Pub Date : 2024-11-14DOI: 10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.006
Rodoula Ktori, Mar Palmeros Parada , Marcos Rodriguez-Pascual, Mark C.M. van Loosdrecht, Dimitrios Xevgenos
The transition to seawater desalination integrated with resource recovery, particularly in water- and energy-scarce regions, requires innovative approaches that consider societal benefits and costs. This study goes beyond traditional techno-economic evaluations by employing a Value-Sensitive Design (VSD) approach, which guides the selection of performance indicators and informs the design of technical scenarios for integrated seawater desalination and brine treatment systems. VSD ensures that the scenarios are socially relevant by directly incorporating stakeholder values into the design and assessment process. Four technical scenarios (Sc) were used to evaluate the VSD approach: Sc1) maximum water recovery, Sc2) and Sc3) integrated desalination with brine treatment for maximum resource recovery (using different configurations) and Sc4) electricity-based desalination for chemical recovery. Techno-economic models are implemented using Python to analyse the feasibility and performance of these scenarios. The modelling results indicate that all scenarios achieve zero brine production. However, the trade-offs between resource recovery and greenhouse gas emissions are evident. Increased salt recovery leads to higher CO2 emissions (locally) due to electricity consumption. Scenario 1 minimized electrical energy consumption and emissions while maximizing water production. Scenarios 2 and 3 performed best in water and high-quality salt production. Despite its higher CO2 emissions, Scenario 4 proved most profitable due to the production of chemicals. These findings highlight the importance of tailoring plant designs to regional needs. By providing a comprehensive understanding of trade-offs, the VSD approach fosters stakeholder dialogue and serves as a valuable decision-making tool for designing sustainable desalination systems.
{"title":"A value-sensitive approach for integrated seawater desalination and brine treatment","authors":"Rodoula Ktori, Mar Palmeros Parada , Marcos Rodriguez-Pascual, Mark C.M. van Loosdrecht, Dimitrios Xevgenos","doi":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The transition to seawater desalination integrated with resource recovery, particularly in water- and energy-scarce regions, requires innovative approaches that consider societal benefits and costs. This study goes beyond traditional techno-economic evaluations by employing a Value-Sensitive Design (VSD) approach, which guides the selection of performance indicators and informs the design of technical scenarios for integrated seawater desalination and brine treatment systems. VSD ensures that the scenarios are socially relevant by directly incorporating stakeholder values into the design and assessment process. Four technical scenarios (Sc) were used to evaluate the VSD approach: Sc1) maximum water recovery, Sc2) and Sc3) integrated desalination with brine treatment for maximum resource recovery (using different configurations) and Sc4) electricity-based desalination for chemical recovery. Techno-economic models are implemented using Python to analyse the feasibility and performance of these scenarios. The modelling results indicate that all scenarios achieve zero brine production. However, the trade-offs between resource recovery and greenhouse gas emissions are evident. Increased salt recovery leads to higher CO<sub>2</sub> emissions (locally) due to electricity consumption. Scenario 1 minimized electrical energy consumption and emissions while maximizing water production. Scenarios 2 and 3 performed best in water and high-quality salt production. Despite its higher CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, Scenario 4 proved most profitable due to the production of chemicals. These findings highlight the importance of tailoring plant designs to regional needs. By providing a comprehensive understanding of trade-offs, the VSD approach fosters stakeholder dialogue and serves as a valuable decision-making tool for designing sustainable desalination systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48619,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Production and Consumption","volume":"52 ","pages":"Pages 363-377"},"PeriodicalIF":10.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654248","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-11-12DOI: 10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.010
Sofia Bahmutsky, Florian Grassauer, Vivek Arulnathan, Nathan Pelletier
Assessing precision agriculture in crop production based on life cycle thinking and assessments allows for the consideration of multiple environmental as well as economic aspects at a systems level. Research at this intersection is, however, notably lacking. This review paper seeks to understand the current state of both environmental and economics research with respect to different agricultural crop production methods (orchard, vegetable, open field crop, etc.), regions, and the types of precision agriculture technologies applied in each context. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis method was used to answer three review questions to address a targeted subset of precision agriculture technologies relevant to field crop production, from both environmental and economic perspectives and at the global level. Fertilizer production/use and associated field-level emissions are the leading cause of environmental impacts in many life cycle impact categories, and energy and pesticide use also contribute significantly. For most environmental impact categories, the utilization of precision agriculture practices reduced these impacts as compared to conventional practices. Many precision agriculture technologies focus on nitrogen management, namely variable rate application of nutrients, but disproportionately in the context of high value crops. There is evidence that supports the notion that variable rate fertilization management leads to reduction in many but not necessarily all environmental impacts. Some studies reported no, or limited economic benefits associated with precision agriculture technologies, however overall results suggest that precision agriculture utilization delivers economic benefits either via cost savings, input savings, and/or increases to yield, margin, or profits. Variable rate technology is highlighted as a promising subset of precision agriculture technologies in terms of environmental impact reductions and economic benefits.
