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Innovations and efficiencies in digital technology have lately been depicted as paramount in the green transition to enable the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, both in the information and communica-tion technology (ICT) sector and the wider economy. This, however, fails to adequately account for rebound effects that can offset emission savings and, in the worst case, increase emissions. In this perspective, we draw on a transdisciplinary workshop with 19 experts from carbon accounting, digital sustainability research, ethics, sociology, public policy, and sustainable business to expose the chal-lenges of addressing rebound effects in digital innovation processes and associated policy. We utilize a responsible innovation approach to uncover potential ways forward for incorporating rebound effects in these domains, concluding that addressing ICT-related rebound effects ultimately requires a shift from an ICT efficiency-centered perspective to a "systems thinking"model, which aims to understand efficiency as one solution among others that requires constraints on emissions for ICT environmental savings to be realized.

Time seems out of joint. The world society has experienced a centennial pandemic, the global thermometer has displayed a sequence of hottest years on record, and Russia's war on Ukraine has shattered political order. Unsurprisingly, the economy is severely affected. Governments worldwide hope that digital technologies can provide key solutions. Yet this report shows that digitalisation, in its current and mainstream form, is rather aggravating than solving many of the pressing social and environmental crises at hand. What is needed instead is a deep sustainability transformation that fundamentally reorganises the economy and all its sectors - agriculture, mobility, energy, buildings, industry, and consumption. The Report »Digital Reset« shows how digital technologies can support the quest for such a deep sustainability transformation. The report provides a blueprint for the European Union on how to reconceptualise digitalisation so that it first and foremost contributes to achieving carbon neutrality, resource autonomy and economic resilience while supporting equity and fully respecting citizen's rights and privacy. The report is the outcome of a two-year international science-policy dialogue, »Digitalization for Sustainability« (D4S), and presents an up-to-date comprehensive analysis of opportunities, risks and governance options regarding digitalization and sustainability., QC 20230314

Innovations and efficiencies in digital technology have lately been depicted as paramount in the green transition to enable the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, both in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector and the wider economy. This, however, fails to adequately account for rebound effects that can offset emission savings and, in the worst case, increase emissions. In this perspective, we draw on a transdisciplinary workshop with 19 experts from carbon accounting, digital sustainability research, ethics, sociology, public policy, and sustainable business to expose the challenges of addressing rebound effects in digital innovation processes and associated policy. We utilize a responsible innovation approach to uncover potential ways forward for incorporating rebound effects in these domains, concluding that addressing ICT-related rebound effects ultimately requires a shift from an ICT efficiency-centered perspective to a “systems thinking” model, which aims to understand efficiency as one solution among others that requires constraints on emissions for ICT environmental savings to be realized.

ICT hold significant potential to increase resource and energy efficiencies and contribute to a circular economy. Yet unresolved is whether the aggregated net effect of ICT overall mitigates or aggravates environmental burdens. While the savings potentials have been explored, drivers that prevent these and possible counter measures have not been researched thoroughly. The concept digital sufficiency constitutes a basis to understand how ICT can become part of the essential environmental transformation. Digital sufficiency consists of four dimensions, each suggesting a set of strategies and policy proposals: (a) hardware sufficiency, which aims for fewer devices needing to be produced and their absolute energy demand being kept to the lowest level possible to perform the desired tasks; (b) software sufficiency, which covers ensuring that data traffic and hardware utilization during application are kept as low as possible; (c) user sufficiency, which strives for users applying digital devices frugally and using ICT in a way that promotes sustainable lifestyles; and (d) economic sufficiency, which aspires to digitalization supporting a transition to an economy characterized not by economic growth as the primary goal but by sufficient production and consumption within planetary boundaries. The policies for hardware and software sufficiency are relatively easily conceivable and executable. Policies for user and economic sufficiency are politically more difficult to implement and relate strongly to policies for environmental transformation in general. This article argues for comprehensive policies for digital sufficiency, which are indispensible if ICT are to play a beneficial role in overall environmental transformation.

