Matching Items (23)
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- All Subjects: Sustainability
- All Subjects: Environmental Management
- Genre: Academic theses
- Creators: Chester, Mikhail
- Creators: Manuel-Navarrete, David
- Resource Type: Text
Description
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) quantifies environmental impacts of products in raw material extraction, processing, manufacturing, distribution, use and final disposal. The findings of an LCA can be used to improve industry practices, to aid in product development, and guide public policy. Unfortunately, existing approaches to LCA are unreliable in the cases of emerging technologies, where data is unavailable and rapid technological advances outstrip environmental knowledge. Previous studies have demonstrated several shortcomings to existing practices, including the masking of environmental impacts, the difficulty of selecting appropriate weight sets for multi-stakeholder problems, and difficulties in exploration of variability and uncertainty. In particular, there is an acute need for decision-driven interpretation methods that can guide decision makers towards making balanced, environmentally sound decisions in instances of high uncertainty. We propose the first major methodological innovation in LCA since early establishment of LCA as the analytical perspective of choice in problems of environmental management. We propose to couple stochastic multi-criteria decision analytic tools with existing approaches to inventory building and characterization to create a robust approach to comparative technology assessment in the context of high uncertainty, rapid technological change, and evolving stakeholder values. Namely, this study introduces a novel method known as Stochastic Multi-attribute Analysis for Life Cycle Impact Assessment (SMAA-LCIA) that uses internal normalization by means of outranking and exploration of feasible weight spaces.
ContributorsPrado, Valentina (Author) / Seager, Thomas P (Thesis advisor) / Landis, Amy E. (Committee member) / Chester, Mikhail (Committee member) / White, Philip (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The consumption of feedstocks from agriculture and forestry by current biofuel production has raised concerns about food security and land availability. In the meantime, intensive human activities have created a large amount of marginal lands that require management. This study investigated the viability of aligning land management with biofuel production on marginal lands. Biofuel crop production on two types of marginal lands, namely urban vacant lots and abandoned mine lands (AMLs), were assessed. The investigation of biofuel production on urban marginal land was carried out in Pittsburgh between 2008 and 2011, using the sunflower gardens developed by a Pittsburgh non-profit as an example. Results showed that the crops from urban marginal lands were safe for biofuel. The crop yield was 20% of that on agricultural land while the low input agriculture was used in crop cultivation. The energy balance analysis demonstrated that the sunflower gardens could produce a net energy return even at the current low yield. Biofuel production on AML was assessed from experiments conducted in a greenhouse for sunflower, soybean, corn, canola and camelina. The research successfully created an industrial symbiosis by using bauxite as soil amendment to enable plant growth on very acidic mine refuse. Phytoremediation and soil amendments were found to be able to effectively reduce contamination in the AML and its runoff. Results from this research supported that biofuel production on marginal lands could be a unique and feasible option for cultivating biofuel feedstocks.
ContributorsZhao, Xi (Author) / Landis, Amy (Thesis advisor) / Fox, Peter (Committee member) / Chester, Mikhail (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Ecolabels are the main driving force of consumer knowledge in the realm of sustainable product purchasing. While ecolabels strive to improve consumer's purchasing decisions, they have overwhelmed the market, leaving consumers confused and distrustful of what each label means. This study attempts to validate and understand environmental concerns commonly found in ecolabel criteria and the implications they have within the life cycle of a product. A life cycle assessment (LCA) case study of cosmetic products is used in comparison with current ecolabel program criteria to assess whether or not ecolabels are effectively driving environmental improvements in high impact areas throughout the life cycle of a product. Focus is placed on determining the general issues addressed by ecolabelling criteria and how these issues relate to hotspots derived through a practiced scientific methodology. Through this analysis, it was determined that a majority the top performing supply chain environmental impacts are covered, in some fashion, within ecolabelling criteria, but some, such as agricultural land occupation, are covered to a lesser extent or not at all. Additional criteria are suggested to fill the gaps found in ecolabelling programs and better address the environmental impacts most pertinent to the supply chain. Ecolabels have also been found to have a broader coverage then what can currently be addressed using LCA. The results of this analysis have led to a set of recommendations for furthering the integration between ecolabels and life cycle tools.
