• Refine Query
  • Source
  • Publication year
  • to
  • Language
  • 196
  • 65
  • 30
  • 24
  • 16
  • 10
  • 4
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 2
  • 2
  • 2
  • 1
  • 1
  • Tagged with
  • 405
  • 154
  • 120
  • 83
  • 81
  • 77
  • 74
  • 64
  • 59
  • 58
  • 53
  • 53
  • 48
  • 48
  • 40
  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
391

Green growth? A consumption perspective on Swedish environmental impact trends using input–output analysis / Grön tillväxt? Svensk miljöpåverkan ur ett konsumtionsperspektiv med tillämpning av input–output-analys

Berglund, Mårten January 2011 (has links)
Consumption-based environmental impact trends for the Swedish economy have been generated and analysed in order to determine their levels compared to official production-based data, and to determine whether or not the Swedish economy has decoupled growth in domestic final demand from worldwide environmental impact. Three energy resources (oil, coal and gas use, as well as their aggregate fossil fuel use) and seven emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O, SO2, NOx, CO and NMVOC, as well as the aggregate CO2 equivalents) were studied. An augmented single-regional input–output model has been deployed, with world average energy and emission intensities used for products produced abroad. A new method for updating input–output tables for years missing official input–output tables, was also developed. For each of the resources and the emissions, two time series were generated based on two different revisions of Swedish national accounts data, one for the period 1993–2003, the other for the period 2000–2005. The analysis uses a recently revised time series of environmental data from the Swedish environmental accounts, as well as recently published global environmental data from the IEA and from the EDGAR emissions database (all data from 2010 or later). An index decomposition analysis was also performed to detect the various components of the time series. For fossil fuels consumption-based data don't differ much from production-based data in total. For the greenhouse gases there is a clear increase (CO2eq emissions increase approximately 20 % from 1993–2005, mainly driven by an increase in CH4 emissions), resulting from increased emissions abroad due to the increased demand for imported products. This suggests Sweden has not decoupled economic growth from increasing greenhouse gas emissions – contrary to what the slightly decreasing official production-based UNFCCC data say. For the precursor gases (SO2, NOx, CO and NMVOC), emissions are generally decreasing, with the exception of SO2 and NOx which increase in the second time series. For all emissions studied, consumption-based data lie at much higher levels than the official production-based UNFCCC data. However, further research is needed regarding the resolution of the data of the energy use and the emissions generated abroad by the Swedish domestic final demand. Also, extension of the time series and of the environmental parameters to such things as material use is needed to find out with more certainty to what extent Swedish growth has been sustainable or not. / I den här studien har konsumtionsbaserade tidsserier på svensk fossilbränsleanvändning och på svenska utsläpp av luftföroreningar tagits fram i avsikt att jämföra dessa med de officiella produktionsbaserade tidsserierna. Syftet har varit att avgöra om det svenska samhällets påverkan på resurser och miljö ur ett konsumtionsperspektiv har minskat eller ökat över tiden, och framförallt om en frikoppling har skett mellan den svenska ekonomiska tillväxten och den påverkan Sverige har på miljön i Sverige och utomlands. Tre fossila bränslen (olja, kol, gas samt aggregatet fossila bränslen) och sju luftföroreningar (CO2, CH4, N2O, SO2, NOx, CO och NMVOC samt aggregatet CO2-ekvivalenter) har analyserats. En enkelregional input–output-modell har tagits fram, utökad med globala medelintensiteter för den produktion som sker utanför Sverige. En ny metod har också utvecklats för att generera input–output-tabeller för år där officiella sådana tabeller saknas. För samtliga energiresurser och luftföroreningar, upprättades två stycken tidsserier, baserat på två olika revisioner av ekonomiska data från nationalräkenskaperna. Den första tidsserien täcker åren 1993–2003, och den andra åren 2000–2005. Miljödata togs från nyligen reviderade tidsserier från de svenska miljöräkenskaperna samt från IEA och den internationella luftföroreningsdatabasen EDGAR (alla data reviderade 2010 eller senare). En komponentanalys utfördes också, för att identifiera olika bidragande komponenter i tidsserierna. Vad gäller fossila bränslen i sin helhet, uppstår ingen markant skillnad mellan konsumtionsbaserade och produktionsbaserade data. Vad gäller växthusgaserna kan en klar ökning urskiljas (20 procents ökning av CO2-ekvivalenter mellan 1993–2005; CH4-utsläppen har där bidragit mest), vilket beror på stigande utsläpp utomlands orsakade av ökad efterfrågan på importerade produkter. Detta antyder att den svenska tillväxten ännu inte frikopplats från ökade utsläpp av växthusgaser, vilket står i motsats till den minskning i utsläpp som de officiella produktionsbaserade siffrorna från UNFCCC-rapporteringen redovisar. För övriga luftföroreningar (SO2, NOx, CO och NMVOC), sker i allmänhet en minskning, förutom för SO2 och NOx som ökar i den andra tidsserien. Samtliga luftföroreningar ligger vidare på en betydligt högre nivå jämfört med UNFCCC-rapporteringen. Mer detaljerade studier behövs dock på den energiförbrukning och de utsläpp som svensk slutlig användning för med sig utomlands. Tidsserierna behöver också förlängas och fler miljövariabler som t.ex. materialanvändningen behöver studeras för att kunna dra säkrare slutsatser kring i vilken utsträckning som den svenska tillväxten har varit hållbar eller ej.
392

