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Access to reliable and affordable energy is vital for sustainable development. In the off-grid areas of developing countries, decentralized energy solutions have received increasing attention due to their contributions to reducing poverty. However, most of the rural population in many developing countries still has little or no access to modern energy technologies. This paper assesses the factors that determine the successes and failures of decentralized energy solutions based on local harmonized case studies from heterogeneous contexts from Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and South America. The case studies were analyzed through the coupled lenses of energy transition and the Water–Energy–Food Security (WEF) Nexus. The findings indicate that access to modern decentralized energy solutions has not resulted in complete energy transitions due to various tradeoffs with the other domains of the WEF Nexus. On the other hand, the case studies point at the potential for improvements in food security, incomes, health, the empowerment of women, and resource conservation when synergies between decentralized energy solutions and other components of the WEF Nexus are present. Full article

Marine tourism in Arctic Canada has grown substantially since 2005. Though there are social, economic and cultural opportunities associated with industry growth, climate change and a range of environmental risks and other problems present significant management challenges. This paper describes the growth in cruise tourism and pleasure craft travel in Canada’s Nunavut Territory and then outlines issues and concerns related to existing management of both cruise and pleasure craft tourism. Strengths and areas for improvement are identified and recommendations for enhancing the cruise and pleasure craft governance regimes through strategic management are provided. Key strategic approaches discussed are: (1) streamlining the regulatory framework; (2) improving marine tourism data collection and analysis for decision-making; and (3) developing site guidelines and behaviour guidelines. Full article

Cruising is a segment of tourism that is increasing at a faster rate than other kinds of leisure travel, especially in the Arctic region. Due to changing environmental conditions in recent years, cruise ships have been able to access more regions of the Arctic for a longer operating season. We investigated the cruiser motivations for polar expedition cruising and the educational dimensions of expedition cruising. Motivations of cruisers were identified using entrance surveys prior to embarking on four separate itineraries (n = 144). We conducted semi-structured interviews, n = 22), made participant observations while on board the vessel for one trip to support survey findings, and followed up with a post-trip survey to assess attitudinal changes (n = 92). We found that, unlike mainstream cruisers, expedition cruisers are motivated by opportunities for novel experience and for learning. Subsequently, the educational programming offered by expedition cruise companies is an important component of the cruise experience. We found that this programming has positively impacted cruiser attitudes, behaviours, and knowledge post-cruise. These findings will encourage cruise companies to improve their educational offerings (i.e., preparedness, program quality, level of engagement) to meet the expectations of their clientele, thereby transferring critical knowledge of environmental stewardship. Full article

Collection and treatment of wastewater have a huge impact on the environment and economy, both at the local and global levels. Eco-innovation may play a paramount role in the reduction of the environmental impact of such systems, and in their greater sustainability in economic, environmental, and social terms. Decentralization appears as a logical solution to tackle sustainability problems of wastewater management systems, as it focuses on the on-site treatment of wastewater and on local recycling and reuse of resources contained in domestic wastewater (in primus, water itself). This paper analyses the needs, technological options and contribution to water management of decentralized systems. Decentralized solutions in general will tend to be compatible with local water use and reuse requirements, where locally treated water could support agricultural productivity or (in more urban areas) be used as a substitute for drinking-quality supply water for compatible uses. In analyzing sustainability of technology, different dimensions should be taken into account (in particular, local issues). There is no fixed or universal solution to the technological issue; to the contrary, all relevant studies demonstrated there are varying degrees of sustainability in the way a technology is selected and operated, to avoid exporting problems over time or space. Full article

Abstract: Major biophysical, economic, and political changes in the Arctic regions during the past two decades has grown business opportunities in the Arctic countries, such as tourism. More specifically, with a focus on sustainability of resources, the industry of ecotourism has emerged and become the fastest growing area within tourism. Ecotourism is a travel experience that embraces environmental conservation and the sustainability of local resources and culture. Ecotourism and related businesses must practice ethical behavior to obtain both government and social permission to conduct and carry out their operations. Government and community acceptance, or gaining a social license to operate (SLO) is key. Being accepted as a part of the community is not a formal agreement or document, but ongoing negotiations, practices, and acts of corporate social responsibility (CSR). For example, in many Arctic regions where tourism occurs, the land and resources have other designated uses such as agriculture, forestry, or fisheries. Added infrastructure grows a smaller community, as revenue generating opportunities bring an influx of people and use the resources and infrastructure, as well as have an impact on the local culture and traditions. Sustaining the local and traditional resources and lands, especially in the Arctic where damage can be unrepairable, becomes a key factor in decisions regarding tourism developments. Thus, the need for responsible businesses with a sustainability focus. The need for practices of CSR and SLO in ecotourism is undeniable. Understanding that businesses hold responsibility and play a role in society, the environment, and the life of the locals is very important. Full article

The aim of this paper is to develop two concepts regarding phosphorus that will serve as a contribution fulfilling the call for intergenerational equity: to improve knowledge of future resources and to develop a framework by setting priorities for maximizing availability with a hierarchy of natural resources. The increasing human demand for minerals and metals is causing persistent concern about long-term supply security. This holds true particularly for phosphorus. Phosphorus is bioessential; it cannot be substituted. There are no unlimited resources for phosphorus. The question of how large the reserves are and the potential for finding additional reserves and resources for a long-term supply are, therefore, of interest to numerous stakeholders, from governments to individuals. We examine governments’ needs and individuals’ rights to know private exploration data. Because of the essential nature of phosphorus, we emphasize the public’s special right to know as much as possible about phosphate reserves, resources and the geopotential for new discoveries, based upon the basic human right to feed oneself in dignity. To fulfill the call for intergenerational equity, however, knowledge alone is not enough; guidelines for management have to follow. This can be achieved by defining a hierarchy of natural resources for setting priorities. For humankind’s technological and cultural development, a sufficient supply of energy resources must be considered the key element; therefore, efforts to maximize information that will enable best decisions to be made have been the strongest. A hierarchy of natural resources with fossil and nuclear energies at the top was proposed. However, with the new development of renewable forms of energy and the decreasing role of fossil-fuel energy, the hierarchy of natural resources that defines priorities must be revised. We propose a hierarchy that replaces fossil-fuel energy at the top with phosphorus. Full article

