Indicators For Sustainability Assessment Research Articles

The Integrated Hydropower Sustainability Assessment in Tajikistan: A Case Study of Rogun Hydropower Plant

Tajikistan has formulated the strategy to rejuvenate the country through hydropower. The Rogun hydropower plant (HPP) is designed as the highest hydropower station, while its sustainability is also questioned due to a lack of comprehensive sustainability evaluation. Considering that the external environment of Rogun HPP is complex and changeable, its sustainable performance will be fragile and inconstant. To comprehensively assess the sustainable performance, an integrated evaluation framework, covering the current and dynamic sustainable performance, is urgently established. Therefore, this paper firstly explored the hydropower sustainability assessment indicators which can conform to Tajikistan’s situations and further examined the current sustainable performance of Rogun HPP. The case study found that Rogun HPP’s current financial viability, involuntary resettlement, the measures to prevent corruption, and information disclosure were seriously deficient. The SWOT analysis indicated the external factors, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, improving business environment, and easing geopolitical disputes, can eliminate weaknesses and improve the sustainable performance of Rogun HPP. At the same time, tight fiscal allocations and economic downturns will have negative influences on the sustainable performance. The integrated evaluation tool established in this paper can not only evaluate the current sustainable performance but also consider the impact of external factors on sustainable performance from a dynamic perspective. This paper contributes to the current knowledge system by establishing the hydropower sustainability assessment system which is suitable for Tajikistan’s conditions. Moreover, the results are informative for the decision‐makers to have a better understanding of Rogun HPP’s current strengths and weaknesses, valuable opportunities, and potential threats.

Emergy based sustainability evaluation of spent lead acid batteries recycling

Sustainability evaluation of lead acid batteries recycling enables quantitative analyses of the true value of resources, the environment and economy of the processes thus to provides recommendations to improve process sustainability. However, the environmental impacts of pollutants haven’t been considered in the emergy-based sustainability assessment indicators. To this end, an improved emergy analysis method is proposed to evaluate the efficiency and sustainability of the lead acid batteries recovery process system. Firstly, the ecological effects of pollutant emissions are converted to equivalent waste emergy using dilution, eco-indicator 99 and the land erosion methods. Then, the waste emergy and product emergy are included in the emergy index system to provide improved emergy indices. In addition, in order to assess the system’s resource recovery rate and clean production level, technical efficiency and environmental have been included into the performance indicators. Finally, according to the evaluation results of emergy indicators, improvement measures for the optimisation system can be improved. To verify the feasibility of the proposed method, the sustainability evaluation of the production process of the lead acid batteries recycling system (including disassembly, classification and various separation materials processing processes) is conducted, and the results show that pollutant emissions reduce the effectiveness and sustainability of the system. This method reflects the overall performance of the system, compared with the traditional emergy method. The proposed method can be utilized as an effective tool for sustainability evaluation and optimisation of lead acid batteries recovery process system.

A step to clean energy - Sustainability in energy system management in an emerging economy context

Abstract Due to high consumption of energy, its associated concerns such as energy security and demand, wastage of resources, and material-energy recovery are leading to the importance of sustainable energy system development. This is a high time to assess the sustainability in energy systems for meeting the requirements of energy with an enhanced economic, ecological, and social performance from a nation context. The energy system plays a significant role in deciding the economic progress of emerging economies such as India, China, Brazil, and Africa. In this paper, an original attempt has been made to list and evaluate important indicators for sustainability assessment of energy systems development and management in an emerging economy especially India. Firstly, based on the analysis of the extant literature and then followed by expert opinion, potential key sustainability assessment indicators for energy systems development and management were identified. Further, grey based Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory technique to understand the causal interactions amongst indicators and segregate them into cause and effect groups, is used. This work can provide useful aids to decision making bodies, sustainability practitioners and business organisations in selective implementation, monitoring and control of sustainable strategies in energy systems development and management and meeting sustainable development goals of clean energy in a nation context.

