• Energy Research
• 2021-2025close
• 12. Responsible consumption close
• 9. Industry and infrastructure close

ABSTRACT Context: reflecting the call being made by the United Nations to solve our current climate challenges and reduce companies’ CO2 emissions, there is a strong need for large corporations to not only employ the terminology of sustainable transitions, but to implement strategies and select new alternative sustainable solutions. Objective: this study fills a gap in the literature by developing and validating a model that helps researchers understand the factors that enable a large corporation undergoing a sustainable transition to select its new sustainable practices. The developed model used theories of sustainability transition and institutional theory with three pillars (regulative, normative, and cognitive) in order to help understand the nature of the company’s innovation selection criteria. Method: survey-based research was carried out among an oil and gas company’s employees, and structural equation modeling was used to test the model fit, validate the survey, and test the hypotheses. Results: the results showed that normative and regulative pillars play the main role in selecting renewable energy activities as a first step toward the company’s sustainable future. Conclusion: the findings provide researchers with a valuable model for understanding the main criteria for selecting new sustainable projects in established companies.

Comprehensive and reliable information on anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gas emissions is required to track progress towards keeping warming well below 2°C as agreed upon in the Paris Agreement. Here we provide a dataset on anthropogenic GHG emissions 1970-2019 with a broad country and sector coverage. We build the dataset from recent releases from the “Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research” (EDGAR) for CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industry (FFI), CH4 emissions, N2O emissions, and fluorinated gases and use a well-established fast-track method to extend this dataset from 2018 to 2019. We complement this with information on net CO2 emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) from three available bookkeeping models.

Cyanobacterial biomass is important for biofuel and biofertilizer, however, biomass production requires expensive chemical growth nutrients. To address this issue, we explored the useof inexpensive growth nutrient media from an integrated manure-seawater system for cyanobacterial biomass production. Salt-tolerant cyanobacterial strain HSaC and salt-sensitive cyanobacterial strain LC were tested to evaluate the potential of integrated manure-seawater media for sustainable cyanobacterial biomass production. As a prerequisite for seawater experiments, strain HSaC was grown at different NaCl concentrations (0 mM, 60 mM, 120 mM, 180 mM, 240 mM and 300 mM) to identify the optimum salt concentration. The highest biomass yield and photosynthetic pigment contents were obtained at 120 mM NaCl concentration. The highest exo-polysaccharide (EPS) content was obtained at 180 mM NaCl concentration. The treatments for the manure-seawater media were cow manure, pig manure, chicken manure and BG11, each with distilled water, diluted seawater and non-diluted seawater. The highest biomass and photosynthetic pigment yield for cyanobacterial strains LC and HSaC were obtained from 0.5 dS/m and 10 dS/m diluted seawater integrated with cow manure, respectively, but pig and chicken manure performed poorly. Overall, the biomass production and photosynthetic pigment results from cow manure-seawater were relatively better than those from the reference media (BG11). Based on the current findings, it is concluded that the growth nutrients from integrated cow manure-seawater can wholly substitute for the BG11 without affecting cyanobacterial growth, thereby reducing the usage of expensive chemical growth media. Thus,The results of study help to enhance the biomass production of both salt-sensitive and salt-tolerant cyanobacteria for sustainable biofuel and biofertilizer production. Cyanobacterial biomass is important for biofuel and biofertilizer, however, biomass production requires expensive chemical growth nutrients. To address this issue, we explored the useof inexpensive growth nutrient media from an integrated manure-seawater system for cyanobacterial biomass production. Salt-tolerant cyanobacterial strain HSaC and salt-sensitive cyanobacterial strain LC were tested to evaluate the potential of integrated manure-seawater media for sustainable cyanobacterial biomass production. As a prerequisite for seawater experiments, strain HSaC was grown at different NaCl concentrations (0 mM, 60 mM, 120 mM, 180 mM, 240 mM and 300 mM) to identify the optimum salt concentration. The highest biomass yield and photosynthetic pigment contents were obtained at 120 mM NaCl concentration. The highest exo-polysaccharide (EPS) content was obtained at 180 mM NaCl concentration. The treatments for the manure-seawater media were cow manure, pig manure, chicken manure and BG11, each with distilled water, diluted seawater and non-diluted seawater. The highest biomass and photosynthetic pigment yield for cyanobacterial strains LC and HSaC were obtained from 0.5 dS/m and 10 dS/m diluted seawater integrated with cow manure, respectively, but pig and chicken manure performed poorly. Overall, the biomass production and photosynthetic pigment results from cow manure-seawater were relatively better than those from the reference media (BG11). Based on the current findings, it is concluded that the growth nutrients from integrated cow manure-seawater can wholly substitute for the BG11 without affecting cyanobacterial growth, thereby reducing the usage of expensive chemical growth media. Thus,The results of study help to enhance the biomass production of both salt-sensitive and salt-tolerant cyanobacteria for sustainable biofuel and biofertilizer production.

