The sustainable society

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Mean or green? Values, morality and environmental significant behavior.

In most cases, pro-environmental behavior does not maximize individual interests, but mainly benefits other people or the environment. We propose that although acting on the basis of egoistic considerations may result in pro-environmental behavior, altruistic and biospheric considerations provide the most stable basis for pro-environmental behavior. We present two strategies to promote stable pro-environmental behavior. The first way is increasing the saliency of altruistic and biospheric values in specific situations, thereby reducing the relative strength of egoistic values. The second way is making the often “anti-environmental” egoistic values compatible with “pro-environmental” altruistic and biospheric values. We explain these options and translate it to possible interventions, policy implications, and follow-up research to promote “green” behavior

A Comparative Assessment of Different Options to Reduce CO2 Emissions

The IIASA research project on Environmentally Compatible Energy Strategies includes the assessment of options and measures for mitigating global CO2 emissions. The basis of this assessment is the comparative inventory of technological and economic measures including efficiency improvement, conservation, enhanced use of low-carbon fuels, carbon free sources of energy and measures for removing carbon from fuels, flue gases and also from the atmosphere such as afforestation, and finally also measures for enhancement of carbon sinks. To include all potential options, the comparison is based on energy end-use accounting for the fully interlinked energy conversion chain up to energy resources. The analysis is supported by a fully interactive data bank system, CO2DB, that is capable of evaluating full energy chains with respect to their economic, technical and environmental parameters. The paper reports energy requirements, cost and CO2 emissions for different energy chains providing industrial drives, cooling and air transport services. At additional cost, emissions can be reduced drastically on all these end-use categories

Environmental scrutiny of traditional Mediterranean forms for contemporary application (an empirical study)

Traditional architecture has successfully created a desirable indoor environment with minimal energy consumption and compatible with social and cultural contexts. The proper use of environmental passive design strategies that were widely employed in regional, traditional and vernacular architecture is crucial. However, employing traditional architecture vocabularies within contemporary buildings requires a proper understanding of their forms’ environmental-behaviors. Consequently, modifying forms, geometries, and design-concepts may enhance their environmental performance. On the same time such traditional forms will stand for architectural identity that appropriately serves environmental, cultural and social contexts. A building that respects cultural and social beliefs of the people is believed to address more practically the issue of sustainability. The undertaken review and investigation in this paper seeks a better understanding and application of traditional architecture forms and geometries in Egypt’s northern-coast contemporary architecture. The investigations highlight the methodological approach carried out, to seeking a better understanding of the thermal and solar performance of these traditional passive systems regardless of their construction materials and colors. This is done, as a contribution towards improving their physical qualifications and energy efficiency performances. Furthermore, the paper is a low-energy architecture approach for more energy efficient and passive buildings (particularly low-rise buildings) in the new communities that are being developed recently in Alexandria, Egypt and other hot-arid parts. Therefore, it establishes an architectural approach to resist the rapid growth of international styles and produce an environmentally, culturally, and socially appropriate architecture. In order to verify whether these forms are environmentally and climatic sound quantitative analysis needs to be carried out. The paper is part of continuing research work carried out on certain traditional roof forms. This is discussed through empirical and experimental tests for number of traditional forms (domes, vaults and cones) in the contemporary built environment of Alexandria city and Egypt’s northern-coast. The paper focuses on the methodology and approach used in the analysis of the chosen forms

A Comparative Assessment of Different Options to Reduce CO2 Emissions

The IIASA research project on Environmentally Compatible Energy Strategies includes the assessment of options and measures for mitigating global CO2 emissions. The basis of this assessment is the comparative inventory of technological and economic measures including efficiency improvement, conservation, enhanced use of low-carbon fuels, carbon free sources of energy and measures for removing carbon from fuels, flue gases and also from the atmosphere such as afforestation, and finally also measures for enhancement of carbon sinks. To include all potential options, the comparison is based on energy end-use accounting for the fully interlinked energy conversion chain up to energy resources. The analysis is supported by a fully interactive data bank system, CO2DB, that is capable of evaluating full energy chains with respect to their economic, technical and environmental parameters. The paper reports energy requirements, costs and CO2 emissions for different energy chains providing industrial drives, cooling and air transport services. At additional cost, emissions can be reduced drastically on all these end-use categories

One More Awareness Gap? The Behaviour–Impact Gap Problem

Preceding research has made hardly any attempt to measure the ecological impacts of pro-environmental behaviour in an objective way. Those impacts were rather supposed or calculated. The research described herein scrutinized the ecological impact reductions achieved through pro-environmental behaviour and raised the question how much of a reduction in carbon footprint can be achieved through voluntary action without actually affecting the socio-economic determinants of life. A survey was carried out in order to measure the difference between the ecological footprint of “green” and “brown” consumers. No significant difference was found between the ecological footprints of the two groups—suggesting that individual pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour do not always reduce the environmental impacts of consumption. This finding resulted in the formulation of a new proposition called the BIG (behaviour–impact gap) problem, which is an interesting addition to research in the field of environmental awareness gaps

The Extended Energy-Systems ERIS Model: An Overview

This report describes the extensions to the "bottom-up" energy-systems ERIS (Energy Research and Investment Strategies) model carried out by the authors at IIASA-ECS for, among others, the EC-Sponsored SAPIENTIA and MINIMA-SUD projects. The original version of the ERIS model was developed as a joint effort between the Environmentally Compatible Energy Strategies (ECS) project at IIASA and the Energy Economics Group of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland during the EC-sponsored TEEM and SAPIENT projects, in which it was mainly used to examine issues related to the endogenization of mechanisms of technological change. The extension of the ERIS model developed at IIASA-ECS include: the implementation of a clusters approach to technology learning, the inclusion of emissions and marginal abatement curves for two main non-CO2 greenhouse gases (methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O)), the inclusion of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions, the incorporation of a transportation sector with emphasis on the passenger car sub-sector, the inclusion of fuel production technologies (i.e. hydrogen, alcohol, Fischer-Tropsch liquids, etc.) as well as geological and terrestrial CO2 storage and a calibration to the year 2000 energy statistics

Modular lightweight components for peripheral e-mobility solutions

Based on a comprehensive prototype, the researchers at the Otto von Guericke University systematically investigate components and system solutions within a project regarding the interplay of electric vehicles and range extenders. In consideration of the electric vehicle, named Editha, different operating strategies for the use of range extenders in the predominant application field of electric mobility were tested. The principal objectives of the project are to determine appropriate operating strategies for the use of a range extender and operating characteristics for an optimal system configuration of existing or future engine technology in combination with the respective generator technology. Thus, sensible and expedient combinatorics with regard to weight and performance criteria arises. This project aims at gaining an overall understanding of the interplay between automotive and alternative energy generation based on the prototype and the exemplary design of both power trains