Environmental Performance of the Försäkringskassan IT Infrastructure : A Green-IT case study for the Swedish Social Insurance Agency

Honée, Caspar January 2013 (has links)
This Green IT case study commissioned by Försäkringskassan (FK), the Swedish National Social Insurance Agency, quantifies the environmental performance of the IT infrastructure (IT-IS) in use during 2010 in a lifecycle perspective. Adopting a system view in Green IT analysis can mitigate risks of problem shifts. IT-IS concerns the equipment that enables office automation and external web application services. The size of the FK IT-IS is in the order of 300 branch offices with 14000 pc’s, 2100 printers and a 1 MW data centre hosting 1200 servers, 5 Petabyte of central data storage and serving about 80 key business applications. The carbon footprint of the FK IT-IS in 2010 accounts to 6.5 kiloton CO2-equivalents. The total environmental impact is calculated across 18 themes and expressed as a single indicator eco score amounting to 822.000 ReCiPe points. The contribution of capital goods is large with 44% of the carbon footprint and 47% of the eco score linked to emissions embedded in material equipment. The environmental effects from distributed IT deployed at local office sites, dominate at two thirds of the total FK IT-IS impacts. Important drivers in the local office sites category are the relatively short economic life span of pc equipment and the significant volume of paper consumed in printing activities. Within the data centre category, operational processes dominate the environmental impacts and are linked to intensive power use. In comparison to industry benchmark scores, the data centre infrastructure energy efficiency (DCiE) is relatively low at 57%, or 59% when credited for waste heat utilisation. Airflow containment measures in computer rooms are identified for efficiency improvement. Enhanced airflow controls also act as a prerequisite to better leverage opportunities for free cooling present at the location in northern Europe.  With regards to the data centre hosted IT, environmental impacts linked to storage services dominate and remarkably exceed those of servers. / Denna fallstudie inom Grön IT på uppdrag av Försäkringskassan (FK) kvantifierar IT-infrastrukturens (IT-IS) miljöprestanda i ett livscykelperspektiv under 2010. Att införa ett systemperspektiv inom Grön IT analys kan lindra riskerna av problemväxling. IT-IS avser utrustning som möjliggör kontorsautomatisering och externa webbapplikationer. FK IT-IS omfattar 300 kontor med 14,000 datorer, 2,100 skrivare och ett 1 MW datacenter med 1,200 servrar, 5 Petabyte central datalagring och 80 huvudsakliga applikationer. Koldioxidavtrycket av det totala FK IT-IS utgör 6,5 kiloton CO2-ekvivalenter för 2010 . Den totala miljöpåverkan är beräknad över 18 miljöteman och anger som en enda indikator ekobetyget på 822,000 ReCiPe poäng . Kapitalvaror bidrar stort, med hela 44% av koldioxidutsläppen och 47% av ekobetyget kan härledas till inbäddade utsläpp i material utrustning. Miljöeffekterna av de lokala kontorens IT dominerar med två tredjedelar av den totala FK IT-IS miljöpåverkan. Viktiga faktorer i kategorin lokala kontor är kapitalvarornas relativt korta ekonomiska livslängd samt de betydande volymer av skrivarpapper som används.   Inom datacenterkategorin domineras miljöpåverkan av de operativa processerna som är kopplade till intensiv el förbrukning. I jämförelse med branschstandarden är energieffektiviteten av datacentrets infrastruktur (DCiE) relativt låg, med 57%, alternativt 59% när användandet av spillvärme inräknas. Luftflöde inneslutningsåtgärder i datorsalar identifieras för effektivisering. Förbättrad luftflödesinneslutning i datahallarna är identifierad som en energieffektivisering. Den förbättrade luftflödeskontrollen är också ett krav för att bättre kunna utnyttja möjligheterna för fri kyla som finns i Norra Europa.  Med avseende på datacentrets IT, domineras miljökonsekvenserna kopplade till lagringstjänster och överstiger anmärkningsvärt effekterna från servrarna. / Miljöutredning Grön IT på Försäkringskassan - examensarbeten
393

