1,720,998 research outputs found
Critical Raw Materials for Strategic Technologies and Sectors in the EU. A Foresight Study
No full textThis study looks at the supply chains of the nine technologies below used in the three strategic sectors renewable energy, e-mobility, defence and aerospace.
It also attempts to provide a first answer, based on available knowledge and models, to where future challenges lie and how competition for resources may evolve
Assessing impacts of responsible sourcing initiatives for cobalt: Insights from a case study
No full textUsed in e-mobility and electronics, batteries are key technologies in the decarbonisation of the economy and in accomplishing the aims of the European Green Deal. Cobalt is one of the materials used in lithium-ion batteries, and its extraction is a concern in terms of human rights abuses, child labour, and tragic working conditions particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which supplies around 60% of the world's supply, with a relevant share of Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM). Responding to these risks, some programs for the responsible sourcing of cobalt have been launched in recent years. Several policy initiatives at EU level aim to promote ethical sourcing of battery raw materials. In describing the results of research into the responsible and sustainable sourcing of cobalt for batteries, this article focuses on the artisanal mining sector in the DRC. Based on primary and secondary data collection and assessment of improvement against the requirements of responsible sourcing (RS) frameworks and sustainability assessment guidance (including Social Life Cycle Assessment, S-LCA), this study compares the situation of two pilot projects to the general situation at cobalt ASM sites in the Katangese Copperbelt. Specifically, the study examines the implementation of the Mutoshi Cobalt Pilot (MCP) and Better Mining at the Kasulo site, both in Lualaba province. The case study then provides the basis for discussing the lessons learned for the assessment and monitoring of responsible sourcing programs and of due diligence schemes and possible implications for policy. Results show that the systems analysed are rather effective in implementing the changes that they are designed to make, especially in the case of life-threatening working conditions, child labour, and corruption. However, the risk categories addressed by these projects are dictated by downstream expectations and do not necessarily correspond to the demands of the miners they are designed to protect. For instance, price calculation and income as well as gender considerations are particularly salient aspects and are not captured by RS programs, but are part of the S-LCA framework. This study confirms the need to support ASM formalisation and its inclusion in global supply chains, discusses the challenges of developing and upscaling RS programs for cobalt, and contributes to the definition of a set of categories to be scrutinized for the assessment and monitoring of these programs
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
Social life cycle hotspot analysis of future hydrogen use in the EU
Full text linkPurpose: The widespread use of hydrogen in the EU aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions may involve complex value chains (e.g. importation from third countries) with potential effects (positive or negative) on the different sectors of society. Achieving sustainable hydrogen deployment must be motivated not only by environmental and economic aspects but also by social responsibility and the search for human well-being. Given this, and the scarcity of studies currently available on prospective social impacts of hydrogen production, the present purpose of this article is to unveil and assess the main social impacts linked to the future hydrogen value chains. Methods: The methodological approach adopted in this article encompasses the following steps: (i) analysis of two potential value chains for hydrogen use in EU: an on-site option, where hydrogen is produced and used in the same European country, and an off-site option, where hydrogen is produced in a European country different from its usage involving more unit processes, in terms of storage and transport activities, and working time to deliver the same quantity of hydrogen. This framework will include (i) scenario analysis and a forward-looking perspective taking into account the critical raw materials employed across the entire value chain, (ii) identification of a list of relevant social impact categories and indicators through a systematic procedure, (iii) social hotspot analysis using Product Social Impact Life Cycle Assessment (PSILCA) to assess the selected representative value chains, and (iv) conducting scenario analysis and subsequently interpreting of results. Results and discussion: The off-site value chain shows a relatively worse social performance (6 to 72 times) than the on-site value chain across most selected indicators due to the more complex value chain. Although the identification of social hotspots depends on the specific social indicator under evaluation, the power source components (wind and solar PV) manufacturing processes and the relatively increased complexity of the off-site option highly conditioned the social performance of the hydrogen value chains in most of the indicators considered. A scenario analysis was carried out comparing both value chains with two additional locations for hydrogen production: Northern Africa and Western Asia. The findings indicate that the on-site value chain presents the lowest impact scores. For the off-site option, the production of hydrogen in a European country is the most preferable scenario in terms of the social indicators evaluated. Conclusions: According to findings, producing hydrogen in a different location than where it is consumed increases the social impacts of its deployment. Measures at mid and long term should be considered for improving the social impact of hydrogen deployment in Europe. This includes increasing reuse and recycling, responsibly sourcing raw materials, and creating regulatory frameworks ensuring safe working conditions across global value chains. Furthermore, this article highlights the crucial role of the S-LCA methodology in evaluating social aspects as a support for targeted policy interventions, and the need to adapt this to the specific case study. At the same time, it acknowledges that other relevant social aspects that can influence the social sustainability of the hydrogen technology are not captured with this methodology (in particular social acceptance, affordability and energy security). Improvements in selecting indicators and refined geographical and temporal representations of the value chains to better represent hydrogen technologies and future size market are research gaps filled in the present scientific work
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
Sustainability Assessment of Second Life Application of Automotive Batteries
No full textSustainability Assessment of Second Life Application of Automotive Batteries - presentation of the SASLAB projec
Digital Storytelling Through the European Commission’s Africa Knowledge Platform to Bridge the Science-Policy Interface for Raw Materials
No full textThe international science-policy interface increasingly needs knowledge brokers to convey technical evidence to non-specialists in an engaging way. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) has a long track-record of scientific knowledge on Africa’s developmental context, but this knowledge is often fragmented and difficult to access, limiting its uptake by policymakers and other stakeholders. To overcome this, the JRC developed the Africa Knowledge Platform (https://africa-knowledge-platform.ec.europa.eu/), a web-based entry-point to knowledge that evolves constantly to best support the European Union’s objective of deepening its partnership with Africa. This highly visual and easy-to-use platform brings together datasets, narratives, interactive tools, and partnerships across more than 60 disciplines and policy priorities. Here, we introduce the Africa Knowledge Platform, focusing specifically on using digital storytelling to communicate policy-relevant research on Africa’s raw materials. We present two geographically explicit narratives on (1) critical raw materials for low carbon and digital technologies and (2) monitoring gold mining in remote parts of central Africa using satellite technology. Each narrative uses interactive data and accessible language to communicate relevant research from the JRC and other sources within the context of policies including the EU-Africa Strategy, the European Green Deal and its Circular Economy Action Plan, the African Union’s Mining Vision and international development agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals. Ultimately, we reflect on how the Africa Knowledge Platform can bridge the gap between scientists and policymakers, emphasising the opportunities and caveats for knowledge brokerage across complex science-policy contexts
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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