Most telecommuting (TC) studies focus on travel impacts and do not consider changes in time spent on non-travel activities (e.g. 'leisure') and the energy impacts of these changes. We demonstrate a time-use approach to assess interrelations between changes in commuting time and time spent on travel and non-travel activities and associated energy impacts. Time-use data analysis shows that spending less time on commuting is associated with more time spent on 'sleep', 'leisure', 'personal, household and family care', 'private travel' and 'eating and drinking'. Substituting car commuting with 'sleep', 'eating and drinking', common 'leisure' and 'personal, household and family care' activities is likely to reduce energy requirements as these are associated with less energy requirements than car commuting. This is different for 'private travel', 'meal preparation at home', and energy-intensive or out-of-home 'leisure' activities, which are associated with relatively high energy requirements. The commute modal split is a key variable in energy impacts of TC, because transport modes differ in their energy requirements. While car commuters can realize high energy savings through TC, for people who usually bike or walk to work, direct energy savings through reduced commuting are zero. Thus, any additional energy impact due to substitute activities, increases net direct energy requirements. Future research should further investigate the relationship between TC and time spent on (non-)travel activities and the marginal energy requirements of these activities. If so, the time-use approach can become key for assessing energy impacts of TC and other applications which impact individual time allocation., QC 20220429

A promising strategy to reduce smartphones' environmental footprint is to increase their service lifetime, thereby reducing the demand for resource-intensive production of new devices. Most of the existing literature focuses on production-oriented measures, such as improving repairability, but what remains missing is a systematic overview of consumer-oriented interventions to extend smartphones' service lifetime. In this study, we applied the consumer intervention mapping approach by systematically identifying consumer decision situations along the smartphone life cycle and interventions that encourage consumers to make smartphone lifetime-extending decisions. We identify two main mechanisms to achieve lifetime extension: retention by increasing the time during which a user keeps a device, and recirculation by passing on a device to an additional user. Altogether, we identified 26 different types of interventions to induce consumers to make smartphone lifetime-extending decisions and structure these according to consumer-influence techniques, e.g., informing consumers about retention/recirculation options and environmental impacts caused throughout device life cycles, persuading consumers by creating emotional attachment, nudging consumers through product labels for secondhand devices, simplifying execution of lifetime-extending decision options through take-back programs, and incentivizing lifetime-extension through buy-back programs. These interventions' success in achieving lifetime extensions and reducing environmental impacts in practice depends on the degree to which they actually extend smartphones' service lifetime and reduce production of new devices (displacement rate), induction and re-spending effects associated with the interventions, and the interventions’ implementation feasibility, which conflicts of interest in the smartphone ecosystem often challenge.

Most telecommuting (TC) studies focus on travel impacts and do not consider changes in time spent on non-travel activities (e.g. ‘leisure’) and the energy impacts of these changes. We demonstrate a time-use approach to assess interrelations between changes in commuting time and time spent on travel and non-travel activities and associated energy impacts. Time-use data analysis shows that spending less time on commuting is associated with more time spent on ‘sleep’, ‘leisure’, ‘personal, household and family care’, ‘private travel’ and ‘eating and drinking’. Substituting car commuting with ‘sleep’, ‘eating and drinking’, common ‘leisure’ and ‘personal, household and family care’ activities is likely to reduce energy requirements as these are associated with less energy requirements than car commuting. This is different for ‘private travel’, ‘meal preparation at home’, and energy-intensive or out-of-home ‘leisure’ activities, which are associated with relatively high energy requirements. The commute modal split is a key variable in energy impacts of TC, because transport modes differ in their energy requirements. While car commuters can realize high energy savings through TC, for people who usually bike or walk to work, direct energy savings through reduced commuting are zero. Thus, any additional energy impact due to substitute activities, increases net direct energy requirements. Future research should further investigate the relationship between TC and time spent on (non-)travel activities and the marginal energy requirements of these activities. If so, the time-use approach can become key for assessing energy impacts of TC and other applications which impact individual time allocation.

Increasing the service lifetime of mobile Internet-enabled devices (MIEDs) such as smartphones, tablets and laptops is a promising strategy to reduce the number of devices that need to be produced and reduce environmental impacts associated with device production. A broad spectrum of lifetime-extending measures has been explored in literature and in industry practice. In this article, we present an overview of explored measures, discuss challenges in their implementation and environmental impacts of lifetime extension. We find that measures can be distinguished into measures aiming at (1) the improvement of the device design (e.g. modular or durable design of smartphones), (2) device retention (increasing the time a user keeps a device, e.g. by offering repair services or fostering emotional attachment to devices), and (3) recirculation (creating a second life with a different user and/or in a different context, e.g. by refurbishing and reselling devices). The implementation of measures is challenged by trade-offs faced by organizations in the MIED value chain, which specifically occur when revenues depend on the number of new devices produced and sold. Furthermore, measures are subject to rebound and induction effects (e.g. imperfect substitution, re-spending effects), which can compensate for the (theoretical) environmental gains from service lifetime extension. In particular, it is uncertain to what extent a measure actually leads to lifetime extension and eventually reduces primary production of devices (displacement rate). Thus, more systematic research is needed on the feasibility of measures and the conditions under which they effectively contribute to a net reduction of environmental impacts.

