas as a bridging technology may therefore contribute to significant emissions reductions.

Description: Defining the prevention of waste as top priority of the waste hierarchy - as confirmed by the revised Waste Framework Directive (WFD) - is much more than a simple amendment of ways to deal with waste, but means nothing less than a fundamental change of the socio-technical system of waste infrastructures and requires a transition from end-of-pipe technologies towards an integrated management of resources. The WFD therefore obligates member states to develop national waste prevention programs as a new policy instrument with the development of waste prevention indicators as one of the core elements. The article discusses the limitations of waste-based key figures and shows the need for more process-oriented indicators. As part of the development of national waste prevention programs such indicators reveal the relevance of different barriers that have to be overcome in order to make prevention an effective top priority in the waste hierarchy. With regard to path dependencies caused by sunk costs in end-of-pipe waste infrastructures the absolute amount of integrated environmental investments, as well as their share of the total waste-related investments, can be seen as indicators for the level of innovation activities aimed at waste prevention. Sector-specific indicators for the production phase could be used as benchmarks and to highlight differences in the need for policy interventions.

Description: Several low-carbon energy roadmaps and scenarios have recently been published by the European Commission and the International Energy Agency (IEA) as well as by various stakeholders such as Eurelectric, ECF and Greenpeace. Discussions of these studies mainly focus on technology options available on the electricity supply side and mostly omit the significant challenges that all of the scenarios impose on the energy demand side. A comparison of 5 decarbonisation scenarios from 4 of the most relevant recent scenario studies for the EU shows that all of them imply significant efficiency improvements in traditional appliances, usually well above levels historically observed over longer periods of time. At the same time they assume substantial electrification of transportation and heating. The scenarios suggest that both of these challenges need to be tackled successfully for decarbonising the energy system. With shares of renewable electricity reaching at least 60 % of supply in 2050 in almost all of the decarbonisation scenarios, the adaptation of demand to variable supply becomes increasingly important. This aspect of demand side management should therefore be part of any policy mix aiming for a low-carbon power system. Based on a quantitative analysis of 5 decarbonisation scenarios and a comparison with historical evidence we derive the (implicit) new challenges posed by the current low-carbon roadmaps and develop recommendations for energy policy on the electricity demand side.

Description: The limited data availability, transparency and harmonisation in environmental assessments of products are bottlenecks for improved environmental and sustainability governance. Despite the progressive developments of information and communication systems, reliable, accurate, up-to-date data for assessing the resource use of products and services is still lacking. Resource accounting systems often have limited scope on single companies, processes or products. This paper presents an approach for an automated bottom-up accounting system for measuring resource efficiency at product and service level. It is based on a global collaborative network of resource accounting nodes connected for the accounting of natural resources use for products and services. Using an Internet-based service-oriented architecture, relevant and timely data is passed from supplier to customer recursively through the whole value chain to produce an "ecoCost" for each product or service. This conceptual paper reflects first experiences from partners of the myEcoCost project funded by European Commission (www.myecocost.com).

Description: The current flow of carbon for the production, use, and waste management of polymer-based products is still mostly linear from the lithosphere to the atmosphere with rather low rates of material recycling. In view of a limited future supply of biomass, this article outlines the options to further develop carbon recycling (C-REC). The focus is on carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and use for synthesis of platform chemicals to produce polymers. CO2 may be captured from exhaust gases after combustion or fermentation of waste in order to establish a C-REC system within the technosphere. As a long-term option, an external C-REC system can be developed by capturing atmospheric CO2. A central role may be expected from renewable methane (or synthetic natural gas), which is increasingly being used for storage and transport of energy, but may also be used for renewable carbon supply for chemistry. The energy input for the C-REC processes can come from wind and solar systems, in particular, power for the production of hydrogen, which is combined with CO2 to produce various hydrocarbons. Most of the technological components for the system already exist, and, first modules for renewable fuel and polymer production systems are underway in Germany. This article outlines how the system may further develop over the medium to long term, from a piggy-back add-on flow system toward a self-carrying recycling system, which has the potential to provide the material and energy backbone of future societies. A critical bottleneck seems to be the capacity and costs of renewable energy supply, rather than the costs of carbon capture.

Description: Concentrated solar power (CSP) plants are one of several renewable energy technologies with significant potential to meet a part of future energy demand. An integrated technology assessment shows that CSP plants could play a promising role in Africa and Europe, helping to reach ambitious climate protection goals. Based on the analysis of driving forces and barriers, at first three future envisaged technology scenarios are developed. Depending on the underlying assumptions, an installed capacity of 120 GWel, 405 GWel or even 1,000 GWel could be reached globally in 2050. In the latter case, CSP would then meet 13–15% of global electricity demand. Depending on these scenarios, cost reduction curves for North Africa and Europe are derived. The cost assessment conducted for two virtual sites in Algeria and in Spain shows a long-term reduction of electricity generating costs to figures between 4 and 6 ct/kWhel in 2050. The paper concludes with an ecological analysis based on life cycle assessment. Although the greenhouse gas emissions of current (solar only operated) CSP systems show a good performance (31 g CO2-equivalents/kWhel) compared with advanced fossil-fired systems (130–900 CO2-eq./kWhel), they could further be reduced to 18 g CO2-eq./kWhel in 2050, including transmission from North Africa to Europe.

Description: The physical dimension of international trade is attaining increased importance. This article describes a method to calculate complete physical trade flows for all countries which report their trade to the UN. The method is based on the UN Comtrade database and it was used to calculate world-wide physical trade flows for all reporting countries in nine selected years between 1962 and 2005. The results show increasing global trade with global direct material trade flows reaching about 10 billion tonnes in 2005, corresponding to a physical trade volume of about 20 billion tonnes (adding both total imports and total exports). The share from European countries is declining, mainly in favour of Asian countries. The dominant traded commodity in physical units was fossil fuels, mainly oil. Physical trade balances were used to identify the dominant resource suppliers and demanders. Australia was the principal resource supplier over the period with a diverse material export structure. It was followed by mainly oil-exporting countries with varying volumes. As regards to regions, Latin America, south-east Asian islands and central Asia were big resource exporters, mostly with increasing absolute amounts of net exports. The largest net importers were Japan, the United States and single European countries. Emerging countries like the "Asian Tigers" with major industrial productive sectors are growing net importers, some of them to an even higher degree than European countries. Altogether, with the major exception of Australia and Canada, industrialized countries are net importers and developing countries and transition countries are net exporters, but there are important differences within these groups.

Description: Securing universal access to electricity by using renewable energy sources is technically feasible. A broad range of technological options, which can meet almost any requirements, are available. Solutions can comprise the connection of users to large distribution networks (on-grid solutions) or the application of power supply systems that can operate autonomously (off-grid and mini-grid solutions). This brochure concentrates on the latter solutions; technologies for large-scale distribution are not covered.

Description: Biogas and bio-methane that are based on energy crops are renewable energy carriers and therefore potentially contribute to climate protection. However, significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from agricultural production processes must be considered. Among those, the production and use of fertilizer, and the resulting leaching of nitrous oxide (N2O), are crucial factors. This article provides an integrated life cycle assessment (LCA) of biogas (i.e. bio-methane that has been upgraded and injected into the natural gas grid), taking into account the processes of fermentation, upgrading and injection to the grid for two different types of biogas plants. The analysis is based on different feedstocks from crop rotation systems for different locations in Germany. A special focus is on the sensitivity of assumptions of nitrous oxide emissions to overall GHG emissions. Much research exists on the measurement or modeling of the actual N2O emissions that result from farming processes. Since there is as yet no precise regional data, most analyses use tier-1 data from the IPCC national GHG inventories as a default. The present article coincides with recent research in indicating that this data varies at the regional level. However, it is not the scope of the article to evaluate the quality of existing data for N2O emissions, but to show the effects of different assumptions on the LCA of GHGs from bio-methane. Thus, a link between the provision of emission data and the practical implementation of biogas technology is provided. The main result is that the supply chain of substrates from agricultural processes appears to contribute the most to the GHG emissions of bio-methane. The "worst case" scenario where 5% of the nitrogen fertilizer used is emitted in form of N2O shows that the GHG mitigation potential of bio-methane versus natural gas is very small, so there is not much margin for error in the plant technology.

Description: International consensus is growing that a transition towards a low carbon society (LCS) is needed over the next 40 years. The G8, the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, as well as the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, have concluded that states should prepare their own Low-emission Plans or Low-emission Development Plans and such plans are in development in an increasing number of countries. An analysis of recent long-term low emission scenarios for Germany shows that all scenarios rely heavily on a massive scale up of energy efficiency improvements based on past trends. However, in spite of the high potential that scenario developers assign to this strategy, huge uncertainty still exists in respect of where the efficiency potentials really lie, how and if they can be achieved and how much their successful implementation depends on more fundamental changes towards a more sustainable society (e.g. behavioural changes). In order to come to a better understanding of this issue we specifically examine the potential for energy efficiency in relation to particular demand sectors. Our comparative analysis shows that despite general agreement about the high importance of energy efficiency (EE), the perception on where and how to achieve it differ between the analysed scenarios. It also shows that the close nexus between energy efficiency and non-technical behavioural aspects is still little understood. This leads us to the conclusion that in order to support energy policy decisions more research should be done on energy efficiency potential. A better understanding of its potential would help energy efficiency to fulfil its role in the transition towards a LCS.