{"title":"A review of life cycle impacts and costs of precision agriculture for cultivation of field crops","authors":"Sofia Bahmutsky, Florian Grassauer, Vivek Arulnathan, Nathan Pelletier","doi":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Assessing precision agriculture in crop production based on life cycle thinking and assessments allows for the consideration of multiple environmental as well as economic aspects at a systems level. Research at this intersection is, however, notably lacking. This review paper seeks to understand the current state of both environmental and economics research with respect to different agricultural crop production methods (orchard, vegetable, open field crop, etc.), regions, and the types of precision agriculture technologies applied in each context. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis method was used to answer three review questions to address a targeted subset of precision agriculture technologies relevant to field crop production, from both environmental and economic perspectives and at the global level. Fertilizer production/use and associated field-level emissions are the leading cause of environmental impacts in many life cycle impact categories, and energy and pesticide use also contribute significantly. For most environmental impact categories, the utilization of precision agriculture practices reduced these impacts as compared to conventional practices. Many precision agriculture technologies focus on nitrogen management, namely variable rate application of nutrients, but disproportionately in the context of high value crops. There is evidence that supports the notion that variable rate fertilization management leads to reduction in many but not necessarily all environmental impacts. Some studies reported no, or limited economic benefits associated with precision agriculture technologies, however overall results suggest that precision agriculture utilization delivers economic benefits either via cost savings, input savings, and/or increases to yield, margin, or profits. Variable rate technology is highlighted as a promising subset of precision agriculture technologies in terms of environmental impact reductions and economic benefits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48619,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Production and Consumption","volume":"52 ","pages":"Pages 347-362"},"PeriodicalIF":10.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654310","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-11-12DOI: 10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.009
Mattia Maeder, Magnus Fröhling
Recycled content standards (RCSs) are an increasingly popular regulatory policy instrument requiring recycled materials in new products, thus aiming to close material loops. Public policy can boost the implementation of a circular economy (CE), but the relationship between individual policy instruments such as RCSs and CE needs more research. In this study, we reviewed 62 RCS policies in 30 jurisdictions and 19 scientific articles on RCSs. Our analysis has shown a new wave of increasingly stringent RCSs in multiple jurisdictions worldwide since 2018, primarily for packaging plastics and targeting CE goals. Based on our RCS study, we developed a conceptual framework for CE policy instruments with three main results. First, CE policy instruments have crucial characteristics, including feasibility, design, and administration. Second, they target the economic, environmental, and social pillars of sustainable development. Third, they have potential systemic effects at multiple abstraction levels. Our framework can be used by researchers, policymakers, and industry practitioners to understand how policy instruments contribute to CE but may have unforeseen consequences. Thus, our study guides effective CE policymaking and recommends investigating comprehensive CE policy mixes.
