| 1. |
- Ahlborg, Helene, 1980, et al.
(författare)
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Bringing Technology into Social-Ecological Systems ResearchMotivations for a Socio-Technical-Ecological Systems Approach
- 2019
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 11:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this synthesis paper is to present the motivations and conceptual basis for research on socio-technical-ecological systems (STES), addressing the need for interdisciplinary studies targeting the technological mediation of human-environment relationships. The background is the very limited number of collaborations between scholars of social-ecological systems and sociotechnical systems (SES), despite repeated calls for bridging work. The synthesis builds on an in-depth review of previous literature, interdisciplinary exchanges, and empirical examples. The result is arguments for why a sociotechnical understanding of technology' is of central importance for SES studies, related to how technology: (1) mediates human-environment relationships; (2) brings ambivalence to these relationships; (3) enhances and transforms human agency and provides a source of constitutive power; (4) changes scalar relationships, enabling our interaction with and impact on the natural world across time and space. Furthermore, we present an STES analytical approach which starts from symmetrical attention to technology, society, and environment, specifically targeting interfaces and relationships of critical relevance for SES scholars, and address counterarguments that we have encountered. We conclude that a shift to STES research will enhance our knowledge of system interfaces that are often overlooked, opening further avenues for research and real-world interventions.
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| 2. |
- Ahlborg, Helene, 1980, et al.
(författare)
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Ecology and sociotechnical systems research – motivations for theoretical and methodological integration across fields
- 2017
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Ingår i: International Sustainability Transitions conference 2017.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Currently, we are witnessing a number of global trends that do not promise well for the future. Accelerating climate change, loss of biodiversity, chemical pollution, disappearance of natural forest and degradation of fishing grounds and agricultural lands are just a few of the serious environmental problems that threaten the functional and structural integrity of ecosystems, to an extent that also human societies risk collapse. The scale of human impact is now such that scholars suggest that we live in the Anthropocene. The trends are driven by several linked factors, which are not easily disentangled into manageable specific problems to be solved by specific policies. More than ever, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborations are needed in order to address these urgent challenges. The objective of this paper is to argue for the importance of research on socio-technical-ecological systems (STES) rather than social-ecological (SES) and sociotechnical systems (STS) separately. Hence, we address researchers in both the social-ecological and sociotechnical fields. We organize the argument around six reasons why “technology” should be integrated into SES studies. We call these reasons: (1) the interface and mediation aspect, (2) ambivalence, (3) the agency aspect, (4) the question of scale, (5) the question of governance and politics, and (6) the question of epistemology and framing. We also highlight potential conceptual conflicts and mistranslations. Our discussion is primarily a theoretical argument, exemplified with empirical examples.Among the conceptual challenges, we note that SES scholars, if they consider technology in their analyses, generally treat it as an exogenous factor or as a passive background element. Similarly, STS scholars tend to neglect ecological dynamics and refer to the ecological domain mainly in terms of inputs and outputs, e.g. natural resources, environmental and health problems caused by human activities. In light of the discussion, we conclude that the importance of collaborating across the two fields goes beyond each field adding pieces together. We argue that integration and translation across these domains will lead to qualitative change in the theoretical and methodological approaches of both fields; and that technology, society and ecology should be given symmetric analytical attention.
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| 3. |
- Ahlborg, Helene, 1980, et al.