The study was to assess the: (i) effect of human urine and other organic inputs on cabbage growth, yield, nutrient uptake, N-use efficiency, and soil chemical characteristics; (ii) economic returns of the use of urine and/or other organic inputs as a source of fertiliser for cabbage production. To meet these objectives, participatory field trials were conducted at Dzorwulu, Accra. Four different treatments (Urine alone, Urine + dewatered faecal sludge (DFS), Urine + poultry droppings (PD), NPK (15-15-15) + PD) were applied in a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) with soil alone as control. Each treatment was applied at a rate of 121 kg·N·ha⁻¹ corresponding to the Nitrogen requirement of cabbage in Ghana. Growth and yield parameters, plant nutrient uptake, and soil chemical characteristics were determined using standard protocols. There were no significant differences between treatments for cabbage head weight, or total and marketable yields. However, unmarketable yield from NPK + PD was 1 to 2 times higher (p < 0.05) than those from Urine + PD, Urine + DFS, and Urine alone. Seasonal effect on yields was also pronounced with higher (p < 0.001) cabbage head weight (0.95 kg) and marketable yields (12.7 kg·ha⁻¹) in the dry season than the rainy season (0.42 kg and 6.27 kg·ha⁻¹). There was higher (p < 0.005) phosphorous uptake in cabbage from Urine + PD treated soil than those from other treatments. Nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium (K) uptake in the dry season was significantly higher than the rainy season. Soils treated with Urine + DFS and Urine + PD were high in total N content. Urine + PD and Urine + DFS treated soils gave fairly high yield than PD + NPK with a net gain of US$1452.0 and US$1663.5, respectively. The application of urine in combination with poultry droppings has the potential to improve cabbage yields, nutrient uptake, and soil nitrogen and phosphorous content. Full article

The Arctic region is changing rapidly and dramatically as a result of climate change, perhaps two to three times faster than other areas of the world. Its inaccessibility, remoteness, and low population density no longer offers sufficient protection from expanding human use and development for its rich and diverse natural and cultural heritage. While considerable attention is being focused on better understanding and more effectively protecting its natural resources, far less is being done to identify and preserve this region’s significant maritime heritage resources. This remoteness and inaccessibility that has protected Arctic resources for so long has also constrained our capacity to conduct sufficient archaeological studies to inform and guide the place-specific identification and preservation of what remains of this compelling history and heritage. The wilderness landscape of the Arctic has a rich and relatively well-documented historical record, spanning more than 2000 years of exploration and commerce, and of Indigenous cultures stretching further back over 4000–6000 years. More effectively using this historical record to identify significant maritime cultural landscapes in the Arctic and expanding the use of precautionary approaches to the preservation of these landscapes will not only assist in establishing regional priorities for targeted archaeological surveys and investigations, but will also likely minimize what will be lost forever as the inevitable “ice-free Arctic”, as well as its expanded human footprint, approaches. Full article

As one of the world’s most traded agricultural commodities, coffee constitutes a significant part of the overall economy and a major source of foreign revenue for many developing countries. Coffee also touches a large portion of the world’s population in the South, where it is mainly produced, and in the North, where it is primarily consumed. As a product frequently purchased by a significant share of worldwide consumers on a daily basis in social occasions, the coffee industry has earned a high profile that also attracts the interest of non-governmental organizations, governments, multilateral organizations and development specialists and has been an early adopter of Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS). Responding to the trend of increased interest on sustainability, it is therefore not surprising that coffee continues to be at the forefront of sustainability initiatives that transcend into other agricultural industries. Based on literature and authors’ experiences, this article reflects on the VSS evolution and considers a sustainability model that specifically incorporates producers’ local realities and deals with the complex scenario of sustainability challenges in producing regions. Agreeing on a joint sustainability approach with farmers’ effective involvement is necessary so that the industry as a whole (up and downstream value chain actors) can legitimately communicate its own sustainability priorities. This top-down/bottom-up approach could also lead to origin-based, actionable and focused sustainability key performance indicators, relevant for producers and consistent with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The initiative also aims to provide a sustainability platform for single origin coffees and Geographical Indications (GIs) in accordance with growers’ own realities and regions, providing the credibility that consumers now expect from sustainability initiatives, additional differentiation options for origin coffees and economic upgrade opportunities for farmers. Full article

Sensor embedded products utilize sensors implanted into products during their production process. Sensors are useful in predicting the best warranty policy and warranty period to offer a customer for remanufactured components and products. The conditions and remaining lives of components and products can be estimated prior to offering a warranty based on the data provided by the sensors. This helps reduce the number of claims during warranty periods, determines the right preventive maintenance (PM) policy, and eliminates unnecessary costs inflicted on the remanufacturer. The renewing, one-dimensional Free Replacement Warranty (FRW), Pro-Rata Warranty (PRW), and combination FRW/PRW policies’ costs for remanufactured products and components were evaluated with/without offering PM for different periods in this paper. To that end, the effect of offering renewable, one-dimensional, Free Replacement Warranty (FRW), or Pro-Rata Warranty (PRW), or combination FRW/PRW warranty policies for each disassembled component and sensor embedded remanufactured product was examined, and the impact of sensor embedded products on warranty costs was assessed. A case study and varying simulation scenarios is examined and presented to illustrate the model’s applicability. Full article

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is difficult to sustainably manage. One key issue is the challenge of planning for WEEE flows as current and future quantities of waste are difficult to predict. To address this, WEEE generation and gross domestic product (GDP) data from 50 countries of the pan-European region were assessed. A high economic elasticity was identified, indicating that WEEE and GDP are closely interlinked. More detailed analyses revealed that GDP at purchasing power parity (GDP PPP) is a more meaningful measure when looking at WEEE flows, as a linear dependency between WEEE generation and GDP PPP was identified. This dependency applies to the whole region, regardless of the economic developmental stage of individual countries. In the pan-European region, an increase of 1000 international $ GDP PPP means an additional 0.5 kg WEEE is generated that requires management. Full article