Monitoring the transition towards a bioeconomy: A general framework and a specific indicator

Abstract Monitoring schemes and indicators are currently under development to enable the assessment of the economic, social, political, and environmental impacts of bioeconomic transitions and better inform bioeconomic policy-making. Such transitions generally mean reduction in fossil resource use through innovative, clean technologies that can enable substitution of biogenic resources for fossil resources. The concept of bioeconomy transition is not yet well embedded in current monitoring schemes. Proper framing and a quantitative indicator for measuring the advancement and status of bioeconomy transitions has been missing up to now. This research aims to lay some groundwork for monitoring transitions from fossil-based to bio-based economies by adapting an existing bioeconomic framework and applying a newly developed indicator: the Substitution Share Indicator (SSI). This indicator relates bio-based substitute products to their fossil-based counterparts and accounts for indirect fossil resource flows, which are estimated using a bottom-up approach, based on life-cycle inventory data, and a top-down approach, based on input–output data. The innovative indicator is tested and validated for the first time in the case of transport fuels and plastics sector in Germany. The SSI in the German transport fuels sector is currently relatively low, at 3.1% (bottom-up approach) to 3.4% (top-down approach). It is even lower in the plastics sector, at 0.09% (bottom-up approach) to 0.6% (top-down approach). Major policy efforts need to be undertaken in Germany, focused not only on the growing bioeconomy but on substitution effects as well. Future policies should provide incentives for increasing production of innovative bio-based substitute goods, improving the fossil resource use efficiency of existing fossil- and bio-based products, and lowering consumption of fossil-based products. Such efforts should be reflected in the SSI and signal bioeconomy transition. Before the widespread use of the indicator for policy formulation and analysis, further advancement is recommended. A hybrid approach integrating process data into input–output data would be expedient for improving the SSI in terms of credibility, measurability and robustness. Linkage to relevant indicators for sustainability assessment of transitions is equally important for effectively monitoring sustainable bioeconomy transitions.

Identifying Social Indicators for Sustainability Assessment of CCU Technologies: A Modified Multi-criteria Decision Making

Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technologies capture CO2 waste emissions and utilize them to generate new products (such as fuels, chemicals, and materials) with various environmental, economic, and social opportunities. As most of these CCU technologies are in the RD that is, data collection and impact assessment. Our outcomes can also be used to inform the producers regarding the most and least relevant social aspects of CCU so that the potential social impacts caused by their production activities can be improved or prevented.

Evaluacion de indicadores de sostenibilidad para la agricultura urbana

In year 2002, many urban agriculture ventures emerged in the metropolitan area of Montevideo in the face of the economic crisis in which the country was submerged in that year. Faced with unemployment, job instability and loss of income, many families chose to produce their own food by starting home or community gardens and the adoption of agroecological principles. In this context, the Food Production and Community Organization Program (PPAOC) of the University of the Republic, developed between 2002 and 2006, involved the creation of neighborhood organization spaces in different areas of Montevideo and Canelones, and the joint work of neighbors and university students. The production of food for self-consumption not only improved the access to vegetables, but also it has allowed to incorporate ingredients of high nutritional value, which possibly, due to their cost, were not consumed previously. On the other hand, the organizational forms adopted by urban agriculture implied higher levels of social participation. Meeting with neighbors, the exchange of information, knowledge and materials, as well as the search for collective solutions and common projects, contributed to a more active citizenship. The organized groups of urban farmers managed to have higher levels of self-management as well as a greater capacity for proposal and demand in local areas of decision and before institutions linked to the productive sector. This process was subject of one undergraduate student thesis, of which this study is a follow-up. This paper presents the results of two years of research conducted in eight urban non-commercial horticultural gardens of metropolitan Montevideo, between 2007 and 2009. The general objective was to generate knowledge about the management of the urban agricultural gardens selected for the study and to propose appropriate management alternatives which consider social, environmental and economic sustainability aspects. The specific objectives were as follows: 1. Identify and characterize from the social, environmental and economic point of view the urban agriculture management systems of the metropolitan area of Montevideo selected for the study. 2. Validate the sustainability assessment indicators of urban agriculture management systems developed in studies previously conducted in the study by Blixen et al. (2006). 3. Measure and monitor the indicators that allow evaluating the critical points of the ventures. 4. Propose appropriate alternatives for the surveyed management systems that contribute to their sustainability. Through the use of the “Framework for the evaluation of farming systems incorporating sustainability indicators” (MESMIS), we identified with the participants those sustainability indicators that were more meaningful to assess their urban gardens. After a process of grouping variables, a total of 12 social, environmental and economic indicators were identified. We characterized each system and applied the indicators according to different levels of sustainability, which ranged from 1 to 10. The lack of studies in Uruguay in this field of knowledge-indicators of sustainability in urban agriculture makes this an original contribution from which to think future research venues.

