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Fröling, Morgan
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Publications (10 of 80) Show all publications
Skytt, T., Nielsen, S. N. & Fröling, M. (2019). Energy flows and efficiencies as indicators of regional sustainability – A case study of Jämtland, Sweden. Ecological Indicators, 100(May 2019), 74-98
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Energy flows and efficiencies as indicators of regional sustainability – A case study of Jämtland, Sweden
2019 (English)In: Ecological Indicators, ISSN 1470-160X, E-ISSN 1872-7034, Vol. 100, no May 2019, p. 74-98Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

An analysis of energy and material flows has been elaborated for the Swedish region Jämtland with the aim of monitoring and comparing regional sustainability by following the work energy flow method developed in a study of the Danish island of Samsø (Nielsen & Jørgensen, 2011). In the region of Jämtland about 46,000 TJ of energy flows into society, of which 88% is renewable. From this an amount corresponding to 30,800 TJ is exported as electricity from the region, while another 410 TJ is exported as waste to be incinerated. The remaining part, about 15,200 TJ (63% renewable), drives Jämtland. From an energy flow perspective, the most important production from the region, apart from electricity production, is biomass from the forest: 49,000 TJ estimated as energy content in the biomass harvested. Another 55,000 TJ is added to the standing biomass every year as forest growth (only productive forest land area has been calculated). Some suggested indices of sustainability have been calculated and Jämtland shows high values. However, it will be a challenge to transform the quite large transport sector of Jämtland, and therefore the potential to become fully sustainable (ref to indexes used for the Samsø study) might not be quite as high. In order to reduce the use of non-renewable energy, a major conversion of the transport fleet is needed, and this should be given high priority. The private sector is the largest single user of non-renewable energy (2,200 TJ). One successful transition is the Swedish diesel mix with 19% FAME/HVO derived from vegetable or animal sources and regarded as renewable. The consumption of FAME/HVO is predicted to increase significantly, increasing the importance of the forest as a source. A sustainability analysis based at work energy flows shows for both Samsø and Jämtland that large natural resources producing a high work energy output combined with low work energy use due to low population density, gives high sustainability indicators. This indicates that regions with high population density and the absence of natural resources (high import), as in most regions in the world, will show low sustainability indicators. 

