Lorenz M. Hilty

The relevance of information and communication technologies for environmental sustainability - A prospective simulation study

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have relevant positive and negative impacts on environmental sustainability on various levels: First-order effects such as increasing electronic waste streams; second-order effects such as improved energy-efficiency of production; third-order effects such as a product-to-service shift in consumption or rebound effects in transport. In the simulation study described in this article, all known relevant effects on all three levels were modeled using a System Dynamics approach in combination with scenario techniques and expert consultations. The prospective study for the European Union with a time-horizon until 2020 revealed great potential for ICT-supported energy management and for a structural change towards a less material-intensive economy, but strong rebound effects in the transport sector whenever ICT applications lead to time or cost savings for transport. 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling metal stocks and flows: a review of dynamic material flow analysis methods.

Dynamic material flow analysis (MFA) is a frequently used method to assess past, present, and future stocks and flows of metals in the anthroposphere. Over the past fifteen years, dynamic MFA has contributed to increased knowledge about the quantities, qualities, and locations of metal-containing goods. This article presents a literature review of the methodologies applied in 60 dynamic MFAs of metals. The review is based on a standardized model description format, the ODD (overview, design concepts, details) protocol. We focus on giving a comprehensive overview of modeling approaches and structure them according to essential aspects, such as their treatment of material dissipation, spatial dimension of flows, or data uncertainty. The reviewed literature features similar basic modeling principles but very diverse extrapolation methods. Basic principles include the calculation of outflows of the in-use stock based on inflow or stock data and a lifetime distribution function. For extrapolating stocks and flows, authors apply constant, linear, exponential, and logistic models or approaches based on socioeconomic variables, such as regression models or the intensity-of-use hypothesis. The consideration and treatment of further aspects, such as dissipation, spatial distribution, and data uncertainty, vary significantly and highly depends on the objectives of each study.

Scenario Analysis: Exploring the Macroeconomic Impacts of Information and Communication Technologies on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

During the past decade, several macroeconomic studies on the potentials of information and communication technology (ICT) to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been published. The mitigation potentials identified in them vary to a high degree, mainly because they are not consistently defined and diverse methodologies are applied. The characteristics of ICT - exceptional dynamics of innovation and diffusion, social embedment and cross-sector application, diverse and complex impact patterns - are a challenge for macroeconomic studies that quantify ICT impacts on GHG emissions. This article first reviews principal macroeconomic studies on ICT and GHG emissions. In the second part, we reconsider our own study on this topic and present an in-depth scenario analysis of the future impacts of ICT applications on GHG emissions. We conclude that forthcoming macroeconomic studies could strengthen the state of the art in environmental ICT impact modeling (1) by accounting for the dynamics of new ICT applications and their first-, second-, and third-order effects on a global scale, (2) by reflecting the error margins resulting from data uncertainty in the final results, and (3) by using scenario techniques to explore future uncertainty and its impacts on the results.

ICT for Sustainability: An Emerging Research Field

This introductory chapter provides definitions of sustainability, sustainable development, decoupling, and related terms; gives an overview of existing interdisciplinary research fields related to ICT for Sustainability, including Environmental Informatics, Computational Sustainability, Sustainable HCI, and Green ICT; introduces a conceptual framework to structure the effects of ICT on sustainability; and provides an overview of this book.

Rebound effects of progress in information technology

Information technology (IT) is continuously making astounding progress in technical efficiency. The time, space, material and energy needed to provide a unit of IT service have decreased by three orders of magnitude since the first personal computer (PC) was sold. However, it seems difficult for society to translate IT’s efficiency progress into progress in terms of individual, organizational or socio-economic goals. In particular it seems to be difficult for individuals to work more efficiently, for organizations to be more productive and for the socio-economic system to be more sustainable by using increasingly efficient IT. This article provides empirical evidence and potential explanations for this problem. Many counterproductive effects of IT can be explained economically by rebound effects. Beyond that, we conclude that the technological determinism adopted by decision-makers is the main obstacle in translating IT’s progress into non-technical goals.ZusammenfassungDie Informationstechnologie macht laufend erstaunliche Fortschritte hinsichtlich technischer Effizienz. Zeit-, Raum-, Material- und Energieaufwand pro Einheit von IT-Dienstleistungen haben sich seit dem Verkauf des ersten PC um drei Größenordnungen verringert. Es scheint jedoch schwierig zu sein, die Entwicklung der IT-Effizienz in Fortschritte hinsichtlich individueller, organisatorischer oder sozioökonomischer Ziele umzumünzen. Insbesondere scheint es dem Einzelnen schwer zu fallen, die zunehmend effiziente IT zu nutzen, um selbst effizienter zu arbeiten; Organisationen scheinen durch effizientere IT nicht produktiver zu werden und sozioökonomische Systeme dem Ziel der Nachhaltigkeit nicht näher zu kommen. Dieser Artikel stellt empirische Ergebnisse und mögliche Erklärungen für dieses Problem zusammen. Viele kontraproduktive Effekte der IT können durch Rebound-Effekte ökonomisch erklärt werden. Darüber hinaus kommen wir zu der Schlussfolgerung, dass es hauptsächlich der technologische Determinismus von Entscheidungsträgern ist, der bisher die Nutzung des informationstechnischen Fortschritts für nicht-technische Ziele behindert.