Mangroves provide multiple benefits, from carbon storage and shoreline protection to food and energy for natural resource-dependent coastal communities. However, they are coming under increasing pressure from climate change, coastal development, and aquaculture. There is increasing need to better understand the changes mangroves face and whether these changes differ or are similar in different parts of the world. Using a multiple case study approach, focused on Vietnam, Zanzibar, and Brazil, this research analyzed the drivers, pressures, states, impacts, and responses (DPSIR) of mangrove systems. A qualitative content analysis was used on a purposively sampled document set for each country to identify and collate evidence under each of the DPSIR categories. Population growth and changing political and economic processes were key drivers across the three countries, leading to land use change and declining states of mangroves. This had an impact on the delivery of regulatory and provisioning ecosystem services from mangroves and on the welfare of coastal communities. Responses have been predominantly regulatory and aim to improve mangrove states, but without always considering ecosystem services or the consequences for welfare. The issue of scale emerged as a critical factor with drivers, pressures, impacts, and responses operating at different levels (from international to local), with consequences for response effectiveness. Full article

Much of the effort to address environmental issues at the local level has focused on defining principles and aims rather than addressing the operational difficulties of implementation. Drawing upon insights from sustainability scholarship, this study reviews two cases: the development of a Swedish standard for implementing sustainable development at municipality, county council, and regional levels, and attempts by a small rural municipality to establish a process towards implementing the Aalborg Commitments. The research illustrates the specific organizational and managerial complexity of these case study experiences. It concludes that an organizational focus on integration and mainstreaming deserves particular attention to achieve broader sustainability, or related environmental or adaptation goals. The results, in particular, highlight the role that integrated management systems can play for sustainability work at the local level. Full article

A technical and socio-economic feasibility study of biomass briquette production was performed in Iloilo City, Philippines, by integrating a registered group of the informal sector. The study has shown that the simulated production of biomass briquettes obtained from the municipal waste stream could lead to a feasible on-site fuel production line after determining its usability, quality and applicability to the would-be users. The technology utilized for briquetting is not complicated when operated due to its simple, yet sturdy design with suggestive results in terms of production rate, bulk density and heating value of the briquettes produced. Quality briquettes were created from mixtures of waste paper, sawdust and carbonized rice husk, making these material flows a renewable source of cost-effective fuels. An informal sector that would venture into briquette production can be considered profitable for small business enterprising, as demonstrated in the study. The informal sector from other parts of the world, having similar conditionality with that of the Uswag Calajunan Livelihood Association, Inc. (UCLA), could play a significant role in the recovery of these reusable waste materials from the waste stream and can add value to them as alternative fuels and raw materials (AFR) for household energy supply using appropriate technologies. Full article

In view of the increasing depletion of fossil fuel resources, the concept “bioeconomy” aims at the gradual replacement of fossil fuels by renewable feedstock. Seen as a comprehensive societal transition, the bioeconomy is a complex field that includes a variety of sectors, actors, and interests and is related to far-reaching changes in today’s production systems. While the objectives pursued—such as reducing dependence on fossil fuels, mitigating climate change, ensuring global food security, and increasing the industrial use of biogenic resources—are not generally contentious, there is fierce controversy over the possible pathways for achieving these objectives. Based on a thorough literature review, the article identifies major lines of conflict in the current discourse. Criticism of the prevalent concept refers mainly to the strong focus on technology, the lack of consideration given to alternative implementation pathways, the insufficient differentiation of underlying sustainability requirements, and the inadequate participation of societal stakeholders. Since today it cannot be predicted which pathway will be the most expedient—the one already being taken or one of the others proposed—this paper suggests pursuing a strategy of diversity concerning the approaches to shape the bioeconomy, the funding of research topics, and the involvement of stakeholders. Full article

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), adopted in 1992 and entered into force at the end of 1993, established a global regime on access to genetic resources (GR) and sharing of benefits arising from their utilization (Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) regime). Its protocol—the Nagoya Protocol (NP)—which entered into force 21 years later in 2014, clears up some terminological ambiguities of the Convention, clarifies and develops several procedural and instrumental elements of the regime, and obliges States Parties to implement some of its provisions, including the core instrument of the regime: the bilateral ABS agreement between users and providers of GR, that became a condition for obtaining access to the resource. However, scholars who analyzed the ABS regime as well as its official bodies find, and sometimes deplore, the small number of ABS agreements concluded so far, under the CBD as under the NP. This paper has two objectives: First, to assess the effectiveness of the ABS regime implemented by the CBD and the NP on the basis of its central instrument: the ABS agreements concluded between users and providers of GR. The aim is to accurately document the number of ABS agreements concluded since the entry into force of the regime. To our knowledge, such a counting that is neither piecemeal nor has an estimate yet been produced. To do so, I combine several sources, including first hand data collected from the official information agencies—the National Focal Points (NFP)—of each of the States Parties to the NP. Second, I provide a critical summary of the existing explanations of the low number of ABS agreements concluded and I evaluate the corresponding causal mechanisms, relying on the results I obtained regarding the number of permits and agreements. Full article

The “pay-as-you-throw” (PAYT) scheme is an economic instrument for waste management that applies the “polluter pays” principle by charging the inhabitants of municipalities according to the amount of residual, organic, and bulky waste they send for third-party waste management. When combined with well-developed infrastructure to collect the different waste fractions (residual waste, paper and cardboard, plastics, bio waste, green cuttings, and many recyclables) as well as with a good level of citizens’ awareness, its performance has frequently been linked to an increase in the collection rates of recyclables. However, the establishment and operation of PAYT systems can require significant resource inputs from municipalities. In this paper, PAYT is analysed through a case study from the German County of Aschaffenburg, covering nearly 20 years of implementation across 32 municipalities with 173,000 inhabitants. Key performance indicators include temporal trends in the county’s recyclables collection rate, waste treatment fees for residents, and municipal waste management costs, benchmarked against German municipalities not implementing PAYT. We conclude that PAYT could make an important contribution towards material reuse and recycling objectives for the new circular economy. Full article

Governance has become a cornerstone in addressing complex linkages between multiple resources such as water, energy, and food. However, contributions of governance research in interdisciplinary research projects are either lacking or highly controversial. Drawing on Integrated Water Resources Management-related experiences of German research projects in emerging and developing countries, we demonstrate how to strengthen NEXUS-related governance analyses: There has to be a stronger focus on the analyses of existing and useful governance strategies as well as of conditions for governance transitions; governance analyses should refer to different types of problems, instead of only focusing on single cases and abstract analyses; and answers must be based on a more elaborate practice of inter- and transdisciplinary research. These suggestions should be implemented on the level of single researchers, but should also require incentives on an institutional level. Full article