ContributorsBernardo, Melissa (Author) / Dooley, Kevin (Thesis advisor) / Chester, Mikhail (Thesis advisor) / Fox, Peter (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
During the months from June to November 2012, the city of Bangalore was faced with a serious solid waste management (SWM) crisis. In the wake of the upheaval, the state court declared source segregation to be mandatory. Yet, while the legislation was clear, the pathway towards a course of action for the transition was not clear and hence, Bangalore was stuck in a state of limbo. The objectives for this thesis spiraled organically from this crisis. The first objective was to examine the gaps in Bangalore's transition to a more sustainable SWM system. Six particular gaps were identified, which in essence, were opportunities to re-shape the system. The gaps identified included: conflicting political agendas, the exclusion of some key actors, and lack of adequate attention to cultural aspects, provision of appropriate incentives, protection of livelihoods and promotion of innovation. Opportunities were found in better incentivization of sustainable SWM goals, protecting livelihoods that depend on waste, enhancing innovation and endorsing local, context based SWM solutions. Building on this understanding of gaps, the second objective was to explore an innovative, local, bottom-up waste-management model called the Vellore Zero Waste Model, and assess its applicability to Bangalore. The adaptability of the model depended on several factors such as, willingness of actors to redefine their roles and change functions, ability of the municipality to assure quality and oversight, willingness of citizen to source segregate, and most importantly, the political will and collective action needed to ensure and sustain the transition. The role of communication as a vital component to facilitate productive stakeholder engagement and to promote role change was evident. Therefore, the third objective of the study was to explore how interpersonal competencies and communication strategies could be used as a tool to facilitate stakeholder engagement and encourage collective action. In addressing these objectives, India was compared with Austria because Austria is often cited as having some of the best SWM practices in the world and has high recycling rates to show for its reputation.
ContributorsRengarajan, Nivedita (Author) / Aggarwal, Rimjhim (Thesis advisor) / Chhetri, Nalini (Committee member) / Manuel-Navarrete, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This dissertation focuses on the endogenous conceptualization of development and sustainability emerging from settled non-native indigenous communities in the transborder region of Baja California, México. The study is comprised of interview data collected from a sample of 19 (n=19) self-identifying non-native indigenous community members and three key informants residing in various municipalities of the state. The purpose of this research is twofold, on the one hand, it aims to highlight the ways global north conceptualizations and praxis of development and sustainability in México have failed to include indigenous communities and fall short of creating feasible or appropriate practices of development and sustainability for marginalized communities. On the other, it focuses on the future perspectives of non-native indigenous communities to understand what development and sustainability look like for marginalized indigenous communities in México. The research finds that non-native indigenous communities’ settled in Baja California align more closely with the notion of Buen Vivir than development, in efforts to implement holistic approaches to progress and the conservation of their ethnic identity, culture and funds of knowledge. Additionally, the data reveals the bordering processes within ethnic and cultural scapes in Baja California’s society incentivizes merging funds of knowledge to achieve community recognition and progress. In essence, the experience and mobilization of settled non-native indigenous communities in Baja California break the perceived dichotomy between rural and urban, traditional and modern. The research also has some auxiliary findings: (1) indicating that in the state of Baja California the proliferation of development and sustainability discourses are polarized and relatively neglected in public discourses, despite its close transborder relationship with the US and growing concerns of development and sustainability in the northern nation. Second, indigenous women have been and continue to be important catalysts in community formation and representation.
