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The Ehrlich Identity/ IPAT equation
= a widely used simplification of the factors causing environmental degradation. It’s crucial to remember that the three factors are intermediate causes, not root causes
Per capita (per person) consumption is an important factor because e.g. third world countries don’t consume as much as industrial countries. In technological changes, most of the time we want to increase the consumption per capita à to prevent the environmental impact to increase, the other factors must decrease.
The Green Revolution
= the start of applying modern agricultural practices such as use of more fertilizer, better water control, different species of crops, and different cultivars of traditional crops. This resulted in an increase of yield. However, if we continue agriculture based on the Green Revolution, productivity will not increase much above present levels
GMOs as a new “T”
The acceptance of GMO is very different in EU versus India
EU: concerns that “aliens” will invade the natural fauna and flora
EU now:
Because of newer techniques (CRISPR-Cas), precise modifications can be made à versnelde veredeling
Answer to climate change, pesticides, water use, …
à Algemeen beter maatschappelijk aanvaardbaar
India: farmers will become hostages of multinationals, but GMO are necessary in the future
What types of fossil fuel do we have?
Conventional ones
Natural gas/ aardgas (minst C-atomen per eenheid energie)
Crude oil/ aardolie
Coal/ steenkool (meest C-atomen per eenheid energie
Non-conventional ones
Methane hydrates (deep ocean)
Shale gas/ schaliegas
1. Injectie van mengsel water met chemicaliën
2. druk opbouwen zodat de steen barst
3. het gas komt via de basten vrij in de pijp en gaat zo nr boven
The phrase hierarchy in ‘needs’: ‘first your belly’ refers to the idea that basic physiological needs must be met before other needs can be addressed. Denk aan het terug aankopen van vervuilende schaliegas uit VS ipv het aankopen van aardgas uit Rusland.
What kind of impacts with ‘T’ based on fossil resources?
At source
Ontploffingen
Aardbevingen
Uitbuiting
During transport
Vervuiling
At destination
Uitstoot
…
FFS
Bronnen van energie gebaseerd op een massakarakter, eindigen ook met massa. Denk aan nucleaire energie, fossiele brandstoffen, energie geproduceerd door biomassa, …
Bronnen van energie zoals waterkracht, windenergie, … nemen geen massa weg uit het systeem, en eindigen dan ook niet met massa na het produceren van energie
FLOW vb wind
FUND vb biomassa
STOCK vb fossiele brandstoffen, ertsen
CONSERVATION OF MASS!!!
Fossil sources (and biomass) ouputs: CO2, NOx, SOx, Particular matter, hydrocarbons
Euronorm = een Europese milieustandaard voor voertuigen en wordt weergegeven met een cijfer. Hoe hoger de euronorm, hoe lager de uitstoot. Daarnaast wordt ook gekeken over welk voertuig het gaat en welke brandstof deze gebruikt
Nuclear sources outputs: nuclear waste
EU Policy today: “Resource efficient Europe”
= A flagship initiative for a resource efficient Europe. It supports the shift towards a resource-efficient, low-carbon economy to achieve sustainable growth by providing a long-term framework for actions in many policy areas.
The precautionary principle
Het voorzorgsprincipe stelt dat wanneer er een dreiging is van ernstige of onomkeerbare schade aan het milieu, het ontbreken van volledige wetenschappelijke zekerheid niet mag worden gebruikt als reden om kosteneffectieve maatregelen om milieuaantasting te voorkomen, uit te stellen. Dit betekent dat staten proactief moeten handelen om het milieu te beschermen, zelfs als er nog geen volledige wetenschappelijke consensus is over de exacte aard of omvang van de schade.
Ecosystems services
Provisioning: providing of wood, food, …
Regulation & supporting : regulating the CO2-, H2O-, N2- ,… cycli
Cultural: tourism, spiritual practices
The above ecosystem services have an impact on our socio-economic systems (e.g. human well-being – both mentally and physically).
