Abstract
Reliable provision of water, energy and transportation, all supplied through infrastructure, is necessary for the most basic human and economic development to occur. Such development however, is not enabled by specific end-use products (e.g. litres of water, kWh of electricity, litres of diesel and petrol), or by infrastructure itself (i.e. the systems of energy, transport, digital information, water, waste and flood protection assets), but rather through the infrastructure end-use services (e.g. hygiene, thermal comfort, communication, or accessibility).The present form of infrastructure operation consists of supply systems provisioning unconstrained demand of end-use products, with larger consumption volumes corresponding to higher economic revenue. Providing infrastructure capacity to meet unmanaged growing demand is ultimately unsustainable, both in environmental and economic terms. Past research has focused on physical infrastructure assets on the one hand, and sustainable consumption and production on the other, often neglecting infrastructure end-use services. An important priority for sustainable infrastructure operation is therefore to analyse the infrastructure end-use service demands, and the variety of end-users’ wants and behaviours.This paper outlines the key aspects of an end-user and service-centred approach to infrastructure operation. It starts with an overview of relevant research areas and literature. It then describes the infrastructure end-use services provided by different infrastructure streams quantitatively, with the UK domestic sector as an illustration. Subsequently, insights into infrastructure integration at the end-user level are presented. Finally, the infrastructure end-use service perspective is described as a holistic framework for intervention: understanding technological changes in context, acting directly on end-use demand, and including social implications of service-based solutions.
Highlights
Our physical infrastructure e the systems of energy, transport, digital information, water, waste and flood protection assets e is a means to an end: it is built, maintained and expanded to enable the functioning of society
Enduser centred service based infrastructure operation has additional implications, as it might facilitate understanding technology change in context, sufficient infrastructure end-use demands, and social implications such as rebound or spill over effects, which we address in turn
We described infrastructure as a means to an end to support the functioning of society. This function is challenged by the current form of infrastructure operation, which is inherently unsustainable, as it prioritizes affordable but reliable supply at any level of societal demand
Summary
Our physical infrastructure e the systems of energy, transport, digital information, water, waste and flood protection assets e is a means to an end: it is built, maintained and expanded to enable the functioning of society. Energy and transportation, all supplied through infrastructure, is considered necessary for the most basic human and economic development to occur (UN, 2013; Wilkinson et al, 2007). C. Knoeri et al / Journal of Cleaner Production 132 (2016) 229e239 depends on volume sales, do not prioritise these reductions. Knoeri et al / Journal of Cleaner Production 132 (2016) 229e239 depends on volume sales, do not prioritise these reductions Such form of infrastructure operation is inherently unsustainable, and by itself is enough to prohibit any sustainability transition (Unruh, 2002). A step change towards more resourceefficient infrastructure operation is required to meet crucial societal targets, such as drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions (CST, 2009; UNFCCC, 2008)
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