The Precautionary Principle in the Information Society

ABSTRACT The Precautionary Principle aims to anticipate and minimize potentially serious or irreversible risks under conditions of uncertainty. Thus it preserves the potential for future developments. It has been incorporated into many international treaties and pieces of national legislation for environmental protection and sustainable development. However the Precautionary Principle has not yet been applied systematically to novel Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and their potential environmental, social, and health effects. In this article we argue that precaution is necessary in this field and show how the general principle of precaution can be put in concrete terms in the context of the information society. We advocate precautionary measures directed towards pervasive applications of ICT (Pervasive Computing) because of their inestimable potential impacts on society.

The Direct Energy Demand of Internet Data Flows

The direct energy demand of Internet data flows can be assessed using a variety of methodological approaches (top‐down, bottom‐up, or hybrid/model based) and different definitions of system boundaries. Because of this diversity, results reported in the literature differ by up to two orders of magnitude and are difficult to compare. We present a first assessment that uses a pure bottom‐up approach and a system boundary that includes only transmission equipment. The assessment is based on the case study of a 40 megabit per second videoconferencing transmission between Switzerland and Japan, yielding a consumption of 0.2 kilowatt‐hours per transmitted gigabyte for 2009, a result that supports the lowest of the existing estimates. We discuss the practical implications of our findings.

Prospective Impacts of Electronic Textiles on Recycling and Disposal

Electronic textiles are a vanguard of an emerging generation of smart products. They consist of small electronic devices that are seamlessly embedded into clothing and technical textiles. E‐textiles provide enhanced functions in a variety of unobtrusive and convenient ways. Like many high‐tech products, e‐textiles may evolve to become a mass market in the future. In this case, large amounts of difficult‐to‐recycle products will be discarded. That can result in new waste problems. This article examines the possible end‐of‐life implications of textile‐integrated electronic waste. As a basis for assessment, the innovation trends of e‐textiles are reviewed, and an overview of their material composition is provided. Next, scenarios are developed to estimate the magnitude of future e‐textile waste streams. On that base, established disposal and recycling routes for e‐waste and old textiles are assessed in regard to their capabilities to process a blended feedstock of electronic and textile materials. The results suggest that recycling old e‐textiles will be difficult because valuable materials are dispersed in large amounts of heterogeneous textile waste. Moreover, the electronic components can act as contaminants in the recycling of textile materials. We recommend scrutinizing the innovation trend of technological convergence from the life cycle perspective. Technology developers and product designers should implement waste preventative measures at the early phases in the development process of the emerging technology.

ICT Innovations for Sustainability

ICT Innovations for Sustainability is an investigation of how information and communication technology can contribute to sustainable development. It presents clear definitions of sustainability, suggesting conceptual frameworks for the positive and negative effects of ICT on sustainable development. It reviews methods of assessing the direct and indirect impact of ICT systems on energy and materials demand, and examines the results of such assessments. In addition, it investigates ICT-based approaches to supporting sustainable patterns of production and consumption, analyzing them at various levels of abstraction from end-user devices, Internet infrastructure, user behavior, and social practices to macro-economic indicators.Combining approaches from Computer Science, Information Systems, Human-Computer Interaction, Economics, and Environmental Sciences, the book presents a new, holistic perspective on ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S). It is an indispensable resource for anyone working in the area of ICT for Energy Efficiency, Life Cycle Assessment of ICT, Green IT, Green Information Systems, Environmental Informatics, Energy Informatics, Sustainable HCI, or Computational Sustainability.

Environmental impacts of an international conference

A conference in the conventional form is a very resource-demanding process with considerable environmental impacts. As the host of the 15th International Environmental Informatics Symposium, held in Zurich, October 10–12, 2001, EMPA assessed the effectiveness of different measures to reduce the environmental impact of the conference using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. During the preparation of the conference, we considered the following measures to make the symposium more ‘‘environmentally friendly’’: