• Energy Research
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• 11. Sustainability close
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Now that durable alternatives to energy from fossil sources have become technologically and economically feasible, the challenge of the energy transition is primarily one of mobilizing populations to act. Here we study the mobilizability of Dutch rental flat residents for sustainable energy alterations to their homes. We argue that the structure of the social network among residents will greatly affect its ability to spread information on energy alternatives and propagate cascades of green adoption behavior. Using a survey circulated in a rental flat in the Dutch city of Haarlem, we were able to map the social network of its residents and assess their willingness to incur costs and discomfort for uncertain future gains. Our analysis reveals a surprisingly cooperative population of low-income residents and a remarkably integrated network structure showing no sign of ethnic or religious segregation.

Low carbon transitions of urban energy systems have been on urban research and policy agendas for several years now. While the spatialities of infrastructure transitions have been widely discussed, their temporalities have attracted much less attention. This is surprising, since the transition of urban infrastructures in the course of system integration and decarbonisation reveal strong temporal dynamics: new temporalities or temporal requirements not only emerge as a result of technological change (e.g. by integrating fluctuating renewables or storage technologies) but also of changing social practices (e.g. in urban load management or energy use). We argue that aligning urban and infrastructure temporalities involves negotiations between the various energy providers, regulators and users involved and is a highly political process. As we know little about such temporal dynamics so far, this study uses an explorative methodology to elaborate on a conceptual framework of urban and infrastructural temporalities. This framework has been developed in an iterative way by going back and forth between conceptual contributions and empirical findings drawn from expert interviews regarding low carbon transitions in Rotterdam. Our case study of Rotterdam indicates that unsolved challenges in aligning urban and infrastructural temporalities can be seen as a major restriction to realise low carbon energy solutions.

Mission-oriented approaches such as green public procurement (GPP) are emerging as popular solutions for governments to tackle contemporary sustainability challenges. Voluntary standards are instruments that can be used in GPP to drive innovation toward sustainability goals. However, there exists a lack of understanding of how to theoretically situate and practically execute GPP and voluntary standards within missions-oriented innovation systems (MIS). To address this research gap, this paper investigates how voluntary standards can be used to help formulate and achieve missions for sustainable urban development (SUD) at the municipal level, followed by what role green public procurement can play in this process. To do so, it establishes a first theoretical synthesis of GPP and MIS. Next, focusing on the Municipality of Amsterdam, it conducts an empirical investigation of 95 SUD projects, of which 55 were public tender projects (in which the municipality is the landowner) and 40 were non-public tender projects (in which a private entity is the landowner), supplemented by stakeholder interviews. Based on this, it (1) conceptualizes six sustainability ambitions as missions and examines each for their formulation in terms of targets and associated standards (problem-solution diagnosis), and (2) it maps the various actors engaged in the process of implementing these missions through SUD projects, defining their positions and interrelations within the MIS at the municipal level (structural analysis). Conclusions and reflections are made regarding the relationship between changing standards and regulations over time, the potential for GPP to increase progress toward missions via use of voluntary standards in public tenders. Until programmatic approaches to measuring progress toward missions are fully implemented, the presence of voluntary standards is suggested as a potential metric.

Neoliberal discourse often conceptualizes nature in relation to its market utility and economic development. This article will address the role of metaphors in shaping neoliberal discourse in business education. The aim of this article is to reveal reasoning patterns about environmental problems and economic development in students of sustainable business minor. The case study described in this article involves business students at The Hague University in The Netherlands. This case study aimed to explore a shift in student understanding of environmental problems and economic development before and after the intervention. The results suggest that critical curriculum can inform students about the alternative conceptions as well as instruct them about potential solutions to the sustainability challenges. The article culminates with the argument that without goal-oriented education for sustainability; neoliberal education may not permit transcendence from unsustainable practices.

Transport demand management (TDM) measures are widely regarded as essential tools to deal with traffic issues. Their effectiveness has been under scrutiny. Packaging of TDM measures has recently received much attention from researchers and governments because it can achieve more complex policy goals and resolve the negative effects of single TDM measures. Many studies have examined the concept of policy packaging, the ideal packaging process, and potential barriers at the theoretical level. However, the way TDM packaging as a concept works in a real-world context has received little attention. Additionally, there is little methodology to analyse its characteristics from a dynamic and historical perspective. Therefore, this study provides a methodology for analysing TDM packaging in four dimensions (i.e., density, classification, interaction, and time). These dimensions respectively reveal how many and what kind of TDM measures have been implemented, how they interact in a package, and how these characteristics change over time. We examine this methodology through comparative case studies based on policy document analysis in two Chinese cities, Dalian and Shenzhen, both of which adopt a large number of TDM measures. The results show that this methodology successfully reveals the characteristics of case cities: both tend to put more TDM measures into the transport policy package to deal with traffic issues, but the package in Shenzhen is more integrative than that in Dalian. We also find that with the integration of packaging increasing, transport systems are becoming more sustainable, and Shenzhen performs better in this regard than Dalian. This methodology can be used to analyse policy packaging in broader areas and to examine its influence on transport systems in more case studies in future research.

