An agent-based exploration of the effect of multi-criteria decisions on complex socio-technical heat transitions

Natural gas for heating is widespread in the built environment of The Netherlands, where the government aims at limiting heat demand and reducing natural gas consumption over the coming decades. In the owner-occupied residential sector, this transition is complex and requires cooperation and coordination of individuals and groups that make investment decisions. We use agent-based modelling to explore the effect that various financial policies could have in an illustrative neighbourhood, given that households make multi-criteria and group decisions. In the scientific literature, this type of energy model seldom focuses on the adoption of competing technologies by households as individual and collective agents grouped in homeowner associations in multi-family buildings. To address the problem and knowledge gaps, we model individual preferences with a multi-criteria perceived lifetime utility submodel, and decisions as outcomes of individual preferences and a threshold voting system. We explore energy taxes (natural gas and electricity), regulated price of heat from networks, and subsidies (insulation and heat pumps). Under our assumptions, we found that combinations of fiscal policies, regulated heat prices, and subsidies can sometimes create incentives for households to disconnect from natural gas, but that steering the transition mainly with financial policies could prove ineffective. We also found that, in terms of collective CO2 reduction, some transitions in which only some households phase out natural gas could have results similar to some scenarios in which households only improve their dwellings’ insulation levels

Coordination of Industrial Symbiosis through Anchoring

This paper aims to contribute to understanding the dynamics of industrial symbiosis. More specifically, we focus on the dynamics of anchoring as they can be observed in the Chinese context of eco-industrial development. We define anchoring as those activities that (typically local) actors perform to create local physical and institutional conditions conducive to the emergence and further development of industrial symbiosis in a specific regional industrial system. We argue that, in the study of industrial symbiosis dynamics, it is conceptually more useful to focus on anchoring as an activity, rather than anchor tenants as actors. Based on a systematic literature review, we distinguish two types of anchoring activities: institutional and physical. We analyze anchoring dynamics in the case of Qijiang Industrial Symbiosis (Chongqing Municipality) in China. We have identified the physical and institutional anchoring activities, the actors responsible for these activities, and how different anchoring activities build on each other over time. Our case study shows that the attempt to bring about industrial symbiosis in the Qijiang industrial park can be described in a richer way than just ‘governmental planning’

Industrial Ecology in support of building a Circular Economy

Circular economy and industrial ecology mark different concepts that both support the transition to a sustainable society. Industrial symbiosis, one of the main tools in the field of industrial ecology, can support a successful circular economy, because of its focus on industrial networks and clusters

Social Life Cycle Assessment of Brine Treatment in the Process Industry: A Consequential Approach Case Study

Social life cycle assessment (SLCA) was developed to complement the environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) and economic assessment. Contrary to LCA, SLCA is not yet standardized, and the consequential approach is little discussed in literature. This study aims to perform a consequential SLCA and investigate the applicability of the method in industrial decision making. The aforementioned assessment is done within the Zero Brine project, which works on zero liquid discharge technology for water, salt, and magnesium recovery from brine effluents. The developed SLCA systems are gate-to-gate, and the analysis is performed at two levels: Hotspot and site-specific. The system boundaries consist of a demineralized water (DW) production company, a chlor–alkali company, an electricity provider, a magnesium distributor in the Netherlands, and a Russian mining company. The latter exists only in the boundaries before the change due to the Zero Brine project, because recovered magnesium is expected to replace the Russian magnesium imported in the Netherlands. Within the system boundaries, the stakeholders contributing the most are the DW and the magnesium distributor companies. The former produces the brine and thus recovers the magnesium and salt. The latter is the exclusive distributor of Russian magnesium in the Netherlands. Overall, we find that the recovered magnesium results in improving social performance mainly in “Freedom of association and collective bargaining”, “Fair salary”, and “Health and Safety” due to decreasing the dependency of the Netherlands on Russia, while increasing operation in a country with much stronger environmental regulation and corporate commitment to sustainability issues. Modelling with SLCA may not result in the expected societal benefits, as the Russian community and workers may not benefit due to the large geographical boundaries of the system under study. Nevertheless, the application of the consequential approach can be considered suitable, yet complicated, for offering decision makers adequate social information. We recommend that decision makers in the DW company invest in magnesium recovery and that decision makers in the magnesium distributor company distribute the recovered magnesium

How can a dynamic Life cycle inventory data repository learn from open data approaches in other fields?