Keywords
Ecosystems energy, Energy flows, Infrastructure, Regional sustainability, Societal energy, Sustainability indicators
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-34731 (URN)10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.08.065 (DOI)000470961400009 ()2-s2.0-85053314419 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2018-10-16 Created: 2018-10-16 Last updated: 2021-11-03Bibliographically approved
Haller, H., Jonsson, A. & Fröling, M. (2018). Application of ecological engineering within the framework for strategic sustainable development for design of appropriate soil bioremediation technologies in marginalized regions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 172, 2415-2424
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Application of ecological engineering within the framework for strategic sustainable development for design of appropriate soil bioremediation technologies in marginalized regions
2018 (English)In: Journal of Cleaner Production, ISSN 0959-6526, E-ISSN 1879-1786, Vol. 172, p. 2415-2424Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This study explores a systematic strategy to design appropriate bioremediation projects for marginalized regions that have the potential to contribute to sustainable development in that region. Ecological Engineering (EE) is of particular value for the development of appropriate bioremediation technology for such regions but a stricter planning tool than provided by EE itself, is also needed when the goal of the project goes beyond remediation targets. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) applies basic principles for sustainability and includes a stepwise strategic planning mechanism for their application. The inclusion of EE within the FSSD may steer soil bioremediation projects in rural areas in developing countries and sparsely populated regions in industrialized countries towards sustainability. The utility of the approach was tested on two cases of soil pollution in marginalized regions: the Chinandega region in Nicaragua (pesticide polluted agricultural soil) and a former filling station (diesel polluted residual area) in Gäddede, northern Sweden. The study demonstrates how the inclusion of the EE key concepts within the FSSD may increase the utility of EE for strategic sustainable development within the region. No difficulties in terms of conflicting suggestions were found in the proposed integrated approach; the two tools were found to contribute on different aspects to provide support to project management and decision making.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2018
Keywords
Framework for strategic sustainable development, Sustainability principles, Ecological engineering, Bioremediation, Developing countries, Sparsely populated regions
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-32548 (URN)10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.11.169 (DOI)000423002200099 ()2-s2.0-85038810670 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2017-12-20 Created: 2017-12-20 Last updated: 2018-02-22Bibliographically approved
Svanström, M., Sjöblom, J., Segalas, J. & Fröling, M. (2018). Improving engineering education for sustainable development using concept maps and multivariate data analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 198, 530-540
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Improving engineering education for sustainable development using concept maps and multivariate data analysis
2018 (English)In: Journal of Cleaner Production, ISSN 0959-6526, E-ISSN 1879-1786, Vol. 198, p. 530-540Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In education for sustainable development (ESD), the inclusion and handling of a multitude of perspectives and the interconnectivity of different dimensions of the world are often targeted. Based on the assumption that concept maps can capture notions of this learning, concept maps generated by students were used to complement a large number of other empirical data from several years of a master level course module in engineering education with a specific focus on ESD. Multivariate data analysis (MVDA) was used to find correlations between the many different variables. Empirical data included data on the background of students, on their participation in different teaching and learning activities (TLAs), and on their performance in different types of assessment, including concept maps generated before and after the course. According to the concept map results, the students seem to develop, in general, a more balanced and systemic view during the course. The use of MVDA was helpful in revealing both expected and unexpected co-variations. Results show that previous experiences (student background) is an important factor behind high performance and that TLAs in the course are providing complementary knowledge. The main focus of this paper is on how the innovative approach of combining the use of concept maps and MVDA can provide useful understanding of possible correlations between student characteristics, their participation in TLAs and their performance in assessments in an ESD course. The use of concept maps was seen as useful in capturing important notions of ESD while the MVDA enabled quick analysis of the large data set. 

Keywords
Course development, MVDA, Education for sustainable development, ESD, Principal component analysis, PCA
National Category
Engineering and Technology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-34524 (URN)10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.07.064 (DOI)000442973100047 ()2-s2.0-85053167559 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2018-09-26 Created: 2018-09-26 Last updated: 2018-10-03Bibliographically approved
Danielski, I. & Fröling, M. (2018). In situ measurements of thermal properties of building fabrics using thermography under non-steady state heat flow conditions. Infrastructures, 3(3), Article ID 20.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>In situ measurements of thermal properties of building fabrics using thermography under non-steady state heat flow conditions
2018 (English)In: Infrastructures, ISSN 2412-3811, Vol. 3, no 3, article id 20Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This study describes a quantitative method using thermography to measure the thermal properties of building fabrics that are subjected to non-steady state heat flow due to consistently changing meteorological conditions. The method includes two parts. First, the convection heat transfer coefficient is measured by thermography and heat flux meters on a small segment of the examined building fabric with uniform surface temperature. Then, thermal properties of large building fabrics are evaluated by thermography. The two parts are measured simultaneously. The method was tested on 140/160/190 mm thick massive laminated spruce timber walls of a test facility cabin located in Östersund, Sweden. The results varied by only a few percent in comparison to validation measurements performed with heat flux meters and in comparison, to values from the literature. Due to rapid changes in weather conditions the measured values had large disparity, but still a linear regression with low confidence interval was obtained. Obtaining an accurate value of convection heat transfer was important for achieving high measurement accuracy and, therefore, the value of this parameter should be measured. Other important factors to consider are solar radiation, reflected infrared (IR) radiation from nearby objects and the number of thermal images.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI, 2018
Keywords
Conductivity, building fabrics, thermal transmittance, thermal imaging, thermography, U-value, heat flux meters
National Category
Remote Sensing Building Technologies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-34869 (URN)10.3390/infrastructures3030020 (DOI)000623626100004 ()2-s2.0-85078202264 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2018-11-09 Created: 2018-11-09 Last updated: 2021-09-27Bibliographically approved
Fröling, M., Tellström, S., Edholm, J., Van den Brink, P., Longueville, A. & Grönlund, E. (2016). Appearances of Ecosystem Services in Environmental Impact Assessment - learnings from two Swedish case studies. In: Proceedings of Linnaeus Eco-Tech 2016: The 10th International Conference on the Establishment of Cooperation between Companies and Institutionsin the Nordic Countries, the Baltic Sea Region and the World.. Paper presented at Linnaeus Eco-Tech 2016, 21–23 November 2016, Kalmar, Sweden.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Appearances of Ecosystem Services in Environmental Impact Assessment - learnings from two Swedish case studies
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2016 (English)In: Proceedings of Linnaeus Eco-Tech 2016: The 10th International Conference on the Establishment of Cooperation between Companies and Institutionsin the Nordic Countries, the Baltic Sea Region and the World., 2016Conference paper, Oral presentation with published abstract (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Ecosystem Services is an increasingly used concept to understand and describe the dependencies of socio-technical systems on the ecosystems in which they exist. We have studied to what extent ecosystem services are appearing in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) in two Swedish cases, the improvement of ecological status in a river used for small scale hydropower and the mining operations of the MM mine. In neither of the two cases ecosystem services have been intentionally included in the work with the EIAs. The goal of the studies has been to examine to what extent ecosystem services are appearing anyway in the EIAs, to what extent data in the EIAs are sufficient to perform more structured ecosystem service assessments, and if the use of a more structured ecosystem services review during the EIA process could have contributed positively to the EIA work. 

