1. Sust Flashcards
Historically seen, where does the concept of sustainability come from?
Historical Background p.2 (sum)
f.e. 1972: Club of Rome - The Limits to Growth
-> was an important driver towards a strong sustainability discourse in society
What was the main message from the publication “The Limits to Growth” - by the Club of Rome?
Main message:
The human ecological footprint cannot continue to grow at the current rate, otherwise the carrying capacities of the system will be reached and the system collapses.
1) Which role had the UN in pushing towards a global sustainability agenda?
2) Which international conferences were relevant? (4)
1)
Hosted key events like the 1992 Earth Summit
Advances political thinking on sustainability
Established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a universal framework for sustainability.
(…)
2)
1992: UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED)
2002: World Summit on Sustainable Development
2012: Rio + 20 Conference
2015: 2030 UN-Agenda for Sustainable Development
(see Details in sum)
What are the SDGs?
set of 17 global goals established by the United Nations in 2015
(The SDGs provide a universal framework to address social, economic, and environmental challenges, with the aim of creating a more sustainable, equitable, and peaceful world by 2030.)
(see all 17 in sum)
Which SDGs are of special relevance in the context of energy studies? (3)
SDG 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
SDG 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
What is the most prominent definition of sustainability/sustainable development?
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
-> Inter-generational and Intra-generational sustainability (!)
1) What are the three pillars of sustainability?
2) What is the Tripple Bottom Line?
Three pillars:
- social
- economic
- environmental
The Triple Bottom Line:
- People, the social equity bottom line
- Profit, the economic bottom line
- Planet, the environmental bottom line
What are the planetary boundaries?
The planetary boundaries delineate a safe operating space for humanity.
(…a safe operating space within which the earth system is likely to maintain its function as life support system for humanity.)
Which different tools exist to evaluate the sustainability of a certain product, service or system? (4)
Cumulative Energy Demand (CED)
Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI) / Harvesting Factor
Grey Energy / Embodied Energy (EE)
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
What is the Cumulated Energy Demand (CED)?
It is the sum of the primary energy demand associated with the whole life cycle of a product
-> It covers extraction, production, usage and disposal
-> Unit: MJ per unit
How can the CED be calculated?
CED =
CEDsubex + CEDsubP + CEDsubU + CEDsubD
CED = Primary energy demand for extraction (ex), production (P), use (U), and disposal (D) of a product, service, or system
Cumulative Energy Demand (CED)
Name all steps!
- Defining the system boundaries of the product/system
- Energy balance: The energy and material flows within those boundaries need to be identified
- Analysis: Approaches of all energy and material flows: Input-Output-Analyses or a Process chain analysis
How does the process chain analysis work?
The total primary energy demand of each process chain step is identified and summed up for one functional unit.
A ?? is a quantified description of the function of a product. It serves as a refernce basis for all calculations regarding the impact assessment.
functional unit
What ist the Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI) / Harvesting Factor?
It indicates how often a plant recovers the cumulated energy demand (CED) during its lifetime.
A high ratio of the EROEI bzw. Harvesting Factor indicates what?
A good energetic performance which does not necessarily correlate with the environmental performance
What can be used to calculate the EROEI/Harvesting Factor (the energy payback ratio) of a power plant?
The Cumulative Energy Demand (CED)
Formel zur Berechnung des EROEI bzw. Harvesting Factor?
EROEI
= Output / Input
= Energy delivered / Energy required to deliver that energy
What is the Grey Energy / Embodied Energy?
A concept that simplifies the assessment of the environmental impact for materials and products used
-> includes all energy needed for a product/service/system’s raw material extraction, transport, processing/manufacturing, assembly and installation
-> excludes the operational energy (i.e. the energy demand during usage, as well as the disposal of materials)
Mainly used in the context of buildings
?? includes all energy that is needed for a product/service/system’s raw material extraction, transport, processing/manufacturing, assembly and installation
Embodied Energy / Grey Energy
Wie lautet die Formel zur Berechnung der Embodied Energy (EE) / Grey Energy?
Embodied Energy
= CEDsubex + CEDsubP
CEDsubex: total primary energy demand required for the extraction and transport
CEDsubP: total primary energy demand required for the production, assembly and installation
What is the Life Cycle Assessment/Analysis (LCA)?
One of the leading quantitative methodologies for assessing the sustainability of human activities.
Objective: To quantitatively compile and evaluate the environmental impacts of a product/service/system over its whole lifespan
LCA studies can be performed for various scopes: ?? (5)
Cradle-to-gate
-> raw materials until factory gate; focusing on extraction and transport
Gate-to-gate
-> focuses only on the manufacturing process
Cradle to cradle
-> closed loop
Cradle to grave
-> raw materials extraction, transport, manufacturing, consumption/usage until disposal/recycling
Well to Wheel (for transport fuels and vehicles)
Use of LCA for what purposes possible? (5)
Product development & improvement (to improve the environmental performance of products within different steps of their life cycle)
Strategic planning (to support decisions on relevant indicators including measuring procedures)
Public policy making (to inform decision makers on the environmental performance of different products/systems)
Marketing
Research
(…)
How does a Life Cycle Assessment/Analysis (LCA) function? (General Methodological Framework) (4 Steps/Phases)
Step 1: Goal and scope definition
Step 2: Inventory Analysis
Step 3: Impact Assessment
Step 4: Interpretation
(see sum)
Which methodology is one of the leading quantitative methodologies for assessing the sustainability of human activities?
Life Cycle Assessment/Analysis (LCA)
The LCA is set out in the ISO?
ISO 14040 to ISO 14043 Standards
“phase of life cycle assessment involving the compilation and quantification of inputs and outputs for a product throughout its life cycle.”
Which step/phase of LCA?
Inventory Analysis
The “phase of life cycle assessment aimed at understanding and evaluating the magnitude and significance of the potential environmental impacts for a product system throughout the life cycle of the product.”
Which step/phase of LCA?
Impact Assessment
?? is a class representing environmental issues of concern to which life cycle inventory analysis results may be assigned.
Impact category
LCA
While the ?(1)? is the central element of the inventory analysis, the central element in impact assessment is the ?(2)?.
(1) functional unit
(2) impact category
“phase of life cycle assessment in which the findings of either the inventory analysis or the impact assessment, or both, are evaluated in relation to the defined goal and scope in order to reach conclusions and recommendations.”
Which step/phase of LCA?
Interpretation (Step/Phase 4)
