Download or read book Environmental Transition and Technological Change Transition written by Smaïl Aït-El-Hadj and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2024-07-18 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Faced with the scale and intensity of the ecological crisis, environmental transition is underway, consisting of a first phase of technological mutation, aimed at replacing technologies harmful to the environment with those which have no destructive effects on the earth system and its equilibrium. This book examines the roots of the concept of environmental transition, identifying and characterizing the negative effects of technology on the environmental crisis. We will then identify the technological mutations that have the potential to contribute to environmental transition, and demonstrate how these changes are already forming part of a new emerging "technological system". We will conclude by addressing the question of the limits of technological responses to the environmental crisis, demonstrating the importance of the dimensional factors of human activity and weight of growth in this crisis, thus raising the issue of global reconsideration, with reference to the place and articulation of human activity in the Earth system.
Download or read book Our Common Journey written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1999-12-09 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World human population is expected to reach upwards of 9 billion by 2050 and then level off over the next half-century. How can the transition to a stabilizing population also be a transition to sustainability? How can science and technology help to ensure that human needs are met while the planet's environment is nurtured and restored? Our Common Journey examines these momentous questions to draw strategic connections between scientific research, technological development, and societies' efforts to achieve environmentally sustainable improvements in human well being. The book argues that societies should approach sustainable development not as a destination but as an ongoing, adaptive learning process. Speaking to the next two generations, it proposes a strategy for using scientific and technical knowledge to better inform future action in the areas of fertility reduction, urban systems, agricultural production, energy and materials use, ecosystem restoration and biodiversity conservation, and suggests an approach for building a new research agenda for sustainability science. Our Common Journey documents large-scale historical currents of social and environmental change and reviews methods for "what if" analysis of possible future development pathways and their implications for sustainability. The book also identifies the greatest threats to sustainabilityâ€"in areas such as human settlements, agriculture, industry, and energyâ€"and explores the most promising opportunities for circumventing or mitigating these threats. It goes on to discuss what indicators of change, from children's birth-weights to atmosphere chemistry, will be most useful in monitoring a transition to sustainability.
Download or read book System Innovation and the Transition to Sustainability written by Boelie Elzen and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2004-01-01 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern societies face several structural problems such as transport congestion and greenhouse gas emissions due to the widespread use of fossil fuels. To address these important societal problems and achieve sustainability in the broad sense, major transformations are required, but this poses an enormous challenge given the complexity of the processes involved. Such transformations are called 'transitions' or 'system innovations' and involve changes in a variety of elements, including technology, regulation, user practices and markets, cultural meaning and infrastructure. This book considers two main questions: how do system innovations or transitions come about and how can they be influenced by different actors, in particular by governments. The authors identify the theories which can be used to conceptualise the dynamics of system innovations and discuss the weaknesses in these theories. They also look at the lessons which can be learned from historical examples of transitions, and highlight the instruments and policy tools which can be used to stimulate future system innovations towards sustainability. The expert contributors address these questions using insights from a variety of different disciplines including innovation studies, evolutionary economics, the sociology of technology, environmental analysis and governance studies. The book concludes with an extensive summary of the results and practical suggestions for future research. This important new volume offers an interdisciplinary assessment of how and why system innovations occur. It will engage and inform academics and researchers interested in transitions towards sustainability, and will also be highly relevant for policymakers concerned with environmental issues, structural change and radical innovation.
Download or read book Technological Change and Company Strategies written by Rod Coombs and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Neoclassical economics, in particular the orthodox theory of the firm, offers little insight into the question of company strategy. It contributes even less to the understanding of the strategic management of technological change. In this volume, a number of international scholars from a variety of related disciplines explore the possibility of a more unified approach to linking company strategy and technological change. Each author examines the contributions from his own discipline, (economics, sociology, organization and systems theory), in order to build new multidisplinary theories of the firm, which will contribute to the debate surrounding the effects of new technology on company strategy and economic growth. Key Features * Links evolutionary economics to sociological analysis * Presents new case studies featuring this synthesis
Download or read book Technological Transitions and System Innovations written by Frank W. Geels and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This important book addresses how long term and large scale shifts from one socio-technical system to another come about, using insights from evolutionary economics, sociology of technology and innovation studies. These major changes involve not just technological changes, but also changes in markets, regulation, culture, industrial networks and infrastructure. The book develops a multi-level perspective, arguing that transitions take place through the alignment of multiple processes at three levels: niche, regime and landscape. This perspective is illustrated by detailed historical case studies: the transition from sailing ships to steamships, the transition from horse-and-carriage to automobiles and the transition from propeller-piston engine aircraft to turbojets. This book will be of great interest to researchers in innovation studies, evolutionary economics, sociology of technology and environmental studies. It will also be useful for policy makers involved in long-term sustainability and systems transitions issues.