Sustaining ICT for Sustainability : Towards Mainstreaming De–carbonization–oriented Design & Enabling the Energy–Efficient, Low Carbon Economy

Bibri, Mohamed January 2009 (has links)
The study set out to understand and demonstrate the role the ICT sector could play as a critical enabler in the transition and progress towards an energy– efficient, low carbon economy. More specifically, the study of sustaining ICT for sustainability has twofold intent: (2) to investigate the direct footprint of ICT sector and explore how it can be tackled through adopting sustainable design–based solutions; and (2) to highlight the enabling potential of ICT sector to mitigate climate change and massively improve energy efficiency across the economy, identifying and quantifying the global ICT impacts and opportunities in the context of energy and carbon emissions savings. To achieve the aim of this study, a pertinent and extensive literature review covering theoretical, empirical, and critical scholarship was performed to investigate the phenomenon. The study draws on a variety of sources to survey the unsustainability of ICT sector pertaining to energy–intensive consumption and explore potential solutions through espousing environmental design practice, and also to examine the role of ICT in delivering energy–efficient solutions through its products and services. Validity was ensured through using quality academic and industry literature as well as relevant studies carried out by a range of eminent researchers, experts, and stakeholders (i.e. NGOs, research centers). Findings highlight the unsustainability of ICT sector regarding energy– intensive consumption and concomitant GHG emissions associated with its products and services. Of the whole lifecycle, the use phase of ICT is the most critical. Data centers and telecom networks devour energy. Planned obsolescence entrenched in software design shorten upgrade cycle, which makes software utilities a planet killer as to energy consumption. Alternative sustainable design–based solutions entail using renewable energy and most efficient energy required over ICT’s life cycle – de–carbonization strategy. Also, digitization is an effective strategy for ICT sector to slash energy use per unit. To reduce the footprint of data centers and telecom networks, design solutions vary from hardware and software to technological improvements. Designing out built–in obsolescence in software technology is a key factor in the energy equation. As for the enabling role of ICT, the findings are highly illuminating. The ICT sector must step up its efforts in reducing its direct footprint in order to claim a leadership role in an energy–efficient, low carbon economy. Although the ICT sector’s own emissions will increase because of global growing demand for its products and services, the real gains will come from its enabling potential to yield substantial energy efficiency improvements and emissions reductions across the economy. The sheer scale of the climate change challenge presents smart development mitigation opportunities for ICT sector to deliver environmentally sustainable solutions. The largest identified opportunities are: dematerialization; intelligent transport and logistics; intelligent buildings; smart power supply; and efficient industrial processes and systems. This study provides a novel approach into sustainable design in ICT, underlining unsustainable design practices in ICT sector. Review of the literature makes an advance on extant reviews by highlighting the synergic relationship between ICT design, sustainability, and the economy. / +46 704 35 21 35
394

Energieffektivisering inom transportsektorn : En fallstudie på ett företagsfordonspark

