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A proper analysis (an evaluation) of the environmental load of consumption is important in the context of sustainable development. Presently, different methods are used to calculate the environmental load of household consumption, mainly in energy and or greenhouse gas emission terms. These methods are all based on input-output energy analysis, but use different data sources and produce different results. In this article, we discern and describe three methods used to calculate the total energy requirements of households, and we discuss the main results produced with these methods. All three methods are applied to the Netherlands in order to compare differences and similarities in the results. We found that the total energy requirement calculated with all three methods was almost the same, with differences less than 4%, however each method provides results at a different level. Basic energy input-output analysis generates total requirements and requirements per consumption category, and is therefore suitable for describing and explaining the effect of household consumption. The hybrid method combining energy input-output analysis with process analysis generates requirements per consumption item and therefore offers opportunities to search for options of change of household consumption patterns to more sustainable consumption. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A proper analysis (an evaluation) of the environmental load of consumption is important in the context of sustainable development. Presently, different methods are used to calculate the environmental load of household consumption, mainly in energy and or greenhouse gas emission terms. These methods are all based on input-output energy analysis, but use different data sources and produce different results. In this article, we discern and describe three methods used to calculate the total energy requirements of households, and we discuss the main results produced with these methods. All three methods are applied to the Netherlands in order to compare differences and similarities in the results. We found that the total energy requirement calculated with all three methods was almost the same, with differences less than 4%, however each method provides results at a different level. Basic energy input-output analysis generates total requirements and requirements per consumption category, and is therefore suitable for describing and explaining the effect of household consumption. The hybrid method combining energy input-output analysis with process analysis generates requirements per consumption item and therefore offers opportunities to search for options of change of household consumption patterns to more sustainable consumption. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

To reduce human causes of global warming, large scale implementation of innovative products that save energy is necessary. Innovative products first reach the early market actors who are driven by a visionary attitude. Hereafter, the products must reach the much larger mainstream market whose actors are driven by a pragmatic attitude. Many innovations, however, only appeal to the visionary early market and do not meet the more pragmatic needs of the mainstream. For that reason, innovations often fall in a "chasm" between the early market and the mainstream and fail to reach the mainstream. We developed a strategy and a protocol to aid governmental agencies in influencing the mainstream members of housing associations to adopt energy conservation innovations. Our method is an adaptation of an existing marketing method and applicable to other target groups. The first step in crossing this chasm is to find a niche segment in the mainstream as the starting point for winning the rest of the mainstream. By surveying the target group and analyzing the data, we identified 29 housing associations (234 interviewed) that belong to this niche segment. Identifying the niche segment and its determinants of behaviour is part of our 4-step protocol that leads to adapting the innovative product to meet the needs of the niche and setting up a marketing plan to win the rest of the mainstream.

To reduce human causes of global warming, large scale implementation of innovative products that save energy is necessary. Innovative products first reach the early market actors who are driven by a visionary attitude. Hereafter, the products must reach the much larger mainstream market whose actors are driven by a pragmatic attitude. Many innovations, however, only appeal to the visionary early market and do not meet the more pragmatic needs of the mainstream. For that reason, innovations often fall in a "chasm" between the early market and the mainstream and fail to reach the mainstream. We developed a strategy and a protocol to aid governmental agencies in influencing the mainstream members of housing associations to adopt energy conservation innovations. Our method is an adaptation of an existing marketing method and applicable to other target groups. The first step in crossing this chasm is to find a niche segment in the mainstream as the starting point for winning the rest of the mainstream. By surveying the target group and analyzing the data, we identified 29 housing associations (234 interviewed) that belong to this niche segment. Identifying the niche segment and its determinants of behaviour is part of our 4-step protocol that leads to adapting the innovative product to meet the needs of the niche and setting up a marketing plan to win the rest of the mainstream.

Over the last decade Brazil has implemented a new and ambitious biofuel program: the National Program of Production and Use of Biodiesel (PNPB). When launching this program in 2004 the government stated that it wanted to avoid the same kind of geographical concentration, single crop focus, dominance of agribusiness, and exclusion of family farmers that have occurred with bioethanol production through the ProÁlcool policy since 1975. This paper compares the life histories of the bioethanol and the biodiesel policies of Brazil by analyzing their substantive policy content; the power and politics of actors that struggle for the design and implementation of the policies; and the polity in terms the organization and institutionalization of the policies. The paper concludes that both policies have become submerged by and dependent on the polity and politics of primarily the energy and agricultural sectors that operate as the two semi-autonomous governance fields. This submerging has shaped the substantive contents of biofuels policies, and explains why the 2004 biodiesel policy PNPB, in spite of its objectives for social inclusion and rural development, faces similar problems in implementation as its predecessor, the 1975 bioethanol policy ProÁlcool.

Over the last decade Brazil has implemented a new and ambitious biofuel program: the National Program of Production and Use of Biodiesel (PNPB). When launching this program in 2004 the government stated that it wanted to avoid the same kind of geographical concentration, single crop focus, dominance of agribusiness, and exclusion of family farmers that have occurred with bioethanol production through the ProÁlcool policy since 1975. This paper compares the life histories of the bioethanol and the biodiesel policies of Brazil by analyzing their substantive policy content; the power and politics of actors that struggle for the design and implementation of the policies; and the polity in terms the organization and institutionalization of the policies. The paper concludes that both policies have become submerged by and dependent on the polity and politics of primarily the energy and agricultural sectors that operate as the two semi-autonomous governance fields. This submerging has shaped the substantive contents of biofuels policies, and explains why the 2004 biodiesel policy PNPB, in spite of its objectives for social inclusion and rural development, faces similar problems in implementation as its predecessor, the 1975 bioethanol policy ProÁlcool.

Many uncertainties and controversies surround the future of the global energy system. The Targets IMage Energy (TIME) model of which a concise description is given, is used to explore the consequences of divergent assumptions about some uncertain and controversial issues. The IPCC-IS92a Conventional Wisdom scenario is used as a reference and, in combination with two other scenarios, discussed in the context of other recently published global energy scenarios.

Many uncertainties and controversies surround the future of the global energy system. The Targets IMage Energy (TIME) model of which a concise description is given, is used to explore the consequences of divergent assumptions about some uncertain and controversial issues. The IPCC-IS92a Conventional Wisdom scenario is used as a reference and, in combination with two other scenarios, discussed in the context of other recently published global energy scenarios.