[EN] Buildings have become a key source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to the consumption of primary energy, especially when used to achieve thermal comfort conditions. In addition, buildings play a key role for adapting societies to climate change by achieving more energy efficiency. Therefore, buildings have become a key sector to tackle climate change at the local level. However, public decision-makers do not have tools with enough spatial resolution to prioritise and focus the available resources and efforts in an efficient manner. The objective of the research is to develop an innovative methodology based on a geographic information system (GIS) for mapping primary energy consumption and GHG emissions in buildings in cities according to energy efficiency certificates

QTDIAN - Quantification of Technological DIffusion and sociAl constraiNts - is a toolbox of qualitative and quantitative descriptions of socio-technical and political aspects of the energy transition that influence the overall potential, the rate of energy-related technology and service diffusion and the design of the future energy system. The output of QTIDIAN is empirically founded datasets of social and political drivers and barriers of the transition, both in the form of raw data describing past and current developments and manipulated to constitute consistent quantifications of the storylines. Here you can download the data for six QTDIAN themes: Socially feasible scaling of energy technologies Policy preferences & dynamics Barriers to infrastructural development (wind energy, grid development) Citizen energy Private energy demand Further information on the QTDIAN modelling toolbox and the data can be found in the SENTINEL Deliverable 2.3 and Deliverable 2.4: S��sser, D., al Rakouki, H., & Lilliestam, J.(2021). The QTDIAN modelling toolbox���Quantification of social drivers and constraints of the diffusion of energy technologies. Deliverable 2.3. Sustainable Energy Transitions Laboratory (SENTINEL) project. Potsdam: Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS). S��sser, D., Pickering, B., Chatterjee, S., Oreggioni, G., Stavrakas, V., & Lilliestam, J.(2021). Integration of socio-technological transition constraints into energy demand and systems models. Deliverable 2.5. Sustainable Energy Transitions Laboratory (SENTINEL) project. Potsdam: Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS).

This data is related to the research paper, "Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from municipal solid waste in Sub-Saharan Africa via sustainable waste management: An economic benefit assessment." The data corresponds to forecasts of electricity generation and GHG emission reductions in 44 sub-Saharan African countries. This includes the potential for energy generation from organic MSW as well as the economic viability of waste-to-energy projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. This data also includes the environmental costs of improper waste management. Forecasted data on MSW generation and methane emissions from landfill sites are estimated for 100 years (from 2000 to 2100). This data is estimated using data from trusted official documents from the IPCC, IMF, World Bank, and United Nations, and is supplemented as needed with information from literature and country-specific databases. The data showed how important it is for Sub-Saharan Africa to switch to using waste as a source of energy and to use waste in a more sustainable way.

Mit einem Anteil von rund 30% am Endenergieverbrauch und etwa 20% an den CO2-Emissionen haben private Haushalte in Deutschland einen großen Einfluss auf die Umwelt. Gleichzeitig sind private Haushalte ein zentraler Adressat für politische Interventionen zur Bekämpfung des Klimawandels. Vor diesem Hintergrund hat die Politik zahlreiche Maßnahmen zur Verringerung des Energiekonsums und zur Förderung regenerativer Energietechnologien ergriffen. Diese politischen Maßnahmen bedürfen einer sorgfältigen Evaluierung ihrer Effektivität und Kosteneffizienz, um kostspielige Redundanzen durch sich überlappende Instrumente zu vermeiden. Eine solche Evaluation umwelt- und energiepolitischer Maßnahmen erfordert eine umfangreiche Datenbasis. Besonders im Bereich der privaten Haushalte waren solche Daten in Deutschland bislang nicht verfügbar. Die Reagibilität deutscher Haushalte auf Maßnahmen zur Bekämpfung des Klimawandels war daher weitgehend unbekannt. Das Sozial-Ökologische Panel stellt zu diesem Zweck umfangreiche, frei verfügbare Informationen zum Energieverbrauch und Umweltverhalten privater Haushalte bereit. Die Befragung wurde in vier Wellen durchgeführt. Es liegen Daten für die Jahre 2012, 2013, 2014 und 2015 vor. Diese Daten können anhand einer ID aneinander gespielt werden. Darauf aufbauend können ökonometrische Schätzungen und Analysen verschiedener Präferenzindikatoren sowie des Anpassungsverhaltens privater Haushalte an den Klimawandel durchgeführt werden. Dieser Datensatz umfasst die Daten der Erhebung im Jahr 2015. With a share of 30% in total final energy consumption and around 20% in CO2 emissions, private households in Germany strongly affect the environment. At the same time private households are an important target group for policy interventions to fight climate change. Against this background, numerous policy measures that intend to decrease energy consumption and to support renewable energy technologies have been introduced. These policy measures call for accurate evaluation to avoid expensive redundancies due to overlapping policy instruments. The evaluation of energy and environmental policy measures requires comprehensive and reliable data. So far such data was unavailable in Germany, especially in the context of private households. Hence, the responsiveness of German households to climate protection policies was unknown. For this purpose, the Socio-Ecological Panel offers rich information on household’s energy consumption and environmental behavior. The data was gathered in four household surveys conducted in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. The survey waves can be merged using the household ID. The data builds the basis for empirical analyses of households’ adaptation to climate change and the evaluation of environmental and climate policy measures. This data set comprises the information gathered in the 2015 survey wave. Offline Rekrutierung für das repräsentative forsa omninet panel Computer-based observation 10.000 deutsche Haushalte 10,000 German household Green-SÖP Green-SÖP

Indicators of economic sustainability obtained for the 8 systems of LTS studied. Monoc. = monoculture; sub-trop. = subtropical; IMTA = integrated multi trophic aquaculture; “-“ = no data.