ContributorsMora-Castillo, Brenda (Author) / Cruz-Torres, Maria l (Thesis advisor) / Wutich, Amber (Committee member) / Manuel-Navarrete, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Cities are facing complex problems in urban water management due to unprecedented changes in climate, natural and built environment. The shift in urban hydrology from pre-development to post-development continues to accelerate the challenges of managing excess stormwater runoff, mitigating urban flood hazards and flood damages. Physically based hydrologic-hydraulic stormwater models are a useful tool for broad subset of urban flood management including risk and hazard assessment, flood forecasting, and infrastructure adaptation decision making and planning. The existing limitations in data availability, gaps in data, and uncertainty in data preclude reliable model construction, testing, deployment, knowledge generation, effective communication of flood risks, and adaptation decision making. These challenges that affect both the science and practice motivate three chapters of this dissertation. The first study conducts diagnostic analysis of the effects of stormwater infrastructure data completeness on model’s ability to simulate flood duration, flooding flow rate; and assesses the combined effects of data gaps and model resolution to simulate flood depth, extent and volume (chapter 2). The analysis showed the significance of complete stormwater infrastructure data and high model resolution to reduce error, bias and uncertainty; this study also presented an approach for filling infrastructure data gaps using available data and design standards. The second study addresses the lack of long-term hydrological observation in urban catchment by investigating the process and benefits of leveraging novel data sources in urban flood model construction and testing (chapter 3). A proof-of-concept demonstrated the application and benefits of leveraging novel data sources for urban flood monitoring and modeling. Furthermore, it highlights the need for developing and streamlining novel data collection infrastructure. The third study applies the hydrologic-hydraulic model as an adaptation planning tool and assess the effects of uncertainty in design precipitation estimates and land use change on the optimal configuration of green infrastructure (chapter 4). Several uncertainties affect infrastructure decision making as showed by variation in optimal green infrastructure configuration under precipitation estimates and land use change. Thus, the study further highlights the need of flexible planning process in infrastructure decision making.
ContributorsShrestha, Ashish (Author) / Garcia, Margaret (Thesis advisor) / Mascaro, Giuseppe (Committee member) / Chester, Mikhail (Committee member) / Fletcher, Sarah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
The Water-Energy Nexus (WEN) is a concept that recognizes the interdependence of water and energy systems. The Phoenix metropolitan region (PMA) in Arizona has significant and potentially vulnerable WEN interactions. Future projections indicate that the population will increase and, with it, energy needs, while changes in future water demand are more uncertain. Climate change will also likely cause a reduction in surface water supply sources. Under these constraints, the expansion of renewable energy technology has the potential to benefit both water and energy systems and increase environmental sustainability by meeting future energy demands while lowering water use and CO2 emissions. However, the WEN synergies generated by renewables have not yet been thoroughly quantified, nor have the related costs been studied and compared to alternative options.Quantifying WEN intercations using numerical models is key to assessing renewable energy synergy. Despite recent advances, WEN models are still in their infancy, and research is needed to improve their accuracy and identify their limitations. Here, I highlight three research needs. First, most modeling efforts have been conducted for large-scale domains (e.g., states), while smaller scales, like metropolitan regions, have received less attention. Second, impacts of adopting different temporal (e.g., monthly, annual) and spatial (network granularity) resolutions on simulation accuracy have not been quantified. Third, the importance of simulating feedbacks between water and energy components has not been analyzed.
This dissertation fills these major research gaps by focusing on long-term water allocations and energy dispatch in the metropolitan region of Phoenix. An energy model is developed using the Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) platform and is subsequently coupled with a water management model based on the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) platform. Analyses are conducted to quantify (1) the value of adopting coupled models instead of single models that are externally coupled, and (2) the accuracy of simulations based on different temporal resolutions of supply and demand and spatial granularity of the water and energy networks. The WEAP-LEAP integrated model is then employed under future climate scenarios to quantify the potential of renewable energy technologies to develop synergies between the PMA's water and energy systems.
ContributorsMounir, Adil (Author) / Mascaro, Giuseppe (Thesis advisor) / White, Dave (Committee member) / Garcia, Margaret (Committee member) / Xu, Tianfang (Committee member) / Chester, Mikhail (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Dear reader, I hope you will read this entire dissertation. If you are reluctant because of its length, I invite you to contact me for a conversation instead. Over the past eight years I have been a part of three unfolding histories: colonialism, sustainability science, and the Atlas of Creative Tools (the Atlas). In this dissertation I describe how I am a part of these histories. I advocate for partnering them so that the Atlas is used by people in the field of sustainability science to advance cognitive justice in their work. This advocacy is supported by research conducted using a mixed-methods approach. I combine qualitative methods used to study each of the three histories with the experiential knowledge I gained from being a part of them. Throughout the dissertation I move back and forth between academic research and experiential knowledge. Each informs the other. This back-and-forth movement is itself a method to interrogate the assumptions of dissertation writing. My purposes for doing so are two-fold. I want to honor the dissertation as a form of knowledge production that can promote cognitive justice while also pointing out how it hinders it. Additionally, the back-and-forth interrogation method involves using creative tools from the Atlas in the text itself. This demonstrates how the Atlas can be used to promote cognitive justice while producing knowledge in sustainability science. I structure this dissertation to aid you in four ways. First, I provide a view of sustainability science as a contested space that people can and do use to advance cognitive justice. Second, I write about my research and analysis of the Atlas so that my descriptions can be used right away by other practitioners who are working with the Atlas. Third, my methods for interrogating the dissertation itself are meant to be used, modified, and built on by others. Finally, I hope that the connections I make between the Atlas and sustainability science are helpful for your work, and that they inspire you to try the Atlas and see how you can use it to promote cognitive justice in your own contexts.
