Abstract
Sustainability has multiple dimensions. This chapter wants to stress that there is an inherent element of subjectivity in sustainable development that needs to be acknowledged even when sustainable development is at heart about improved states of the environment. Understanding of objectivity, subjectivity, and development can serve a more fruitful discussion about choices in sustainability. The aim of the chapter is to assess available methods for appraising the sustainability of innovation with regard to three key aspects for sustainability assessment: the ability to objectify impacts, the extent to which normative aspects are considered, and the coproduction of impacts between technology and environment.
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Notes
- 1.
Depending on the scientific community, coproduction is also known as interaction effects.
- 2.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) can be defined as “a process consisting of the separation of CO2 from industrial and energy-related sources, transport to a storage location and long-term isolation from the atmosphere. […] an option in the portfolio of mitigation actions for stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations” (IPCC 2005).
Further Reading
Bond A, Morrison-Sounders A (2013) Challenges in determining the effectiveness of sustainability assessment. In: Bond A, Morrison-Sounders A, Howitt R (eds) Sustainability assessment: pluralism, practice and progress. Routledge, London/New York, pp 37–50
Dijk M (2010) Innovation in car mobility: co-evolution of demand and supply under sustainability pressures. PhD, Maastricht University – ICIS, Maastricht
Gibson R (2005) Sustainability assessment: criteria and processes. Earthscan, London
Kemp R (2010) Sustainable technologies do not exist! Ekonomiaz 75(3):11–13
Kushnir D (2012) Foresight and feedback: monitoring and assessing the environmental implications of emerging technologies. Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg
Sandén B (2004) Technology path assessment for sustainable technology development. Innov Manag Policy Pract 6(2):316–330. doi:10.5172/impp.2004.6.2.316
Weblinks
A sustainability-oriented assessment of electromobility from different systems perspectives (safety, LCA, …) for different sociotechnical configurations can be found at http://www.chalmers.se/en/areas-of-advance/energy/cei/Pages/Systems-Perspectives-on-Electromobility.aspx
Database with short overviews of different sustainability assessment methods developed in a collaboration between universities led by Free University Amsterdam (VU). http://www.ivm.vu.nl/en/projects/Archive/SustainabailityA-test/index.asp
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Beemsterboer, S., Kemp, R. (2016). Sustainability Assessment of Technologies. In: Heinrichs, H., Martens, P., Michelsen, G., Wiek, A. (eds) Sustainability Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7242-6_6
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