Regional planning approaches to mining infrastructure aim to reduce the conflict associated with mining operations and existing land uses, such as urban areas and biodiversity conservation, as well as the cumulative impacts that occur offsite. In this paper, we describe a method for conducting Geographical Information System (GIS) least-cost path and least-cost corridor analysis for linear mining infrastructure, such as roads. Least-cost path analysis identifies the optimal pathways between two locations as a function of the cost of traveling through different land use/cover types. In a case study from South-East Sulawesi, Indonesia, we identify potential linear networks for road infrastructure connecting mines, smelters, and ports. The method used interview data from government officials to characterise their orientation (perceived importance and positive/negative attitude) toward the social and environmental factors associated with mining infrastructure. A cost-surface was constructed by integrating spatial layers representing the social and environmental factors to identify areas that should be avoided and areas that were compatible with linear infrastructure using the least-cost path analysis. We compared infrastructure scenario outputs from local and national government officials by the degree of spatial overlap and found broad spatial agreement for infrastructure corridors. We conclude by discussing this approach in relation to the wider social-ecological and mine planning literature and how quantitative approaches can reduce the conflict associated with infrastructure planning. Full article

Copper is among the most important metals by production volume and variety of applications, providing essential materials and goods for human wellbeing. Compared to other world regions, Europe has modest natural reserves of copper and is highly dependent on imports to meet the domestic demand. Securing access to raw materials is of strategic relevance for Europe and the recycling of urban mines (also named “in-use stock”) is a significant mean to provide forms of secondary copper to the European industry. A dynamic material flow analysis model is applied to characterize the flows of copper in the European Union (EU-28) from 1960 to 2014 and to determine the accumulation of this metal in the in-use stock. A scrap balance approach is applied to reconcile the flow of secondary copper sent to domestic recycling estimated through the model and that reported by historic statistics. The results show that per capita in-use stock amounts at 160–200 kg/person, and that current end-of-life recycling rate is around 60%. The quantification of historic flows provides a measure of how the European copper cycle has changed over time and how it may evolve in the future: major hindrances to recycling are highlighted and perspectives for improving the current practices at end-of-life are discussed. Full article

The world is facing a tremendous resource supply challenge. One strategy of regions and nations to address this issue is to encourage research and innovation through funding programs. Most of the time, these programs require that research and innovation projects quantify potential increases in resource efficiency achieved by the projects. However, no consensus exists on how to calculate resource efficiency; therefore, a wide range of approaches is followed. As a result, resource efficiency results are not comparable between projects, and because no rules or guidelines exist to help project developers, the approach followed is not always appropriate. This paper aims to discuss the existing approaches and methods used to evaluate resource efficiency. In this context, resource efficiency is defined as the ratio between the benefits obtained from resources and the impact or amount of resources used. The most challenging step is the determination of this ratio’s denominator because a wide range of methods to quantify resource consumption exist and are being used. They can be classified as gate-to-gate or life cycle based methods and can be subdivided into accounting methods and impact assessment methods. Each method considers different aspects of resources; thus, no single method aims to answer the same research questions. Therefore, project developers must make a well informed choice about which method to use. This paper provides recommendations to support this choice, as well as the overall evaluation and the valorization of the resource efficiency ratio in the framework of research and innovation programs. Full article

Management of family forests in the United States has been long-influenced by public policies and programs that encourage active management on these private lands, especially afforestation of idle lands and reforestation of cut-over lands. Financial incentive programs to encourage family forest reforestation date back to the 1940s, and in the beginning were funded by the federal government. Beginning in the early 1970s, state governments, especially those with strong forestry-based economies, saw a need to offer their own incentives, primarily cost-share programs to increase forest productivity. These programs are considered to be successful, but little research addresses the value and increased timber supply that result from the state investment. Here, we use historical data from the South Carolina Forest Renewal Program (FRP), one of the oldest and well-established state forestry cost-share programs, to determine the incremental timber outputs generated. Marginal analysis was used to produce financial comparison between regeneration options that include cost-share and those that do not. Annual funding for the FRP is currently $1,000,000 and in the long-run five dollars of economic impact is created for each dollar invested, and over a half million tons of additional wood is added to the annual timber supply. Full article

Across higher education institutions there has, for some time, been a growing move towards incorporation of the concepts of sustainability into the policies and practices of the organisations. Using the University of Northampton, in the United Kingdom as a case study, this project aimed to understand the efficacy of student engagement with a sustainability project called Planet Too. The study employed a range of methods including waste and energy audits, as well as questionnaire surveys both with students and landlords to examine their environmental attitudes, beliefs, and practices. The project was able to lead to increased awareness and engagement with the concepts of sustainability amongst the students. Recycling, though it was not one of the initiatives focused upon, was a key practice mentioned by both students and landlords. The engagement of the landlords was focused primarily on conservation of energy and water. However, conservation practices generally remained static, with limited significant or long-term changes in environmental practices. The key implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations suggested. Full article

Although in the last 40 years only sugarcane has been harnessed for the production of ethanol in Brazil, corn production has grown strongly in certain areas, and may serve as a supplementary feedstock for ethanol production in integrated plants during the sugarcane off-season. The aim of this study is to evaluate the environmental and energy performance of ethanol production from sugarcane, corn, and grain sorghum in a Flex Mill in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. A life cycle assessment was carried out to survey the production of ethanol from each individual feedstock, and the integration of two of these to increase production during a one-year period. Results indicate that the environmental and energy performance are greatly influenced by agricultural activities, highlighting the importance of sugarcane cultivation. Still, there was an increasing trend of Climate Change impacts, Human Toxicity (carcinogenic) and Ecotoxicity, as well as reduced impact of Photochemical Oxidant Formation and Energy Return on Investment (EROI) as the proportion of ethanol from starchy sources in integration scenarios increases. Full article