ContributorsNock, Matthew (Author) / Haglund, LaDawn (Thesis advisor) / Manuel-Navarrete, David (Thesis advisor) / Lerman, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Public spaces have been central to studies focused on the relationship between economic inequalities, well-being, and environmental justice. However, an integrated examination of access to public spaces that is cognizant of the exchanges which inform environmental justice and the well-being of minoritized communities, is yet to be extensively studied. Such exchanges and the unideal community outcomes thereof are important to highlight in understanding access, given the historical challenges that have emanated from them to hamper the beneficial utility of public spaces in vulnerable contexts. This dissertation addresses this gap through a three-article format. Article 1 comprises a conceptual synthesis of two theoretical frameworks namely Lefebvre’s Tripartite Framework and Bishop’s Network Theory of Well-being that respectively conceptualize the exchanges in space production and the positive outcomes, which emerge from human and non-human engagements towards well-being. The main contribution of this article is the merging of two bodies of scholarship which had yet to intersect to inform investigations of access through the exchanges across technical (e.g., planners), social (i.e., communities) and physical (e.g., built spaces like parks) dimensions, and linkages to positive community outcomes. Article 2 entails an empirical examination of how communities and technical experts perceive of the linkages between access and community well-being, through exchanges across public space dimensions. Through a multiple embedded case study, 19 community leaders and 4 key technical informants in Maryvale were engaged in participatory mapping interviews. Responses to exchanges and outcomes thereof pertaining to the identified spaces, were deductively coded guided by the conceptual synthesis developed in article 1. Both community leaders and technical agents described access as emerging from perceptions of positive outcomes linked to public space exchanges. Article 3 sought to understand how design professionals (i.e., planners, building and landscape architects) who identify as ethnic minorities, perceive of their role in facilitating access to public spaces. Through interviews, 23 participants were engaged through a protocol guided by the conceptual synthesis developed in article 1. Responses were inductively coded. Participants described the role they play in exchanges, as focal to positive outcomes linked to access. Keywords: Public Spaces; Access; Environmental Justice; Community Well-being.
ContributorsGodwyll, Josephine Marie (Author) / Buzinde, Christine N (Thesis advisor) / Frazier, Amy (Committee member) / Manuel-Navarrete, David (Committee member) / White, Dave (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Institutions of higher learning can be centers of meaning-making and learning and are expected to play a pivotal role in a global shift toward sustainability. Despite recent innovations, much sustainability education today is still delivered using traditional pedagogies common across higher education. Therefore, students and facilitators should continue innovating along pedagogical themes consistent with the goals of sustainability: transformation and emancipation. Yet, more clarity is needed about pedagogical approaches that will transform and emancipate students, allowing them to become innovators that change existing structures and systems. My dissertation attempts to address this need using three approaches. First, I present a framework combining four interacting (i.e., complementary) pedagogies (transmissive, transformative, instrumental, and emancipatory) for sustainability education, helping to reify pedagogical concepts, rebel against outdated curricula, and orient facilitators/learners on their journey toward transformative and emancipatory learning. Second, I use a descriptive case study of a sustainability education course set outside of the traditional higher education context to highlight pedagogical techniques that led to transformative and emancipatory outcomes for learners partaking in the course. Third, I employ the method of autoethnography to explore my own phenomenological experience as a sustainability student and classroom facilitator, helping others to identify the disenchanting paradoxes of sustainability education and integrate the lessons they hold. All three approaches of the dissertation maintain a vision of sustainability education that incorporates contemplative practices as essential methods in a field in need of cultivating hope, resilience, and emergence.
ContributorsPapenfuss, Jason (Author) / Merritt, Eileen (Thesis advisor) / Manuel-Navarrete, David (Thesis advisor) / Eckard, Bonnie (Committee member) / Cloutier, Scott (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019