Systemic eco-efficiency assessment of meso-level water use systems

Eco-efficiency has recently become an important concept of environmental decision making, serving as a policy objective and, if linked with resource efficiency, can be a measure of progress towards sustainability. The need for improving eco-efficiency leads to the challenge of identifying the most promising alternative solutions which improve both the economic and the environmental performance of a given system (“eco-innovations”). A methodological framework for the eco-efficiency assessment of a water use system at the meso level has been developed in the context of the EcoWater research project and consists of four distinct steps. The first step leads to a clear, transparent mapping of the system at hand and the respective value chain, while the second step provides the means to assess its eco-efficiency, following a life-cycle oriented approach using the midpoint impact categories. An important novelty is the distribution of economic costs/benefits and environmental pressures over different stages and stakeholders in the value chain. The third step includes the selection of innovative technologies, which are assessed in the last step and combined with mid-term scenarios in order to determine the feasibility of their implementation. The proposed methodological framework has been applied to eight alternative water use systems, revealing all their environmental weaknesses and identifying potential opportunities for eco-efficiency improvement. At the same time, through the systemic approach all the involved actors are urged to cooperate in order to (a) propose and build innovative technological solutions that will improve the overall eco-efficiency of the system; and (b) make suggestions on the necessary policy framework that will facilitate and promote their uptake. This ensures that upstream decisions in the value chain are coordinated with downstream activities and all potential synergies are identified, leading to the creation of “meso-level closed resource loops” and thus the promotion of a circular economy

e-Learning – Experience from the Energy Academy distance training project

Academic and professional education programmes currently available in the areas of energy and environment cannot fully satisfy market demands. Furthermore, closed and isolated systems, such as islands, face additional problems due to geographical discontinuity. The role and the potential of e-learning in both instructor-led (synchronous) and online (asynchronous) course delivery in such isolated systems are investigated. The discussion focuses on the ”Energy Academy”, a distance learning programme of continuous education and training on Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and Energy Savings for local administration officials and for persons involved in the formulation of energy and environmental policies in the Aegean islands of Greece. The programme has been developed by the Environmental & Energy Management Research Unit, School of Chemical Engineering - National Technical University of Athens, and Ios-Aegean Energy Agency, a nonprofit organization focusing on increasing the islands' energy production from RES and promoting energy efficient technologies and practices. The main characteristics of the programme and of the web platform that supports it are presented. From the experience gained during the first two years, it could be said that the programme has come to fill a training need and satisfy an existing demand. The increasing number of participants and the programme’s evaluation by them, have shown that it has achieved its goals, at a great extent. Some failings, however, like the high dropout rate and the rather low percentage of the target audience in the participants, should be taken into account for the programme’s continuation

Eco-efficiency assessment in the agricultural sector: The case of fresh form tomato crop in Phthiotida

During the last two decades, the concept of eco-efficiency has been recognized as a suitable measure of progress towards a greener and more sustainable economy. The prefix “eco-” refers to both economic and ecological (environmental) performance. Therefore, it becomes critical to develop eco-efficiency metrics for measuring environmental and economic performance of a system. The current paper presents a methodological framework that attempts to explore the use of eco-efficiency indicators in meso-level water use systems and through them to assess the impact of new and innovative technologies in such systems. The environmental performance is expressed through the use of environmental midpoint impact categories while the economic performance is measured using the total value added to the system’s product due to water use. The proposed approach has been applied to a water use system of the agricultural sector, and more specifically to the fresh form tomato crop production in Phthiotida

Cost Effectiveness Analysis for Renewable Energy Sources Integration in the Island of Lemnos, Greece

The development of more efficient and least cost energy management interventions is of great importance for isolated energy systems. Islands are typical examples of isolated regions, often highly dependent on imported fossil fuels but with a significant and often unexploited Renewable Energy (RE) potential. This paper presents a least cost planning approach towards the integration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in such systems, which is applied to the island of Lemnos, Greece. The approach involves the application of Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA) and Incremental Cost Analysis (ICA) for screening possible alternatives and determining the most economically efficient and effective plan for their implementation. The objective of the application of the proposed approach in the specific case study is to meet through the use of RE technologies all the additional electricity and thermal energy demand, compared to 2007. Various supply side options are evaluated, and an implementation plan is derived. The results indicate that the excess of both electricity and thermal energy demand can be met in the near future without any significant changes in existing infrastructure, while other options should be considered for a more extended time horizon