回收成分标准(RCSs)是一种日益流行的监管政策工具,要求在新产品中使用回收材料,从而实现材料闭环。公共政策可以促进循环经济(CE)的实施,但诸如回收成分标准等单个政策工具与循环经济之间的关系还需要更多的研究。在这项研究中,我们回顾了 30 个司法管辖区的 62 项循环经济政策和 19 篇有关循环经济的科学文章。我们的分析表明,自 2018 年以来,全球多个司法管辖区掀起了新一轮日益严格的 RCS 浪潮,主要针对包装塑料并瞄准 CE 目标。基于我们的 RCS 研究,我们为 CE 政策工具制定了一个概念框架,并得出了三个主要结果。首先,CE 政策工具具有关键特征,包括可行性、设计和管理。第二,它们针对可持续发展的经济、环境和社会支柱。第三,它们在多个抽象层面具有潜在的系统效应。我们的框架可供研究人员、政策制定者和行业从业者使用,以了解政策工具如何有助于促进可持续消费,但又可能产生不可预见的后果。因此,我们的研究可以指导有效的行政首长协调会决策,并建议调查全面的行政首长协调会政策组合。
{"title":"Conceptualizing circular economy policy instruments: The case of recycled content standards","authors":"Mattia Maeder, Magnus Fröhling","doi":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recycled content standards (RCSs) are an increasingly popular regulatory policy instrument requiring recycled materials in new products, thus aiming to close material loops. Public policy can boost the implementation of a circular economy (CE), but the relationship between individual policy instruments such as RCSs and CE needs more research. In this study, we reviewed 62 RCS policies in 30 jurisdictions and 19 scientific articles on RCSs. Our analysis has shown a new wave of increasingly stringent RCSs in multiple jurisdictions worldwide since 2018, primarily for packaging plastics and targeting CE goals. Based on our RCS study, we developed a conceptual framework for CE policy instruments with three main results. First, CE policy instruments have crucial characteristics, including feasibility, design, and administration. Second, they target the economic, environmental, and social pillars of sustainable development. Third, they have potential systemic effects at multiple abstraction levels. Our framework can be used by researchers, policymakers, and industry practitioners to understand how policy instruments contribute to CE but may have unforeseen consequences. Thus, our study guides effective CE policymaking and recommends investigating comprehensive CE policy mixes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48619,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Production and Consumption","volume":"52 ","pages":"Pages 333-346"},"PeriodicalIF":10.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-11-09DOI: 10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.008
Venkat Roy , Mariappan Parans Paranthaman , Fu Zhao
The burgeoning electric vehicle (EV) sector in the United States (US) is expected to drive up the demand for lithium, a critical element for EV batteries. Lithium-rich clays in the Nevada desert emerge as a prospective US-based domestic source. This study employs Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to examine the environmental aspects of extracting lithium from this source. Among the two evaluated routes, acid leaching was more energy-efficient (35 MJ/kg LCE (Lithium Carbonate Equivalent) than roasting (200 MJ/kg LCE), based on pilot plant data. When compared to conventional methods like spodumene-based extraction, acid leaching shows reductions across almost every category, with notable decreases in high-magnitude impacts like Global Warming (48 %), Freshwater Ecotoxicity (15 %), and Smog (69 %). Water consumption is the only category that increases, rising by 79 %. Insights from this study on upstream impacts of lithium from clay could help inform sourcing decisions downstream, in the battery and EV sector.
{"title":"Lithium from clay: Assessing the environmental impacts of extraction","authors":"Venkat Roy , Mariappan Parans Paranthaman , Fu Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The burgeoning electric vehicle (EV) sector in the United States (US) is expected to drive up the demand for lithium, a critical element for EV batteries. Lithium-rich clays in the Nevada desert emerge as a prospective US-based domestic source. This study employs Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to examine the environmental aspects of extracting lithium from this source. Among the two evaluated routes, acid leaching was more energy-efficient (35 MJ/kg LCE (Lithium Carbonate Equivalent) than roasting (200 MJ/kg LCE), based on pilot plant data. When compared to conventional methods like spodumene-based extraction, acid leaching shows reductions across almost every category, with notable decreases in high-magnitude impacts like Global Warming (48 %), Freshwater Ecotoxicity (15 %), and Smog (69 %). Water consumption is the only category that increases, rising by 79 %. Insights from this study on upstream impacts of lithium from clay could help inform sourcing decisions downstream, in the battery and EV sector.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48619,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Production and Consumption","volume":"52 ","pages":"Pages 324-332"},"PeriodicalIF":10.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Carbon absorption in growing trees is an important element of a carbon-neutral society, and the long-term storage of carbon stocks is a crucial sustainability challenge. Previous studies have focused on either live-biomass carbon stocks in plantation forests or anthropogenic carbon stocks in man-made objects. For a comprehensive nature-based climate solution, an analytical framework, dataset, and scenario setup for modeling the interrelationship between timber supply and demand are required. This study developed an interlinked material flow analysis model in which the timber demand for wooden houses is connected with timber supply from managed plantation forestry. We demonstrate the model by quantifying both live-biomass and anthropogenic carbon stocks and their potentials in Japan. We compared multiple scenario-runs of the model for wooden house demands estimated by population change with varying combinations of house types, structures, and lifespans. Our results show that carbon stocks will reach a maximum amount of 1.1 billion t-C by 2050 in a scenario of high demand for wooden detached houses with lifespan extensions. On the other hand, we also found that the aging of plantation forests and their reduced carbon-stocking capacities appear inevitable in any scenario owing to the limited demand for timber. Notably, despite the widely different settings of the various scenarios, our results exhibited narrow variances in future potential carbon storage in Japan. This can be explained by the unique population characteristics and building demographics of Japan. These counterintuitive findings highlight the need for interrelated modeling of the forestry and construction sectors. Our model and its scope are versatile and applicable to other case study areas, estimation periods, and target materials.