While telecommuting (TC) research heavily discusses travel impacts of home-based TC, little is known about impacts of working from a neighborhood TC center on travel and non-travel activities and their energy requirements. We conduct a case study on the impacts of the work location (employer's office, TC center, home) on time use and travel using data collected in a neighborhood TC center in Stockholm. Our results show that telecommuters more frequently replaced working from the TC center for working from the more distant employer's office than for working from home. On TC center and home office days, diarists spent less time traveling, and on home office days more time on chores and leisure than on employer office days. When working from the TC center instead of the employer's office, telecommuters frequently used the same or more energy-efficient commute modes, e.g. biking instead of the car, which was feasible because the TC center is in the local neighborhood. However, when working from home, diarists mainly used the car for private travel. Thus, energy savings of TC can be increased by providing energy-efficient transport options or local access to non-work destinations to telecommuters. TC energy impacts depend also on changes to energy requirements for nontravel activities, for space heating/cooling/lighting at all work locations, and systemic TC effects (e.g. residential relocation), which can only be observed in the long term. Thus, future TC assessments should take an even broader perspective in terms of travel and non-travel activities, their energy requirements, and systemic effects., QC 20210420

Einen Sammelband in einer renommierten Buchreihe herauszugeben, ist heute eine Erfahrung der besonderen Art. Noch konsequenter als bei Zeitschriften werden alle Arbeiten mit Ausnahme des Marketings auf Herausgeber und niedrig qualifizierte Arbeitskräfte in Billiglohnländern abgewälzt. Erfahrungsbericht eines Herausgebers.

The determination of the environmental concentration of a pollutant is a crucial step in the risk assessment of anthropo‐ genic substances. Dynamic probabilistic material flow analysis (DPMFA) is a method to predict flows of substances to the environment that can be converted into environmental concentrations. In cases where direct quantitative measurements of concentrations are impossible, environmental stocks are predicted by reproducing the flow processes creating these stocks in a mathematical model. Incomplete parameter knowledge is represented in the form of stochastic distributions and propa‐ gated through the model using Monte Carlo simulation. This work discusses suitable means for the model design and the representation of system knowledge from several information sources of varying credibility as model parameter distributions, further evaluation of the simulation outcomes using sensitivity analyses, and the impacts of parameter uncertainty on the total uncertainty of the simulation output. Based on a model developed in a case study of carbon nanotubes in Switzerland, the modeling process, the representation and interpretation of the simulation results are described and approaches to sensitivity and uncertainty analyses are demonstrated. Finally, the overall approach is summarized and provided in the form of a set of modelling and evaluation rules for DPMFA studies.

With the diffusion of digital technologies, new forms of sharing have emerged called ‘the sharing economy’. Digitalization has been the enabler for covering a broad range of sharable resources (technical aspect of sharing) and for operating beyond the limits of small groups and personal relationships (social aspect of sharing). This two-fold digital transition of sharing has enabled unprecedented efficiency in coordinating access to resources. It created new patterns and practices of sharing in the space between traditional sharing on one side and the formal market economy on the other side; leading to the emergence of a new class of resource allocation systems which we call ‘the digital sharing economy (DSE)’. We analyse the DSE as a socio-economic phenomenon without referring to normative presuppositions, such as the presence of pro-social motivations for sharing. Building on a comprehensive definition of the DSE, we propose a theoretical framework for the DSE that embraces and structures the broad variety of sharing platforms and the practices promoted by them. By separating our analysis from normative pre-mises about sharing, we hope to contribute to an unbiased discussion of the sharing economy phenomenon and to lay the ground for differentiated assessments which refer to explicit normative frameworks such as sustainable development.

