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Dynamics of societal material stocks such as buildings and infrastructures and their spatial patterns drive surging resource use and emissions. Building up and maintaining stocks requires large amounts of resources; currently stock-building materials amount to almost 60% of all materials used by humanity. Buildings, infrastructures and machinery shape social practices of production and consumption, thereby creating path dependencies for future resource use. They constitute the physical basis of the spatial organization of most socio-economic activities, for example as mobility networks, urbanization and settlement patterns and various other infrastructures. This dataset features a detailed map of material stocks for the whole of Germany on a 10m grid based on high resolution Earth Observation data (Sentinel-1 + Sentinel-2), crowd-sourced geodata (OSM) and material intensity factors. Temporal extent The map is representative for ca. 2018. Data format Per federal state, the data come in tiles of 30x30km (see shapefile). The projection is EPSG:3035. The images are compressed GeoTiff files (*.tif). There is a mosaic in GDAL Virtual format (*.vrt), which can readily be opened in most Geographic Information Systems. The dataset features area and mass for different street types area and mass for different rail types area and mass for other infrastructure area, volume and mass for different building types Masses are reported as total values, and per material category. Units area in m² height in m volume in m³ mass in t for infrastructure and buildings Further information For further information, please see the publication or contact Helmut Haberl (helmut.haberl@boku.ac.at). A web-visualization of this dataset is available here. Visit our website to learn more about our project MAT_STOCKS - Understanding the Role of Material Stock Patterns for the Transformation to a Sustainable Society. Publication Haberl, H., Wiedenhofer, D., Schug, F., Frantz, D., Virág, D., Plutzar, C., Gruhler, K., Lederer, J., Schiller, G. , Fishman, T., Lanau, M., Gattringer, A., Kemper, T., Liu, G., Tanikawa, H., van der Linden, S., Hostert, P. (accepted): High-resolution maps of material stocks in buildings and infrastructures in Austria and Germany. Environmental Science & Technology Funding This research was primarly funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (MAT_STOCKS, grant agreement No 741950). ML and GL acknowledge funding by the Independent Research Fund Denmark (CityWeight, 6111-00555B), ML thanks the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC; project Multi-Scale, Circular Economic Potential of Non-Residential Building Scale, EP/S029273/1), JL acknowledges funding by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF), project ESR17-067, TF acknowledges the Israel Science Foundation grant no. 2706/19.

Working with the Sustainable Development Goals can be a highly motivating factor in Problem Based Learning, especially if the solutions produced can be used afterwards and have an actual impact on people and communities. This paper describes how three engineering students from Aalborg University, Denmark, collaborated with the South African Organisation Green Shoots on bringing IT-supported Math education out to some of the most disadvantaged learners from townships and rural areas of the Western Cape. The project provided the Danish students with a unique learning experience and have a lasting impact on the communities involved. While the content of the project focused on bringing IT-supported Math education to learners in previously disadvantaged areas around the Western Cape, the project also provided valuable insight into how such students’ projects, where the outcomes benefit people and communities suffering from socio-economic challenges e.g. poverty, can be carried out. In addition to demonstrate that such projects are actually possible, we studied three critical aspects: How to ensure a good fit between learning objectives and project outcome, how to ensure that the project creates value for the partner organisation and communities, and how to ensure that the projects can be conducted without overloading the university supervisors. We believe that student projects focusing on SDGs have a big potential in terms of providing highly motivating student projects yet at the same time contribute to a better world through solutions that are being used even afterwards. However, our study was just a single case with one group of three students. We hope it will serve as inspiration for larger studies, where more quantitative data could be gathered in terms of how to establish a good framework around such projects, and in order to demonstrate the value for students and societies.

Rising energy costs, anthropogenic climate change, and fossil fuel depletion calls for a concerted effort within energy planning to ensure a sustainable energy future. This article presents an overview of global energy trends focusing on energy costs, energy use and carbon dioxide emissions. Secondly, a review of contemporary work is presented focusing on national energy pathways with cases from Ireland, Denmark and Jordan, spatial issues within sustainable energyplanning and policy means to advance a sustainable energy future. International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management, Vol 1 (2014)

Decarbonizing Sweden’s transportation sector is necessary to realize its long-term vision of eliminating net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the energy system by 2050. Within this context, this study develops two scenarios for the transportation sector: one with high electrification (EVS) and the other with high biofuel and biomethane utilization (BIOS). The energy system model STREAM is utilized to compute the socioeconomic system cost and simulate an integrated transportation, electricity, gas, fuel refinery, and heat system. The results show that electrifying a high share of Sweden’s road transportation yields the least systems cost. However, in the least-cost scenario (EVS), bioenergy resources account for 57% of the final energy use in the transportation sector. Further, a sensitivity analysis shows that the costs of different types of cars are the most sensitive parameters in the comparative analysis of the scenarios. International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management, Vol 14 (2017)