This paper discusses the impacts of proposed development projects at Emu Park—a coastal town in Queensland, Australia—on regional economy. The input–output (IO) analysis is used to assess the economic benefits to the region. The economic impacts from the construction stage are identified. The ongoing benefits from the projects to the regional economy due to a potential increase in tourists’ visits are investigated. The regional economy will grow more rapidly if the connections among the tourism related sectors and key industries are encouraged. Local procurement strategies can assist in enhancing the benefits from increased tourism to the region. Full article

Work is one of the main inputs in agriculture. It can be performed by humans, animals, or machinery. Studies have shown strong differences throughout the world in labour required to produce a kilogram of food. We complement this line of research by linking these data to food consumption patterns, which are also strongly different throughout the world. We calculate the hours of farm labour required to produce a person’s annual food consumption for four scenarios. These scenarios are comprised of two extreme cases for production systems and diets, respectively, that illustrate prevailing global differences. Our results show that the farm labour requirements differ by a factor of about 200 among production systems, and by a factor of about two among consumption patterns. The gain in farm labour efficiency with mechanization is enormous: only 2–5 hours of farm labour are needed to produce the food consumed by a person in a year. This value is much lower than the time an average person spends on buying food, cooking, or eating. Full article

Resource depletion aspects are repeatedly used as an argument for a shift towards new battery technologies. However, whether serious shortages due to the increased demand for traction and stationary batteries can actually be expected is subject to an ongoing discussion. In order to identify the principal drivers of resource depletion for battery production, we assess different lithium-ion battery types and a new lithium-free battery technology (sodium-ion) under this aspect, applying different assessment methodologies. The findings show that very different results are obtained with existing impact assessment methodologies, which hinders clear interpretation. While cobalt, nickel and copper can generally be considered as critical metals, the magnitude of their depletion impacts in comparison with that of other battery materials like lithium, aluminum or manganese differs substantially. A high importance is also found for indirect resource depletion effects caused by the co-extraction of metals from mixed ores. Remarkably, the resource depletion potential per kg of produced battery is driven only partially by the electrode materials and thus depends comparably little on the battery chemistry itself. One of the key drivers for resource depletion seems to be the metals (and co-products) in electronic parts required for the battery management system, a component rather independent from the actual battery chemistry. However, when assessing the batteries on a capacity basis (per kWh storage capacity), a high-energy density also turns out to be relevant, since it reduces the mass of battery required for providing one kWh, and thus the associated resource depletion impacts. Full article

Due to mounting concerns about the security of raw material supplies, numerous studies dealing with the quantification of supply risks and material criticality at the national level have been carried out in previous years. Regarding these studies, most approaches are indicator based static screening methods analyzing large numbers of raw materials and identifying those which are most critical for an economy. The majority of these screening methods quantify supply risks and vulnerabilities for one base year without taking into account temporal changes. Dynamic approaches for specific raw materials analyzing affected value chains in detail have been introduced recently; however, these studies do not intend to provide a screening of larger numbers of commodities. In this paper, we present a simple dynamic screening approach to assess raw material criticality at the country level building upon methods from innovation economics. The indicators applied in this study are only based on broadly available production and trade data, which makes this approach relatively easy to apply. We test our methodology on the example of Germany and Japan—two economies with highly specialized industries and low domestic raw material deposits, and, hence, high import dependency. The results are comparable to those of previously conducted multi indicator based static screening methods. However, they provide additional insight into temporal developments over the previous decade. Full article

Micro-scale/small wind turbines, unlike larger utility-scale turbines, produce electricity at a rate of 300 W to 10 kW at their rated wind speed and are typically below 30 m in hub-height. These wind turbines have much more flexibility in their costs, maintenance and siting, owing to their size, and can provided wind energy in areas much less suited for direct supply to the grid system. In the future under climate change, the energy landscape will likely shift from the present centralized electricity generation and delivery system to a more distributed and locally-generated electricity and delivery system. In the new system configuration, the role of relatively small sustainable electricity generators like small wind turbines will likely become more prominent. However, the small wind industry has been substantially slow to progress in Ontario, Canada, and there is much debate over its viability in a growing energy dependent economy. This study seeks to demonstrate the performance of a small wind turbine, and speculate on its potential power output and trend over Ontario historically over the last 33 years using the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) data. We assessed the efficiency of a Bergey Excel 1 kW wind turbine at the pre-established Kortright Centre for Conservation test site, located north of Toronto. Using a novel approach, the Bergey optimized power curve was incorporated with reanalysis data to establish power output across Ontario at three-hour resolution. Small turbine-based wind power around the Great Lakes and eastern James Bay increased during winter and fall, contributing up to 10% of the annual electricity demand in some regions in Ontario. We purport that increases in power output are driven by long-term reductions in sea and lake ice concentrations affecting atmospheric stability in surrounding regions. Full article

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) typically reward landowners for managing their land to provide ecosystem services that would not otherwise be provided. REDD+—Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation—is a form of PES aimed at decreasing carbon emissions from forest conversion and extraction in lower-income countries. A key challenge for REDD+ occurs when it is implemented at a group, rather than an individual landowner, level. Whilst achieving a group-level reduction relies on individuals changing their interaction with the forest, incentives are not aligned explicitly at the individual level. Rather, payments are made to a defined group as a single entity in exchange for verified reduced forest loss, as per a PES scheme. In this paper, we explore how REDD+ has been implemented in one multiple-village pilot in Tanzania with the village defining the group. Our findings suggest that considerable attention has been paid towards monitoring, reporting, verification (MRV), and equity. No explicit mechanism ensures individual compliance with the village-level PES, and few villages allocate funds for explicit enforcement efforts to protect the forest from illegal activities undertaken by individual group members or by outsiders. However, the development of village-level institutions, “social fencing,” and a shared future through equal REDD+ payments, factor into decisions that influence the level of compliance at the village level that the program will eventually achieve. Full article

Three scenarios of dismantling and shredding operations of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) were compared in this study with respect to technical and sustainability criteria, according to the level of dismantling applied to the vehicles. The scenarios differed from each other in the extent of the dismantling operations. They were implemented experimentally at the industrial scale on representative samples of 120 vehicles. The data collected from the monitoring of the experimental campaigns were used as feed data for the multi-criteria analysis of the scenarios using the PROMETHEE method. Nine criteria of evaluation were selected, namely global warming, local environmental impacts, tropospheric ozone production, ecotoxicity, operational costs, investment costs, occupational risks, employability, and technical performance. The medium-level dismantling scenario was identified as the best scenario with respect to the criteria of evaluation. This scenario included the steps of depollution, followed by the removal of easily accessible and identifiable plastics and glasses. Reasonable changes in the ponderation of the evaluation criteria did not significantly affect the ranking. Full article