Description: Consumption of natural resources should not exceed sustainable levels. The increasing use of biofuels and to some extent biomaterials, on top of rising food and feed demands, is causing countries to use a growing amount of global land, which may lead to land use conflicts and the expansion of cropland and intensive cultivation at the expense of natural ecosystems. Selective product certification cannot control the land use change triggered by growing overall biomass consumption. We propose a comprehensive approach to account for the global land use of countries for their domestic consumption, and assess this level with regard to globally acceptable levels of resource use, based on the concept of safe operating space. It is shown that the European Union currently uses one-third more cropland than globally available on a per capita basis and that with constant consumption levels it would exceed its fair share of acceptable resource use in 2030. As the use of global forests to meet renewable energy targets is becoming a concern, an approach to account for sustainable levels of timber flows is also proposed, based on the use of net annual increment, exemplified with preliminary data for Switzerland. Altogether, our approach would integrate the concept of sustainable consumption into national resource management plans; offering a conceptual basis and concrete reference values for informed policy making and urging countries to monitor and adjust their levels of resource consumption in a comprehensive way, respectful of the limits of sustainable supply.

Description: Technical innovations can contribute significantly to increase resource efficiency. A selection of 21 examples for resource efficient technologies, products and strategies from the field shows the brochure Resource Efficiency Atlas, which was created in line with the same titled project. Overall the project team analysed several hundred technical solutions and strategies and assessed its possible contributions to increases in resource efficiency. The project was arranged co-operatively by the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO, the Trifolium-Beratungsgesellschaft mbH and the Institut für Arbeitswissenschaften und Technologiemanagement of the University Stuttgart. The examples from the brochure and further 70 examples can be seen on the project website www.ressourceneffizenzatlas.de.

Description: In a new waste hierarchy the amended EU Waste Framework Directive (WFD) (2008/98/EG) confirmed the prevention of waste as a priority measure to protect the environment with regard to the production and handling of waste. Amongst others the Member States are requested to promote waste prevention. According to article 29 par. 1 WFD the prevention measures have to be planned in terms of waste prevention programmes to be created by the Member States until December 12th 2013. These prevention programmes are to describe existing waste prevention measures and set waste prevention goals. The progress is to be monitored and assessed by targeting appropriate, specific qualitative or quantitative benchmarks for adopted waste prevention measures. The programmes may be included in waste management plans or other environmental programmes. By the objectives and measures of prevention programmes the environmental impacts associated with generation of waste shall be decoupled from economic growth.

Description: Concerns over climate change and the security of industrial feedstock supplies have been opening a growing market for biobased materials. This development, however, also presents a challenge to scientists, policy makers, and industry because the production of biobased materials requires land and is typically associated with adverse environmental effects. This article addresses the environmental impacts of biobased materials in a meta-analysis of 44 life cycle assessment (LCA) studies. The reviewed literature suggests that one metric ton (t) of biobased materials saves, relative to conventional materials, 55 ± 34 gigajoules of primary energy and 3 ± 1 t carbon dioxide equivalents of greenhouse gases. However, biobased materials may increase eutrophication by 5 ± 7 kilograms (kg) phosphate equivalents/t and stratospheric ozone depletion by 1.9 ± 1.8 kg nitrous oxide equivalents/t. Our findings are inconclusive with regard to acidification (savings of 2 ± 20 kg sulfur dioxide equivalents/t) and photochemical ozone formation (savings of 0.3 ± 2.4 kg ethene equivalents/t). The variability in the results of life cycle assessment studies highlights the difficulties in drawing general conclusions. Still, common to most biobased materials are impacts caused by the application of fertilizers and pesticides during industrial biomass cultivation. Additional land use impacts, such as the potential loss of biodiversity, soil carbon depletion, soil erosion, deforestation, as well as greenhouse gas emissions from indirect land use change are not quantified in this review. Clearly these impacts should be considered when evaluating the environmental performance of biobased materials.