Both EIAs in this study holds some information on impacts on ecosystem services, and more information on affected ecosystem functions that could be translated into ecosystems services and probably to full ecosystem service reviews with additional data gathering. Cases of ecosystem functions and services impacting other ecosystem functions and services, sometimes in several stages, were found, indicating that such functions or services could be of special importance to protect and / or support.

Keywords
Ecosystem services, Environmental Impact Assessment
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-29770 (URN)
Conference
Linnaeus Eco-Tech 2016, 21–23 November 2016, Kalmar, Sweden
Available from: 2016-12-22 Created: 2016-12-22 Last updated: 2016-12-28Bibliographically approved
Torbjörn, S. & Fröling, M. (2016). Comparison of Different Types of Photo Voltaics at One Site. In: Proceedings of Linnaeus Eco-Tech 2016: . Paper presented at Linnaeus Eco-Tech 2016, 21–23 November 2016, Kalmar, Sweden.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Comparison of Different Types of Photo Voltaics at One Site
2016 (English)In: Proceedings of Linnaeus Eco-Tech 2016, 2016Conference paper, Oral presentation with published abstract (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

In May 2015 A4 Campus AB made a 30 kWp solar cell installation in cooperation with Mid Sweden University at one of the university buildings in Östersund. Four different types of solar cells were being installed each type with a power of about 7 kW; two types of polycrystalline silicon panels, one monocrystalline silicon type and one thin film (CuInSe2) type. The three types of crystalline panels were equipped with individual optimizers making individual panel follow up possible. A one year evaluation shows the installed thin film panels produces more electricity (as Wh per installed W) than do any of the installed crystalline types. The efficiency of the thin film panels is relatively higher compared to the crystalline panels those days when the insolation is lower, which might indicate future climate change should be taken into consideration when choosing which type of solar cells to install (for northern Sweden more rain is being predicted). Each one of the crystalline types are installed as a matrix with 2 or 3 rows. The lowest rows of each type produces more electricity compared to the row above. This might be caused by an increased temperature of the air flow behind the panels. However, during the period November to April the production especially of the lower rows is reduced due to snow coverage. For multiple row installation this phenomenon should be taken into consideration for calculations for optimal layout (1,7-1,9% reduction per row for 3 rows).

Out from the follow-up made it can be seen that the evaluation of offers from different manufactures is rather complex and the yearly production cannot be easily calculated of from the specified efficiency. A 6% difference in power output from crystalline types can be seen at an insolation close to 1.000 W/m2 and the difference in efficiency given in the specifications is in the range 15,2% to 15,8%.