Social life cycle assessment framework for evaluation of potential job creation with an application in the French carbon fiber aeronautical recycling sector

PURPOSE: Due to the increased consumption of carbon fibers, it is expected that an important amount of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP)-based products will enter in the coming years, at the end of their life cycle. Considering the challenges ahead in the establishment of a new recycling sector, it is appropriate to investigate the sustainable creation of a CFRP end-of-life management sector. The following work is part of a national funded project called SEARRCH, whose goal was to provide sustainability assessment indicators and methodology to stakeholders, for the implementation of a carbon fiber recycling sector. This article will focus on detailing the methodology aiming at characterizing the social dimension through the evaluation of potential job creation. METHODS: This publication describes the development of a method for the evaluation of potential job creation built on an adaptation of the Hunkeler societal life cycle assessment (societal LCA). This methodology based on life cycle inventory (LCI) has been adapted using input-output tables from the French national institute of statistics and economic studies (INSEE) or the Social Hotspot Database (SHDB) and a material flow analysis (MFA). A practical application in the CFRP recycling sector is then described. This research was conducted as part of a national project funded by the French Government France; therefore, this study respects data corresponding to the French national borders and assumes the use of a pyrolysis recycling process in calculating the amount of CFRP production and waste available at the end-of-life stage from the aeronautical sector. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The amount of direct and indirect employment was obtained for different periods of time. Using technical coefficients extracted from the SHDB, it was determined that for the CFRP coming from the aeronautical sector, 85 direct and indirect induced jobs would be created for the period between 2046 and 2050. Using technical coefficients calculated from the input-output tables provided by the INSEE, the estimated number of jobs was 108 for the same period. CONCLUSIONS: This publication demonstrated that the quantity of CFRP at the end-of-life stage could represent a potential benefit for direct and indirect job creation if the implementation of the end-of-life CFRP sector is anchored in a sustainable way, by establishing a new recycling sector for this material. Moreover, this method can provide calculations for other periods of time, sectors, and geographic scales, separately or in combination.

Determining Sustainability Assessment Indicators for the Holy City of Makkah, Saudi Arabia

The development of urban sustainability indicators has become one of the new topics explored around the world, while cities are growing uncontrollably. The different cities adopt their sustainability assessment indicators according to their local needs and conditions. The current state of sustainability assessment practices depicts that an assessment approach is hardly found in a comprehensive and integrated manner that can meet local conditions, as well as international norms. Historically and traditionally, the city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia, is one of the oldest and most sacred cities in the world where millions of Muslims gather in this city as a religious pilgrimage throughout the year. The unique form of the city and the gradual increase in the number of pilgrims pose enormous challenges for city dwellers, as well as management authorities. As a result, the development of a sustainability assessment approach has become inevitable to deal with these challenges. This study presents a comprehensive sustainability assessment indicator index for the Holy City of Makkah through the use of an expert opinion method to reach consensus among the experienced researchers in the city. A set of 92 indicators has been formulated among 115 primary sets, with five major aspects, including the physical, socioeconomic, environmental, institutional and spillover, which influence and shape the performance of the city.