This editorial introduces the eight volume of the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management. The volume addresses economically optimal biogas facilities based on spatial analyses in the United States, and analyses of the role of municipalities in expanding biogas in Denmark. A large review article looks into community renewable energy networks, and finally support schemes for renewable energy production are analysed with cases from Denmark and South Africa. International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management, Vol 8 (2015)

Denne ph.d.-afhandling er en sammenfatning af det treårige ph.d.-projektet vedrørende tre casestudier, som hver er unik med henvisning til en typisk regional dansk energiplanlægning med hensyn til omfattende brug af lavenergifjernvarmesystemer, der opererer med lave temperaturer såsom som 55 °C i fremløbet og 25 °C i returløbet og med en intensiv udnyttelse af de vedvarende energikilder.Hypotesen er at en detaljeret analyse af lavenergifjernvarmesystemers energimæssige egenskaber samt anlægs- og driftsudgifter kan benyttes som et rationelt grundlag for planlægningen af brugen af fjernvarme i områder med lavenergibygninger I det første case study, blev fokus rettet mod valg af designmetode til lavenergifjernvarmesystemer for nye bebyggelser af lavenergihuse. Designmetoden indeholdt hovedsageligt fastlæggelsen af en ny rør-dimensioneringsmetode baseret på optimering af diametre i stedet for at bruge tommelfingerregler, der er baseret på den maksimale trykgradient, maksimal hastighed og/eller samtidig behandling af begge. Et andet designelement omhandlede de vurderinger af (i) typer af fjernvarmeunits i bygningerne, der kunne benyttes i lavenergihusene sammen med ideen om udnyttelse af boosterpumper i fjernvarmenettet og (ii) udformningen af fjervarmenettet enten som forgrenede (træ- lignende) eller som ringe. De udviklede metoder blev afprøvet i et casestudie baseret på data leveret af Roskilde Kommune. I det andet case study blev fokus rettet mod løsning af en anden regional energiplanlægningsopgave, der vedrører eksisterende huse, der er tilsluttet et naturgasnet eller et konventionelt højtemperatur fjernvarmenet. Den forskningsmæssige idé til løsning af dette problem var ved anvendelsen af et lavtemperatur fjernvarmenet med en styringsstrategi baseret på en forøgelse af fremløbstemperaturen i kolde vinter-spidslastperioder af kort varighed sammenlignet med hele året. Det blev overvejet at anvende denne løsning i to situationer, den første (i) som led i ændringen af den kommunale varmeplan fra de nuværende naturgasnet til lavenergifjernvarmesystemer og den anden (ii) i forbindelse med driften af lavenergifjernvarmesystemer. Den eksisterende bebyggelse i Gladsaxe kommune blev valgt til casestudiet, fordi den repræsenterer bygninger med behov for energirenovering og ændring i forsyningsløsning fra det nuværende naturgasnet. I det tredje case study var fokus på bestemmelse af lokalt tilgængelige vedvarende energikilder til brug i energiforsyningssystemer. En undersøgelse af dette skete under det eksterne ophold på University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), Oshawa, ON, Canada under vejledning af professor Ibrahim Dincer. I denne fælles undersøgelse blev en ny metode udviklet til at være grundlaget for et beslutningsstøtteværktøj vedrørende en optimal udnyttelse af vedvarende energikilder med omfattende analyser med hensyn til: (i) den månedlige opfyldelse af forskellige typer af energibehov dvs. opvarmning, herunder krav til rumopvarmning og varmt vand, el og køling med henblik på at inddrage effektivisering af multi-generationssystemer, (ii) forskellige typer af energikonverteringssystemer såsom ’single-generation’, ’cogeneration’, og ’multi-generationssystemer’, (iii) den langsigtede lagring af varme til at klare den manglende overensstemmelse mellem produktion af varme fra vedvarende energikilder og behovet for varme, som begge følger forskellige variationer f.eks. kan den overproduktion af varme ved hjælp af sol-baserede systemer ikke anvendes, men kan opbevares i borehulslagersystemer og anvendes i den kolde vinterperiode, (iv) en omfattende økonomisk vurdering af teknologierne ved at tage hensyn til en række parametre for hver teknologi, såsom de specifikke udgifter til investering, drift og vedligeholdelse, levetid, kapacitetsfaktoren, og restværdi af energiforsyningssystemet, (v) den sæsonmæssige variation af energiproduktionen afhængigt af den vedvarende energikildes ydelse, (vi) og, i begrænset omfang de miljømæssige hensyn, der er mulige at opfylde under driften af hvert konverteringssystem samt forsyningssikkerheden for de optimale løsninger. Metoderne, der er opnået ved case-studierne, har samlet set givet de tekniske rammer for etablering af et integreret energiforsyningssystem baseret på anvendelse af vedvarende energikilder til forsyning af lavenergihuse ved hjælp af lavenergifjernvarmeanlæg. This PhD thesis presents a summary of a three-year PhD project involving three case studies, each pertaining to a typical regional Danish energy planning scheme with regard to the extensive use of low-energy district heating systems, operating at temperatures as low as 55°C for supply and 25°C for return, and with the aim of intensive exploitation of renewable energy sources. The hypothesis is that a detailed analysis of energy performance and cost of construction and operation of low energy district heating systems can be used as a rational basis for planning