Davis et al. (2010) have tried to answer the research question: “how can the IE community use the web to its full potential in order to facilitate its research?” as information/ knowledge of IE dispersed among different communities. In particular, the tedious process of how researchers conduct Life cycle Inventory and further analysis is depicted.In 2007, WikiPathways (http://www.wikipathways.org/) was established to facilitate the contribution and maintenance of pathway information by the biology community. Inspired by such examples, we propose a dynamic life cycle inventory repository, which is defined here as a comprehensive knowledge base on a particular domain, where the collecting, accumulating, tagging, commenting and tracking of all the evolving documents into the emerging repository are continuously moderated by contributors collectively. The repository is open to all LCA practitioners to actively contribute to and benefit from the researches they have conducted. It is thus interesting to discuss how this repository will look like. What impact will such a knowledge infrastructure have on the IE community? What is the functional requirement for designing such a dynamic repository? What kinds of modern Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be adopted, given the aforementioned problems?In order to engineer a dynamic LCA repository, other scientific fields that have similar approaches to open data, open publication and data repository merit investigation. The first step would be to conduct a literature survey and research into the open data practices in relevant fields. It is expected that best practices and functional requirements for building this repository can be derived.We hope this effort can initiate research into an open and collaborative LCA data platform and it also corresponds with the current trend of open LCA, LCI database Interoperability and fusion of conflicting information (Suh et al. 2013; Ciroth 2007; Gavankar & Suh 2014).Reference:Ciroth, A., 2007. ICT for environment in life cycle applications openLCA—A new open source software for life cycle assessment. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 12(4), pp.209–210. Davis, C., Nikolic, I. & Dijkema, G.P.J., 2010. Industrial Ecology 2.0. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 14(5), pp.707–726.Gavankar, S. & Suh, S., 2014. Fusion of conflicting information for improving representativeness of data used in LCAs. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 19(3), pp.480–490.Suh, S. et al., 2013. Interoperability between ecoinvent ver. 3 and US LCI database: a case study. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, (Lci)

Circular Business Model experimentation: local biodigestion network (version 1.1.0): Agent-based model repository

The purpose of the model is to explore the influence of the design of circular business models (CBMs) on CBM viability. The model represents an Industrial Symbiosis Network (ISN) in which a processor uses the organic waste from suppliers to produce biogas and nutrient rich digestate for local reuse. CBM viability is expressed as value captured (e.g., cash flow/tonne waste/agent) and the survival of the network over time (shown in the interface). In the model, the value captured is calculated relative to the initial state, using incineration costs as a benchmark. Moderating variables are interactions with the waste incinerator and actor behaviour factors. Actors may leave the network when the waste supply for local production is too low, or when personal economic benefits are too low. When the processor decides to leave, the network fails. Theory of planned behaviour can be used to include agent behaviour in the simulations

Actor Behaviour and Robustness of Industrial Symbiosis Networks: An Agent-Based Modelling Approach

Industrial Symbiosis Networks (ISNs) consist of firms that exchange residual materials and energy locally, in order to gain economic, environmental and/or social advantages. In practice, ISNs regularly fail when partners leave and the recovery of residual streams ends. Regarding the current societal need for a shift towards sustainability, it is undesirable that ISNs should fail. Failures of ISNs may be caused by actor behaviour that leads to unanticipated economic losses. In this paper, we explore the effect of these behaviours on ISN robustness by using an agent-based model (ABM). The constructed model is based on insights from both literature and participatory modelling in three real-world cases. It simulates the implementation of synergies for local waste exchange and compost production. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was used to model agent behaviour in time-dependent bilateral negotiations and synergy evaluation processes. We explored model behaviour with and without TPB logic across a range of possible TPB input variables. The simulation results show how the modelled planned behaviour affects the cash flow outcomes of the social agents and the robustness of the network. The study contributes to the theoretical development of industrial symbiosis research by providing a quantitative model of all ISN implementation stages, in which various behavioural patterns of entrepreneurs are included. It also contributes to practice by offering insights on how network dynamics and robustness outcomes are not only related to context and ISN design, but also to actor behaviour

How can a dynamic Life cycle inventory data repository learn from open data approaches in other fields?

