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- Fauré, Eléonore, et al.
(författare)
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Methods for assessing future scenarios from a sustainability perspective
- 2017
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Ingår i: European Journal of Futures Research. - : SPRINGER HEIDELBERG. - 2195-4194 .- 2195-2248. ; 5:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Future scenarios are often used to address long-term challenges characterised by uncertainty and complexity, as they can help explore different alternative future pathways. Scenarios can therefore be a useful tool to support policy and guide action towards sustainability. But what sustainability aspects are put forward in scenarios and how are they assessed? This paper aims to explore how to assess future scenarios, categorised according to Borjeson et al. (Futures 38: 723-739, 2006) i.e. predictive, explorative and normative scenarios. By conducting a literature review and a document analysis, we map tools and methods that are currently used to assess environmental and social sustainability aspects in scenarios. We also draw on experiences from methods for impact assessments of Swedish municipal comprehensive plans, which can be considered as future scenarios. We identify whether some sustainability aspects are less recurrent than others in the reviewed assessments or even left out. We find that there is no single tool that can be used to assess scenarios. Some quantitative tools based on databases may be more suitable for assessing scenarios within a shorter time horizon, whereas qualitative assessment methods might better fit the purpose of long-term transformative scenarios. We also find that assessment frameworks may be useful to guide the assessment, as to what its intended purpose is and which sustainability aspects to include. Finally we discuss whether further assessment tools are needed in order to include a wider array of potential environmental or social consequences of the content of scenarios.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Arushanyan, Yevgeniya, 1984-
(författare)
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LCA of ICT solutions: environmental impacts and challenges of assessment
- 2013
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Information and communication technology (ICT) is playing an important role in modern society, contributing to economic growth and affecting society and people’s lifestyles. There are high expectations on ICT to contribute to sustainable development, e.g. through greenhouse gas emissions reductions. ICT solutions (ICT products and services) are often perceived as having low or no environmental impacts compared with conventional alternatives. In order to determine the potential of ICT to reduce environmental impacts, environmental assessments of ICT solutions compared with other alternatives are needed. A number of studies have already assessed the environmental impacts of individual ICT solutions and the ICT sector. However, more research is needed, covering different types of impacts (primary, secondary, rebound, etc.) in a variety of impact categories (e.g. climate change, ozone depletion, eutrophication, human and ecotoxicity, etc.). The findings then need to be systematised in order to identify hot-spots and draw generic conclusions. As the area is rather new and fast-developing, assessment methods need to be critically appraised in order to identify challenges and developments necessary for high quality assessments.This thesis aims to contribute to the knowledge on the direct life cycle environmental impacts of ICT solutions and to investigate and analyse the challenges of applying Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as a tool for environmental assessment of ICT solutions. Two research questions: “What life cycle environmental impacts and their causes can be identified for ICT solutions?” and “What are the methodological challenges of assessing the ICT solutions using LCA?” were analysed by reviewing published LCAs on ICT solutions and conducting a case study of online and printed newspapers. The literature review helped identify hotspots in the life cycle of ICT solutions, draw generic conclusions concerning environmental impacts and their causes, and identify major challenges to LCA application. The case study assessed the environmental impacts of traditional and new media solutions and provided information on methodological challenges.The results show that impacts other than climate change potential and energy use are not well-studied in the ICT sector, creating a risk of possible sub-optimisation and problem shifting. Manufacturing and the use phase are concluded to be the most environmentally intense life cycle stages of ICT products in many studies. However, transportation and end-of-life treatment should not be omitted in the assessments, although their impacts appear lower, as uncertainty and lack of data might be a reason for underestimations.As ICT is under constant and rapid development, environmental assessment of ICT solutions faces challenges regarding e.g. data quality and availability; choice of data type; methodological choices (e.g. choice of functional unit, scope definition and allocation); and assumptions on user behaviour. These affect the final results and thus need to be carefully considered by LCA practitioners.The outcomes of this thesis can benefit practitioners and decision-makers, improving knowledge on the environmental impacts of ICT solutions and challenges in applying LCA for assessment of ICT solutions, and providing improved grounds for more informed decision-making. Areas for further research regarding methodology development and filling knowledge gaps are also identified.
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| 4. |
- Arushanyan, Yevgeniya, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Lessons learned : Review of LCAs for ICT products and services
- 2014
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Ingår i: Computers in industry (Print). - : Elsevier. - 0166-3615 .- 1872-6194. ; 65:2, s. 211-234
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Application of information and communication technology (ICT) is often expected to result in decreased environmental impacts. Several studies have, however, also addressed the possibilities of negative impacts. It is therefore important to assess environmental impacts of ICT products and services. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool for assessing the potential impacts of a product or service over the whole life-cycle, i.e. from raw material acquisition to waste management via production and use phases. The aim of this paper is to review LCA studies of ICT products and services, including a few Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) studies. Many of the studies have considered consumer products, such as computers and TVs. Other consumer products, such as game consoles and TV peripherals, as well as business products, e.g. related to networks, are however more rarely assessed. Manufacturing and use phase have the highest impact in the life cycle. Use phase seems to be the predominant in energy consumption and global warming for some ICT products but for others, especially energy efficient, low weight products, manufacturing may dominate. Rapid technological development is stressed by several authors as a source of variability of results, impacting the production processes and suppliers as well as the content and energy performance of the actual devices. In the future, conducting LCA on ICT, the research community needs to consider the limitations found in the studies conducted so far. It encompasses, among others, the need to address a broad spectrum of environmental impacts, including human and ecotoxicological impacts; modeling actual e-waste management, covering informal management when relevant; and considering user behavior in a realistic way, accounting for rebound and other indirect effects.
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| 6. |
- Finnveden, Göran, et al.
(författare)
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Policy Instruments towards a sustainable waste management
- 2016
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Ingår i: Solid waste management: Policy and planning for a sustainable society. - : Apple Academic Press. - 9781771883740 - 9780429091650 ; , s. 185-246, s. 185-246
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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