National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-29772 (URN)
Conference
Linnaeus Eco-Tech 2016, 21–23 November 2016, Kalmar, Sweden
Available from: 2016-12-22 Created: 2016-12-22 Last updated: 2016-12-28Bibliographically approved
Fröling, M. & Lorentzen, L. (2016). Design Processes Releasing Creativity for Sustainability. In: Daniel Laven & Wilhelm Skoglund (Ed.), Valuing and Evaluating Creativity for Sustainable Regional Development: Book of abstracts. Paper presented at Valuing and Evaluating Creativity for Sustainable Regional Development, UNESCO and Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden, Sepember 11-14, 2016 (pp. 223-225). Östersund
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Design Processes Releasing Creativity for Sustainability
2016 (English)In: Valuing and Evaluating Creativity for Sustainable Regional Development: Book of abstracts / [ed] Daniel Laven & Wilhelm Skoglund, Östersund, 2016, p. 223-225Conference paper, Oral presentation with published abstract (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

To move toward sustainable societies and achieve the United Nations Global Goals changes are necessary at many levels and in many dimensions of human society. New creative methods in the design approach are necessary. The magnitude of change that is needed can be imagined by the fact that the world is so impacted by human activities that some discuss our present era on earth as the “Anthropocene”. To keep up and expand human wellbeing all over the world, it will be necessary to design new products and processes that are better adapted to fit within the planetary boundaries of the Earth. The ‘squary shape’ of most city components are badly adopted both to human body and our cognitive for stimulation. At the same time, social sustainability requires the development of these new products and processes in ways that are inclusive. In other words, our solutions toned to be available for use by as many individuals as possible worldwide.

The design stage is when there are many degrees of freedom compared to later production and use phases of products or services. Unsustainable properties included at this stage are often hard or expensive (or both) to correct later on when infrastructure for production has been created.. Thus the design stage is one important area that can help create movement towards more sustainable societies.

There are several development processes available to create more environmentally friendly products. These processes can be good in some cases but often are the requirement settled before designer are involved.  Therefore they are not inspiring designers, and release of the expertise of designers can not be used in a significant way [1,2]. For example, in the corporate sector there is often a lack of clear vision and goals during specific design tasks, which can hamper leapfrog development.

To develop products and solutions that are inclusive to large parts of the population is a challenge for sustained and increased human wellbeing, especially with an expected aging population. To meet such challenges design methods and approaches has been developed under the concept Design for All [3]. The Design for All approach is often thought of as handling human ergonomic challenges, but if used correctly this approach can also be helpful for inclusion of individuals facing a wide range of physical or cognitive challenges.

Since more environmentally adapted design and more inclusive design are two parallel developments that is needed for the future, it is of interest to merge the thinking of such approaches. A widening of thinking regarding Design for All to take into account not only the ‘weakest humans’ but also the ‘weakest links in ecosystems’ could be such a road forward to design that fits in a future sustainable society. It has the possibility to be set up in a way to release and utilize the expertise of designers and thus opens for truly creative solutions for the problems of today and tomorrow.

A new creative way to solve city, and other design issues by starting from the most demanding peoples and nature species needs instead of re-designing artefacts originated from industrial production indicates hope for sustainable solutions in the future. This is a possible starting point for a new era of creative cites.

References

Gunilla Clancy; Morgan Fröling; Gregory Peters (2015): Ecolabels as drivers of clothing design. Journal of Cleaner Production, ISSN 0959-6526, Vol. 99, p.345-353.

Gunilla Clancy; Morgan Fröling; Magdalena Svanström (2013): Insights from guiding material development towards more sustainable products. International Journal of Sustainable Design, ISSN 1743-8284, Vol. 2, no 2, p. 149-166.

Lena Lorentzen; Johan Eklund (2011): Design for All (Published in Swedish: Design för alla: En ny metod för att bedöma produkters, tjänsters och miljöers användbarhet). Design Research Journal, ISSN 2000-3080, Vol. 1, no 1, 46-53 p.