Description: The energy potential of agricultural residues in Tanzania has so far not been evaluated and quantified sufficiently. Moreover, the scientific basis for estimations of the sustainable potential of wastes and residues is still very limited. This paper presents an attempt to evaluate the theoretical and technical potential of residues from the sisal sector in Tanzania with regards to energy recovery through anaerobic digestion. The characteristics and availability of sisal residues are defined and a set of sustainability indicators with particular focus on environmental and socio-economic criteria is applied. Our analysis shows that electricity generation with sisal residues can be sustainable and have positive effects on the sustainability of sisal production itself. All sisal residues combined have an annual maximum electricity potential of 102 GW h in 2009, corresponding to up to 18.6 MW of potential electric capacity installations. This estimated maximum potential is equivalent to about 3 % of the country's current power production. Utilizing these residues could contribute to meeting the growing electricity demand and offers an opportunity for decentralized electricity production in Tanzania.

Description: It is now widely recognized that effective communication and demand-side policies for alternative energy require sound knowledge of preferences and determinants of demand of the public and consumers. To date, public attitudes towards new transport technologies have been studied under very different conceptual frameworks. This paper gives an overview of the various conceptual frameworks and methodologies used, where four main approaches can be distinguished: general attitudinal surveys, risk perception studies, non-market economic valuation studies, and other approaches such as those based on semiotic theory. We then review the findings of the recent literature on acceptance, attitudes and preferences for hydrogen and fuelcell end-use technologies, focusing on vehicles. These studies are then contrasted with related research into alternative fuel vehicles. The paper finally discusses the main trends in research and avenues for further work in this field. We recommend, among other things, the use of approaches that build knowledge and familiarity with the technology prior to the exploration of attitudes, and the set up of studies that take a whole-systems perspective of hydrogen technologies and that look at hydrogen in the context of other competing clean technologies.

Description: The availability of life cycle inventories is one of the biggest challenges for life cycle wide environmental assessment. There are several life cycle assessment (LCA) databases providing inventory data as well as resource and emission profiles of processes for impact assessment methods like ReCiPe or IMPACT 2002+. But the use of these LCA databases for input oriented environmental assessment is very limited as they cover only a part of all relevant input flows. The paper describes current challenges when calculating the input oriented Material Input per Service Unit (MIPS) indicators based on LCA inventory data from the Ecoinvent database. Propositions are made how to address these challenges. As a conclusion, further need of research to reach a full compatibility of LCA databases and the MIPS concept is pointed out.

Description: Within the scope of citizen science projects, crowdsourcing has already expanded into scientific application areas. In this, its scientific potential is only partly exhausted, however. It will be shown that transdisciplinary research is made up in content and structural aspects in such a way that crowdsourcing can fully unfold as a research method through varied participation possibilities, reflective processes and use of contemporary technical possibilities. Furthermore, mutual learning, understanding and the dissemination of knowledge strongly profits from effects that even result automatically in this context. The scientific application of crowdsourcing represented here makes high demands on project management, but it is expected to turn out as an effective research method precisely in the area of transdisciplinary research.

Description: In recent decades, better data and methods have become available for understanding the complex functioning of cities and their impacts on sustainability. This review synthesizes the recent developments in concepts and methods being used to measure the impacts of cities on environmental sustainability. It differentiates between a dominant trend in research literature that concentrates on the accounting and allocation of greenhouse gas emissions and energy use to cities and a reemergence of studies that focus on the direct and indirect material and resource flows in cities. The methodological approaches reviewed may consider cities as either producers or consumers, and all recognize that urban environmental impacts can be local, regional, or global. As well as giving an overview of the methodological debates, we examine the implications of the different approaches for policy and the challenges these approaches face in their application on the field.

