CDM and JI in View of the Sustainability Debate

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Joint Implementation (JI) and emissions trading are the three flexible instruments incorporated in the Kyoto Protocol. This paper presents a critical assessment of the sustainability of energy-related technology innovation and transfer in the context of CDM and JI. The rebound effect is discussed by comparing intended and unintended project and process outcomes. Attention is given to the role of nations and key actors like multinationals in achieving sustainability goals of the protocol.

Practice and Outcomes of Multidisciplinary Research for Environmental Sustainability

Since about 1990, when sustainability became a key concept for a wide range of scientific disciplines, the need for multidisciplinary collaboration has increased. We present five illustrative cases from the long-standing environmental research work at the University of Groningen. The projects described are about hazardous materials risk, odor annoyance, energy scenario evaluation, climate decision analysis, and household consumption, respectively. The various case discussions emphasize experiences in research conceptualization, project design and execution, main findings, policy advice and surplus value, and difficulties met. Conclusions and recommendations are presented about the practice of multidisciplinary research. Finally, some challenges for research and development about environmental sustainability are discussed.

A global sustainability perspective on 3D printing technologies

Abstract Three-dimensional printing (3DP) represents a relative novel technology in manufacturing which is associated with potentially strong stimuli for sustainable development. Until now, research has merely assessed case study-related potentials of 3DP and described specific aspects of 3DP. This study represents the first comprehensive assessment of 3DP from a global sustainability perspective. It contains a qualitative assessment of 3DP-induced sustainability implications and quantifies changes in life cycle costs, energy and CO2 emissions globally by 2025. 3DP is identified to cost-effectively lower manufacturing inputs and outputs in markets with low volume, customized and high-value production chains as aerospace and medical component manufacturing. This lowers energy use, resource demands and related CO2 emissions over the entire product life cycle, induces changes in labour structures and generates shifts towards more digital and localized supply chains. The model calculations show that 3DP contains the potential to reduce costs by 170–593 billion US $, the total primary energy supply by 2.54–9.30 EJ and CO2 emissions by 130.5–525.5 Mt by 2025. The great range within the saving potentials can be explained with the immature state of the technology and the associated uncertainties of predicting market and technology developments. The energy and CO2 emission intensities of industrial manufacturing are reducible by maximally 5% through 3DP by 2025, as 3DP remains a niche technology. If 3DP was applicable to larger production volumes in consumer products or automotive manufacturing, it contains the (theoretical) potential to absolutely decouple energy and CO2 emission from economic activity

Problems with biogas implementation in developing countries from the perspective of labor requirements

Most households in rural developing countries depend on firewood from public forests or agricultural bio-wastes for cooking. Public forests, though, are declining due to an increasing population and inefficient use of wood. Use of agricultural wastes on the other hand involves loss of soil nutrients since these resources are used as a substitute for inorganic fertilizers. Biogas energy can be an alternative in providing clean energy for cooking as well as improving soil fertility with the slurry. However, the labor spent on producing biogas can limit its use as a source of energy and fertilizers. Therefore, this study aims to determine the labor requirement of different mono and co-digestion biogas energy systems. The assessment is made by using simple models involving different schemes of resources collection and transportation based on reported relevant literature. The analysis shows that biogas production can be labor intensive when transportation of feedstock, water, and slurry is involved. Transporting these resources over a one kilometer (km) distance requires about ten times the amount of time spent on firewood collection and transportation. The largest part of the time for biogas production activities is spent on water collection and transportation. Low labor biogas production is possible only if all the resources are available nearby (not transported). One of the advantages of the biogas energy system is to use the slurry for soil enrichment. However, this can only be realized when the slurry is converted to compost or directly applied on nearby lands. In general, biogas production involving resources (feedstock, water and slurry) transportation is not a viable alternative to save the time spent on the traditional use of firewood. However, a community biogas system involving resource system integration is an option to provide clean energy with acceptable labor requirements of production

Use of Animal Species Data in Environmental Impact Assessments

Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) should ideally help minimize adverse effects on biological diversity by considering impacts of projects on wide ranges of species. This paper investigates how recent Dutch EIAs included the species comprising animal diversity. We present results of two studies on fauna data used in the EIAs. Objectives were to determine for different taxa (a) the relative representation of species in Environmental Impact Statements (EISs); (b) the extent to which EISs referred to specific species and the accuracy of survey data referred to; and (c) apparent roles of different EIA actors in species inclusion. EIAs were found to use data on various taxa but on limited numbers of species. The frequency with which taxa were included varied significantly. Birds were most frequently included, followed by mammals, amphibians, and other species groups. The quality of data on birds exceeded that regarding other vertebrates. Our results indicate that (a) EIA working groups of independent experts were the most influential in determining the data to be used; (b) on average, proponents included data more often than required by guidelines; and (c) in 30 to 40% of the EIAs, the participation of nongovernmental organizations prompted use of data. Despite the key role of experts in data inclusion, the taxon rankings found in the EIAs showed little deviation from those observed in studies on people's preferences for species. Given the limited ranges of species considered, it is doubtful that the EIAs examined effectively contributed to conserving animal species diversity.

Upgrading of organic waste: production of the copolymer poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-valerate by Ralstonia eutrophus with organic waste as sole carbon source

Two types of fermented organic waste (trade and industry waste and fruit and vegetable waste) were successfully used as a sole carbon source to produce poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-valerate (PHBV) by Ralstonia eutrophus (formerly Alcaligenes eutrophus) via oxygen limitation. The production of PHBV could be optimized by optimizing the oxygen transfer through the fermentor. Thereby, a peak concentration of 1.1 g PHBV per liter cell suspension, 40 w% of cell dry weight, was obtained at an aeration rate of 0.24 mol O2/h·kg biomass. The yield of PHBV on the fatty acid concentration in the organic waste was 0.16 g polymer/g volatile organic matter. The process obtained, compares well with the commercial production process of PHBV based on glucose.

Does isoprene protect plant membranes from thermal shock? A molecular dynamics study

The question of why plants release isoprene when heat stressed has been continuously debated for more than half a century. In this work we use molecular dynamics simulation techniques to directly investigate the interaction between isoprene and a model phospholipid membrane in atomic detail. It is found that isoprene partitions preferentially in the center of the membrane and in a dose dependent manner enhances the order within the membrane without significantly changing the dynamical properties of the system. At a concentration of 20 mol% isoprene (16 isoprene molecules per 64 lipid molecules) the effect of the addition of isoprene on the membrane order is equivalent to a reduction in temperature of 10 K, rising to a reduction of 30 K at 43 mol% isoprene. The significance of the work is that it provides for the first time direct evidence that isoprene stabilizes lipid membranes and reduces the likelihood of a phospholipid membrane undergoing a heat induced phase transition. Furthermore it provides a clear mechanistic picture as to why plants specifically utilize isoprene for this purpose.