• Energy Research
• 13. Climate action close
• AU close
• FI close
• Queensland University of Technology close

AbstractClimate change is having a significant impact on ecosystem services and is likely to become increasingly important as this phenomenon intensifies. Future impacts can be difficult to assess as they often involve long timescales, dynamic systems with high uncertainties, and are typically confounded by other drivers of change. Despite a growing literature on climate change impacts on ecosystem services, no quantitative syntheses exist. Hence, we lack an overarching understanding of the impacts of climate change, how they are being assessed, and the extent to which other drivers, uncertainties, and decision making are incorporated. To address this, we systematically reviewed the peer‐reviewed literature that assesses climate change impacts on ecosystem services at subglobal scales. We found that the impact of climate change on most types of services was predominantly negative (59% negative, 24% mixed, 4% neutral, 13% positive), but varied across services, drivers, and assessment methods. Although uncertainty was usually incorporated, there were substantial gaps in the sources of uncertainty included, along with the methods used to incorporate them. We found that relatively few studies integrated decision making, and even fewer studies aimed to identify solutions that were robust to uncertainty. For management or policy to ensure the delivery of ecosystem services, integrated approaches that incorporate multiple drivers of change and account for multiple sources of uncertainty are needed. This is undoubtedly a challenging task, but ignoring these complexities can result in misleading assessments of the impacts of climate change, suboptimal management outcomes, and the inefficient allocation of resources for climate adaptation.

AbstractREDD+ presents novel options for conservation in the tropics, yet it is unclear how biodiversity‐focused organizations or actors should react to these carbon‐focused opportunities. Here, we critically assess for the first time the expected outcomes of five contrasting scenarios of engagement between a biodiversity actor and REDD+. We discover that in the Berau regency, Indonesia, it is usually beneficial for a biodiversity actor to react in some way to REDD+, but the preferred reaction depends on whether a REDD+ project is already developing in the region, and the scale and type of conservation objectives. In general, from a strict biodiversity perspective, the most cost efficient reaction to the presence of REDD+ is to use biodiversity funds to protect areas neglected by REDD+. Our results demonstrate that if biodiversity actors fail to adapt the way they pursue conservation in the tropics, REDD+ opportunities could go largely untapped.

This is the first study to assess the current status of solar photovoltaic (PV) adoption across a range of wastewater treatment plant sizes, and to identify the opportunities for solar PV in the wastewater sector. It quantifies solar PV contributions to the energy demand of the wastewater treatment plants and improves knowledge of sector-specific factors influencing PV uptake. California was used as a case study due to its high commitment to solar power and the high data availability. The study compiled and examined data on multiple wastewater treatment plant attributes from 105 Californian plants, representing 78% of total state flows. The analysis focused on the effect of three sector-specific influencing factors: size of wastewater treatment plant, presence/absence of anaerobic digestion and geographical location (urban vs rural). Solar PV adoption was observed to vary significantly with the size of the wastewater treatment plants. Of the 105 plants analysed, 41 installed a solar PV system. Of these 41, 39 were installed in wastewater treatment plants with a flow rate below 50 mega gallons day-1 (MGD). Only two plants with flow above 50 MGD had solar PV installed. In wastewater treatment plants with a flow rate above 5 MGD, solar PV was primarily installed in hybrid configurations with anaerobic digestion. In these plants, biogas contributed 25-65% to the overall energy demand, while solar provided 8-30%. In wastewater treatment plants with a flow rates below 5 MGD, solar PV often represented the only source of renewable energy, producing 30-100% of the energy demand of these plants. Across all the plants analysed, 1 MW was the most adopted solar installation size and solar PV installations were mostly found in wastewater treatment plants in rural settings. While acknowledging multiple other factors of potential influence, these results demonstrate the role of solar PV in wastewater treatment plants under three sector-specific influencing factors. The results will support the sector in making informed decisions over solar PV investments, helping wastewater utilities to transition towards sustainable management practices.

Plants species have been shown to improve the performance of stormwater biofiltration systems, particularly in removal of N and P. Recent research has shown that plants vary in their contribution to pollutant removal but little is known about the type of plant that is best suited to use in biofilters in terms of survival, growth rate, and performance. In this study, growth responses of 20 species to applications of semi-synthetic stormwater were measured, and the roles of key plant traits in removal of N, P, and several metals were investigated. There was no evidence of negative effects of stormwater application on plant growth, and plant traits, particularly root traits, were strongly correlated negatively with N and P concentrations of effluent stormwater. The most common and strong contributors to N and P removal appeared to be the length of the longest root, rooting depth, total root length, and root mass. The plants that made the strongest contribution to pollutant removal, e.g, Carex appressa, combined these traits with high growth rates. Investigation of other plant traits (e.g, physiology), causal mechanisms, and effects of more complex planting environments (e.g, species mixtures) should further guide the selection of plants to enhance performance of biofiltration systems.

High-density living in inner-urban areas has been promoted to encourage the use of more sustainable modes of travel to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, previous research presents mixed results on the relationship between living in proximity to transport systems and reduced car-dependency. This research examines inner-city residents' transportation practices and perceptions, via 24 qualitative interviews with residents from high-density dwellings in inner-city Brisbane, Australia. Whilst participants consider public transport accessible and convenient, car use continues to be relied on for many journeys. Transportation choices are justified through complex definitions of convenience containing both utilitarian and psycho-social elements, with three key themes identified: time-efficiency, single versus multi-modal trips, and distance to and purpose of journey, as well as attitudinal, affective and symbolic elements related to transport mode use. Understanding conceptions of transport convenience held by different segments of the transport users market, alongside other factors strongly implicated in travel mode choice, can ensure targeted improvements in sustainable transport service levels and infrastructure as well as information service provision and behavioural change campaigns.

Abstract This paper provides an empirical estimation of energy efficiency and other proximate factors that explain energy intensity in Australia for the period 1978–2009. The analysis is performed by decomposing the changes in energy intensity by means of energy efficiency, fuel mix and structural changes using sectoral and sub-sectoral levels of data. The results show that the driving forces behind the decrease in energy intensity in Australia are efficiency effect and sectoral composition effect, where the former is found to be more prominent than the latter. Moreover, the favourable impact of the composition effect has slowed consistently in recent years. A perfect positive association characterizes the relationship between energy intensity and carbon intensity in Australia. The decomposition results indicate that Australia needs to improve energy efficiency further to reduce energy intensity and carbon emissions.

Global climate change, demographic change and advancing mechanization of everyday life will go along with new ways of living. Temperature extremes, an ageing society and higher demands on a comfortable life will lead to the implementation of sensor based networks in order to create acceptable and improved living conditions. Originally, the idea of the smart home served primarily the efficient use of energy and the optimization of ventilation technology connected with new ways of constructing buildings (low-energy and passive houses, respectively). Today the term 'smart home' is also linked with the networking of home automation systems, home appliances and communications and entertainment electronics. Living in a smart home often makes also significant demands on the occupants who are required to drastically change some of their living habits. This review summarizes current findings on the effect of measured environmental parameters on indoor air quality, individual thermal comfort and living behavior in smart homes with focus on central Europe. A critical evaluation of available sensor technologies, their application in homes and data security aspects as well as limits and possibilities of current technologies to control particles and gaseous pollutants indoors is included. The review also considers the acceptance of smart technologies by occupants in terms of living habits, perceived indoor air quality and data security.