Description: At current primary steel production levels, the iron and steel industry will fail to meet the 80% emission reduction target without introduction of breakthrough technologies (Wörtler et al., 2013: 19). The current research analyses the technical and economical long-term potential of innovative primary steel production technologies in Germany throughout 2100. Techno-economic models are used to simulate three innovative ore-based steelmaking routes verses the reference blast furnace route (BF-BOF). The innovative routes in focus are blast furnace with CCS (BF-CCS), hydrogen direct reduction (H-DR), and iron ore electrolysis (EW). Energy and mass flows for the production of one tonne of crude steel (CS) are combined with hypothetical price, cost, and revenue data to evaluate the production routes economically, technically, and environmentally. This is a purely theoretical analysis and hence further external factors that may influence practical implementation or profitability are not considered. Different future developments are considered by using three scenarios, representing an ambitious, a moderate, and a conservative transformation of the German energy sector. In general, looking into the future bares various uncertainties which should be reflected in a suitable manner. According to the present scenario analysis, chances are that with rising prices for coal and CO2 allowances BF-BOF and even BF-CCS become unprofitable by mid-century. With a high share of renewable energy sources and high prices for CO2 allowances, H-DR and EW become economically attractive in the second half of the current century, when BF-based routes are long unprofitable. Energy and raw material efficiency is significantly higher for H-DR and EW and furthermore, the 80% reduction target by 2050 can be achieved in the ambitious scenario. However, high investment costs and high dependency on electricity prices prohibit a profitable implementation before 2030–2040 without further subsidies. EW is the most energy and resource efficient production route. Since continuous electricity is needed for the continuous operation, the electricity costs are 20–40% higher than for H-DR (with high-capacity hydrogen storage units). Even though hydrogen production implies efficiency losses compared to the EW route, the decoupling of hydrogen production from continuous operation of the steel plant through hydrogen storage offers the opportunity to use cheap excess renewable electricity. This makes the H-DR economically and environmentally the most attractive route and provides a crucial contribution to stabilize the grid and to store excess energy in a 100% renewable energy system.

Description: This report details current and potential recycling of critical metals in Waste from Electrical Electronic Equipment (WEEE). The term "critical metals" is used instead of "rare metals" because the concept incorporates not only supply but also demand. The EU needs access to these metals and recycling can be an important part of the supply-strategy. The study shows that the current recycling of critical metals in WEEE is very low, but that the potential amount could be increased threefold within 2015. Improving of the recycling of critical metals requires a variety of initiatives tackling different week point in the overall process: better collection, better pre-processing and end-processing, limiting the export of WEEE or used products out of the EU and better design of the EEE-products. This study shows that data on sales volumes, WEEE composition and the composition of critical metals in EEE is currently insufficient for detailed analysis and monitoring, and addressing this should be a priority. Further, more detailed information on components used in EEE product groups would enable recyclers to identify and access the most materially important components. Dialog between recyclers, smelters and manufacturers could also facilitate product design that supports the recycling process.

Description: Urbanization and climate change are amongst the greatest challenges of the 21st century. In the "Low Carbon Future Cities" project (LCFC), three important problem dimensions are analysed: current and future GHG emissions and their mitigation (up to 2050); resource use and material flows; and vulnerability to climate change. The industrial city of Wuxi has been the Chinese pilot city of the project. To establish the pathway for a low carbon future, it is crucial to understand the current situation and possible future developments. The paper presents the key results of the status quo analysis and the future scenario analysis carried out for Wuxi. Two scenarios are outlined. The Current Policy Scenario (CPS) shows the current most likely development in the area of energy demand and GHG emissions until 2050. Whereas the extra low carbon scenario (ELCS) assumes a significantly more ambitious implementation, it combines a market introduction of best available technologies with substantial behavioural change. All scenarios are composed of sub-scenarios for the selected key sectors. Looking at the per capita emissions in Wuxi, the current levels are already high at around 12 tonnes CO2 per capita compared to Western European cities. Although Wuxi has developed a low carbon plan, the projected results under current policies (CPS) show that the total emissions would increase to 23.6 tonnes CO2 per capita by 2050. If the ELCS pathway was to be adopted, these CO2 emission levels could be reduced to 6.4 tonnes per capita by 2050.

Description: The Low Carbon Future Cities (LCFC) project aims at facing a three dimensional challenge by developing an integrated city roadmap balancing: low carbon development, gains in resource efficiency and adaptation to climate change. The paper gives an overview of the first outcomes of the analysis of the status quo and assessment of the most likely developments regarding GHG emissions, climate impacts and resource use in Wuxi - the Chinese pilot city for the LCFC project. As a first step, a detailed emission inventory following the IPCC guidelines for Wuxi has been carried out. In a second step, the future development of energy demand and related CO2 emissions in 2050 were simulated in a current policy scenario (CPS). In parallel, selected aspects of material and water flows for the energy and the building sector were analyzed and modeled. In addition, recent and future climate impacts and vulnerability were investigated. Based on these findings, nine key sectors with high relevance to the three dimensions could be identified. Although Wuxi's government has started a path to implement a low carbon plan, the first results show that, for the shift towards a sustainable low carbon development, more ambitious steps need to be taken in order to overcome the challenges faced.