Davis et al. (2010) have tried to answer the research question: “how can the IE community use the web to its full potential in order to facilitate its research?” as information/ knowledge of IE dispersed among different communities. In particular, the tedious process of how researchers conduct Life cycle Inventory and further analysis is depicted. In 2007, WikiPathways (http://www.wikipathways.org/) was established to facilitate the contribution and maintenance of pathway information by the biology community. Inspired by such examples, we propose a dynamic life cycle inventory repository, which is defined here as a comprehensive knowledge base on a particular domain, where the collecting, accumulating, tagging, commenting and tracking of all the evolving documents into the emerging repository are continuously moderated by contributors collectively. The repository is open to all LCA practitioners to actively contribute to and benefit from the researches they have conducted. It is thus interesting to discuss how this repository will look like. What impact will such a knowledge infrastructure have on the IE community? What is the functional requirement for designing such a dynamic repository? What kinds of modern Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be adopted, given the aforementioned problems? In order to engineer a dynamic LCA repository, other scientific fields that have similar approaches to open data, open publication and data repository merit investigation. The first step would be to conduct a literature survey and research into the open data practices in relevant fields. It is expected that best practices and functional requirements for building this repository can be derived. We hope this effort can initiate research into an open and collaborative LCA data platform and it also corresponds with the current trend of open LCA, LCI database Interoperability and fusion of conflicting information (Suh et al. 2013; Ciroth 2007; Gavankar & Suh 2014). Reference: Ciroth, A., 2007. ICT for environment in life cycle applications openLCA—A new open source software for life cycle assessment. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 12(4), pp.209–210. Davis, C., Nikolic, I. & Dijkema, G.P.J., 2010. Industrial Ecology 2.0. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 14(5), pp.707–726. Gavankar, S. & Suh, S., 2014. Fusion of conflicting information for improving representativeness of data used in LCAs. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 19(3), pp.480–490. Suh, S. et al., 2013. Interoperability between ecoinvent ver. 3 and US LCI database: a case study. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, (Lci)

Industrial Symbiosis Network implementation ABM (version 1.1.0)

This is a repository containing an agent-based model (code, data, documents and results) of Industrial Symbiosis Network implementation. The repository is related to the publication: Lange, K.P., Korevaar, G., Nikolic, I., Herder, P.M., 2021. Actor Behaviour and Robustness of Industrial Symbiosis Networks: An Agent-Based Modelling Approach, 2020:64:4. JASSS. https://doi.org/10.18564/JASSS.4635 The purpose of the model is to explore the influence of actor behaviour, combined with environment and business model design, on the survival rates of Industrial Symbiosis Networks (ISN), and the cash flows of the agents. We define an ISN to be robust, when it is able to run for 10 years, without falling apart due to leaving agents. The model simulates the implementation of local waste exchange collaborations for compost production, through the ISN implementation stages of awareness, planning, negotiation, implementation, and evaluation. One central firm plays the role of waste processor in a local composting initiative. This firm negotiates with other firms to become a supplier of their organic residual streams. The waste suppliers in the model can decide to join the initiative, or to have the waste brought to the external waste incinerator. The focal point of the model are the company-level interactions during the implementation or ending of synergies. The model consists of three types of actors, waste suppliers, processor, and incinerators. The modeled waste supplier and processor are part of the ISN. In the model these agent types negotiate and evaluate the outcomes by means of the Theory of Planned Behavior. The modeled incinerator is part of the external environment. This agent acts as the infinite sink of all waste flows, taking up op the waste that is not used in the local composting initiative

Agent-based model of actor negotiation behavior for exploring economic robustness of Industrial Symbiosis

Technical conditions and actor behavior both affect the evolution of Industrial Symbiosis Networks (ISNs) that exchange local materials and energy in a Circular Economy. In order to design interventions that shape ISNs toward financially robust exchanges, it is necessary to understand the effects of different actor behaviors during waste exchange negotiations. This study aimed to show to what extent and how the financial robustness of ISNs is influenced by negotiation behavior of ISN firms. We created an agent-based model based on empirical data and literature, in which the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) can be added to a tit-for-tat negotiation process. The model showed that the added self-evaluation and feedback to behavioral intention and behavior of actors is crucial for the sta-bility of ISNs. In addition, model simulations revealed divergent financial results for waste suppliers when we compare different design scenarios, indicating that the model contributes to understanding effects of design interventions in ISNs. In the future, we will calibrate the model with more empirical evidence, and ex-tend the experiments with other scenarios