{"title":"An interlinked dynamic model of timber and carbon stocks in Japan's wooden houses and plantation forests","authors":"Naho Yamashita , Tomer Fishman , Chihiro Kayo , Hiroki Tanikawa","doi":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Carbon absorption in growing trees is an important element of a carbon-neutral society, and the long-term storage of carbon stocks is a crucial sustainability challenge. Previous studies have focused on either live-biomass carbon stocks in plantation forests or anthropogenic carbon stocks in man-made objects. For a comprehensive nature-based climate solution, an analytical framework, dataset, and scenario setup for modeling the interrelationship between timber supply and demand are required. This study developed an interlinked material flow analysis model in which the timber demand for wooden houses is connected with timber supply from managed plantation forestry. We demonstrate the model by quantifying both live-biomass and anthropogenic carbon stocks and their potentials in Japan. We compared multiple scenario-runs of the model for wooden house demands estimated by population change with varying combinations of house types, structures, and lifespans. Our results show that carbon stocks will reach a maximum amount of 1.1 billion t-C by 2050 in a scenario of high demand for wooden detached houses with lifespan extensions. On the other hand, we also found that the aging of plantation forests and their reduced carbon-stocking capacities appear inevitable in any scenario owing to the limited demand for timber. Notably, despite the widely different settings of the various scenarios, our results exhibited narrow variances in future potential carbon storage in Japan. This can be explained by the unique population characteristics and building demographics of Japan. These counterintuitive findings highlight the need for interrelated modeling of the forestry and construction sectors. Our model and its scope are versatile and applicable to other case study areas, estimation periods, and target materials.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48619,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Production and Consumption","volume":"52 ","pages":"Pages 314-323"},"PeriodicalIF":10.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-11-06DOI: 10.1016/j.spc.2024.10.026
Hazem Eltohamy , Lauran van Oers , Julia Lindholm , Marco Raugei , Kadambari Lokesh , Joris Baars , Jana Husmann , Nikolas Hill , Robert Istrate , Davis Jose , Fredrik Tegstedt , Antoine Beylot , Pascal Menegazzi , Jeroen Guinée , Bernhard Steubing
It is widely acknowledged that unharmonized methodological and data choices in life cycle assessments (LCAs) can limit comparability and complicate decision-making, ultimately hindering their effectiveness in guiding the rapid transition to electric mobility in Europe. The electric mobility sector aims to harmonize these assumptions and choices to improve comparability and better support decision-making. To support these efforts, this article aims to review the LCA practices across various sources in order to identify where key differences in assumptions, methodological approaches, and data selection occur in relevant LCA topics. In addition to this primary objective, we highlight certain practices that could serve as starting points for ongoing harmonization attempts, pointing out topics where it is challenging to do so. Our results showed that cradle-to-grave system boundary is the most commonly adopted in vehicle and traction battery LCAs, with maintenance and capital goods often excluded. The distance-based functional unit is dominant. Choices in Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) showed the greatest diversity and need for harmonization. Data quality and availability vary significantly by life cycle stage, with no standardized data collection approach in place. A lack of primary data is most prominent in the raw material acquisition and end of life (EoL) life cycle stages. Electricity consumption is a key topic in the EV sector, with major debates surrounding location-based versus market-based and static versus dynamic modeling. Multifunctionality problems are vaguely defined and resolved in the literature. For EoL multifunctionality, cut-off and avoided burden are prevalent, while allocation is common upstream. Impact assessments primarily follow the ReCiPe and CML-IA methods, with climate change, acidification, photochemical ozone formation, and eutrophication being the most reported impact categories. Systematic uncertainty propagation is rare in interpretations, with sensitivity analyses typically focusing on energy consumption, total mileage, and battery recycling rates. Overall, the review showed a big variation in assumptions and choices in EV LCA studies, particularly in the LCI stage. Among the discussed topics, we identified multifunctionality and electricity modeling as particularly contentious.