 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Östersund: , 2016
Keywords
design for all, design for sustainable development, planetary boundaries
National Category
Environmental Engineering Design
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-28861 (URN)
Conference
Valuing and Evaluating Creativity for Sustainable Regional Development, UNESCO and Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden, Sepember 11-14, 2016
Available from: 2016-09-21 Created: 2016-09-21 Last updated: 2016-10-10Bibliographically approved
Tellström, S., Fröling, M., Grönlund, E. & van den Brink, P. (2016). Ecosystem Service Assessment of Measures to Mitigate Small-scale Hydropower Ecological Impact. In: Proceedings of 22nd International Sustainable Development Research Society Conference, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, 13 – 15 July 2016: . Paper presented at 22nd International Sustainable Development Research Society Conference, School of Science and Technology, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, 13 – 15 July 2016.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Ecosystem Service Assessment of Measures to Mitigate Small-scale Hydropower Ecological Impact
2016 (English)In: Proceedings of 22nd International Sustainable Development Research Society Conference, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, 13 – 15 July 2016, 2016Conference paper, Published paper (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Hydropower is important for provisioning of renewable energy, but the ecological effects to watersheds and rivers used for hydro-electrical production has gained increased attention in recent years. Concerns in connection to small-scale hydropower plants are particularly pointed out, as small plants causes several issues for aquatic biodiversity while the energy output remains limited. Hydropower dams poses as migration barriers, e.g. limiting reproduction of migratory fish; the flow regulation regimes disturbs the natural seasonal flows and damages bottom fauna; and rivers adapted to hydropower have altered biotic factors removing entire ecosystems, such as seasonally flooded wetlands. Projects to mitigate such impacts while maintaining hydro-electrical production are presently discussed and in some cases start to be undertaken. One such project is planned in river Billstaån, Sweden, affected by three small-scale hydropower plants and historically also by timber floating. The main measures in the ecological restoration process include construction of fauna passages, deconstruction of an unused reservoir and reintroduction of freshwater pearl mussels. The restoration project is carried out by the company owning the hydropower plants in Billstaån, in a joint effort including local authorities and stakeholders, to benefit local biodiversity and strengthen the ecological status of Billstaån towards the European Water Framework Directive. In this study, the expected outcomes of the Billstaån river restoration project has been assessed in terms of ecosystem services. Note that ecosystem services were not considered in the project planning of the restoration project itself, but were suggested for later monitoring efforts and for enabling inclusion of indicators of economic and social development connected to the restoration results. As ecosystem services describe the value of ecosystems through their interaction with society, this is done to complement ecological monitoring with effects on human residents in the area. Two frameworks for ecosystem service assessment have been tested: Corporate Ecosystem Service Review (ESR) and Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment (TESSA). Both frameworks have been useful for assessing the expected development of Billstaån, but each of them have specific limitations. While ESR was good for qualitative scoping and defining important ecosystem services, the corporate focus made the later steps of the ESR framework hard to implement in this type of case. TESSA worked well for providing tools for quantitative assessment, but at present the number of services covered by the toolkit was limited. This indicates that different methods for ecosystem service assessment provide different levels of understanding of the assessed system. The two frameworks used to assess Billstaån do complement each other in terms of scope, but combined they point at gaps in coverage. This study has shown that ecosystem service assessment provides a complementary perspective of the value of increasing ecological status in rivers affected by small-scale hydropower, but also that the ecosystem services methodology needs further development for this type of case.

Keywords
ecosystem service assessment, hydropower, ecological restoration, Corporate Ecosystem Service Review, Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-bases Assessment
National Category
Environmental Sciences Environmental Engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-28488 (URN)
External cooperation:
Conference
22nd International Sustainable Development Research Society Conference, School of Science and Technology, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, 13 – 15 July 2016
Available from: 2016-07-21 Created: 2016-07-21 Last updated: 2016-09-15Bibliographically approved
Grönlund, E. & Fröling, M. (2016). Emergy as a measure to assess sustainability. In: Ecological sustainability: Engineering change. Paper presented at 5th International Ecosummit, Montpellier, France, 29 August - 1 September, 2016.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Emergy as a measure to assess sustainability
2016 (English)In: Ecological sustainability: Engineering change, 2016Conference paper, Poster (with or without abstract) (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Emergy accounting (EA) is one of the methods in the sustainability assessment toolbox. In its use of stocks and flows of energy and matter it has similarities with e.g. Material Flow Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment, but EA also includes stocks and flows of money and information. In its methodological approach of relating to a global baseline of renewable flows EA is similar to Ecological footprints in that it is not just revealing which of two alternatives is using more or less of different stocks or flows but also comparing the use to available renewable flows on a global annual basis.