Download or read book Transitions to Sustainable Development written by John Grin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-05-26 with total page 578 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past few decades, there has been a growing concern about the social and environmental risks which have come along with the progress achieved through a variety of mutually intertwined modernization processes. In recent years these concerns are transformed into a widely-shared sense of urgency, partly due to events such as the various pandemics threatening livestock, and increasing awareness of the risks and realities of climate change, and the energy and food crises. This sense of urgency includes an awareness that our entire social system is in need of fundamental transformation. But like the earlier transition between the 1750's and 1890's from a pre-modern to a modern industrial society, this second transition is also a contested one. Sustainable development is only one of many options. This book addresses the issue on how to understand the dynamics and governance of the second transition dynamics in order to ensure sustainable development. It will be necessary reading for students and scholars with an interest in sustainable development and long-term transformative change.
Download or read book Post Innovation Performance written by Luke Georghiou and published by Springer. This book was released on 1986-03-10 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Managing the Transition to Renewable Energy written by Jeroen C. J. M. van den Bergh and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2008-03-31 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited work studies the transition to renewable energy. It offers perspectives from a wide range of disciplines, addressing macro, regional and local scales. Important lessons are also drawn from historical transitions.
Download or read book Pilot Society and the Energy Transition written by Marianne Ryghaug and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-11-23 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book examines the role of pilot and demonstration projects as crucial devices for conducting innovation in the context of the energy transition. Bridging literature from sustainability transitions and Science and Technology Studies (STS), it argues that such projects play a crucial role, not only in shaping future energy and mobility systems, but in transforming societies more broadly. Pilot projects constitute socio-technical configurations where imagined future realities are materialized. With this as a backdrop, the book explores pilot projects as political entities, focusing on questions of how they gain their legitimacy, which resources are mobilized in their production, and how they can serve as sites of public participation and the production of energy citizenship. The book argues that such projects too often have a narrow technology focus, and that this is a missed opportunity. The book concludes by critically discussing the potential roles of research and innovation policy in transforming how such projects are configured and conducted.
Download or read book Technological Change and the Environment written by Arnulf Grübler and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-09-30 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Much is written in the popular literature about the current pace of technological change. But do we have enough scientific knowledge about the sources and management of innovation to properly inform policymaking in technology dependent domains such as energy and the environment? While it is agreed that technological change does not 'fall from heaven like autumn leaves,' the theory, data, and models are deficient. The specific mechanisms that govern the rate and direction of inventive activity, the drivers and scope for incremental improvements that occur during technology diffusion, and the spillover effects that cross-fertilize technological innovations remain poorly understood. In a work that will interest serious readers of history, policy, and economics, the editors and their distinguished contributors offer a unique, single volume overview of the theoretical and empirical work on technological change. Beginning with a survey of existing research, they provide analysis and case studies in contexts such as medicine, agriculture, and power generation, paying particular attention to what technological change means for efficiency, productivity, and reduced environmental impacts. The book includes a historical analysis of technological change, an examination of the overall direction of technological change, and general theories about the sources of change. The contributors empirically test hypotheses of induced innovation and theories of institutional innovation. They propose ways to model induced technological change and evaluate its impact, and they consider issues such as uncertainty in technology returns, technology crossover effects, and clustering. A copublication o Resources for the Future (RFF) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).