While telecommuting (TC) research heavily discusses travel impacts of home-based TC, little is known about impacts of working from a neighborhood TC center on travel and non-travel activities and their energy requirements. We conduct a case study on the impacts of the work location (employer’s office, TC center, home) on time use and travel using data collected in a neighborhood TC center in Stockholm. Our results show that telecommuters more frequently replaced working from the TC center for working from the more distant employer’s office than for working from home. On TC center and home office days, diarists spent less time traveling, and on home office days more time on chores and leisure than on employer office days. When working from the TC center instead of the employer’s office, telecommuters frequently used the same or more energy-efficient commute modes, e.g. biking instead of the car, which was feasible because the TC center is in the local neighborhood. However, when working from home, diarists mainly used the car for private travel. Thus, energy savings of TC can be increased by providing energy-efficient transport options or local access to non-work destinations to telecommuters. TC energy impacts depend also on changes to energy requirements for non-travel activities, for space heating/cooling/lighting at all work locations, and systemic TC effects (e.g. residential relocation), which can only be observed in the long term. Thus, future TC assessments should take an even broader perspective in terms of travel and non-travel activities, their energy requirements, and systemic effects.

In partizipativen TA-Projekten treffen Teilnehmende mit unterschiedlichen normativen Orientierungen aufeinander. Wir stellen einen methodischen Ansatz vor, der alle Beteiligten dabei unterstützen soll, mit dieser Wertepluralität offen und transparent umzugehen, indem die Diskussion in einem Workshop mittels eines Online-Tools zur Befragung der potenziell Teilnehmenden vorbereitet wird. Die "LOTA" (Landscape of Opinions for Technology Assessment) genannte Methode stützt sich auf globale Ziele, die den Teilnehmenden als normativer Referenzrahmen vorgegeben werden. Diese können Ziele auswählen und priorisieren und auf diese Weise ihre normativen Orientierungen ausdrücken. Das gleichnamige Software-Tool visualisiert eine "Meinungslandschaft" basierend auf den Daten aus der Online-Befragung., Participatory TA projects typically bring together people with diverse normative orientations. We present a methodological approach intended to support participants in dealing with the plurality of values in a transparent way by using an online tool to prepare for the discussion. The method called "LOTA" (Landscape of Opinions for Technology Assessment) is based on global goals which are presented to the participants as a normative frame of reference. By prioritizing global goals, the participants can express their normative orientations. The software tool visualizes the "landscape of opinions" resulting from the survey.

Die digitale Transformation könnte eine Wirtschaftsweise ermöglichen, die natürliche Ressourcen schont. Software als immateriel-les Produkt kennt keinen Verschleiß. Die universelle Hardware, die zur Ausführung von Software benötigt wird, kommt mit immer weniger Material und Energie pro Leistungseinheit aus. Dennoch wächst der ökologische Fußabdruck der digitalen Transformation. Warum gelingt es uns bisher nicht, Digitalisierung und Nachhaltigkeit in Einklang zu bringen?

Purpose: Improving the quality and quantity of unit process datasets in Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) databases affects every LCA they are used in. However, improvements in data quality and quantity are so far rather directed by the external supply of data and situation-driven requirements instead of systematic choices guided by structural dependencies in the data. Overall, the impact of current data updates on the quality of the LCI database remains unclear and maintenance efforts might be ineffective. This article analyzes how a contribution-based prioritization approach can direct LCI update efforts to datasets of key importance. Methods: A contribution-based prioritization method has been applied to version 3 of the ecoinvent database. We identified the relevance of unit processes on the basis of their relative contributions throughout each product system with respect to a broad range of Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) indicators. A novel ranking algorithm enabled the ranking of unit processes according to their impact on the LCIA results. Finally, we identified the most relevant unit processes for different sectors and geographies. Results and discussion: The study shows that a relatively large proportion of the overall database quality is dependent on a small set of key processes. Processes related to electricity generation, waste treatment activities, and energy carrier provision (petroleum and hard coal) consistently cause large environmental impacts on all product systems. Overall, 300 datasets are causing 60% of the environmental impacts across all LCIA indicators, while only 3 datasets are causing 11% of all climate change impacts. In addition, our analysis highlights the presence and importance of central hubs, i.e., sensitive intersections in the database network, whose modification can affect a large proportion of database quality. Conclusions: Our study suggests that contribution-based prioritization offers important insights into the systematic a

The time-use (or activity) patterns individuals perform on a typical day – their individual lifestyles – fundamentally shape our society and the environment we live in. Not only are lifestyles evolving over time, driven by societal and technological change, they also significantly contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 12 “responsible consumption and production”, namely through the resource use and emissions associated with goods and services consumed to perform activities. We created an interactive, browser-based tool to visualize and intuitively explore statistical time-use data. The visualization helps to gain an overview about the available data, identify and compare common time-use patterns and draw up hypotheses about the relationship between changes in lifestyles and their social and environmental consequences. We use the tool to compare time-use data from different regions, time periods as well as socio-economic and demographic backgrounds and estimate the associated energy consumption. From a time-use perspective, any technological change which triggers changes in time allocation can only be environmentally sustainable if the environmental impact of the total of the activities performed after the change is lower than before.