(författare)
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Technology and social-ecological change: Scale mismatch, synergy and conflict in poor rural communities
- 2015
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There is little communication and bridging between the research fields of social-ecological and socio-technical systems approaches, while both fields construct systems that share characteristics such as complexity, uncertainty and multi-actor involvement. Beyond that, little conceptual work has been done to understand socio-technical-ecological dynamics. In the real world, however, processes of socio-technical change are at the heart of human use of and relations to natural resources and environments. In this paper we argue that there is need to engage theoretically and empirically with the interfaces between society, technology and nature, to identify how these system conceptions overlap, where and how pressures and feedbacks emerge and what synergies, trade-offs and conflicts that appear as a result of interactions. In this paper, we aim to take the conceptual discussion forward by highlighting where the current discussion may be misleading and by providing an empirical example of how socio-technical change and social-ecological dynamics can be studied and analyzed together. In order to achieve this we draw on socio-technical systems thinking, the concept of scale mismatch and literature on common pool resources (CPR). Our conceptual points are developed using an empirical case study of an NGO-led micro-hydropower development project in Tanzania. The fieldwork took place in 2012-2013 over a period of three months, and multiple data sets were gathered; 142 semi-structured interviews, documentation from participatory observation, group discussions, workshops and documentation (project reports, a GIS study of soil erosion risk, a baseline study of local livelihoods).This case study of a small-scale decentralized energy system problematizes a proposal made recently by some socio-technical scholars: that collective action and CPR theories are relevant to apply in analyses of decentralized energy systems. These attempts at bridging theoretically between fields are valuable. However, the system characteristics are sometimes similar only at the surface, and the application of CPR theory can in some cases be misleading and theoretically flawed, in cases where the technology is poorly understood. Based on our case study and conceptual discussion, we conclude that introduction of a new technology can motivate influential members of a community to engage in natural resource management and environmental protection, also when this generates social conflict and has negative implications for local food security. Theoretically, we conclude that developed understanding of non-human elements, scale and relations of power are critical to advancing the bridging work while keeping complementary analyses genuinely grounded in the theoretical base of each field.
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| 4. |
- Arvidsson, Rickard, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Energy and resource use assessment of graphene as a substitute for indium tin oxide in transparent electrodes
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier BV. - 0959-6526. ; 132, s. 289-297
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- One of the most promising applications of graphene is as material in transparent electrodes in applications such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and solar cells. In this study, we assess life cycle resource requirements of producing an electrode area of graphene by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and compare to the production of indium tin oxide (ITO). The resources considered are energy and scarce metals. The results show that graphene layers can have lower life cycle energy use than ITO layers, with 3–10 times reduction for our best case scenario. Regarding use of scarce metals, the use of indium in ITO production is more problematic than the use of copper in graphene production, although the latter may constitute a resource constraint in the very long run. The substitution of ITO by graphene thus seems favorable from a resource point of view. Higher order effects may outweigh or enhance the energy use benefit. For example, cheaper, graphene-based electrodes may spur increased production of LCDs, leading to increased absolute energy use, or spur the development of new energy technologies, such as solar cells and fuel cells. The latter could potentially lead to larger absolute reductions in resource use if these new technologies will replace fossil-based energy systems.
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| 5. |
- Arvidsson, Rickard, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Environmental Assessment of Emerging Technologies: Recommendations for Prospective LCA
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Industrial Ecology. - : Wiley. - 1530-9290 .- 1088-1980. ; 22:6, s. 1286-1294
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The challenge of assessing emerging technologies with life cycle assessment (LCA) has been increasingly discussed in the LCA field. In this article, we propose a definition of prospective LCA: An LCA is prospective when the (emerging) technology studied is in an early phase of development (e.g., small-scale production), but the technology is modeled at a future, more-developed phase (e.g., large-scale production). Methodological choices in prospective LCA must be adapted to reflect this goal of assessing environmental impacts of emerging technologies, which deviates from the typical goals of conventional LCA studies. The aim of the article is to provide a number of recommendations for how to conduct such prospective assessments in a relevant manner. The recommendations are based on a detailed review of selected prospective LCA case studies, mainly from the areas of nanomaterials, biomaterials, and energy technologies. We find that it is important to include technology alternatives that are relevant for the future in prospective LCA studies. Predictive scenarios and scenario ranges are two general approaches to prospective inventory modeling of both foreground and background systems. Many different data sources are available for prospective modeling of the foreground system: scientific articles; patents; expert interviews; unpublished experimental data; and process modeling. However, we caution against temporal mismatches between foreground and background systems, and recommend that foreground and background system impacts be reported separately in order to increase the usefulness of the results in other prospective studies.