Isak, Eklöv January 2021 (has links)
Energy efficiency within the transport sector - A case study on the vehicle fleet of a companyIsak EklövThe environmental objective of zero net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2045 asdecided by the Swedish parliament establishes a framework for a standard thatimplies a demand for considerable changes within many sectors at both technical and political level. The need for long term efficiency solutions with respect tosustainability to be able to reach this goal is great and one step towards this couldpotentially be an adaption to an increased amount of vehicles with alternative fuelsin the vehicle fleet of Sweden. This thesis examined the potential for companiesto reduce their life-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases as well as the total cost ofownership (TCO) for their vehicles by changing the composition of their vehiclefleet.The project started with a literature review of a general character where data forlife-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases as well as TCO for different vehicle typeswas examined and collected. Then the life-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases andTCO were calculated for the different vehicle types through a case study on thevehicle fleet of a company. Finally a programming script was developed to increasethe efficiency of the process which was then used to create scenarios with differentcompositions of the vehicle fleet. A sensitivity analysis was also carried out to evaluate the robustness of the life cycle calculations where the parameters individuallywere altered and the effect on the final result was examined.The result of the case study showed that alternative fueled vehicles are expected tolead to lower life-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases compared to the conventionalalternatives for all vehicle types where alternative fuels are commercially available.The only exception for this was the electric fringe benefit vehicle with a 100 kWhbattery which was expected to lead to higher life-cycle emissions than its fossilalternatives. The result of the cost analysis showed a similar pattern but in thiscase the service vehicle fueled with gas was expected to lead to a higher value ofTCO than its fossil alternatives. The sensitivity analysis for life-cycle emissionsof greenhouse gases showed that production of lithium-ion batteries, vehicle base production and tailpipe emissions were the most contributing parameters forfringe benefit vehicles. The purchase cost was found to be the most contributingparameter for TCO.The result of the scenario analysis showed that there is a potential to decreaseiiilife-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases by 22 % of the total life-cycle emissionsfor the vehicle fleet according to the Base-case scenario. The potential to decreaseTCO was found to be 1,1 %. The other scenarios showed a potential decrease forlife-cycle emissions of 37 % and a cost decrease of 7 % individually.Key words: greenhouse gas emissions, alternative fuels, electric vehicles, totalcost of ownership, life cycle assessment, sustainable vehicle fleet
395

Critical Transmission Sectors of Energy-Water-GHG Nexus / Critical Transmission Sectors of Energy-Water-GHG Nexus

Wang, Xuechao January 2020 (has links)
Využití vody, spotřeba energie a emise skleníkových plynů (GHG) jsou rozhodujícími ukazateli a do značné míry souvisí s udržováním nebo dosahováním environmentální a sociální udržitelnosti. Tato práce prezentuje vyvinuté metodiky. Představuje také provedené případové studie, které prozkoumaly a identifikovaly Water-Energy-GHG Nexus (WEGN) z pohledu dodavatelského řetězce. Pro analýzu a návrh sítě WEGN jsou navrženy tři metodiky, které jsou založeny na nové aplikaci a integraci modelu vstup-výstup (IO), geografického informačního systému (GIS) a sítě dodavatelského řetězce (SCN), a zároveň řeší výzvy, které dříve neumožňovali praktické implementace. Použitelnost těchto metod je prokázána třemi komplexními případovými studiemi zaměřenými na odvětvovou environmentální účinnost, regionální environmentální účinnost a kritické přenosy WEGN. Mezi mé příspěvky v této oblasti patří: i. Nový nástroj pro hodnocení založený na IO pro identifikaci regionální environmentální účinnosti z hlediska WEGN, zejména pro regiony, které jsou úzce propojenyobchodem. ii. Pokročilá integrace metodik GIS a IO (GIS-IO) za účelem odhalení a mapování sítě WEGN, sledování kritických meziregionálních a sektorových toků WEGN, vyjasnění regionálních, odvětvových a celosvětových vzorců sítě WEGN a určení souvisejících výhod pro různé regiony. iii. Efektivní metoda hodnocení založená na IO a SCN pro kvantifikaci sektorových koeficientů WEGN. Navrhované metodiky, s podporou sady komplexních základních rovnic, transformují komplikované výzvy identifikace a analýzy sítě WEGN do snadno srozumitelného formátu, z čehož vznikají robustní řešení pro zlepšení posuzování environmentální udržitelnosti a zmírnění environmentálních tlaků. Například v jedné z případových studií ukazují výsledky nového přístupu GIS-IO zjevné rozdíly mezi různými zeměmi v rámci EU27, mezi různými sektory a také pokud srovnáme EU27 jako blok zemí, s ostatními státy světa. Analýza ukázala, že země EU27 přispěly o 1.4 Gt nižšími emisemi CO2, o 64.5 Gm3 menší spotřebou vody a 4.9 × 104 PJ nižší spotřebou energie ve srovnání se zbytkem světa, přičemž generovaly ekvivalentní ekonomickou produkci. To má dramatický dopad na globální prostředí. Největší úspěch v CWE mezi zeměmi EU27 měly Německo, Francie a Itálie. Práce doporučuje, aby EU27 poskytovala více technické podpory zemím, které těchto výsledků nedosahují, aby se zvýšila účinnost využívání zdrojů.
396

