1,720,989 research outputs found
IRP RECC report results
No full textThis is the set of results for the 259 model runs of the ODYM-RECC model that were used for the report "Resource Efficiency and Climate Change: Material Efficiency Strategies for a Low-Carbon Future. Hertwich, E., Lifset, R., Ali, S., Pauliuk, S., Heeren, Tu, Q. A report of the International Resource Panel".</p
The healthy home: A pilot study on the effect of biobased insulation materials on human wellbeing
No full textThe Dutch government is aiming to transition towards a fully circular economy by 2050 to mitigate climate change. To comply with these standards, a transition team for the construction sector has identified biobased materials as a cornerstone for the sector to become circular, enabling a crucial shift because of the sector's large contribution to carbon emissions and environmental pollution. Principles on which this shift relies are focused on environmental health while neglecting human wellbeing, especially mental health as one of the building blocks of human wellbeing (the other being physical health), albeit of great importance due to the significant amount of time humans spend indoors. Mental health is defined by life satisfaction and happiness and is measured through perception and experience. A two-way path is identified: from mental and physical health to human wellbeing.This research aims at identifying the effect of biobased insulation materials on the wellbeing of residents through a pilot study in the Netherlands. Individuals' perceptions and experiences of their living environments—specifically, their homes—serve as the basis for measuring wellbeing in this context.A mixed method is used, combining quantitative and qualitative results from a discrete choice experiment in a virtual reality environment. Participants were presented with three sets of two predetermined configurations. For every set, participants were asked to make a discrete choice between the two alternatives.The results were analysed using a Cox proportional hazard model in SPSS. The quantitative and qualitative data showed several discrepancies, but both emphasised the importance of indoor comfort. It is concluded that biobased insulation materials that ensure good indoor comfort are preferred over materials that don’t. Additionally, the importance of low maintenance needs and a small wall diameter is emphasised to lead to a preferred living environment and thus increased wellbeing.Recommendations to move the model beyond a pilot include diversifying the sample population, materials, and attributes that are presented while aligning these with the target audience, including non-expert views throughout the development of the model, and revealing associations with the materials.Industrial Ecolog
Improving the Sustainability Assessment of the Olympic Games through Environmentally-Extended Input-Output Analysis
No full textMega sporting events like the Olympic Games have significant impacts on society, economy and the environment. This thesis aims to enhance the comprehensive sustainability assessment of the Olympic Games. Previous research showed that the sustainability of the Games is declining, which contradicts the International Olympic Committee’s ambitions to steadily improve sustainability, culminating in Paris 2024’s goal to be the first climate-positive Games. Moreover, some of the indicators used in this previous approach have validity deficiencies, leading to uncertainties of the analysis. Therefore, we investigated the development of sustainability of ten Olympic Games between 2000 and 2018 applying an environmentally-extended input-output analysis (EE-IOA). Along the way, we explored the general potential of EE-IOA, as one of the systems analysis approaches of Industrial Ecology. EE-IOA is a logical step, as input-output analysis (IOA) is already a common tool for analyzing the pure economic impact of the Olympic Games. We found stagnating sustainability for the Olympic Summer Games and decreasing sustainability of the Winter Games. We furthermore showed that expenditures in venue constructions are often the main driver of impacts. Moreover, this study revealed that displaced impacts are frequently displaced to developing nations. Overall, we showed that the development of the sustainability of the Olympic Games stands in contrast to the aspired ambitions. For Olympic Organizing Committees this assessment method is a feasible addition to provide valuable insights in order to reduce impacts caused by hosting the Games. The findings imply the necessity of initiating a societal dialogue concerning the trade-off between selecting sustainable countries as hosts for the Olympic Games or considering the inclusion of developing, less sustainable nations in hosting future Olympic Games, which lies within the Olympic motto.Industrial Ecolog
Navigating New Horizons: Mapping the Global Technical Potential and Exploring the Material Demand of Offshore Floating Urban Dwellings: A GIS-based Approach Integrating Technical and Motivational Perspectives to Provide Insights into the Global Technical Potential and Associated Material Demand of Modular Floating Structures and Circular Floating Breakwaters as a Proposed Alternative for Sustainable Coastal Communities
No full textModular Floating Structures (MFS) have emerged as an innovative alternative for sustainable offshore urban development, providing a response to the multifaceted challenges posed by coastal urban expansion: significant urban growth and coastal migration, increasing sea-level rise exposure and land scarcity. This thesis presents a geographically oriented exploration of the global technical and motivation potential of MFS – in maximum achievable suitable area, offshore population and material demand -, integrating technical, environmental, and demographic factors through a comprehensive GIS analysis. The methodology of this analysis involves the following key steps: 1) Establishing the Service Limit State (SLS) technical potential map by considering the natural constraints bathymetry, average wave energy, average wind speed, and hurricane risk; 2) establishing the Ultimate Limit State (ULS) technical potential map based on the SLS map and the extreme value constraints 100-year return significant wave height and 100-year return wind velocity; 3) establishing the ocean planning technical potential based on the ULS map and integrating the ocean planning constraints marine protected areas and shipping routes; 4) establishing the motivation potential maps, which are based on the outcomes of steps 1, 2, and 3 and the proximity to a coastal city as a key motivation factor; 5) evaluating additional motivation layers to reveal where potential driving forces are for floating urban development within local contexts. The maps lead to first estimates of maximum suitable area and offshore population, guiding calculations for required materials in floating breakwaters, proposed as reused end-of-life (EOL) ships, and MFS substructures. This thesis uncovers several insights. The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in