Sustainability assessment framework: a mini review of assessment concept

Sustainability assessment is viewed as a vital instrument to aid in the shift towards sustainability which is simply an appraisal method which integrates an iterative and pluralistic procedure. Sustainability assessment is viewed as a vital instrument to aid in the shift towards sustainability. Sustainability assessment is a rather complex appraisal technique conducted for supporting decision-making and policy in an extensive environmental, economic and social perspective. Sustainability assessment transcends a technical or scientific evaluation. Sustainability assessment tools are essentially a structured process encompassing different field-specific analytical methods and models. The growth of indicators in numerous fields has influenced sustainability assessment methodologies to a great extent. In general two broad approaches for sustainability can be distinguished, top-down and bottom-up. Despite the abundance and diversified procedures for evaluating sustainability, indicators based assessment is one of the most widely used platform. Many parties feel that the presence of conceptual inconsistencies and the absence of operational definitions have hampered attempts to appraise, let alone achieve, sustainability. Assessing the sustainability assessment schemes in a quantitative manner requires the identification and integration of diverse phenomena or indicators, in a framework consistent with the evolving concept of sustainability. In fact, integration of indicators for sustainability assessment, have been at the forefront of various political, academic and scientific researches. Existing sustainability assessments schemes typically provide interpretation in the form of comparative value analysis where impacts are scored based on pre-set values, utility analysis where impacts are ranked on a uniform scale and weighted, cost-benefit analysis where positive and negative impacts are apportioned to monetary values, multi-criteria analysis where quantitative as well as qualitative impacts are scaled on pre-set criteria or risk assessment where degrees in risk reduction is identified relative to pre-set risk thresholds. Consequently, the paper that follows provides an integrative analysis of existing sustainability assessment approaches. Such review not only offers a very valuable insight on the features of existing sustainability assessment schemes, but also highlighting gaps to a certain extent.

Assessing the Impacts of Higher Education Institutions on Sustainable Development—An Analysis of Tools and Indicators

Many higher education institutions (HEIs) have started to incorporate sustainable development (SD) into their system. A variety of sustainability assessment tools (SATs) have been developed to support HEIs to systematically measure, audit, benchmark, and communicate SD efforts. In recent years, stakeholders have increasingly asked HEIs to demonstrate their impacts on SD. These impacts are the direct and indirect effects an HEI has outside of its organizational boundaries on society, the natural environment, and the economy. This study analyzes to what extent SATs are capable of measuring the impacts that HEIs have on SD. A mixed-method approach, using descriptive statistics and an inductive content analysis, was used to examine 1134 indicators for sustainability assessment derived from 19 SATs explicitly designed for application by HEIs. The findings reveal that SATs largely neglect the impacts HEIs have outside their organizational boundaries. SATs primarily use proxy indicators based on internally available data to assess impacts and thus tend to focus on themes concerning the natural environment and the contribution to the local economy. Updating existing SATs and developing new ones may enable HEIs to fully realize their potential to contribute to SD.

Water Resources and Sustainability Assessment Based on Group AHP-PCA Method: A Case Study in the Jinsha River Basin

There is a necessity to assess water resources sustainability for its development and management. However, achievements in water resources and sustainability assessment and specific assessment indicators are limited in current research. A comprehensive index system and the importance priorities of indicators are provided in this study. The group AHP-PCA (group analytic hierarchy process and principal component analysis) method is proposed to calculate the importance priorities and reduce the dispersion existing in traditional group AHP. A case study is conducted to assess the water resource sustainability of four provinces where the Jinsha River flows and the results are consistent with the experience and knowledge of water resources management and actual situations of these provinces. Further work is still needed for more applications.