The sustainability of economic growth in Abu Dhabi

Smeets, Bram 10 July 2013 (has links)
Abu Dhabi has experienced an unprecedented development during the last half century, growing rapidly from a remote desert settlement to a thriving metropolitan. Today, the Emirate ranks among the countries with the highest GDP per capita in the world, and this impressive development is anticipated to continue in the decades to come.<p><p>However, there are several challenges to the sustainability of the current economic prosperity, and the environmental degradation that was caused by the rapid development is an important factor in this context. Today, the United Arab Emirates as a country has the highest ecological footprint per capita in the world and Abu Dhabi, hosting the major part of the heavy industries and oil extraction capacity in the country, has an even larger footprint. Key drivers of this poor environmental track-record are the high greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption levels.<p><p>This deterioration of environmental conditions has growing implications for the economic welfare and physical well-being of the population. So far, the government's environmental policy is mostly symbolic, and concrete policy measures are largely lacking today. On the contrary, there are crucial elements in the governmental policy that have strong negative impacts on environmental conditions and thus on the sustainability of Abu Dhabi's growth, such as generous implicit subsidies on energy commodities and water and an ambitious strategy for economic growth, depending on a strong expansion of heavy industry.<p><p>This poses the question how environmental conditions will develop, when the population boom and economic expansion are anticipated to continue. However, the academic literature on environmental sustainability issues in Abu Dhabi as well as in the wider Gulf region is limited. Moreover, applied policy studies on the topic are absent as well.<p><p>This dissertation intends to contribute to the academic literature as well as to insights from existing policy studies, by projecting the impact of sustained economic growth on environmental conditions in Abu Dhabi. It compares a baseline scenario of economic growth with the four most relevant policy options aimed at footprint reductions available to policy makers in the Emirate: i) The introduction of a nuclear power plant; ii) An abandonment of utility price controls; iii) Shifts in the subsidization policy of water and energy markets; iv) Energy efficiency improvements in selected parts of the economy.<p><p>A recursively dynamic, multi-sectoral computable general equilibrium (CGE) model is used to generate the results in this dissertation, focusing on the two most important aspects of the ecological footprint in Abu Dhabi mentioned above. The CGE model is calibrated to a SAM for Abu Dhabi for 2009, and its specification is chosen to facilitate a focus on energy consumption and sustainability issues. Besides, it is extended by an environmental module and a fossil fuel module, and it incorporates several other modifications that are tailored to the Abu Dhabi economy.<p><p>Simulation results under a baseline scenario of economic growth show that carbon emissions will grow by 282% by 2030 compared to the base year 2009, and water consumption is anticipated to increase by 312%.<p><p>The introduction of nuclear plants, at the scale that is previewed today, will yield a reduction in emissions of 2.6% compared to the baseline scenario. The economic impact will be positive, with a 0.5% increase in GDP and small gains in employment levels.<p><p>Price liberalizations in the utility markets are a politically sensitive theme. When implemented, they can yield a 7.6% reduction in emissions and a 2.3% in water consumption by 2030 (vs. baseline). However, the economic cost involved amounts to 0.3% of GDP.<p><p>An abandonment of subsidies in the energy and water markets can lead to a 11.1% drop in carbon emissions, and a 28.8% decline in water consumption vs. baseline. The domestic economic impacts of this change are negative, but the GDP shows a modest 0.6% growth, due to improvements in the foreign trade balance.<p><p>Finally, efficiency improvements can lead to reductions in carbon emissions (13.8%) and water consumption (17.5%) compared to the baseline, and bring economic gains of 1.0% of GDP.<p><p>All four simulated policy scenarios in this dissertation bring about reductions in the ecological footprint, compared to the baseline as described above. Nonetheless, the consumption levels of energy and water as well as the related carbon emissions will be substantially higher in 2030 than they are today, under each of these scenarios. As a policy implication, the dissertation therefore finds that the previewed deterioration in environmental conditions requires active policy, if current welfare and prosperity are to be sustained. When assessed in the appropriate policy context, environmental conservation and improvements in the ecological footprint should be treated with a higher priority in the broad portfolio of development goals in Abu Dhabi.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished
397

Oxid uhličitý ve výuce přírodovědných předmětů (studijní opory pro gymnázia) / Carbon Dioxide in Science Education (Study Aids for Grammar School)

Kristlová, Lucie January 2011 (has links)
Charles University in Prague - Faculty of Science Department of Teaching and Didactics of Chemistry Albertov 3, 128 40 Praha 2, Czech Republic CARBON DIOXIDE IN SCIENCE EDUCATION (STUDY AIDS FOR GRAMMAR SCHOOL) Bc. Lucie Kristlová lucie.kristlova@gmail.com In this thesis the principles of Framework Educational Programme and method IBSE alias Inquiry Based Science Education were summarized. The results of international research PISA 2006 were evaluated. In 2006 the focus was on scientific literacy. In the theoretical part the study supporting documents on the theme Carbon Dioxide were worked up. The documents would serve teachers of Chemistry and Biology mainly at the grammar schools. Methodically processed materials were created such as presentation, worksheet and subject matter of chemical experiments with the inclusion of the author solutions. The worksheet was verified by pupils at grammar school.
398

A high resolution 3D and color image acquisition system for long and shallow impressions in crime scenes

Egoda Gamage, Ruwan Janapriya January 2014 (has links)
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / In crime scene investigations it is necessary to capture images of impression evidence such as tire track or shoe impressions. Currently, such evidence is captured by taking two-dimensional (2D) color photographs or making a physical cast of the impression in order to capture the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the information. This project aims to build a digitizing device that scans the impression evidence and generates (i) a high resolution three-dimensional (3D) surface image, and (ii) a co-registered two-dimensional (2D) color image. The method is based on active structured lighting methods in order to extract 3D shape information of a surface. A prototype device was built that uses an assembly of two line laser lights and a high-definition video camera that is moved at a precisely controlled and constant speed along a mechanical actuator rail in order to scan the evidence. A prototype software was also developed which implements the image processing, calibration, and surface depth calculations. The methods developed in this project for extracting the digitized 3D surface shape and 2D color images include (i) a self-contained calibration method that eliminates the need for pre-calibration of the device; (ii) the use of two colored line laser lights projected from two different angles to eliminate problems due to occlusions; and (iii) the extraction of high resolution color image of the impression evidence with minimal distortion.The system results in sub-millimeter accuracy in the depth image and a high resolution color image that is registered with the depth image. The system is particularly suitable for high quality images of long tire track impressions without the need for stitching multiple images.
399

Stanovení uhlíkové stopy ve vazbě na produkční jednotku rozpočtového ukazatele / Determination of carbon footprint in relation to the production unit of the budget indicator

Šebestová, Michaela Unknown Date (has links)
The presented diploma thesis analyses the possibilities of determining the carbon footprint in relation to the production unit of the budget indicator. The theoretical part of the thesis describes the basic concepts associated with the carbon footprint and construction industry. The aim of this thesis is to quantify the carbon footprint of construction process, mainly during the production phase, and to compare the carbon footprint of objects of different production technology. The main output is the determination of an average carbon footprint converted to a unit of the budget indicator.
400