The ubiquity of information and communication technologies (ICT) results in substantial amounts of energy consumption and thus, CO2-emissions. Since software induces the energy consumption of hardware, some reliable procedures and tests for measuring software are necessary. We present such a method and prove our measurement concept by applying it to two software product groups: word processors and content management systems. Even though the two groups are very different in terms of their requirements, we were successful in the creation of a measurement environment that supports the production of reliable, verifiable results, allowing the comparison of the energy consumption induced by software systems with similar functionality. The method shows viable results for desktop and client-server systems, paving the way for further setups like e.g. mobile and embedded devices., QC 20180719

Many authors have proposed criteria to assess the “environmental friendliness” or “sustainability” of software products. However, a causal model that links observable properties of a software product to conditions of it being green or (more general) sustainable is still missing. Such a causal model is necessary because software products are intangible goods and, as such, only have indirect effects on the physical world. In particular, software products are not subject to any wear and tear, they can be copied without great effort, and generate no waste or emissions when being disposed of. Viewed in isolation, software seems to be a perfectly sustainable type of product. In real life, however, software products with the same or similar functionality can differ substantially in the burden they place on natural resources, especially if the sequence of released versions and resulting hardware obsolescence is taken into account. In this article, we present a model describing the causal chains from software products to their impacts on natural resources, including energy sources, from a life-cycle perspective. We focus on (i) the demands of software for hardware capacities (local, remote, and in the connecting network) and the resulting hardware energy demand, (ii) the expectations of users regarding such demands and how these affect hardware operating life, and (iii) the autonomy of users in managing their software use with regard to resource efficiency. We propose a hierarchical set of criteria and indicators to assess these impacts. We demonstrate the application of this set of criteria, including the definition of standard usage scenarios for chosen categories of software products. We further discuss the practicability of this type of assessment, its acceptability for several stakeholders and potential consequences for the eco-labeling of software products and sustainable software design., QC 20180601

Product lifetime is an essential aspect of dynamic material flow analyses and has been modeled using lifetime distribution functions, mostly average lifetimes. Existing data regarding the lifetime of electronic equipment (EE) are based on diverging definitions of lifetime as well as different temporal and regional scopes. After its active use, EE is often not disposed of immediately, but remains in storage for some time. Specific data on the share of EE that is stored and the time they remain in storage are scarce. This article investigates the service lifetime, storage time, and disposal pathways of ten electronic device types, based on data from an online survey complemented by structured interviews. We distinguish between new and secondhand devices and compute histograms, averages, and medians of the different lifetimes and their change over time. The average service lifetime varies from 3.3 years for mobile phones to 10.8 years for large loudspeakers, the average storage time from 0.8 years for flat panel display televisions to 3.6 years for large loudspeakers. Most service lifetime histograms are positively skewed and show substantial differences among device types. The storage time histograms, being more similar to one another, indicate that the storage behavior is similar for most device types. The data on disposal pathways show that a large proportion of devices are stored and reused before they reach the collection scheme., QC 20180403

Human society is increasingly influencing the planet and its environmental systems. The existing environmental problems indicate that current production and consumption patterns are not sustainable. Despite the remarkable opportunities brought about by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve the resource efficiency of production and consumption processes, it seems that the overall trend is still not heading towards sustainability. By promoting the utilization of available and underused resources, the ICT-enabled sharing economy has transformed, and even in some cases disrupted, the prevailing patterns of production and consumption, raising questions about opportunities and risks of shared consumption modes for sustainability. The present article attempts to conceptualize the sustainability implications of today’s sharing economy. We begin with presenting a definition for the digital sharing economy that embraces the common features of its various forms. Based on our proposed definition, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the digital sharing economy as a use case of ICT. The analysis is deepened by applying the life-cycle/enabling/structural impacts model of ICT effects to this use case. As a result, we show the various positive and negative potentials of digital sharing for sustainability at different system levels. While it is too early to project well-founded scenarios to describe the sustainability status of digital sharing, the implications discussed in our work may help outlining future research and policies in this area.