An analysis of the accuracy of selected indicators for sustainability assessment of energy savings performance projects supporting the life cycle analysis

An analysis of the accuracy of selected indicators for sustainability assessment of energy savings performance projects supporting the life cycle analysis

Sustainability Assessment of the New Residential Projects in the Baltic States: A Multiple Criteria Approach

Housing is one of the most important public priorities affecting urban development and therefore has a significant impact on sustainable development. A housing project can be regarded as sustainable only when all the dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social) are dealt with. The aim of the present article is to propose an integrated, hierarchy-based, multiple-criteria approach for the sustainability assessment of new residential development projects, which is achieved through the accomplishment of three objectives. First, this paper proposes an original framework for a multiple-criteria assessment of new residential projects. Second, the proposed methodology is demonstrated in the assessment of nine residential development projects in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia according to a hierarchical system of 53 sustainability indicators developed specifically for the Baltic context. Finally, based on the research results, the paper proposes recommendations to stakeholders for enhancing the performance of new residential projects according to the principles of sustainability. The proposed sustainability assessment approach is not limited to the Baltic States and can also be used in other countries, applying the adapted sustainability assessment indicators.

Quantitative indicators for social sustainability assessment of supply chains

Abstract Despite the increased interest in social sustainability there is still lack of information for the social assessment, as well as a lack of appropriate quantitative social sustainability indicators to perform such assessment. In this paper, there is proposed a set of 31 quantitative social sustainability indicators enabling the evaluation of the whole supply chain. In particular, the issues related to labor practices and decent work, as well as human rights are analyzed. The indicators are developed based on literature review and validated by a content analysis of 141 sustainability reports, which cover all echelons (upstream, midstream, downstream) of supply chains. By considering differences that exist within different echelons of the supply chain, one-way statistical analysis (ANOVA) is performed in order to decide whether echelons affect the relevance of the indicators. Finally, using data available in sustainability reports the applicability of indicators is tested. Results of the content analysis showed that issues covered by all 31 indicators are addressed implicitly by companies in their sustainability reports, while ANOVA analysis showed that the type of echelon does not impact the relevance of the indicators, being this set of indicators a generic approach to holistic assessment of the supply chain. Further, it was verified how these indicators can be used for the assessment of the whole supply chain. Thus, the proposed indicators can be used for both performance assessment, as well as for periodical monitoring of the supply chains; they can also be an important tool in policy making.

Life cycle sustainability decision-support framework for ranking of hydrogen production pathways under uncertainties: An interval multi-criteria decision making approach

Hydrogen as a clean energy carrier has been recognized as a promising alternative for emissions mitigation and environmental protection. Life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) of hydrogen can help the decision-makers/stakeholders to select the most sustainable pathway for hydrogen production in life cycle perspective among several alternatives. This study aims at developing a life cycle sustainability decision-support framework for ranking hydrogen production pathways by combining LCSA and interval multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) method. A novel interval MCDM method which can handle interval numbers in the decision-making matrix was developed by combining the improved decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and interval evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS). Four pathways for hydrogen production, including coal gasification (CG), stream reforming of methane (SMR), biomass gasification (BG), and wind turbine electrolysis (WEL), have been studied by the proposed method. BG was recognized as the most sustainable one among these four scenarios, following by SMR, WEL, and CG in the descending order. Sensitivity analysis was carried out to investigate the effects of the weights of the indicators for sustainability assessment on the final ranking. The interval sum weighted method (ISWM) and interval TOPSIS method were also employed to validate the results determined by the proposed interval EDAS in this study and the results reveal that BG was recognized as the most sustainable scenario by all these three methods.

Quantitative indicators for social sustainability assessment of society and product responsibility aspects in supply chains

Quantitative indicators for social sustainability assessment of society and product responsibility aspects in supply chains

Developing Composite Indicators for Agricultural Sustainability Assessment: Effect of Normalization and Aggregation Techniques

The assessment of the sustainability of agricultural systems is multidimensional in nature and requires holistic measures using indicators with different measurements and units reflecting social, economic, and environmental aspects. To simplify the assessment process, various indicators have different units, and measurements are grouped under broad indicator heads, and normalization and/or transformation processes are carried out in order to aggregate them. In this study, a total of 50 indicators from agricultural sustainability categories of productivity, stability, efficiency, durability, compatibility, and equity are employed to investigate which normalization technique is the most suitable for further mathematical analysis for developing a final composite indicator. To understand the consistency and quality of normalization measurement techniques and compare the benefits and drawbacks of the various selected normalization processes, the indicators of agricultural sustainability are considered. Each of the different techniques for normalization has advantages and drawbacks. This study shows that the proportionate normalization and hybrid aggregation rules of the arithmetic mean and the geometric mean are appropriate for the selected data set, and that this technique has a wider applicability for developing composite indicators for agricultural sustainability assessment.