The response of institutions, buisinesses, policies, … cause drivers of change which effect the ecosystem en thus the ecosystem services
→ it is important to look if externalities of production and consumption impact these ecosystem services
The importance of ecosystem services can be quantified in monetary values.
WEO
= World Energy Outlook: provided by the International Energy Agency (IAE) and is a framework for thinking about the future of global energy. It does not make predictions about the future. Instead, it sets out what the future could look like on the basis of different scenarios or pathways, with the aim of providing insights to inform decision-making by governments, companies and others concerned with energy. The three main scenarios are the “current policy scenarios”, “new policy scenarios” and the “sustainable development scenarios”.
Current Policy scenario’s
= based solely on existing laws and regulations as of mid-2018, and therefore excludes the ambitions and targets that have been declared by governments around the world.
Continued strong growth among the incumbent fuels only leaves a small amount of headroom for renewables to step in and meet incremental demand. Without strengthened policies on fuel efficiency or the use of alternative fuels, there is little restraint (except steadily higher prices)
New Policy scenario’s
= provides a measured assessment of where today’s policy frameworks and ambitions, together with the continued evolution of known technologies, might take the energy sector in the coming decades. The policy ambitions include those of existing laws and regulations as of mid-2018 e.g. Paris agreement, 2030 EU renewable energy and efficiency targets. Coal and oil to a degree, have to make room for others, not least because of rapid rise in the share of renewables in electricity generation. Strong policy headwinds, including commitments to phase out coal use in some countries, mean that global consumption levels off. The share of gas in the energy mix increases in all regions (2017 à 2040)
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Sustainable Development scenario’s |
= start from selected key outcomes and the works back to the present ti see how they can be achieved. The outcomes in question are the main energy-related components of the Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development scenario sets out the major changes that would need to be required to deliver these goals simultaneously Coal moves to the back of the pack and oil demand will peak and begin to decline also.
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Gtoe
= gigatonnes of oil equivalent or 1000 Mtoe
Gt CO2 |
= gigatonnes of CO2
Energy intensity |
= ratio of primary energy supply to gross domestic product. It is a measure of efficient use of energy considering economic development
Primary energy |
= an energy form found in nature that has not been subjected to any human engineered conversion process. It is energy contained in raw fuels, and other forms of energy received as input to a system
CCS
= Carbon Capture Storage. Capture of CO2 from fuel combustion or industrial processes, the transport of CO2 via ship or pipeline and store it permanently deep underground
CCU
= Carbon Capture Utilisation. Capture of CO2 from fuel combustion or industrial processes, the transport of CO2 via ship or pipeline and use it as a resource to create valuable products or services
Hydrogen
Type Hs
Decoupling
= when resource use or some environmental pressure either grows at a slower rate that the economic activity (relative decoupling) or declines while the economic activity continues to grow (absolute decoupling) |
DPSIR
= aimes to provide a step-wise description of the causal chain linking economic activity (the drivers), the pressures (such as emissions of pollutants), changes in the state of the environment (including landcover change) and impacts (diminished human health and others). Then this leads to a societal response aimed at adapting those driving factors to reduce impacts. It can be used as an analytical tool for linking human-nature systems in future modelling to help steer a transition
= heeft tot doel een stapsgewijze beschrijving te geven van de causale keten die economische activiteit (de drijvende krachten), de druk (zoals de uitstoot van verontreinigende stoffen), veranderingen in de toestand van het milieu (inclusief veranderingen in landbedekking) en gevolgen (verminderde menselijke gezondheid en anderen). Dit leidt vervolgens tot een maatschappelijke reactie gericht op het aanpassen van die drijvende factoren om de impact te verminderen. Het kan worden gebruikt als een analytisch hulpmiddel voor het koppelen van mens-natuursystemen bij toekomstige modellering om een transitie te helpen sturen
Systems thinking |
= essential in sustainable development & production and consumption. Key elements are
Considers the total material throughput: from resource extraction to final disposal
Links these material flows to associated activities
Searches for leverage point for multi-beneficial changers
System thinking needs the cause-and-effect chain analysis
EU “Raw Materials Initiative” |
= an integrated strategy based on 3 pillars launched in 2008 and consolidated in 2011. The aim to secure a sustainable supply of raw materials.