This article assesses marginal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of electricity generation in Portugal to understand the impact of activities that affect electricity demand in the near term. In particular, it investigates the introduction of electric vehicles (EVs) in the Portuguese light-duty fleet considering different displacement and charging scenarios (vehicle technologies displaced, EV charging time). Coal and natural gas were identified as the marginal sources, but their contribution to the margin depended on the hour of the day, time of year, and system load, causing marginal emissions from electricity to vary significantly. Results show that for an electricity system with a high share of non-dispatchable renewable power, such as the Portuguese system, marginal emissions are considerably higher than average emissions. Because of the temporal variability in the marginal electricity supply, the time of charging may have a major influence on the GHG emissions of EVs. Off-peak charging leads to higher GHG emissions than peak charging, due to a higher contribution of coal to the margin. Furthermore, compared to an all-conventional fleet, EV introduction causes an increase in overall GHG emissions in most cases. However, EV effects are very dependent on the time of charging and the assumptions about the displaced technology. Full article

Contemporary issues in agriculture and natural resource management (AGNR) span a wide spectrum of challenges and scales—from global climate change to resiliency in national and regional food systems to the sustainability of livelihoods of small-holder farmers—all of which may be characterized as complex problems. With rapid development of tools and technologies over the previous half century (e.g., computer simulation), a plethora of disciplines have developed methods to address individual components of these multifaceted, complex problems, oftentimes neglecting unintended consequences to other systems. A systems thinking approach is needed to (1) address these contemporary AGNR issues given their multi- and interdisciplinary aspects; (2) utilize a holistic perspective to accommodate all of the elements of the problem; and (3) include qualitative and quantitative techniques to incorporate “soft” and “hard” elements into the analyses. System dynamics (SD) methodology is uniquely suited to investigate AGNR given their inherently complex behaviors. In this paper, we review applications of SD to AGNR and discuss the potential contributions and roles of SD in addressing emergent problems of the 21st century. We identified numerous SD cases applied to water, soil, food systems, and smallholder issues. More importantly, several case studies are shown illustrating the tradeoffs between short-term and long-term strategies and the pitfalls of relying on quick fixes to AGNR problems (known as “fixes that backfire” and “shifting the burden”, well-known, commonly occurring, systemic structures—or archetypes—observed across numerous management situations [Senge, P.M. The Fifth Discipline, 1st ed.; Doubleday: New York, NY, USA, 1990.]). We conclude that common attempts to alleviate AGNR problems, across continents and regardless of the type of resources involved, have suffered from reliance on short-term management strategies. To effectively address AGNR problems, longer-term thinking and strategies aimed at fundamental solutions will be needed to better identify and minimize the often delayed, and unintended, consequences arising from feedback between management interventions and AGNR systems. Full article

Given the increasing importance of sustainability aspects in national energy plans, this article deals with the prospective analysis of life-cycle indicators of the power generation sector through the case study of Spain. A technology-rich, optimisation-based model for power generation in Spain is developed and provided with endogenous life-cycle indicators (climate change, resources, and human health) to assess their evolution to 2050. Prospective performance indicators are analysed under two energy scenarios: a business-as-usual one, and an alternative scenario favouring the role of carbon dioxide capture in the electricity production mix by 2050. Life-cycle impacts are found to decrease substantially when existing fossil technologies disappear in the mix (especially coal thermal power plants). In the long term, the relatively high presence of natural gas arises as the main source of impact. When the installation of new fossil options without CO₂ capture is forbidden by 2030, both renewable technologies and—to a lesser extent—fossil technologies with CO₂ capture are found to increase their contribution to electricity production. The endogenous integration of life-cycle indicators into energy models proves to boost the usefulness of both life cycle assessment and energy systems modelling in order to support decision- and policy-making. Full article

Techno-economic models for optimised utilisation of jatropha oil under an out-grower farming scheme were developed based on different considerations for oil and by-product utilisation. Model 1: Out-grower scheme where oil is exported and press cake utilised for compost. Model 2: Out-grower scheme with six scenarios considered for the utilisation of oil and by-products. Linear programming models were developed based on outcomes of the models to optimise the use of the oil through profit maximisation. The findings revealed that Model 1 was financially viable from the processors’ perspective but not for the farmer at seed price of $0.07/kg. All scenarios considered under Model 2 were financially viable from the processors perspective but not for the farmer at seed price of $0.07/kg; however, at seed price of $0.085/kg, financial viability was achieved for both parties. Optimising the utilisation of the oil resulted in an annual maximum profit of $123,300. Full article

Including stakeholder perspectives in environmental decision making is in many countries a legal requirement and is widely seen as beneficial as it can help increase decision legitimacy, likelihood of implementation, and quality of the outcome. Whereas the theoretical literature on stakeholder engagement is large, less attention has been devoted to comparing and discussing different methodological approaches. Here, we compare three approaches—multi-criteria analysis, plural rationality theory, and scenario construction—that include stakeholders’ perspectives in environmental decision making. We find differences between the approaches concerning the assumptions about stakeholder rationality and whether experts and/or stakeholders are in charge of framing the problem. Further differences concern the type of data input from stakeholders and how it is used by the experts, as well as the role of stakeholders and whether they are involved early—already for identifying options—or later in the process, for evaluating or ranking alternatives analyzed by the experts. The choice of approach thus predetermines the type and depth of stakeholder engagement. No approach is “better” than another, but they are suited for different problems and research aims: the choice of the approach, however, has a large impact on the results. Full article

Mining industry requires high amounts of energy to extract and process resources, including a variety of concentration and refining processes. Using energy consumption information, different sustainability issues can be addressed, such as the relationship with ore grade over the years, energy variations in electricity or fossil fuel use. A rigorous analysis and understanding of the energy intensity use in mining is the first step towards a more sustainable mining industry and, globally, better resource management. Numerous studies have focused on the energy consumption of mining projects, with analysis carried out primarily in one single country or one single region. This paper quantifies, on a global level, the relationship between ore grade and energy intensity. With the case of copper, the study has shown that the average copper ore grade is decreasing over time, while the energy consumption and the total material production in the mine increases. Analyzing only copper mines, the average ore grade has decreased approximately by 25% in just ten years. In that same period, the total energy consumption has increased at a higher rate than production (46% energy increase over 30% production increase). Full article