UNIVERSITY AND SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS FOR ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION

University is an institution with a high potential to promote changes that lead to better social outcomes in terms of sustainability and social responsibility. Therefore, it is seems highly necessary to know what sustainability strategies Universities are following, to what extent they are assuming their role as agents of change and in what lines of work they should deepen in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The objective of this paper is to present the results of a research work that analyses and evaluates, from an interdisciplinary approach, the role of universities in sustainable development. More specifically, the paper carries out an evaluation of the strategies adopted by three Spanish universities: Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Universidad Carlos III of Madrid and Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. The final output of this work is a system of University Sustainability Assessment Indicators, which will allow, on the one hand, monitoring of university actions in sustainability and, on the other, formulate new initiatives that improve university sustainability performance.

Development and Piloting of Sustainability Assessment Metrics for Arctic Process Industry in Finland—The Biorefinery Investment and Slag Processing Service Cases

Regionally, there has been a lot of focus on the advancement of sustainable arctic industry and circular economy activities within process industry in the Finnish Lapland. In this study, collaboration between university and industry was established facilitated by regional development actors to develop and pilot test a sustainability assessment approach taking into account previous work in this field. The industry partners in this study were a biorefinery investment in the first case and a slag processing service in the second case. As a result of the joint efforts, novel sets of environmental and economic sustainability assessment indicators and associated sub-indicators were developed and the existing set of social indicators was updated. Moreover, environmental and social sustainability assessments were implemented in the biorefinery case accompanied by a separate evaluation of regional economic impacts. In the slag processing case, environmental, economic and social sustainability were assessed. The results of the sustainability assessments indicated very good level of overall performance in both cases. However, specific elements that contributed to lower level of performance included lack of specific sustainability management and reporting approaches and need for better performance in supply chain sustainability, monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions, life cycle thinking and circular economy training. The expected effects of the planned investment on the regional economy were very positive based on the results of the evaluation.

Micro-scale sustainability assessment of infrastructure projects on urban transportation systems: Case study of Azadi district, Isfahan, Iran

Sustainability assessment and sustainability indicators are familiar terms that have gained significant importance. Non-compliance between the sustainable development principles and transportation infrastructure projects is changing the appearance of historic cities from livable and vibrant atmosphere into the car-oriented condition and cause environmental and social problems. There exist numerous studies on measuring the sustainability of transportation at the country, state, city, and even traffic zone levels, but few have addressed the sustainability of micro-scale projects. The objective of this study is to assess the sustainability of infrastructure projects on urban transportation systems and evaluate their compliance with principles of sustainable development. According to made intensive field visits, run expert interviews, and development master plans relevant to the case study, nine scenarios are proposed to improve the traffic situation of Azadi district in Isfahan city. Obviously, a slight change in the urban streets network, would have a significant effect on traffic performance in larger area, therefore, all the proposed scenarios are modeled in Trans Cad 5.0 software environment to determine their influence area (IA) as the study area. Ten quantitative indicators in three dimensions (environmental, social, and economic) pertinent to the urban transportation are selected based on review of the related literature and available data in Isfahan. The IA and all proposed scenarios are simulated and calibrated in AIMSUN 8.0 environment and the indicators are quantified in a direct and indirect manner through AIMSUN outputs. A composite sustainability index (CSI) is applied for integrating the effects of selected indicators based on their rankings given by the experts regarding to the goals of Isfahan vision in 2025. The results indicate that public transportation development projects are the most compliant scenarios with the principles of urban sustainable development and the best options for the future development in Azadi district. This proposed framework, would assist policy-makers and traffic engineers in other cities to evaluate the sustainability of urban transportation infrastructure projects.