{"title":"Review of current practices of life cycle assessment in electric mobility: A first step towards method harmonization","authors":"Hazem Eltohamy , Lauran van Oers , Julia Lindholm , Marco Raugei , Kadambari Lokesh , Joris Baars , Jana Husmann , Nikolas Hill , Robert Istrate , Davis Jose , Fredrik Tegstedt , Antoine Beylot , Pascal Menegazzi , Jeroen Guinée , Bernhard Steubing","doi":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.10.026","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.10.026","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>It is widely acknowledged that unharmonized methodological and data choices in life cycle assessments (LCAs) can limit comparability and complicate decision-making, ultimately hindering their effectiveness in guiding the rapid transition to electric mobility in Europe. The electric mobility sector aims to harmonize these assumptions and choices to improve comparability and better support decision-making. To support these efforts, this article aims to review the LCA practices across various sources in order to identify where key differences in assumptions, methodological approaches, and data selection occur in relevant LCA topics. In addition to this primary objective, we highlight certain practices that could serve as starting points for ongoing harmonization attempts, pointing out topics where it is challenging to do so. Our results showed that cradle-to-grave system boundary is the most commonly adopted in vehicle and traction battery LCAs, with maintenance and capital goods often excluded. The distance-based functional unit is dominant. Choices in Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) showed the greatest diversity and need for harmonization. Data quality and availability vary significantly by life cycle stage, with no standardized data collection approach in place. A lack of primary data is most prominent in the raw material acquisition and end of life (EoL) life cycle stages. Electricity consumption is a key topic in the EV sector, with major debates surrounding location-based versus market-based and static versus dynamic modeling. Multifunctionality problems are vaguely defined and resolved in the literature. For EoL multifunctionality, cut-off and avoided burden are prevalent, while allocation is common upstream. Impact assessments primarily follow the ReCiPe and CML-IA methods, with climate change, acidification, photochemical ozone formation, and eutrophication being the most reported impact categories. Systematic uncertainty propagation is rare in interpretations, with sensitivity analyses typically focusing on energy consumption, total mileage, and battery recycling rates. Overall, the review showed a big variation in assumptions and choices in EV LCA studies, particularly in the LCI stage. Among the discussed topics, we identified multifunctionality and electricity modeling as particularly contentious.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48619,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Production and Consumption","volume":"52 ","pages":"Pages 299-313"},"PeriodicalIF":10.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-11-04DOI: 10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.002
Nannan Wang, Junlin Hao, Minghui Liu, Naixiao Cui
Sustainable energy transition is essential for global climate change mitigation, requiring substantial amounts of metals to support clean energy technologies. However, a key challenge is ensuring the stable metals mining operations while achieving economic viability, social benefits, and environmental responsibilities. Through a comprehensive literature review, this study identifies 30 risks impeding sustainable energy transition related to metals mining at two levels: the micro level risk and the macro level risk. A cross-evaluation method, by considering literature analysis and expert assessments, is proposed to develop a framework of 15 key risks. The findings reveal inappropriate classification in current literature, as the causes, consequences, and certain objective facts of risk events have been categorized as risks by academics. Additionally, there exist conflicting opinions between academics and practitioners on the key risks. Based on the findings, a multi-stakeholder governance approach is proposed to effectively mitigate these key risks and ensure the sustainable energy transition.