Electrical and electronic products have become an integral part of the current economy and, with the development of newer technologies, the life span of these products are getting shorter. As a consequence, the volume of electronic waste is increasing drastically around the globe. With the implementation of new rules, regulations, and policies by the government, the landfilling of electronic waste has been reduced. The presence of valuable metals in the e-waste stream provides a major economic benefit for recycling industries but, due to the presence of hazardous materials, a proper recycling technique is required prior to the disposal of the e-waste. The total e-waste generated in Canada was 725 kt in 2014. There are several organizations currently working in various provinces to deal with the collection and recycling of e-waste. These organizations collected nearly 20% of the total e-waste generated in 2014. The collection rate for e-waste can be boosted by increasing awareness and by creating more centers to collect all kinds of e-waste. The collected e-waste is processed at local processing facilities mostly dealing with dismantling and hazardous material removal processes and then shipping the remaining material to a central location for subsequent processing. Full article

Raw material criticality studies are receiving increasing attention because an increasing number of elements of great economic importance, performing essential functions face high supply risks. Scarcity of key materials is a potential barrier to large-scale deployment of sustainable energy and clean-tech technologies as resorting to several critical materials. As physical scarcity and geopolitical issues may present a barrier to the supply of critical metals, recycling is regarded as a possible solution to substitute primary resources for securing the long-term supply of critical metals. In this paper, the main drivers and constraints for critical materials recycling are analyzed from literature, considering indium as a case study of critical materials. This literature review shows that waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) could be a future source of critical metals; however, the reduction of dissipation of critical materials should have much higher priority. It is put forward that more attention should be paid to sustainable management of critical materials, especially improved practices at the waste management stage. This calls for not only more efficient WEEE recycling technologies, but also revising priorities in recycling strategies. Full article

Ghana’s small-scale mining sector faces complex challenges, including environmental degradation and pollution, loss of life and increased health risks, despite several years of implementation of small-scale mining laws. These challenges, generally, are known to have escalated because of illegal small-scale mining, locally known as “galamsey”. Despite the illegal status of this category of miners, this paper examines the extent to which stakeholder participation can improve implementation of mining regulations and also address the marginalization of these miners. This paper about stakeholder participation is timely because news reports in mid-2016 mentioned that the Government of Ghana, despite many years of disengagement, is now planning to engage with galamsey operators, in terms of registration, as part of measures to effectively regulate the activities of small-scale miners. Findings from fieldwork indicate that (1) chiefs are seldom consulted in the granting of mining licenses; (2) illegal miners do not participate in the implementation of small-scale mining laws; and (3) stakeholders, such as officers in district mining offices, feel distant from the implementation process. Against the backdrop of these findings, it remains useful to explore the extent to which effective stakeholder participation could help overcome the status quo—particularly its ramifications for both the implementation of ASM laws and the eradication of other underlying challenges the sector faces. Full article

Neodymium and dysprosium are two rare earth elements (REEs), out of a group of 17 elements. Due to their unique properties, REEs gained increasing importance in many new technologies, like wind turbines, batteries, etc. However, the production of REEs requires high material and energy consumption and is associated with considerable environmental burdens. Due to the strong dependency of European industry on Chinese REE exports, this paper presents a possible European production chain of REEs based on the mineral eudialyte found in Norra Kärr (Sweden). This European production is compared to a Chinese route, as China produces more than 85% of today’s REEs. Bayan Obo as the largest REE deposit in China is considered as the reference system. Using the life cycle assessment method, the environmental impacts of both production lines are assessed. This study presents newly-estimated data of a possible Swedish eudialyte-based production route for Europe. Results for the new eudialyte process route show reduced environmental burdens, although the total REE content in eudialyte is much smaller than in the Bayan Obo deposit. Especially, the results for dysprosium from eudialyte outreach those for Bayan Obo due to the higher content of heavy rare earth elements. Full article

One of the biggest challenges faced today is how to sustainably manage social-ecological systems for both ecological conservation and human wellbeing. This paper explores two approaches to understanding such systems: resilience thinking and political ecology. Resilience thinking is a framework that emerged over the last 40 years as a management strategy for social-ecological systems, and a resilient social-ecological system is capable of absorbing disturbances and still retaining its basic function and structure. Political ecology is derived from cultural ecology and political economy and aims to critically examine how human-environment interactions are linked to environmental problems while exploring issues of power. Drawing from debates and theoretical issues both within and between these two theories, this paper proposes three main arguments for integrating political ecology into managing for resilience. First, political ecology could help fill in understanding gaps in resilience with its focus on society and politics, while resilience thinking’s focus on ecology can ensure that political ecology engages with ecology. Second, the multiple lenses of political ecology may help define the system for resilience management. Third, political ecology’s explanatory power may assist in identifying surrogates of resilience for indirectly measuring social-ecological resilience. Full article

Resource usage and environmental consequences of most current energy systems exceed planetary boundaries. The transition to sustainable energy systems is accompanied by a multitude of research methods, as energy systems are complex structures of technical, economical, social and ecological interactions. The description of different discipline’s perspectives in this paper show that a more mutual understanding between disciplines of their respective focus is necessary as they partly create internally competitive views arising from differing emphasis of connected matters. The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for interdisciplinary proceeding in a complex energy system transition process. Resilience thinking is chosen as a core concept for a more holistic view on sustainable energy system development. It is shown that it is already widely used in different disciplines connected to energy system research and is especially suitable due to its wide application across disciplines. The seven principles of resilience thinking (maintain redundancy and diversity, manage connectivity, manage slow variables and feedback, foster complex adaptive systems thinking, encourage learning, broaden participation, and promote polycentric governance systems) are chosen as the basis for a procedure that can be utilized to increase the interdisciplinary perspectives of energy system transitions. For energy transition processes based on scenario development, backcasting and pathway definition, resilience thinking principles are used to assess the resilience of the target energy system, the pathway resilience and the design of the scenario process with respect to the probability of a resilient outcome. The described procedure consisting of questions and parameters can be applied as a first attempt for a resilience assessment of energy transition processes. The perspective of resilience in sustainable energy systems strengthens the importance of diversity, redundancy and flexibility, which reduces the current dominant focus on efficiency of the overall system. Full article