This paper address the contribution of three different aspects of EA (emergy analysis, emergy synthesis) to the overarching goal of sustainable development. The discussed aspects were: 1) the Emergy Sustainability Index (ESI), 2) emergy as a normalizing measure, and 3) emergy as a network measure.

It was concluded that the ESI is an interesting measure but does not catch the full range of the sustainability concept. The EA approach, with the ESI as part of it, has more to say about sustainability than what is captured by the ESI alone. An interesting outcome is that the traditional triple-bottom-line of environmental, economic and social sustainability emerges very easily from the emergy assessment conceptual diagram approach. EA holds a promise to classify the economic, social, and socio-economic domains of sustainability, as well as their connection to the ecological/environmental sustainability. The reason why the ESI captures only a small part of what is interesting from a sustainability point of view in the full EA may be that it has the focus on the traditional load and yield components. Many of the interesting parts from emergy evaluations in the sustainability context may instead come from the capability of EA to capture network properties.

National Category
Environmental Sciences Environmental Engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-29709 (URN)
Conference
5th International Ecosummit, Montpellier, France, 29 August - 1 September, 2016
Available from: 2016-12-21 Created: 2016-12-21 Last updated: 2018-01-10Bibliographically approved
Grönlund, E. & Fröling, M. (2016). Emergy as a measure to assess sustainable development. In: Proceedings of 22nd International Sustainable Development Research Society Conference, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, 13 – 15 July 2016: . Paper presented at 22nd International Sustainable Development Research Society Conference, School of Science and Technology, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, 13 – 15 July 2016.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Emergy as a measure to assess sustainable development
2016 (English)In: Proceedings of 22nd International Sustainable Development Research Society Conference, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, 13 – 15 July 2016, 2016Conference paper, Published paper (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Emergy accounting is one of the methods in the sustainability assessment toolbox. In its use of stocks and flows of energy and matter it has similarities with Material Flow Analysis (MFA), Substance Flow Analysis (SFA), and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), but Emergy accounting also includes stocks and flows of money and information. In its methodological approach of relating to a global baseline of renewable flows Emergy accounting is similar to Ecological footprints in that it is not just revealing which of two alternatives is using more or less of different stocks or flows but also comparing the use to available renewable flows on a global annual basis.This paper address the contribution of three different aspects of emergy accounting (emergy analysis, emergy synthesis) to the overarching goal of sustainable development. The discussed aspects were: 1) the Emergy Sustainability Index (ESI), 2) emergy as a normalizing measure, and 3) emergy as a network measure.It was concluded that the Emergy Sustainability Index (ESI) is an interesting measure but does not catch the full range of the sustainability concept. The emergy accounting approach, with the ESI as part of it, has a lot more to say about sustainability than just what is captured by the ESI. An interesting outcome is that the traditional triple-bottom-line of environmental, economic and social sustainability emerges very easily from the emergy assessment conceptual diagram approach. Emergy accounting holds a promise of clarifying the fuzziness often connected to how to classify economic, social, and socio-economic domains of sustainability. These are in practice often difficult to distinguish between, as are their connections to the ecological/environmental sustainability. The reason why the ESI captures only a small part of what is interesting from a sustainability point of view in the full emergy assessment may be that it has the focus on the traditional load and yield components. Many of the interesting parts from emergy evaluation in the sustainability context may instead come from the capability of emergy accounting to capture network properties.

Keywords
ESI, system network, system sustainability
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-28487 (URN)
External cooperation:
Conference
22nd International Sustainable Development Research Society Conference, School of Science and Technology, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, 13 – 15 July 2016
Available from: 2016-07-21 Created: 2016-07-21 Last updated: 2016-09-15Bibliographically approved
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