this field enables the exploration of the technical potential of offshore urban development, offering first estimations for total area, offshore population, and material use (specifically EOL ships and steel). On a global scale, about 84000 km2 are suitable for MFS implementation, potentially accommodating up to 1.6 billion people. These results demonstrate the potential to contribute significantly to climate-adaptive housing capacity. If the entire technical potential were to be realized the global demand for EOL ships would be approximately 261000, a demand significantly exceeding the current in-use global merchant fleet by nearly threefold. The global steel demand for the construction of the MFS substructures would be 26 billion tons, a vast amount that exceeds the annual global steel demand by about 20 times. These vast numbers may significantly impact the ship-breaking industry and global steel flows. These insights provide valuable perspectives on MFS implementation, holding the potential to significantly contribute to climate-adaptive housing capacity, however raising critical questions about sustainable material consumption and production. This research unfolds new possibilities in the field of sustainable offshore urban development and serves as a launchpad for further large scale exploration and analysis in this dynamic area of research. Future research could further assess the sustainability of offshore urban development, building upon the findings of this thesis. Potential areas of investigation include for example comparing material requirements for MFS substructures to those of land-based building substructures or conducting micro, meso or macro-scale scenario-based Material Flow Analysis (MFA) to evaluate the influence on the global steel flow and ship-breaking industry, using the technical potential estimates presented in this thesis on local and global scale as a foundational reference.Industrial Ecolog
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
The silicon carbide industry in the spotlight – Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs) and the sustainability transition
No full textTransitioning of energy intensive industries (EIIs) towards more sustainability forms an important building block in achieving the Paris climate goals. Silicon carbide (SiC) production is such an EII, though it has not yet received much attention in systemic research. This thesis attempts to fill this gap by studying how SiC flows through the global economy. The objectives are to describe the SiC supply chain, quantify its flows and analyse the supply chain’s resilience. Findings: The global SiC production capacity constitutes 1 000 000 t per year. With 55.34% the Asia Pacific region is the biggest producer, followed by Europe with 32.7%, rest of world with 7.96% and North America with 4%. In order of quantity, abrasives, metallurgy, refractories, technical ceramics, other industrial uses, semiconductors and jewellery are the main applications of SiC. Around 5% of the material is recycled (USGS, 2021). High energy requirements in SiC production, as well as strict emission regulations are identified as the main supply risks. Substitution, use reduction, recycling and stockpiling can only minimally absorb supply disturbances at their current state. However, recycling is currently a popular topic in the industry and under development. In the mid-term, recycling activities might become a way to increase supply chain resilience. Another strategy that could lower pressure on the supply chain is using SiC production to balance the energy grid. That is, to produce when there is an oversupply of energy and to halt production when there is a shortcoming. Implications: This thesis shows that sustainability efforts in the SiC industry are not only environmentally desirable, but might also add to its supply chain’s resilience. The case of SiC shows that small EIIs that have so far not received much attention can offer high returns in terms of knowledge gained.Industrial Ecolog
Analysing the Waste Potential of Solar PV In India
No full textWith growing demand for energy and the shift towards renewable energy, countries like India are targeting energy mixture with alternate sources like solar, wind and water. With the current growth of solar energy use in India, it is predicted that high amounts of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) waste would be generated in the near future which left improperly managed would lead high amount of useful and expensive material ending up in landfills. This research focuses on the potential material generated from the growth of solar PV stock in India.This research studied the growth of solar PV industry and the spread of Solar PV growth in India. The stock growth of solar PV till 2030 based on India’s renewable energy goal of 280 GW solar energy is taken. Further study on End of Life (EOL) management of Solar PV was studied and the best practice scenarios from around the globe for handling Solar PV waste was studied. The circular economy approach for the Solar PV industry was also reviewed. 3 scenarios were created to determine how the waste from these Solar PV would be managed based on the current state in India, using best-case scenario from around the world and circular economy practices. These scenarios were simulated using dynamic material flow analysis to determine the waste inflow and outflow of material based on the defined scenario.It was determined that more than 21 million tonnes of waste would end up in landfill by 2060 if India does not increase its recycling capabilities. Also, by adapting Germany’s WEEE regulation for solar PV waste management, 2 other scenarios are created, which uses extended producer responsibility and would provide India with the capability to handle future Solar PV waste. A comparison of these 2 scenarios showed higher recovery of material in one (423 thousand tonnes) while generating 21 times more waste to landfill than the other (16 thousand tonnes).It is found that the outflow of tonnes of material is same in all 3 of the scenarios and the highest amount of waste produced by the 280GW target of 2030 would be in 2055 at over 1.6 million tonnes. It is predicted that landfill can end by 2033 or 2044 in the defined scenarios but shows variation in the amount of recovered material would differ between them. Achieving the scenarios put forward would involve coordination between Government agencies, producers of solar PV and the actual users of PVs. A shift to a formal waste management sector would be required and a successful implementation of policies and targets would lead to improvement in multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for India.Industrial Ecolog
Material stock of buildings in Brno: Towards circularity in the construction and demolition industry
No full textGIS bottom-up analysis of the material stock of construction materials (concrete, bricks, mortar) in buildings in Brno, Czech Republic.Industrial Ecolog
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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