use of district heating in areas with low energy houses. The first case study focus was concerned with developing a method for the designing of low-energy district heating systems for new settlements in which low-energy houses were to be built. The method involved primarily the development of a novel pipe dimensioning method based on optimization of the pipe diameters rather than use of rule-of-thumb methods, through consideration of a certain value of a maximum pressure gradient or a maximum velocity, or both. In addition, attention was directed at the assessment of (i) substation types considered for use in connection with the low-energy houses involved, together with the idea of utilizing booster pumps in the district heating network and (ii) use of network layouts of either a branched (tree-like) or a looped type. The methods developed were applied in a case study, the data of which was provided by the municipality of Roskilde in Denmark. The second case study was aimed at solving another regional energy planning scheme, one concerned with already existing houses, the heat requirements of which were currently being met by use of a natural gas grid or a conventional high-temperature district heating network. The idea considered for employing a low-energy district heating system here involved use of an operational control approach of boosting the supply temperature during the peak winter months due to their shorter durations when compared to a year period. This approach can be considered in two different respects: (i) in the municipal infrastructure, transforming the current heating systems into lowenergy district heating systems and (ii) in the operation of low-energy district heating systems. The building settlement in question, one located in the municipality of Gladsaxe, was chosen for the case study carried out, due to the existing houses there being considered for renovation to houses of a low-energy class, and due to the existing heat-supply energy infrastructure there being a natural gas grid. The third case study carried out aimed at developing energy conversion systems based on use of renewable energy sources that were available locally. This was carried out in an external stay at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) in Oshawa, ON, Canada under the supervision of Prof. Ibrahim Dincer. In this colleborative study, a novel method was developed to serve as the basis of a decision support tool in investigating the optimal use of renewable energy sources, particular consideration being given to the following: (i) the monthly satisfaction of energy requirements of various types: heating (including the demands of space heating and of domestic hot water production), electricity, and cooling, in order to study the improvement in efficiency achieved by use of multi-generation systems, (ii) various types of energy conversion systems, such as single-generation, cogeneration, and multi-generation systems, (iii) the long-term storage of heat energy to cope with the mismatch between the energy production from renewable energy sources and the heat energy requirements, both in terms of the variations involved, such through the excessive production of heat by means of solar based systems, heat that cannot be used immediately but can be stored in borehole storage systems, to be used then in the cold winter period, (iv) an extensive economic assessment of the technologies involved, taking several different parameters into account, each unique for the technology in question, such as the specific investmet costs based on an economy-of-scale, operation and maintenance costs, the lifetime of the technology, the capacity factor, and the salvage value of the energy conversion system at the end of its lifetime, (v) seasonal variation in the generation of energy, in line with the availability of the renewable source in question, (vi) on a limited scale, aimed at gaining as much insight as possible into the complexities of the questions involved, examining the environmental concerns possible to encounter during the operations of each conversion system, the security of supply being figured on the basis of the optimal solutions obtained. In summary, the methods developed in the case studies concern the technical framework for establishing an integrated energy supply scheme involving the use of renewable energy sources for meeting the energy needs of low-energy houses by means of a city-wide low-energy district heating system.

This paper presents selected results from three EU projects: AMBASSADOR, DESIGN4ENERGY and INDIGO. In these projects ICT-based approaches are being developed aiming at energy efficient buildings and districts. The projects are in different phases and they are focused on technologically different domains. In all of these projects ICT-technology is in key role allowing for energy efficient solutions.

Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations, the global warming impacts it induces, and the risk of crossing dangerous tipping points have brought along a need for climate change mitigation. One such proposed option is carbon storage. The suggestions for storage of carbon are many and of varying storage length. However, for this type of mitigation strategy to work, it has to ensure real long-term climatic benefits. Thus, the aim of this project was to assess current suggestions for crediting of temporary carbon storage and their ability to ensure real benefits, considered relative to the global carbon cycle.