{"title":"Risks impeding sustainable energy transition related to metals mining","authors":"Nannan Wang, Junlin Hao, Minghui Liu, Naixiao Cui","doi":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sustainable energy transition is essential for global climate change mitigation, requiring substantial amounts of metals to support clean energy technologies. However, a key challenge is ensuring the stable metals mining operations while achieving economic viability, social benefits, and environmental responsibilities. Through a comprehensive literature review, this study identifies 30 risks impeding sustainable energy transition related to metals mining at two levels: the micro level risk and the macro level risk. A cross-evaluation method, by considering literature analysis and expert assessments, is proposed to develop a framework of 15 key risks. The findings reveal inappropriate classification in current literature, as the causes, consequences, and certain objective facts of risk events have been categorized as risks by academics. Additionally, there exist conflicting opinions between academics and practitioners on the key risks. Based on the findings, a multi-stakeholder governance approach is proposed to effectively mitigate these key risks and ensure the sustainable energy transition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48619,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Production and Consumption","volume":"52 ","pages":"Pages 228-238"},"PeriodicalIF":10.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-11-04DOI: 10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.001
Sogand Shahmohammadi, Marianne Pedinotti-Castelle, Ben Amor
There is an urgent need to mitigate carbon emissions in the building sector, particularly from existing buildings. The existing literature focuses predominantly on technological strategies such as low-carbon materials. This prompts the question: Can technological strategies alone drive the decarbonization of buildings, or are non-technological strategies also essential? Although recent research considers the benefits of the latter, studies assessing the potential of non-technological strategies for decarbonization of buildings are lacking because of the challenges involved in evaluating the indirect impacts and potential trade-offs associated with these strategies such as their ripple effects on mobility. This study pioneers a comparative assessment to evaluate the environmental mitigation potential of non-technological strategies (adaptation, a subset of the sharing economy, and behavioral changes) against technological strategies (low-carbon materials, retrofitting, and recycled materials) to ascertain the effectiveness of non-technological approaches. Through life cycle assessment, this study extends beyond solely evaluating the GHG reduction potential to assess the overall environmental mitigation capacity. A single-family house in Montreal was used as a reference scenario. With significant mitigation potential observed from a non-technological perspective, the results robustly reveal that the adaptation scenario surpasses all scenarios, including retrofitting, which is the primary mitigation strategy for existing buildings, by up to 50 % and 41 % at the midpoint and damage levels, respectively. Furthermore, the adaptation scenario potentially provides sufficiency by saving considerable amounts of material and energy, thereby alleviating the environmental impact of the production and use stages by up to 27 % and 15 %, respectively. This study also evaluates the combined effects of adaptation and retrofitting for existing buildings, revealing by up to 8 % greater environmental benefits at the midpoint and damage levels than in the adaptation scenario individually. These results highlight the potential of non-technological strategies that are currently overlooked in the building sector. However, their implementation requires fewer resources and less energy than technological changes. Therefore, further investigation is warranted to explore how adopting these strategies, along with technological ones, is advantageous.
{"title":"Unveiling the potential for decarbonization of the building sector: A comparative study of technological and non-technological low-carbon strategies","authors":"Sogand Shahmohammadi, Marianne Pedinotti-Castelle, Ben Amor","doi":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.11.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is an urgent need to mitigate carbon emissions in the building sector, particularly from existing buildings. The existing literature focuses predominantly on technological strategies such as low-carbon materials. This prompts the question: Can technological strategies alone drive the decarbonization of buildings, or are non-technological strategies also essential? Although recent research considers the benefits of the latter, studies assessing the potential of non-technological strategies for decarbonization of buildings are lacking because of the challenges involved in evaluating the indirect impacts and potential trade-offs associated with these strategies such as their ripple effects on mobility. This study pioneers a comparative assessment to evaluate the environmental mitigation potential of non-technological strategies (adaptation, a subset of the sharing economy, and behavioral changes) against technological strategies (low-carbon materials, retrofitting, and recycled materials) to ascertain the effectiveness of non-technological