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| 6. |
- Arvidsson, Rickard, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Lessons from early assessments of production processes for the nanomaterial graphene
- 2016
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Ingår i: SETAC Europe 22th Case Study Symposium, 20-22 September, Montpellier, France.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Graphene is a new nanomaterial with many promising applications, including in composite materials, transparent displays, electronic components and biosensors. We have conducted a number of life cycle assessment (LCA) studies of emerging production routes for this material. The studies cover the three production routes that currently have the most patents and largest scientific interest: Exfoliation, chemical vapour deposition (CVD), and epitaxial growth on silicon carbide. From these studies, a number of results have been obtained, which provide environmental guidance towards less impacting graphene production at an early stage in technology development. Results for exfoliation show that although some processes (chemical and thermal reduction) are energy-intensive (in the order of 1000 MJ/kg), others (ultrasonication) have life cycle energy requirements below those of today’s energy-intensive materials (
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| 7. |
- Arvidsson, Rickard, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Prospective Life Cycle Assessment of Epitaxial Graphene Production at Different Manufacturing Scales and Maturity
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Industrial Ecology. - : Wiley. - 1530-9290 .- 1088-1980. ; 21:5, s. 1153-1164
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Epitaxial growth is a potential production process for the new material graphene, where it is grown on silicon carbide (SiC) wafers at high temperatures. We provide first estimates of the life cycle cumulative energy demand, climate change, terrestrial acidification, and ecotoxicity of this production. For this purpose, we applied prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) for three production scenarios (lab, pilot, and an industrial scenario), which reflect different production scales and technological maturity. The functional unit was one square centimeter of graphene. Results show that the three scenarios have similar impacts, which goes against previous studies that have suggested a decrease with larger production scale and technological maturity. The reason for this result is the dominance of electricity use in the SiC wafer production for all impacts (>99% in the worst case, >76% in the best case). Only when assuming thinner SiC wafers in the industrial scenario is there a reduction in impacts by around a factor of 10. A surface-area-based comparison to the life cycle energy use of graphene produced by chemical vapor deposition showed that epitaxial graphene was considerably more energy intensive-approximately a factor of 1,000. We recommend producers of epitaxial graphene to investigate the feasibility of thinner SiC wafers and use electricity based on wind, solar, or hydropower. The main methodological recommendation from the study is to achieve a temporal robustness of LCA studies of emerging technologies, which includes the consideration of different background systems and differences in production scale and technological maturity.
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| 8. |
- Arvidsson, Rickard, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Proxy Measures for Simplified Environmental Assessment of Manufactured Nanomaterials
- 2018
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Ingår i: Environmental Science & Technology. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0013-936X .- 1520-5851. ; 52:23, s. 13670-13680
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Proxy measures have been proposed as a low-data option for simplified assessment of environmental threat given the high complexity of the natural environment. We here review studies of environmental release, fate, toxicity, and risk to identify relevant proxy measures for manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs). In total, 18 potential proxy measures were identified and evaluated regarding their link to environmental risk, an aspect of relevance, and data availability, an aspect of practice. They include socio-technical measures (e.g., MNM release), particle-specific measures (e.g., particle size), partitioning coefficients (e.g., the octanol–water coefficient), and other fate-related measures (e.g., half-life) as well as various ecotoxicological measures (e.g., 50% effect concentration). For most identified proxy measures, the link to environmental risk was weak and data availability low. Two exceptions were global production volume and ecotoxicity, for which the links to environmental risk are strong and data availability relatively decent. As proof of concept, these were employed to assess seven MNMs: titanium dioxide, cerium dioxide, zinc oxide, silver, silicon dioxide, carbon nanotubes, and graphene. The results show that none of the MNMs have both high production volumes and high ecotoxicity. Several refinements of the assessment are possible, such as higher resolution regarding the MNMs assessed (e.g., different allotropes) and different metrics (e.g., particle number and surface area). The proof of concept shows the feasibility of using proxy measures for environmental assessment of MNMs, in particular for novel MNMs in early technological development, when data is particularly scarce.