The WeCycle Project – Carbon Calculator development for IT equipment

Stouris, Konstantinos January 2018 (has links)
With global emissions of human activities that drive climate change on the rise, global institutions and authorities are trying to introduce new regulations in the industry, in order to accomplish a significant reduction of carbon emissions. In order for companies to be more effective in reducing carbon emissions, not only from their products but also along their value chains and product portfolios, it is of vital importance to understand and quantify them. Following that need, tools that can measure the carbon footprint of various corporate operations (carbon calculators) have risen in popularity in the latest years. A sector in which companies can significantly improve their environmental impact is their IT equipment portfolio. WeCycle, as developed by Greener Scandinavia AB (partner of this project), is a platform that facilitates reselling of old IT equipment, while aiming to reduce its environmental impacts. This project then, in cooperation with WeCycle, aims to develop a software tool that calculates the environmental benefits (kg of CO2 eq. avoided) when reusing old IT equipment. This can help clients estimate this benefit, while also providing a CSR incentive. The specific methodological steps needed in order to complete the project included literature review concerning the state of e-waste and initiatives to minimize its environmental impacts, guidelines, and procedures related to LCA of IT equipment and various other carbon calculators, developing calculation model and assumptions in order to compile the database, interface design, and finally using and testing the software tool against a real case scenario - case study provided by WeCycle. The results, and design process of the project, were enlightening in the matter of understanding potential benefits of reusing IT equipment, but also in identifying the “hotspot” stages of an electronic device’s lifecycle. Even though variations were noticed depending on the type of the device (e.g. smartphones vs desktop computers), it is evident that the emissions that occur during the production phase are considered of major importance (ranked either 1st or 2nd most important/emission heavy stage), and therefore the benefits of reusing are of a high relative magnitude. All in all, this project resulted in a useful tool for WeCycle to measure the benefits of their practices, as well as for any user or company that would like to measure the carbon emissions that can be avoided when they give their old IT equipment up for resell. Hopefully, by easily quantifying these benefits, this tool can motivate both a behavioral change in the industry, as well as researchers to expand it in order to cover all sectors of the industry and everyday life. / När globala utsläpp av mänskliga aktiviteter stiger, försöker globala institutioner och myndigheter att införa nya regler för att minska koldioxidutsläppen. För att företagen ska vara mer effektiva när det gäller minskade koldioxidutsläpp, inte bara från sina produkter men också med sina värdekedjor och produktportföljer, är det viktigt att förstå och kvantifiera dem. För att uppnå detta, har verktyg som kan mäta koldioxidavtrycket av olika företagsverksamheter (kolkalkylatorer) ökat i popularitet de senaste åren. En sektor i vilken företag kan förbättra sin miljöpåverkan är deras IT-utrustning. WeCycle, ett projekt som utvecklats av Greener Scandinavia AB (partner för detta projekt), är en plattform som underlättar återförsäljning av gammal IT-utrustning medan den siktar på att minska miljöpåverkan. Projektet, i samarbete med WeCycle, syftar till att utveckla ett mjukvaruverktyg som beräknar miljöfördelar (kg CO2-ekv.) vid återanvändning av gammal IT-utrustning. Detta kan hjälpa kunder att uppskatta denna fördel, samtidigt som de ger ett CSR-incitament. Projektets resultat var till hjälp för att förstå de potentiella fördelarna med att återanvända IT-utrustning, men också för att identifiera "hotspot" -stadierna i en elektronisk apparats livscykel. Även om det märktes variationer beroende på enhetens typ (t.ex. smartphones jämfört med stationära datorer) är det uppenbart att utsläpp som uppstår under produktionsfasen är av stor betydelse (rankad antingen viktigaste eller näst viktigaste fasen) och därför ger återanvändning relativt stor miljönytta. Förhoppningsvis, genom att kvantifiera dessa fördelar med ett lättanvänt verktyg, kan detta projekt motivera både en beteendemässig förändring i branschen och forskare att vidareutveckla verktyget till att omfatta alla industrisektorer och hushållens konsumtion.

Page generated in 0.0423 seconds