Cet article développe un modèle de gravité structurelle multisectoriel et multifacteur qui permet une décomposition analytique et quantitative des changements d'émission et de sortie en effets de composition et de technique. Nous constatons que le choc de production négatif de la politique de confinement de la Chine se propage à l'échelle mondiale via les chaînes d'approvisionnement, les secteurs à forte intensité de carbone subissant les plus grands chocs d'émission de carbone. Nous révélons en outre que le plan de relance actuel de la Chine pour 2021–2025 est conforme aux objectifs de réduction de l'intensité des émissions de la Chine pour 2025, mais des efforts supplémentaires sont nécessaires pour atteindre l'objectif de pointe des émissions de carbone de la Chine en 2030 et l'objectif de 2 ° C de Cancún. Les changements à court terme des émissions de carbone résultant des confinements et des stimuli budgétaires initiaux pendant la période de « sauvetage économique » ont des effets mineurs à long terme, tandis que la direction transitoire des futurs stimulants budgétaires exerce un impact plus prédominant sur les émissions de carbone à long terme. Les effets d'amélioration de l'efficacité sont plus importants que les effets de structure sectorielle de la relance budgétaire pour parvenir à une croissance économique plus verte. Este documento desarrolla un modelo de gravedad estructural multisectorial y multifactorial que permite una descomposición analítica y cuantitativa de los cambios de emisión y salida en efectos de composición y técnica. Encontramos que el impacto negativo en la producción de la política de contención de China se propaga a nivel mundial a través de las cadenas de suministro, y los sectores intensivos en carbono experimentan los mayores impactos en las emisiones de carbono. Además, revelamos que el paquete de estímulo actual de China en 2021–2025 es consistente con los objetivos de reducción de la intensidad de las emisiones de China para 2025, pero se requieren más esfuerzos para cumplir con el objetivo máximo de emisiones de carbono de China en 2030 y el objetivo de 2 ° C de Cancún. Los cambios a corto plazo en las emisiones de carbono resultantes de los confinamientos y los estímulos fiscales iniciales en el período de "rescate económico" tienen efectos menores a largo plazo, mientras que la dirección de transición del estímulo fiscal futuro ejerce un impacto más predominante en las emisiones de carbono a largo plazo. Los efectos de mejora de la eficiencia son más importantes que los efectos de la estructura sectorial del estímulo fiscal para lograr un crecimiento económico más ecológico. This paper develops a multi-sector and multi-factor structural gravity model that allows an analytical and quantitative decomposition of the emission and output changes into composition and technique effects. We find that the negative production shock of China's containment policy propagates globally via supply chains, with the carbon-intensive sectors experiencing the greatest carbon emission shocks. We further reveal that China's current stimulus package in 2021–2025 is consistent with China's emission intensity-reduction goals for 2025, but further efforts are required to meet China's carbon emissions-peaking target in 2030 and Cancun 2°C goal. Short-term changes in carbon emissions resulting from lockdowns and initial fiscal stimuli in "economic rescue" period have minor long-term effects, whereas the transitional direction of future fiscal stimulus exerts more predominant impact on long-term carbon emissions. The efficiency improvement effects are more important than the sectoral structure effects of the fiscal stimulus in achieving greener economic growth. تطور هذه الورقة نموذجًا للجاذبية الهيكلية متعدد القطاعات ومتعدد العوامل يسمح بالتحلل التحليلي والكمي للانبعاثات وتغيرات المخرجات في تأثيرات التركيب والتقنية. نجد أن صدمة الإنتاج السلبية لسياسة الاحتواء الصينية تنتشر عالميًا عبر سلاسل التوريد، حيث تعاني القطاعات كثيفة الكربون من أكبر صدمات انبعاثات الكربون. نكشف كذلك أن حزمة التحفيز الحالية للصين في 2021–2025 تتوافق مع أهداف الصين لخفض كثافة الانبعاثات لعام 2025، ولكن هناك حاجة إلى مزيد من الجهود لتحقيق هدف ذروة انبعاثات الكربون في الصين في عام 2030 وهدف كانكون 2 درجة مئوية. إن التغيرات قصيرة الأجل في انبعاثات الكربون الناتجة عن عمليات الإغلاق والمحفزات المالية الأولية في فترة "الإنقاذ الاقتصادي" لها آثار طفيفة طويلة الأجل، في حين أن الاتجاه الانتقالي للتحفيز المالي المستقبلي له تأثير أكثر هيمنة على انبعاثات الكربون طويلة الأجل. آثار تحسين الكفاءة أكثر أهمية من آثار الهيكل القطاعي للحافز المالي في تحقيق نمو اقتصادي أكثر مراعاة للبيئة.

Between 1950 and 2017, world average life expectancy increased from below-50 to above-70, while the fertility rate dropped from 5 to about 2.5. We develop and calibrate an analytic climate-economy model with overlapping generations to study the effect of such demographic change on capital markets and optimal climate policies. Our model replicates findings from the OLG-demography literature, such as a rise in households’ savings, and a declining rate of return to capital. We also find that demographic change raises the social cost of carbon, at 2020, from 28 euro/tCO2 in a model that abstracts from demography, to 94 euro/tCO2 in our calibrated model.

Highlights • Applying ISM identifies 22 barriers to distributed recycling of 3DP waste. • The barriers are technical, economic, social, organizational, and regulatory in nature. • Quality demands from consumers and consumption behaviors constitute important barriers. • Homogeneous waste streams and avoiding contamination are key to encouraging 3DP recycling in makerspaces. • Overcoming barriers requires concerted effort by varied stakeholders: legislative bodies, companies, makerspaces, consumers.