What is Sustainable Technology?

Mulder, Karel; Ferrer, Didac; Lente, Harro van

• 1. What is sustainable technology?2. Perceptions of Technology: An historical overview3. Chlorofluorocarbons: Drivers of their emergence and substitution4. Vehicles of Sustainability in the Field of Nanocoatings Harro van Lente, Innovation Studies, Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands and Jon van Til, Technopolis Group, Amsterdam, The Netherlands  5. Articulations of sustainability in the development of wind power in the Netherlands Linda M. Kamp, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, TU Delft, The Netherlands  6. Environmental technology in a new urban neighbourhood: Stockholm's Hammarby Sjöstad Ronald Wennersten and Anna Spitsyna, Department of Industrial Ecology, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden  7. Trade-offs in the district heat distribution system Magdalena Svanström, Associate Professor in Chemical Environmental Science and Director of Chalmers Learning Centre, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden and Morgan Fröling, Associate Pro  8. Municipal solid waste: Treatment, management and prevention Chantal Block and Carlo Vandecasteele, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Leuven, Belgium  9. What is a sustainable transport system? Dilemmas regarding transport solutions in Sweden Ronald Wennersten and Anna Spitsyna, Department of Industrial Ecology, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden  10. Reducing material use in passenger cars 1920–2020: Balancing energy, waste and safety Erik Tempelman, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, TU Delft, The Netherlands  11. Hydrogen: A stack of competing visions Sjoerd Bakker, Innovation Studies Group, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands  12. Sustainable technologies for water treatment Jordi Morató, Alex Pires Carneiro and Angeles Ortiz, Sustainable Water Management Group, UNESCO Chair of Sustainability, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain  13. Dilemmas in water systems development in China Xingqiang Song, Department of Industrial Ecology, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden and Xingqiang Song and Wim Ravesteijn, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, TU Delft, The Netherlands  14. Conclusions: perceptions, paradoxes and possibilities Karel Mulder, Technology Dynamics and Sustainable Development, TU Delft, Netherlands; Didac Ferrer, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona; Harro van Lente, Department of Innovation and Environmental Studies, University of Utrecht, Netherlands

What is Sustainable Technology? Perceptions, Paradoxes and PossibilitiesHistorically, improving the quality of life has been the main driver for the advent of technology. But the long term effects of new technologies are more often than not unforeseen. And when unwanted side effects of new technologies cause critical damage to our environment, the natural impulse is to turn to other technological developments to replace or reverse the effect of the old ones. Far from being a straightforward process, making technology more sustainable brings to the surface entire sets of problems and paradoxes.Presented in the form of an academic communication session, the bulk of this book comprises a series of case studies all aimed at improving the economic, environmental or social performance of technologies and resource management. An introductory study and a chapter on conclusions frame the eleven studies looking at materials and energy, urbanisation, transport and water management.Acknowledging both the Bruntland Commission definition of sustainability and the vagueness of the term, this volume investigates the complex ways in which different manifestations – or articulations – of sustainability conflict with each other and the way technology is intertwined with economic interests, policy-making, cultural habits or social goals. Can applying the same technology yield completely different and sometimes opposite results? Is it possible that the very process of recycling is damaging to the environment? How long until the end of oil, or the beginning of the hydrogen-fuelled society? These are only a few of the huge number of puzzling questions that scientists and researchers are trying to answer.With its extensive biography and wide range of topics, the book is an excellent introductory read for anyone trying to get the grips of how sustainability works and how technological developments relate to it