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| 9. |
- Arvidsson, Rickard, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Review of Screening Risk Assessment Methods for Nanomaterials
- 2016
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Nanomaterials are a new and growing type of material, and concerns have been raised regarding their potential risks to human health and to the environment. These concerns have spurred the development of risk assessment methods with thepurpose of assessing risks related to nanomaterials. However, such developments have proven to be challenging, both with regard to assessing toxic effects ofnanomaterials and to predicting human and environmental exposure to nanomaterials. In response to these challenges, a number of screening risk assessment methods fornanomaterials have been developed. In contrast to full risk assessments, screening risk assessments typically assess risk in a qualitative manner, for example on an ordinalscale from 1 to 3. The aim of this report is to investigate existing screening risk assessment methods for nanomaterials and provide recommendations on their furtherdevelopment. In order to fulfil this aim, a background section about three general and often-used screening risk assessment approaches is first provided. Second, screeningrisk assessment methods developed specifically for nanomaterials are reviewed.Third, recommendations on potentially beneficial developments within the field are provided in a concluding discussion. The review showed that many quite different screening risk assessment methods for nanomaterials exist. A total of 20 were identified: ANSES, CB Nanotool 2.0, early warning signs, Genaidy’s method, Groso’s method, Guidance, Hierarchical Rank Aggregation, LICARA nanoSCAN, Nano-Evaluris, NanoHAZ, NANoREG, NanoRiskCat, NanoSafer, Occupational Hazard Band for Nano, Precautionary Matrix,Relative Risk Analysis, Risk Trigger Scores, Stoffenmanager Nano, TEARR, and the WCD model. These methods share many features, such as the scoring and ranking of risk on ordinal scales. However, they are also different in several respects. The exact scales used in the different methods differ, and, more importantly, they vary concerning the complexity of the scoring and ranking procedure, and which hazard input parameters are used in order to conduct the scoring and ranking. Some methods are relatively simple and require few hazard input parameters, while others are morecomplex, and require many input parameters, some of which are difficult to determine. It was also noted that most methods focused on occupational human health risks, while fewer focused on environmental risks. Based on the review, we propose three main recommendations. First, the further development of screening risk assessment methods focusing on environmental risks is warranted. Second, modest complexity and input data requirements arebeneficial for the applicability of the method and more in line with the spirit of screening risk assessment. Third, since ordinal scales have problems related to mathematical operations and scale compression, we recommend they be used with caution.
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| 10. |
- Arvidsson, Rickard, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Risk scoring and ranking of nanomaterials – a way forward?
- 2016
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Ingår i: Society for Risk Analysis Europe: Nordic Chapter Annual Meeting, 14-15 November, Gothenburg, Sweden.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Assessing environmental and health risks of chemical substances is a formidable challenge. Where they will be transported in the environment, which organisms will be exposed to them, and what the effects will be, are difficult questions to answer. To enable such assessments, multi-media environmental fate models and (eco)toxicological data are often employed in so-called chemical risk assessments. Nanomaterials (NMs), having at least one dimension in the nanometre size range, are a new class of substances, and their risks have proven to be even more difficult to assess. This is because models developed for conventional chemical substances are generally not applicable to NMs. In order to still be able to say something about NMs’ risks, less complicated risk scoring and ranking methods have been developed. We have conducted a review of these methods, identifying 20 in total. In these methods, risk is not assessed in terms of comparing exposure and effects as in conventional chemical risk assessment, but instead scored and ranked on ordinal scales, for example from 1 to 5 or from green to red. They often follow decision tree-like frameworks, where different hazard-related properties, such as whether the NM is bound to a surface and is in the form of bio-persistent fibres, are employed to score and rank NMs. Some methods assess NMs specifically, some assess products containing NMs, and some assess labs using NMs. Human health risks - in particular occupational health - is more often covered than are environmental risks. These methods provide easy-to-understand scoring and ranking of NMs. However, some methods are complicated to the extent that they rival the complicatedness of conventional chemical risk assessments. The use of ordinal scoring scales in risk assessment has also been questioned due to their subjectivity and mathematical limitations, which include that common mathematical operations such as addition and multiplication are strictly not allowed for ordinal scales. Ultimately, the question is to which extent such scoring and ranking methods can escape uncertainties related to the release, environmental fate and potential effects on humans and other organisms? However, it is clear that risk scoring and ranking can be used for screening assessments and thereby aid prioritization for more detailed assessments. Methods employed should be transparent, relatively simple and assure that factors included are cautiously selected to include important aspects of NM release, fate, exposure and effects.
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