Download or read book Industry Innovation and Infrastructure written by Walter Leal Filho and published by Springer. This book was released on 2021-05-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The problems related to the process of industrialisation such as biodiversity depletion, climate change and a worsening of health and living conditions, especially but not only in developing countries, intensify. Therefore, there is an increasing need to search for integrated solutions to make development more sustainable. The United Nations has acknowledged the problem and approved the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. On 1st January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Agenda officially came into force. These goals cover the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. The Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals comprehensively addresses the SDGs in an integrated way. It encompasses 17 volumes, each one devoted to one of the 17 SDGs. This volume addresses SDG 9, namely “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation” and contains the description of a range of terms, to allow a better understanding and foster knowledge about it. This book presents a set of papers on the state of the art of knowledge and practices about three important aspects of sustainable development, infrastructure, industrialization and innovation. It focuses on the support of cleaner technologies, enhanced scientific research, domestic technology development and universal internet access. Concretely, the defined targets are: Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and, by 2030, significantly raise industry’s share of employment and gross domestic product, in line with national circumstances, and double its share in least developed countries Increase the access of small-scale industrial and other enterprises, in particular in developing countries, to financial services, including affordable credit, and their integration into value chains and markets Upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending Facilitate sustainable and resilient infrastructure development in developing countries through enhanced financial, technological and technical support to African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states Support domestic technology development, research and innovation in developing countries, including by ensuring a conducive policy environment for, inter alia, industrial diversification and value addition to commodities Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries Editorial BoardOluwabunmi Opeyemi Adejumo, Leah A Dundon, Lizhen Huang, Heather Jones, Haruna Musa Moda
Download or read book Transition Engineering written by Susan Krumdieck and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2019-09-19 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Transition Engineering: Building a Sustainable Future examines new strategies emerging in response to the mega-issues of global climate change, decline in world oil supply, scarcity of key industrial minerals, and local environmental constraints. These issues pose challenges for organizations, businesses, and communities, and engineers will need to begin developing ideas and projects to implement the transition of engineered systems. This work presents a methodology for shifting away from unsustainable activities. Teaching the Transition Engineering approach and methodology is the focus of the text, and the concept is presented in a way that engineers can begin applying it in their work.
Download or read book Innovation Economics Engineering and Management Handbook 2 written by Dimitri Uzunidis and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-06-08 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Innovation, in economic activity, in managerial concepts and in engineering design, results from creative activities, entrepreneurial strategies and the business climate. Innovation leads to technological, organizational and commercial changes, due to the relationships between enterprises, public institutions and civil society organizations. These innovation networks create new knowledge and contribute to the dissemination of new socio-economic and technological models, through new production and marketing methods. Innovation Economics, Engineering and Management Handbook 2 is the second of the two volumes that comprise this book. The main objectives across both volumes are to study the innovation processes in todays information and knowledge society; to analyze how links between research and business have intensified; and to discuss the methods by which innovation emerges and is managed by firms, not only from a local perspective but also a global one. The studies presented in these two volumes contribute toward an understanding of the systemic nature of innovations and enable reflection on their potential applications, in order to think about the meaning of growth and prosperity
Download or read book Technological Learning in the Transition to a Low Carbon Energy System written by Martin Junginger and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2019-11-22 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Technological Learning in the Transition to a Low-Carbon Energy System: Conceptual Issues, Empirical Findings, and Use in Energy Modeling quantifies key trends and drivers of energy technologies deployed in the energy transition. It uses the experience curve tool to show how future cost reductions and cumulative deployment of these technologies may shape the future mix of the electricity, heat and transport sectors. The book explores experience curves in detail, including possible pitfalls, and demonstrates how to quantify the 'quality' of experience curves. It discusses how this tool is implemented in models and addresses methodological challenges and solutions. For each technology, current market trends, past cost reductions and underlying drivers, available experience curves, and future prospects are considered. Electricity, heat and transport sector models are explored in-depth to show how the future deployment of these technologies-and their associated costs-determine whether ambitious decarbonization climate targets can be reached - and at what costs. The book also addresses lessons and recommendations for policymakers, industry and academics, including key technologies requiring further policy support, and what scientific knowledge gaps remain for future research.
Download or read book Great Transition written by Paul Raskin and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Political Economy of Clean Energy Transitions written by Douglas Arent and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 631 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A volume on the political economy of clean energy transition in developed and developing regions, with a focus on the issues that different countries face as they transition from fossil fuels to lower carbon technologies.
Download or read book Sustainability Transitions in South Africa written by Najma Mohamed and published by Routledge Studies in Sustainability. This book was released on 2018 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: South Africa's transition to sustainability : an overview / Najma Mohamed -- Reaping the socio-economic benefits of an inclusive transition to sustainability / Brent Cloete, Samantha Munro and Nolwazi Sokhulu -- Climate change and vulnerability in South Africa : sustainability transitions in a changing climate? / Coleen Vogel and Mark Swilling -- Sustainability transitions and employment in South Africa : a multi-dimensional approach / Gaylor Montmasson-Clair -- Policies for sustainability transformations in South Africa : a critical review / Najma Mohamed and Gaylor Montmasson-Clair -- Transitioning South Africa's finance system towards sustainability / Chantal Naidoo -- The role of national systems of innovation in South Africa's sustainability transition / Shanna Nienaber -- Green skills : transformative niches for greening work / Presha Ramsarup, Eureta Rosenberg, Heila Lotz-Sisitka and Nicola Jenkin -- Creating partnerships to sustain value / Chantal Ramcharan-Kotze and Johan Olivier -- Inclusive sustainability transitions / Najma Mohamed