Non-energy, non-agricultural raw materials
Connecting EU external and internal policies
The 3 pillars are:
Ensure level playing field in access to resource in third countries
Stable trade, risk spreading
Foster sustainable supply from European sources
Develop mining in EU
Boost resource efficiency and recycling
TMR
= Total Material Requirement for a country or per capita = import + indirect flows associated to import + domestic extraction (fossil fuels, minerals, biomass) + unused domestic extraction
CEENE |
= Cumulative Exergy Extraction of the Natural Environment is used to calculate the total natural resource footprint. It is based on the fact that all natural resources contain energy and therefore enables to express all natural resources in one unit [MJ of exergy]
Exergy
= the useful energy content [MJ of exergy]. Entropy production results in a loss of exergy
PGM
= Platina Group Metals. These elements are used in many important modern applications:
Catalysts: e.g. automotive, chemical industry
Electronics
REE
= Rare Earth Elements are a collection of chemical elements which the lanthanide series of elements in the periodic table and also include yttrium. They are abundant in the earth’s curst, but often they are found in quantities that are uneconomically mined. Most of the production takes place in China |
Tailings pond |
= afvalmeren waarin “tailing sand” tijdelijk wordt opgeslagen
Hydrometallurgy |
= treating ores or concentrates with liquid solutions in order to separate materials from other mineral constituents. This is generally done by leaching
Pyrometallurgy
= involves heating metal concentrates at high temperature, in order to strip the metal from its associated mineral constituents. This process requires combusting fossil fuels for heating furnaces or electricity to power an electric arc furnace |
Taillings
= finely crushed and processed ore which has had the metal/ ore of interest extracted, and are normally discharged by slurry pipelines into engineered impoundments (tailingdams)
Waste rock |
= the rock which has no economic value of metals of interest, but which is extracted in the mining processes and requires disposal and management
Urban mines |
= Urban mining is the idea of extracting valuable materials from waste, much of which would otherwise go to landfill or incineration. This can include common metals and plastics as well as rarer but valuable elements. A difficulty is lack of access to the urban mine (people often don’t bring in e.g. their old phones of which metals can be recycled |
Rio Declaration |
= The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development was adopted at UNCED in 1992. That declaration articulated sustainable development principles with a focus on those responsible for sustainable development; humans, states, national authorities, … It is formed on 27 principles, including principle 8 “Reducing unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and promoting appropriate demographic policies” In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation
Johannesburg |
= UN Summit in 2002
Rio+20 |
= UN Summit in 2012
SDG Summit |
= UN Summit in 2023
UNFCCC
= United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is een zogenaamd raamverdrag dat in 1992 onder verantwoordelijkheid van de Verenigde Naties werd gesloten en ondertekend tijdens de "Earth Summit" in Rio de Janeiro. Alle verdragsluitende partijen komen geregeld samen, doorgaans jaarlijks. Omdat echter intussen niet alle landen alle verdragen en protocollen hebben ondertekend, zijn de bijeenkomsten statutair onderverdeeld in:
Conference of the Parties (COP), namelijk van de partijen die zijn toegetreden tot het klimaatverdrag van 1992
Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP, ook wel MOP): de partijen die zijn toegetreden tot het Kyoto-protocol
Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA): partijen die het Akkoord van Parijs hebben ondertekend.
Kyoto Protocol |
= Het Protocol van Kyoto of Verdrag van Kyoto werd in 1997 opgesteld in de Japanse stad Kyoto en regelt de vermindering van de uitstoot van broeikasgassen. Het was een protocol onder het Klimaatverdrag, dit in ging in 2005 en verstreek op 31 december 2020. The protocol was based on the scientific consensus that:
Global warming is occuring
It is extremely likely that human-made CO2 emissions have predominantly caused it
192 parties signed it (not US, Canada withdrawn …)
Paris Agreement |
= The Agreement sets long-term goals to guide all nations to:
substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to hold global temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change
periodically assess the collective progress towards achieving the purpose of this agreement and its long-term goals
provide financing to developing countries to mitigate climate change, strengthen resilience and enhance abilities to adapt to climate impacts.