Episodic supply shortages of metals and unsettling predictions of potential supply constraints in the future have led to a series of recent criticality evaluations. This study applies a consistent criticality methodology to the United States, Australia, and to the global level for both 2008 and 2012. It is the first time that criticality assessments are presented for Australia, a country that contrasts with the United States in terms of its mineral deposits and metal use characteristics. We use the Yale criticality methodology, which measures Supply Risk (SR), Environmental Implications (EI), and Vulnerability to Supply Restriction (VSR) to derive criticality assessments for five major metals (Al, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn) and for indium (In). We find only modest changes in SR between 2008 and 2012 at both country and global levels; these changes are due to revisions in resource estimates. At the country level, Australia’s VSR for Ni, Cu, and Zn is 23%–33% lower than that for the United States, largely because of Australia’s abundant domestic resources. At the global level, SR is much higher for In, Ni, Cu, and Zn than for Al and Fe as a consequence of SR’s longer time horizon and anticipated supply/demand constraints. The results emphasize the dynamic nature of criticality and its variance between countries and among metals. Full article

Economic losses from natural disasters pose significant challenges to communities and to the insurance industry. Natural disaster mitigation aims to reduce the threat to people and assets from natural perils. Good decisions relating to hazard risk mitigation require judgments both about the scientific and financial issues involved, i.e., the efficacy of some intervention, and the ethical or value principles to adopt in allocating resources. A framework for selecting a set of mitigation options within a limited budget is developed. Project selection about natural disaster mitigation options needs to trade off benefits offered by alternative investments (e.g., fatalities and injuries avoided, potential property and infrastructure losses prevented, safety concerns of citizens, etc.) against the costs of investment. Such costs include capital and on-going operational costs, as well as intangible costs, such as the impact of the project on the visual landscape or the loss of societal cohesion in the event of the relocation of part of a community. Furthermore, dollar costs of any potential project will need to be defined within some prescribed budget and time frame. Taking all of these factors into account, this paper develops a framework for good natural hazard mitigation decision making and selection. Full article

In this study a newly developed method called the Progressing and Backcasting models were used to evaluate the annual resource utilizations of steel scrap in Sweden and globally. The model results show that it is possible to assess the amounts of steel scrap available for steelmaking at a given point in time, based on statistical dynamic material flow models. By a better mapping of the available amounts of steel scrap reserves on a country basis, it is possible to ease the trade of scrap across country boarders. This in turn can optimize the supply of recyclable metals as a raw material used in the industry. The results for Swedish steel consumption show that export bans used to secure the domestic market of steel scrap do damage the internal market due to increased amounts of losses. This suggests that export bans should be lifted to optimize recycling in countries. The model results also show that the global losses of steel are higher than for an industrialized country such as Sweden. Furthermore, the results show that the Backcasting and Progressing models can be used to calculate robust forecasts on the long term availability of steel scrap assets. This information could be used for future structural plans of scrap consuming steelmaking mills and waste management facilities. Hence, it is possible to contribute to a sustainable industrial development and a circular economy. Full article

The U.S. generates more than 37 million metric tons of food waste each year, and over 95% of it is disposed of at U.S. landfills. This paper describes the development of a novel food waste collection kiosk and business model called “Greenbox” that will collect and store food waste from households and restaurants with incentives for user participation to spur food waste-to-energy production in a local community. Greenbox offers a low-cost collection point to divert food waste from landfills, reduce greenhouse gases from decomposition, and aid in generating cleaner energy. A functional prototype was successfully developed by a team of engineering students and a business model was created as part of a senior design capstone course. Each Greenbox unit has the potential to reduce 275 metric tons of food waste per year, remove 1320 kg of greenhouse gases, and create 470,000 liters of methane gas while providing a payback period of 4.2 years and a rate of return of 14.9%. Full article

It is unlikely that cost–benefit approaches will be effective in identifying investments that support gender equality without a relevant “social framing”. Criteria for a “social framing” are lacking, yet cost–benefit approaches often guide investment decisions for disaster risk and environmental management. Mainstream approaches typically do a poor job identifying and characterizing costs and benefits, and often fail to address distributive concerns (i.e., how costs and benefits may be distributed throughout society, to whom, etc.). Gender-blind investments may project responsibility for equality “problems” onto one sex, potentially augmenting gender inequalities and disaster risk. This article examines evidence from the gender, disaster, and development literature to identify distributive concerns and criteria for an equitable “social framing” for economic evaluations. Primary distributive concerns identified regard assumptions of women’s homogeneity, agency, “active” participation, and the influence of customary practice and displacement on disaster vulnerability. The need for a “gender-responsive” “social framing” that considers the needs of men and women in relation to one another is evident. Second, cost–benefit studies focused on gender equality concerns are reviewed and the “social framing” is critiqued. Results show most studies are not “gender-responsive”. Women’s health concerns, often exacerbated by disasters, are sidelined by assumptions regarding distributive concerns and reductive outcome measures. Full article

The increasing rate of energy consumption, the depletion of conventional energy sources and the environmental degradation caused has led to thorough research on Renewable Energy Sources (RES), which have been seen as a sustainable solution to climatic change. However, RES installation has a considerable environmental impact, which should be taken into consideration. The present study deals with the development of an integrated framework so as to evaluate land environmental suitability for RES installation, especially for Wind Farm (WF) siting. The proposed methodology consists of the Analytical Hierarchy Process, the Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing tools. In the first part, a set of constraints, which are based on Greek legislation and international research, identifies the potential sites for wind park installation. In the second part, a variety of criteria are employed to evaluate the area under consideration. To exemplify the utility of the methodology, an application of the proposed framework to the Dodecanese Islands is further illustrated. One of the first findings is that, despite the implemented restrictions, 1/4 of the land remains suitable for WF siting. The necessity of the method used is confirmed through the comparison of results with the already installed wind parks. Full article