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Conceptual Understanding: Sustainable innovation yields both bottom line and top line returns as developing products, services and systems that are environmentally friendly lowers costs through reducing the resources required. Designers should view compliance with government legislation as an opportunity for sustainable innovation.
Complexity and timescale of sustainable innovation
Sustainable innovation relies on cooperation between different stakeholders such as government and manufacturing. It is the broadest approach going beyond technical solutions. This approach is based on a socio-technical systems intervention rather than just considering product improvement.
The huge time scale means that sustainability is difficult to maintain as conditions/criteria can change significantly, two examples include:
Sustainable innovation requires a radical change which is time-consuming and expensive so manufacturers are not so willing to consider sustainable innovation.
Sustainable innovation is a hugely complex concept that requires a long time for implementation, typically 20–40 years depending on the nature of the innovation.
Sustainable Top-down strategies
Top-down sustainability encompasses system-level changes driven by policy and operational directives. These approaches have the potential to create widespread and immediate change when applied effectively. California, for instance, has changed the auto industry by passing stricter fuel-economy standards that manufacturers must meet in order to sell vehicles in the state. Because California is the fifth largest economy in the world, the size of its market incentivises auto makers to meet these standards and produces a ripple effect throughout the industry.
Top-down is controlled by the government. E.g. ban plastic bags in shops in Singapore.
Management of resources, finances (controlling bank rates, etc) and so on.
It provides targets and measures for sustainability.
With top-down strategies as it means investment and resources are more predictable and reliable.
Sustainable Bottom-up strategies
Bottom-up approaches attempt the opposite: to influence policy through behaviour. The appeal of any bottom-up approach is that individual actions can have a massive impact when adopted by large numbers of people, and the barrier to entry is low. An individual behaviour change—say, biking to work—may have a limited impact, but has great potential if adopted by many. The key to effectively activating the potential of a bottom-up approach lies in communicating both the goals of behavioural changes as well as the best strategies for implementing these changes to have maximum impact.
Strategies implemented from the ‘bottom’ such as regional or local (city or town) level. E.g. These include local initiatives like Planting Tree Campaigns
Designers involved with bottom-up strategies are usually enthusiasts for the project and willing to make a commitment even though it may not be cost-effective to do so. Students are expected to be able to identify examples of bottom-up strategies and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages for consumers/users.
Know this:
Government intervention in innovation
There are various strategies that governments use to promote knowledge exchange and technology transfer. Government intervention includes Regulation, Education, Taxes and Subsidies.
Macro and Micro energy sustainability
Macro energy sustainability: focuses on how a nation utilises energy in a sustainable manner (macro = large goal setting).
Macro energy sustainability can be influenced through international treaties and energy policies, instruments for change and disincentives, and national systems changing policy when government leadership changes.
Macro-sustainability is the area of sustainable development that focuses on how a nation, region or the entire world would establish large scale behaviors for sustainability
E.g. the Kyoto Treaty would fall into this category. Kyoto Protocol on the reduction of greenhouse gases. In order for it to be successful all governments need to agree, for a while Australia and USA did not so many countries followed suit
Macro energy sustainability
How macro energy sustainability can be influenced through:
international treaties and energy policies
instruments for change and disincentives
national systems changing policy when government leadership changes
Other international treaties on energy sustainability include
Earth Summit 1992
Kyoto Protocol 1997
World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002
Copenhagen Accord 2009
Micro energy sustainability: focuses on local initiatives (micro = small goal setting)
Micro-sustainability is the area of sustainable development that focuses on how individuals, organisations and businesses decide what activities they should engage in and how to and where to allocate their resources. Jesse Stallone (2009)
Micro energy sustainability can be influenced by the role of the government in raising awareness and changing attitudes, and promotion of individual and business action towards energy sustainability.
Micro energy sustainability can be influenced by:
the government raising awareness and changing attitudes
promotion of individual and business action towards energy sustainability
E.g. Local governments installing Combined Heat and Power (CHP) or solar powered roof tiles.
Energy security
Energy demand is the flow of energy over the course of a day, year and is rarely constant and this puts a responsibility on those that generate and manage the flow of energy to understand when peaks and troughs of energy use occur over the course of days, weeks and years.
Energy demand is rarely constant and this puts a responsibility on those that generate and manage the flow of energy to understand when peaks and troughs of energy use occur over the course of days, weeks and years. For example:
In many countries, energy demand increases substantially during breaks and following popular TV shows as large numbers of people put the kettle on to enjoy a hot beverage.
Also, there may be particular periods during the night where energy use is at a minimum. In these situations it is vital that the power-generating stations are informed when to start and stop energy generation.
The difficulty arises as massive amounts of electricity cannot easily be stored, excess energy generated at these times is wasted.
Demand/supply trends need to be predicted carefully to create a responsive and efficient energy supply.
Energy security: The uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price.
The increasing reliance of many countries on the importation of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas means that interruptions to those supplies is a cause of concern. In order to reduce concerns, a number of actions are taken on how energy security can be influenced by energy demand, supply trends and forecasting.
Energy security is the association between national security and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption. Access to cheap energy has become essential to the functioning of modern economies. However, the uneven distribution of energy supplies among countries has led to significant vulnerabilities.
Energy forecasting, for example, in many countries, energy demand increases substantially during breaks and following popular TV shows as large numbers of people put the kettle on to enjoy a hot beverage. Also, there may be particular periods during the night where energy use is at a minimum. In these situations it is vital that the power-generating stations are informed when to start and stop energy generation.
The difficulty arises as massive amounts of electricity cannot easily be stored, excess energy generated at these times is wasted. Demand/supply trends need to be predicted carefully to create a responsive and efficient energy supply.
Smart Grids
Smart Grids: A modernised electrical grid that uses analogue or digital information and communications technology to gather and act on information (such as behaviours of suppliers and consumers) in an automated fashion to improve the efficiency, reliability, economics and sustainability of the production and distribution of electricity.
Smart grids permit greater penetration of highly variable renewable energy sources such as solar power and wind power, even without the addition of energy storage
Rapid fluctuations in energy use such as due to cloudy or gusty weather, present significant challenges to ensure stable power levels through varying the output of the more controllable generators such as gas turbines and hydroelectric generators.
Smart grid technology is a necessary condition for very large amounts of renewable electricity on the grid for this reason.
Diversification of supply Includes the access to multiple suppliers to reduce the effect of supply disruption from individual sources.
Sustainable energy The development of alternative energy supplies in the form of Wind, Solar, Tidal, Hydro, etc.
They can be national or international. International grids allow electricity generated in one country to be used in another.
Advantages of Smart Grid
Digital in nature
Two-way communication
Distributed generation
Sensors are widely used
Digital self-monitoring
Adaptive and intelligent
Robust control technology
Energy efficient
Possible integrate large scale renewable energy
Customers can check uses and modify
Disadvantages of Electric Grid
Mostly electromechanical
One-way communication
Mostly centralised generation
Sensors are not widely used
Lack of monitoring: manual
Failures and blackouts
Lack of control
Less energy-efficient
Usually not possible to integrate with renewable energy
Customers have less scope to modify uses
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