The Agreement is a legally binding international treaty. It entered into force on 4 November 2016. Today, 195 Parties (194 States plus the European Union) have joined the Paris Agreement.
The Agreement includes commitments from all countries to reduce their emissions and work together to adapt to the impacts of climate change, and calls on countries to strengthen their commitments over time. The Agreement provides a pathway for developed nations to assist developing nations in their climate mitigation and adaptation efforts while creating a framework for the transparent monitoring and reporting of countries’ climate goals.
The Paris Agreement works on a five- year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action carried out by countries. Every five years, each country is expected to submit an updated national climate action plan - known as Nationally Determined Contribution, or NDC.
In their NDCs, countries communicate actions they will take to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement. Countries also communicate in the NDCs actions they will take to build resilience to adapt to the impacts of rising temperatures.
WBCSD
= World Business Council for Sustainable Development is a coalition of ~=200 international companies. It is “committed to sustainable development via the three pillars of economic growth, ecological balance and social progress”. Its mission is to “provide business leadership” by promoting “eco-efficiency, innovation and corporate social responsibility”
NGOs |
= Non Governmental Organisations such als IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) and WWF (World Wildlife Fund)
The Brundtland Commission |
= formerly the World Commission on Environment and Development, was a sub-organization of the United Nations (UN) that aimed to unite countries in pursuit of sustainable development. It was founded in 1983 Final report, Our Common Future, in 1987 defined sustainable development for the first time
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Triple bottom line |
= 3Ps: People, Profit, Planet
Strong sustainability |
= zeggen dat om duurzaam te zijn dat alle 3 Ps als zeer belangrijk moeten worden beschouwd
Weak sustainability |
= laten toegeven op een bepaalde P toe
MDGs |
= Millennium Development Goals were defined by the UN in 2000. They are targets for 2015
SDGs |
= Sustainable Development Goals. They are a set of 17 goals for the world’s future, through 2030, backed up by a set of 169 detailed targets. They were negotiated over a two-year period at the UN and are agreed to by nearly all the world’s nations on 25 September in 2015. Key characteristics of the SDGs are
Universality: all SDGs must apply to every nation and every sector. Cities, businesses, schools, organisations, all are challenged to act
Integration: the goals are all inter-connected, in a system. We cannot aim to achieve just one goals. We must achieve them all
Transformation: achieving these goals involves making very big, fundamental changes in how we live on Earth
Criticism: there is a mix of concrete and vague targets
Backstopping resource theory |
= this theory states that as the demand for a resource that is in limited supply increases, it will kick in a process that results in the exploitation of other alternative resources to meet human needs.
e.g. for water is this desalination of seawater
e.g. for fossil fuels is this the sun
NIMBY |
= Not In My BackYard is a colloquialism (ordinary phrase) signifying one's opposition to the locating of something considered undesirable in one's neighbourhood
TRL
= Technology Readiness Level is a type of measurement system used to assess the maturity level of a particular technology. The higher the TRL, the more gained (resource efficiency, …)
“peak oil” theory of Hubbert |
= a mathematical model (1956) to forecast moment of maximum production of oil.
With revolutions in new technology, it will be longer than originally predicted before oil reserves run out.
Exploration into the future, how?
Law of economics: scarcity leads to a decrease in demand vb anticiperen van nood aan lithium batterijen om voor grote opkomst van elektrische autos te bouwen leidt tot een stijging in prijs van elektrische wagens en dus een afname in vraag ervoor
Law of economics: higher prices enable alternatives e.g. increase in price of metals leads to exploitation of lower quality ore bodies
Resource efficiency gains lead to less resources needed
TRL | = Technology Readiness Level is a type of measurement system used to assess the maturity level of a particular technology. The higher the TRL, the more gained (resource efficiency, …)
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“peak oil” theory of Hubbert | = a mathematical model (1956) to forecast moment of maximum production of oil.
With revolutions in new technology, it will be longer than originally predicted before oil reserves run out. |
Montreal protocol |
= The Montreal Protocol, finalized in 1987, is a global agreement to protect the stratospheric ozone layer by phasing out the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances (ODS). ODS are substances that were commonly used in products such as refrigerators, air conditioners, fire extinguishers, and aerosols.
Despite being in its infancy, environmental diplomacy has recorded some major successes. The Montreal protocol is one of them.
GNP
= Gross National Product. In many countries GNP fluctuates widely as a result of currency devaluations and other fiscal trade issues that may be less relevant to sustainable environmental development in the country
→ GDP is a more relevant economic accounting index to use for developing countries
GDP
= Gross Domestic Product is the market value of all the final goods and services produced by the economy in a given year. It is the GNP minus the values of net exports and imports.
Important to note is that GDP ignores environmental degradation and many social issues, therefore is doesn’t represent an accurate and appropriate picture of aggregate economic activity upon which to base sustainability descisions
Indicators like GDP do not include:
value of leisure
changes in quality of life.
à The question arises if external social costs should be internalised
deterioration of environmental quality e.g. euro/CO2
depletion of natural stocks
→ should external environmental costs be internalized?
NNP
= Net National Product Is the GDP minus the cost of capital goods “used up” during the accounting period
National income |
= the aggregate earnings of labor and property during the accounting period. It is an estimate of total cost of all factors of production during a given year
Personal income |
= a measure of the current income received by all “persons” from all sources. Personal income is measured before taxes
Disposable personal income |
= the income held by persons after the deduction of all personal taxes and other payments to general government. It is the amount of income available during a given year either for spending on consumption or for saving |
GPI
= Genuine Progress Indicator start with GDP to which value for positive items such as education, research and development, natural capital, … are add and items such as mineral exploitation, depletion of energy resources, … are subtracted. It is designed to give a more realistic understanding of how a nation’s macroeconomic policies are working in an economic index |
HDI |
= Human Development Index was designed to provide a true measure of human development based on longevity, knowledge and earnings. There is also a parameter for the marginal utility of income. It is a way of skewing the income to reflect the marginal value of income (increment of income is worth more to the poor than to the rich)
HDI = f(longevity, knowledge, income) Longevity = life expectancy at birth Knowledge = 2/3 (adult literacy rate) + 1/3 (mean years of schooling) Income = utility of income w(y) expressed by the logarithm of the per capita GDP
Eacht factor is scaled by maximum and minimum
There is no internalization/ monetisation of social and environmental costs + HDI pretty much reproduces GDP and it does that because of the highly interdependent nature of the sub-indices |
Environmental space |
= a share of the planet and its resources that the human race can sustainably take without depriving future generations of the resources they would need. It describes the quantity of energy, non-renewable and potentially renewable resources that we can use in a sustainable fashion without exceeding environmental limits
Natural resources |
= resources in nature, from where economic production and consumption starts (sensu stricto definition by the OECD)
→ ES ~= global resource
= resources in nature, with a source and sink function (= adding an ecosystem services perspective component) (senso lato definition by the EC)
ES~= global resource + assimilative capacity
Ecological footprint |
EQV = EQF |
= accounts for different productivities across types. It converts the areas of different land use types, at their respective world average productivities, into their equivalent areas at global average bioproductivity across all land use types
YF = Y |
= the yield factor. It accounts for countries’ differing levels of productivity (depends on climate, thus country specific)
Carbon land |
= land needed to absorb/ sequester CO2 = part of the forestry cover |
EFconsumption
Planetary boundaries |
= Specifieke grenzen voor parameters, die werden gekozen om op een veilige afstand van gevaarlijke ‘levels’ of ‘tipping points’ in sleutelsysteemaarde processen weg te blijven. Wanneer deze grenzen overschreden worden, neemt de kans van het Antropoceen om in een Holoceen-achtige staat te blijven, sterk af.
MFA
The purpose of material flow analysis is to track and quantify the flow of materials including energy carriers in a defined area over a set time period. MFA starts from very basic engineering (1st law of thermodynamics: mass cannot be created nor disappear) and can be applied at any level (macro level: global economy, country, region or micro level: process, production plant, production and consumption chain). It is a method to describe, investigate, and evaluate the metabolism of anthropogenic an geogenic systems & defines term and procedures to establish material balances of systems
MFi
The Material flow analysis for country i
TMR
= Total Material Requirement for a country or per capita = import + indirect flows associated to import + domestic extraction (fossil fuels, minerals, biomass) + unused domestic extraction
DMI
= Direct Material Input = imports + domestic extraction (fossil fuels, minerals, biomass)
DMC |
= Direct Material Consumption = DMI – exports
Material
= serves as an umbrella term for both substances and goods
Substance |
= any (chemical) element or compound composed of uniform units. All substances are characterized by a unique and identical constitution and are the homogeneous: MFA → SFA
Goods
= economic entities of matter with a positive or negative economic value. Goods are made up of one or several substances
FLOW
= mass flow rate = mass per time e.g. [kg/ s] or [t/year]
FLUX |
= flow per “cross section” = mass per time and per cross section e.g. [kg/(s * m^2)]
STOCK
= total amount of materials stored in a process, designated as the “stock of materials” in the process
Transfer coefficients |
= describe the partitioning of a substance in a process.
Mass balances
Carbon footprinting |
= an example of the PSA2020 methode of the UK.
Purpose: provide a consistent method for addressing life cycle GHG emissions for goods and services
Scope: covers both good and services e.g. a computer or an internet banking service
Scope 1 |
= Scope 1 emissies omvatten directe emissies van bronnen die het bedrijf in eigendom of onder beheer heeft. Dit omvat on-site energie zoals aardgas en brandstof, koelmiddelen, en emissies van verbranding in boilers en ovens in eigendom of onder beheer, evenals emissies van voertuigen in het wagenpark (bijv. auto's, bestelwagens, vrachtwagens, helikopters voor ziekenhuizen). Scope 1 emissies omvatten ook procesemissies die vrijkomen bij industriële processen en productie op locatie (bijv. fabrieksrook, chemicaliën).
Scope 2 |
= scope 2 emissies omvatten indirecte broeikasgasemissies van aangekochte energie, zoals elektriciteit, warmte of koeling, gegenereerd buiten uw bedrijf en verbruikt door uw bedrijf. Bijvoorbeeld: Elektriciteit gekocht van een energiemaatschappij wordt off-site opgewekt, dus worden ze beschouwd als indirecte emissies
Scope 3 |
= scope 3 omvat alle indirecte emissies die plaatsvinden in de waardeketen van een rapporterende onderneming. Om een duidelijk onderscheid te maken tussen Scope 2- en Scope 3-categorieën omschrijft het Amerikaanse Environmental Protection Agency Scope 3-emissies als "het resultaat van activiteiten van activa die geen eigendom zijn van of niet worden gecontroleerd door de rapporterende organisatie, maar die de organisatie indirect beïnvloedt in haar waardeketen". Hoewel deze emissies buiten de controle van de rapporterende onderneming vallen, kunnen zij het grootste deel van haar broeikasgasemissie-inventaris vertegenwoordigen.
3 Pathways to carbon neutrality
Increase energy efficiency and increase circularity where waste becomes a feedstock
Electrify as much as possible (far beyond electric cars)
The need for molecules: (green) hydrogen and synthetic hydrocarbons
Wind & solar need to maintain a year-on-year growth of 20% to reach IEA’s 1.5 DS
Note
Flashcard