approaches. Through life cycle assessment, this study extends beyond solely evaluating the GHG reduction potential to assess the overall environmental mitigation capacity. A single-family house in Montreal was used as a reference scenario. With significant mitigation potential observed from a non-technological perspective, the results robustly reveal that the adaptation scenario surpasses all scenarios, including retrofitting, which is the primary mitigation strategy for existing buildings, by up to 50 % and 41 % at the midpoint and damage levels, respectively. Furthermore, the adaptation scenario potentially provides sufficiency by saving considerable amounts of material and energy, thereby alleviating the environmental impact of the production and use stages by up to 27 % and 15 %, respectively. This study also evaluates the combined effects of adaptation and retrofitting for existing buildings, revealing by up to 8 % greater environmental benefits at the midpoint and damage levels than in the adaptation scenario individually. These results highlight the potential of non-technological strategies that are currently overlooked in the building sector. However, their implementation requires fewer resources and less energy than technological changes. Therefore, further investigation is warranted to explore how adopting these strategies, along with technological ones, is advantageous.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48619,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Production and Consumption","volume":"52 ","pages":"Pages 268-282"},"PeriodicalIF":10.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654245","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-11-03DOI: 10.1016/j.spc.2024.10.025
Hongru Yi, Laijun Zhao, Youfeng Cheng, Ke Wang, Juntao Zhen, Chenchen Wang
Trade-induced CO2 transfers have increased the pressure on global carbon emission and may trigger carbon leakage. Understanding the peak status of these transfers is crucial for expediting global peaking process. This study investigates global CO2 transfer peaks across production (transfers-in CO2, TIC), intermediate processing (transmission CO2, TRC), and consumption (transfers-out CO2, TOC) during 2000–2019, and identifies main drivers. Our findings reveal a sustained increase in CO2 transfers, particularly TRC (47.8 %). Meanwhile, discernible patterns emerge, with TIC and TRC rising in Global South but declining in Global North. TOC demonstrates a pattern marked by augmentation in both North and South. Furthermore, the results indicate that a minority of economies have already reached their peak in CO2 transfers, with three economies peaking in TIC, six peaking in TRC, and two peaking in TOC. Further analysis reveals that production structure would be the primary driver of mitigating transfers. Additionally, carbon intensity in both power and non-power sectors can also contribute to mitigation. This is exemplified by the dampening effect exerted by carbon intensity of power sector on China's TIC during 2014–2019 (−8.5 Mt). Conversely, the international final trade scale propels CO2 transfers in non-peaked economies. International cooperation in production technology and environmental cost are recommended to facilitate the peak of international trade-induced CO2 transfers. These findings are valuable for global synergistic governance of trade-induced CO2 transfers across production, processing, and consumption stages, as well as for mitigating carbon leakage.
{"title":"Global peak of international trade-induced CO2 transfers and drivers: From multiple perspectives","authors":"Hongru Yi, Laijun Zhao, Youfeng Cheng, Ke Wang, Juntao Zhen, Chenchen Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.10.025","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.10.025","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Trade-induced CO<sub>2</sub> transfers have increased the pressure on global carbon emission and may trigger carbon leakage. Understanding the peak status of these transfers is crucial for expediting global peaking process. This study investigates global CO<sub>2</sub> transfer peaks across production (transfers-in CO<sub>2</sub>, TIC), intermediate processing (transmission CO<sub>2</sub>, TRC), and consumption (transfers-out CO<sub>2</sub>, TOC) during 2000–2019, and identifies main drivers. Our findings reveal a sustained increase in CO<sub>2</sub> transfers, particularly TRC (47.8 %). Meanwhile, discernible patterns emerge, with TIC and TRC rising in Global South but declining in Global North. TOC demonstrates a pattern marked by augmentation in both North and South. Furthermore, the results indicate that a minority of economies have already reached their peak in CO<sub>2</sub> transfers, with three economies peaking in TIC, six peaking in TRC, and two peaking in TOC. Further analysis reveals that production structure would be the primary driver of mitigating transfers. Additionally, carbon intensity in both power and non-power sectors can also contribute to mitigation. This is exemplified by the dampening effect exerted by carbon intensity of power sector on China's TIC during 2014–2019 (−8.5 Mt). Conversely, the international final trade scale propels CO<sub>2</sub> transfers in non-peaked economies. International cooperation in production technology and environmental cost are recommended to facilitate the peak of international trade-induced CO<sub>2</sub> transfers. These findings are valuable for global synergistic governance of trade-induced CO<sub>2</sub> transfers across production, processing, and consumption stages, as well as for mitigating carbon leakage.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48619,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Production and Consumption","volume":"52 ","pages":"Pages 239-252"},"PeriodicalIF":10.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654239","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-11-01DOI: 10.1016/j.spc.2024.10.023
Aimin Ji , Hongyan Guo , Ningzhou Li , Ning Zhang , Shikun Cheng , Jinghua Guan , Haiying Li , Xinting Hu , Zhenying Zhang
Over 50 % of pig stockpiling and slaughtering in China is attributed to medium and large piggeries. The diverse scales and distributions of these piggeries present significant challenges for the sustainable management of pig manure, with a research gap in assessing the environmental benefits of treatment technologies across different farm sizes. Therefore, the environmental and economic performances of ten pig manure treatment technologies for small, medium and large piggeries were evaluated via life cycle assessment and life cycle costing methods. The black membrane biogas pool (BMBP) technology for medium-scale piggeries demonstrates superior environmental performance, reducing emissions by 44.00 kg CO2 equivalent, 0.36 kg SO2 equivalent, and 0.05 kg PM2.5 equivalent per ton of dry pig manure treated. Additionally, the products generated from this process can offset 2.93 GJ of energy consumption and 0.25 tons of water consumption. Meanwhile, the ectopic microbial fermentation bed technology provides the best economic efficiency, at the cost of only $17.88 per ton. Significant disparities in the scale of piggeries and manure production across provinces necessitate region-specific policies. The estimated global warming potential (GWP) from pig manure treatment nationwide was 5.31 million tons of CO2 equivalent, with Henan, Sichuan, and Hunan provinces accounting for a combined 28.3 % of this total in 2020. Scenario analysis indicates that by 2025, achieving a pig manure utilization rate of 90 % could reduce GWP by 9.1 % (0.5 million tons of CO2 equivalent) compared to an 80 % utilization rate, with reductions ranging from 1.78 % to 22.36 % across other environmental indicators. Promoting technologies such as BMBP and transitioning 5 % of aerobic processes to anaerobic processes could reduce emissions by 2.9 %, while also lowering other environmental indicators by 12.8 % to 20.1 %. The utilization of anaerobic technology, coupled with enhanced utilization rates, can prove more efficacious in mitigating carbon emissions and pollutants.
{"title":"Scaling sustainable pig manure treatment: Life cycle assessments for small to large piggeries in China","authors":"Aimin Ji , Hongyan Guo , Ningzhou Li , Ning Zhang , Shikun Cheng , Jinghua Guan , Haiying Li , Xinting Hu , Zhenying Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.10.023","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spc.2024.10.023","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Over 50 % of pig stockpiling and slaughtering in China is attributed to medium and large piggeries. The diverse scales and distributions of these piggeries present significant challenges for the sustainable management of pig manure, with a research gap in assessing the environmental benefits of treatment technologies across different farm sizes. Therefore, the environmental and economic performances of ten pig manure treatment technologies for small, medium and large piggeries were evaluated via life cycle assessment and life cycle costing methods. The black membrane biogas pool (BMBP) technology for medium-scale piggeries demonstrates superior environmental performance, reducing emissions by 44.00 kg CO<sub>2</sub> equivalent, 0.36 kg SO<sub>2</sub> equivalent, and 0.05 kg PM<sub>2.5</sub> equivalent per ton of dry pig manure treated. Additionally, the products generated from this process can offset 2.93 GJ of energy consumption and 0.25 tons of water consumption. Meanwhile, the ectopic microbial fermentation bed technology provides the best economic efficiency, at the cost of only $17.88 per ton. Significant disparities in the scale of piggeries and manure production across provinces necessitate region-specific policies. The estimated global warming potential (GWP) from pig manure treatment nationwide was 5.31 million tons of CO<sub>2</sub> equivalent, with Henan, Sichuan, and Hunan provinces accounting for a combined 28.3 % of this total in 2020. Scenario analysis indicates that by 2025, achieving a pig manure utilization rate of 90 % could reduce GWP by 9.1 % (0.5 million tons of CO<sub>2</sub> equivalent) compared to an 80 % utilization rate, with reductions ranging from 1.78 % to 22.36 % across other environmental indicators. Promoting technologies such as BMBP and transitioning 5 % of aerobic processes to anaerobic processes could reduce emissions by 2.9 %, while also lowering other environmental indicators by 12.8 % to 20.1 %. The utilization of anaerobic technology, coupled with enhanced utilization rates, can prove more efficacious in mitigating carbon emissions and pollutants.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48619,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Production and Consumption","volume":"52 ","pages":"Pages 166-178"},"PeriodicalIF":10.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142593547","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}